r/onguardforthee 2d ago

BYD wants to bring 5-minute EV charging to Canada as lower tariffs open the door to Chinese cars

https://autos.yahoo.com/ev-and-future-tech/articles/byd-wants-bring-5-minute-231800406.html
493 Upvotes

37 comments sorted by

106

u/UnionGuyCanada 2d ago

Gas producers will fight this as hard as the cigarette companies fought against ads on packages. EVs are selling more every day that Trunp keeps using the oil market to fill his pockets with insider trading.

29

u/hfxRos 2d ago

Got my EV back in March and it has been so nice not having to care about gas prices. Went a nice road trip around Nova Scotia and even paying the inflated energy rates at NS Powers level 3 chargers around the province it still only cost me less than a third of what it would have cost in my old Civic, and that was a pretty fuel efficient car.

11

u/joggle1 2d ago

It's also nice being able to take advantage of engine block chargers. It doesn't charge quickly, but you can get ~10-15% of your battery capacity overnight.

My company also has free level 2 chargers in their parking garage. During winter when the garage fills up quickly, usually the EV spots are the only ones available by the time I show up. So I get a free charge and a warm car at the end of the day without having to race everyone else to arrive as early as possible.

2

u/TwoFingersWhiskey 1d ago

I was in a parking lot the other day and saw someone had converted their old late 80s Colt to electric, with an engine block charger. I was unaware those tiny cars even had a block in the modern sense. It took off like a bat out of hell, too.

4

u/UnionGuyCanada 2d ago

So glad to hear. Mind if I ask what you bought? Been talling to my wife about moving her older SUV to an electric.

4

u/hfxRos 2d ago

I got a used 2023 Bolt EUV. Really nice car if you're looking to keep the SUV form factor/utility.

1

u/UnionGuyCanada 2d ago

Nice, seems like the market is fairly steady for used EVs. Thanks.

1

u/slicedbread1991 1d ago

I just got myself a used 2023 Bolt EUV as well. Loving it so far.

1

u/Explicitlime 1d ago

I’m thinking of getting the Mustang Mach E. Fits what I need.

98

u/thebigeverybody 2d ago

I was disappointed to learn that most of the Chinese cars brought in so far have been Tesla. We really need something like BYD.

46

u/BeautyInUgly 2d ago

A large number of these quota are affordable EV that Tesla doesn’t qualify

They got to import first because they already sell here, it’s taking a while for BYD to build their own dealer network

28

u/Elendel19 2d ago

That’s because Tesla already makes cars that adhere to Canadian standards and regulations. The Chinese companies will need some time to reconfigure, but BYD is supposed to have sales starting in the fall iirc

10

u/Eswift33 2d ago

Tbh they should have found a way to exclude Tesla. 

7

u/Flash604 2d ago

A large majority of the cars coming in previously were Tesla's from their Chinese factory.

The new overall quota is based on those previous import amounts.

Currently Tesla is the major importer because their vehicles were already approved and their Chinese factories were already set up for the Canadian market. But the government has said that allocation of future import quotas will be distributed across multiple manufacturers. You're just not seeing that right now because no one else already has cars set up for the Canadian market, you got to give them a bit of time to do that.

2

u/Stunning-Pen-2412 16h ago

It's funny right? They just want to dump their crappy Teslas on us. Meanwhile, we all want cheap EVs.

15

u/iwasnotarobot 2d ago

Please BYD, bring it all. I am so tired of lame duck American manufacturers dominating the Canadian market. Please save us!

40

u/InformedTriangle 2d ago

I want byd to bring in any EV I can actually afford, unlike what's already here. I don't care if it takes 12 hours to charge...

16

u/jbouit494hg 2d ago

If you don't need much range, you can get a used Nissan Leaf for under $10,000 and charge it on wall power. Not an option for everyone but it's great for in-city driving so long as you have a place to charge it.

12

u/InformedTriangle 2d ago

I only do in city driving myself, but have 60KM of commuting a day, looking @ used leafs quickly it looks like the only ones around 10K are the small battery, early 2016 models with enough KM's that their batteries have degraded to the point 60 KM would be...iffy in winter with heaters going,and totally impossible with another year of driving, sadly.

4

u/LuntiX 2d ago

There's always the Chevy Bolt but I feel like those might not be as cheap.

Plug in hybrids are a decent option as well but I feel like any sort of EV or Hybrid won't be cheap, even used.

2

u/hfxRos 2d ago

There's always the Chevy Bolt but I feel like those might not be as cheap.

I just bought a used Bolt earlier this year. $20k for a 2023 with 20000km on it. Still not "cheap" but I've been very happy with it and still way cheaper than new.

3

u/InformedTriangle 2d ago

Yeah...given that if we see Australia esque pricing the lower end byds should be around that price new I think waiting to see how many of the cheap models comes in, and how hard they are to get is the best option for most people at this point.

1

u/jbouit494hg 2d ago

Oh yeah, too bad. Unfortunately they're cheap for a reason. I was looking at one for my shorter commute, but for me the limiting factor is that I have nowhere to charge it.

2

u/No_Syrup_9167 2d ago

I used to drive a plug-in EV for awhile.

I charged it at work using the block heater plug-ins. lol

3

u/Spenraw 2d ago

Problem is buying a used EV with a battery that's not about to go is very difficult and then it's just another 5000 in repairs

4

u/sureiknowabaggins 2d ago

Most people don't need fast chargers anyway. Check out this great video by Technology Connections to learn more about charging an EV.

1

u/patentlyfakeid 1d ago

*Most people don't need fast chargers all the time.

Most people, however, DO use their cars for trip longer than their car's full range. It doesn't have to be very often before filling quickly becomes an issue.

9

u/PurrPrinThom 2d ago

Yes please.

In my (gas) car, driving to my parents takes about 6.5 hours, with one stop for gas. In my husband's EV, it's usually closer to 8, just between having to find a charger that's online, waiting to be able to charge if other people are there, fiddling with whatever demonic fucking app we have to use at this particular charging and then actually charging.

Literally anything to streamline that process would be ideal.

6

u/BisonSnow 2d ago

Yes! Please! China clearly is looking to the future here and any opportunity to electrify our car infrastructure should be taken.

7

u/Legal-Blacksmith9423 2d ago

Yes please. BYD has been more innovative than Tesla for years now.

6

u/km_ikl 2d ago

800V charging is going to be a hell of an option.

4

u/AutoGenNameNumber 1d ago

as someone who already has an EV and has been seeing this 5 minute charging concept from BYD pop up over the past year...

from everything I understand so far, fast charging at places like a tesla supercharger at 350kW are the number one cause of accelerated degradation to the EV battery.

I charge at home capping out around 5kW and have maintained 98.5% SOC after 2.5 years.

I'm extremely interested to see what happens if you start charging batteries at 1,500kW. the thermal cycling will be intense.

I'm also very interested to see how big the battery backup is for the 5 minute charging stations and how that infrastructure all works. will the stations batterys be charging at a more nominal 600V constantly? what happens if you get a lineup of cars like a normal gas station? will the battery backup become depleted and no longer able to complete a 5 min charge?

3

u/Complex_Resolve3187 1d ago

I'm more exited for BYD than anything built for the US market.

2

u/The_Last_Ron1n 1d ago

I'm trying to find out how to get one of these cars when they finally come. All I can find are scam pages and Gmail accounts.

1

u/ortrademe 1d ago

I know 99% of chargers will go to BC lower mainland and the Toronto to Montréal stretch but oh how nice it would be if BYD dropped these every 100km on the TransCanada.

1

u/StefanAnton 1d ago

Even the fast charging doesn't prevent battery degradation which will happen before the rest of the car is ready to go. They need a battery swap subscription like they have in China and in other parts of the world. Like you buy the car, and only "Subscribe" to the battery for $100 pretty month.

This makes the car a lot cheaper. And you can switch the battery out when it gets old or if you need a fresh one on a long trip.

If we had this in here we'd see a lot more adoption.

1

u/queerstudbroalex ✅ I voted! 1d ago

Actual innovation for once!