Chinese brand gets huge boost in Australia: BYD teams up with Uber so expect more BYD Seal, Atto 3 and Dolphin electric cars on the road

BYD’s electric cars could soon be more common on our roads than Tesla's.

The Chinese giant, which is nipping at the heels of Tesla as the biggest seller of electric cars globally, has teamed up with Uber to roll out 100,000 electric cars across several major markets.

The partnership will give drivers access to lower prices and financing on BYD vehicles on the Uber platform.

It will initially start in Europe and Latin America before expanding to Australia, New Zealand, Middle East and Canada.

The US’s new 100 per cent tariff on Chinese built electric cars effectively rules this partnership out in Uber’s home market.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said, this partnership will deliver amazing benefits to cities around the world.

“When an Uber driver makes the switch to an EV, they can deliver up to four times the emissions benefits compared to a regular motorist, simply because they are on the road more,” said Khosrowshahi.

BYD Seal.

“Many riders also tell us their first experience with an EV is on an Uber trip, and we’re excited to help demonstrate the benefits of EVs to more people around the world.”

It’s not the first time electric car brands have teamed up with fleet or rideshare companies.

Tesla and Polestar signed huge deals with global rental car firms that failed to deliver the demand they envisaged.

Hertz recently dumped 20,000 EVs from its fleet in the US after just two years in favour of new petrol cars. The company cited higher expenses related to collisions and damage for EVs as part of the reason for moving away from battery-powered cars.

In Australia, Polestar sells a large number of its vehicles to Splend, which provides them to rideshare drivers. In NSW, more than a third of Polestar sales in 2024 were to companies according to recent data from the Electric Vehicle Council.

BYD Dolphin.

In comparison Tesla’s sales were about 80 per cent to private buyers and 20 per cent to companies.

BYD is growing in popularity in Australia and has a rapidly expanding portfolio of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

Through the first six months of this year BYD has sold more than 9500 cars, a rise of more than 50 per cent compared to the same period in 2023.

Despite the sales surge, BYD is still a long way behind Tesla locally. The American EV-only brand has sold more than 23,000 vehicles this year, but its sales are down about 10 per cent.

BYD Atto 3.

BYD’s growth is being fuelled by a range of new cut-price products.

Late in 2023 BYD launched the Seal, a much cheaper alternative to the Tesla Model 3, and is its best seller.

 In 2024 the maker is focusing on plug-in hybrid vehicles having launched the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid rivalling Sea Lion 6 and it will make a foray into the ultra popular dual-cab ute segment with the Shark plug-in hybrid workhorse later this year.