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Comment by dghlsakjg | Hacker News Reader

If I could buy one of the cheap BYD cars that are available in China here in Canada, I would do it, tomorrow, in cash.

Meanwhile, I was walking by the Nissan dealership and Leafs were selling for $42k with cloth seats which is the price of a decent full size well-optioned sedan or SUV. I simply can't justify paying the premium for an electric car in Canada.

Why is no one serious about low end electric cars in North America. I would gladly take a 200 mi range no frills car like the leaf at a reasonable price.

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> Why is no one serious about low end electric cars in North America.

Because no one bought them.

The Chevy Bolt was the best value EV in the world for a while. It was a good price for decent range. Even better value used. Its main weakness was slow DC charging:

https://www.caranddriver.com/chevrolet/bolt-ev

They've stopped production of the original Bolt. It's supposed to be coming back as a new model based on GM's Ultium battery platform:

https://electrek.co/2024/02/28/gms-new-bolt-ev-save-billions...

CAD42K - $5k rebate (more in Quebec & BC) gets you basically down to the CAD35K base price of a VW Golf.

Also, gas is expensive and electricity is cheap in Canada. (For example Ontario has a plan with 3c/kWh overnight electricity). You should save at least $1000 per year in gas savings.

So still $17kCAD over the cost of a BYD Dolphin, which is a 4 door hatchback like the golf.

https://electrek.co/2024/02/23/byd-launches-new-dolphin-ev-1...

All cars are ~$10K cheaper in China due to a bunch of factors. The Australian price is a better metric.

The Dolphin is AUD39k, CAD35k.

The made in China base model Tesla 3 is $120USD cheaper in China vs the US MSRP.

200 miles? My cheap EV will be a second car to supplement a gas one. I really only need it to get like 70-100 miles.

That would probably work for me too, TBH.

200 mi was just an arbitrary number based on the BYD Dolphin which retails for $14k USD with a ~200 mile range.

I'm guessing the cold winters is a factor, but just a guess.

I, along with 15% of all Canadians live in a temperate rainforest. There's plenty of Canada with milder or equivalent winters to the Midwest and Northeast US.

Man, I would love cloth seats

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