Australia’s cheapest electric car on sale for $35,000, but there’s a catch

a fleet of BYD E6 Electric Vehicles – once intended to be Sydney taxis – are now being offered to the general public for $35,000 plus roadside costs.

Built between 2019 and 2021, these E6s were imported to Australia from the Chinese brand BYD, with the intention of offering them to taxi operators and car rental companies.

Several vehicles left unsold and unregistered, photographed in a holding yard at Sydney Airport. Two years later, a batch of identical E6s went on sale through Sydney’s Eveen company as the cheapest “new” electric passenger car in the country.

While BYD E6s are priced at $35,000 before road costs, financial incentives mean the models could end up costing buyers much less.

As many of the vehicles have yet to be registered, Eveen says they are still eligible for the $3,000 state government rebate in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia, while Western Australia offers a $3,500 rebate. .

It is unclear whether these vehicles were imported into Australia by Nexport, the sister company of EVDirect, Australia’s leading importer of BYD passenger cars, or by Eveen itself. It’s also unclear why the cars weren’t put into service as taxis and how Eveen acquired them.

In InstagramEveen said her vehicles are not the cars previously photographed near Sydney airport, telling a commenter “they are located inside a storage facility in Sydney. They are all still wrapped in the new wrap both internally and externally.”

Ride attempted to contact Eveen, as well as EVDirect, for comment before this story was published, however responses were not received in time.

Buyers of these 2019-2021 E6s through Eveen can choose any color they want, as long as it’s green, with a white roof.

These BYD E6 vehicles use 80kWh battery packs to power a single electric motor, sending 90kW and 450Nm to the front wheels, providing a claimed driving range of between 300 and 400 kilometres.

Eveen has not posted warranty details for a vehicle online.

The E6 is about the same price as the 2021 BYD T3 two-seater commercial van when 50 examples were made available last year, via importer EVDirect; however, amid strong demand for zero-emission vehicles, used examples are listed in the classifieds for upwards of $45,000.

These vehicles are backed by the headquarters of their automakers, with factory warranties and dealer networks.

Those interested in buying a WORLD E6 you can contact Eveen through the company Instagram page, found here.