Image: Eagers Automotive
A month after Chinese EV maker BYD opened its “world-first” Megastore in Sydney, showcasing the benefits of EVs and the technology that comes with them, the company has held what it now describes as the “world’s biggest test drive” event.
The event, held last weekend across a number of cities in Australia, attracted more than 1,400 test drives of its popular BYD Atto 3, the third best selling EV in Australia behind the Tesla Model Y and Model 3.
The aim of the event was to promote electric vehicles by getting hundreds of people to get behind the wheel of an EV and see what the buzz is all about. It also resulted, according to organisers, in more than 200 orders.
“We viewed it as a huge success!” said Mark Harland, the COO of BYD’s agent in Australia EV Direct. “Approximately 1400 test drives last Saturday and many more this week for the people who couldn’t make it .. we took 200 orders on the day and continue to generate more will the follow ups this week”
BYD’s local distributor EV Direct shared a video with highlights from this event which was held on Saturday.
So far more than 10,000 BYD Atto 3’s have been delivered to Australian customer. It’s one of the most affordable ground-up electric cars on the market, particularly in the very popular SUV segment, and will soon be followed by the BYD Dolphin, with a sub-$40,000 variant, and the BYD Seal.
The Atto 3 is also eligible for subsidies in many parts of Australia. These range from $6000 in Queensland down to no subsidies in states like Victoria. The NSW subsidies finish at the end of 2023.
The impact in Victoria can already be seen and sales of the BYD Atto 3 have declined since the subsidies were removed.
The latest data shows that during June, more BYD Atto 3 vehicles made it onto Victorian roads than in July and August combined. This data highlights that subsidies do help drivers with accessibility to cleaner EV technologies.
With NSW also removing EV subsidies in the coming months, events like the BYD’s “world biggest test drive” are important to showcase the true benefits of EV technologies.
On top of that, more stores like the recently opened Megastore will also help many more drivers make the switch to cleaner EVs.
Riz is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.
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