Light trucks feature in Australasian market tilt with Chinese EV firm
Chinese electric commercial vehicle and lithium-ion battery manufacturer BYD has signed and Australasian deal bringing its battery electric light-duty vehicles to Australia and New Zealand.
The partners hail the initiative as “the largest electric commercial vehicle (ECV) order in Australia to date” and “BYD’s largest Asia-Pacific order”.
Alternative energy truck and bus specialist Nexport and Macquarie Group’s Corporate and Asset Finance (CAF) represent the Australasian side.
The move represents a challenge to local electric truck concern SEA Electric as it expands its footprint to the US.
Nexport is headed by Luke Todd, who is familiar with BYD, having been involved through electric bus operation Carbridge, which partnered with BYD for electric airport buses and cars.
Under the agreement, Nexport will be responsible for local sales and support of electric BYD trucks sold in Australia and New Zealand.
Read how BYD’s larger truck came to be tested for Californian port use, here
The electric truck range will initially consist of BYD’s T5 and T6 light electric vehicle (LEV) models for operators of 4.5-7 tonne logistics and general commercial trucks.
Macquarie CAF’s role is to develop innovative rental and fleet managed service solutions for customers seeking alternatives to outright purchase.
“We are pleased to be working with BYD and Nexport to support the roll-out of BYD’s electric commercial vehicle line in Australia and New Zealand,” Macquarie CAF associate director Scott Simpson says.
“This is an exciting opportunity to work with a uniquely experienced team to deliver cost effective and proven low emission vehicle solutions to commercial vehicle operators in the region.
“We see increasing interest in fleet and rental solutions in a range of industries and markets where demand for LEV’s is growing, and look forward to working with BYD to explore this, not only in electric trucks, but also other significant EV markets, such as airports and logistics.”
Nexport says it is confident that BYD’s ECV’s can deliver significant benefits to operators compared to conventional diesel vehicles, based on its experience to date.
BYD already has supplied electric garbage trucks for Indaiatuba district in Brazil, and Seattle in the US, along with 500 electric dump trucks in China’s Shenzhen.
Driving range for the new 2019 vehicle models being 300k, for the T5X model, on a single charge and estimate a saving of 40 per cent in fuel costs based on diesel at $1.50 a litre – “potentially saving $6,000-$10,000 in annual fuel costs for a typical small truck driving 50,000 km a year”.