For someone looking to get into an EV on a budget would a low km Tesla be the better option over a new Chinese car?
Used Tesla Vs New Chinese EV
figarow on 01/07/2025 - 11:05
Last edited 01/07/2025 - 11:07
Last edited 01/07/2025 - 11:07
Poll Options
- 494New Chinese is better
- 108Used Tesla all day long
- 69ICE FTW
Comments
Tough crowd ⁉️
This line usually kills.
LPG Falcon
You misspelt AU Falcon
In white
Think of the resale value
on LPG
Dual fuel
Corolla Hybrid now a popular choice as well
Second this. After juggling between a used Tesla, a new Chinese vs Corolla Hybrid (used), I ended up with the Corolla. Can't be happier. Solid economy (no crazy fluctuations), massive range (1,000 km for $70 full tank), unlimited km 7-year warranty (who else does that?), class-leading autonomous driving (only models 2022 October onwards) are the main drivers for me. Better resale value, quick resale ability, Toyota's legendary reliability, low insurance costs etc, are only added benefits. Over let's say 5 year period, running costs for 200,000 km with Corolla would be $14,000 (fuel) + $3,500 (capped price servicing 14 services). This figure is not far from a figure from an EV for same time period and kms. Then you get hit with massive depreciation for out of warranty car (in case of an EV), while Corolla with 200K on the clock, still under Manufactor warranty hence will still be in high demand. Happy days…
unlimited km 7-year warranty
pretty much everyone nowadays, especially the chinese EVs with up to 10 years. I own a Kluger but let's not pretend Toyota has much going for it apart from rock solid reliability. the base equipment is pitiful for the price charged. you will be sacrificing value for reliability
running costs for 200,000 km with Corolla would be $14,000 (fuel) + $3,500 (capped price servicing 14 services) This figure is not far from a figure from an EV for same time period and kms.
not far? for an EV, without accounting for "free electricity" on some plans or solar, if you use a blanket 8c per kwh rate for EV charging, it amounts to about 2.4k after 200k assuming an average consumption of 15kwh/100km. it will cost less if you NL (you get 4c back per 100km - minus 800 = 1600 for 200k)
@V2L: With EVs, it almost always excludes 'the battery' (at least has a cap on kms), whereas with Toyota hybrids, the battery is also included in this unlimited km warranty. And I won't compare Toyota warranty with another car unless it's well well-established similar dealerships around the country.
Very conveniently, you're quoting the best figures you could have with an EV… And also conveniently forget about the depreciation as well? Corolla from new to used 200k on the clock (still under unlimited km warranty, mind you) will be roughly about $18,000 I'd say. With a Tesla (for comparison), you're looking at a whopping $40,000 easy. All the bits and pieces you've 'supposedly saved' over the years will be nothing compared to that.. LOL
I always say to people,
"Never buy an EV for savings, because it won't save you a cent compared to a hybrid"
But,
"Buy an EV if you love driving one, enjoy it for what it is"With EVs, it almost always excludes 'the battery' (at least has a cap on kms), whereas with Toyota hybrids, the battery is also included in this unlimited km warranty. And I won't compare Toyota warranty with another car unless it's well well-established similar dealerships around the country.
what do you mean? all EV warranties cover battery, look them up.
Very conveniently, you're quoting the best figures you could have with an EV…
obviously, as you've done. if you drive highway, your hybrid economy won't look nearly as good,.
And also conveniently forget about the depreciation as well?
the final straw in the argument against EV. Yes I agree Toyotas ICE/hybrids will hold its value a lot better on resell. I don't plan to sell my car every 3 years, and after NL benefits it will more than offset depreciation as long as FBT exemption is extended. as a comparison, the corolla zr hybrid is 44k DA (crazy money for a hatchback), which is the trim you'd need to go up to to compare with the equivalent compact EV offerings such as BYD Dolphin and they start at 32k, (44k gets you a fully specced medium SUV). So you shouldn't buy an EV to save money I agree although a lot of people do, but people also shouldn't think switching to EV is pissing away money either as a lot of ICE diehards claim
@npnp: Geely for example has no limits on Km unless for commercial use (taxi fleet etc).
https://www.geely.com.au/ownership/warranty?gad_source=1&gad…EV batteries especially LFP type have been shown to be very durable with minimal degradation, concerns about battery life is grossly exaggerated much like their fire risk
@V2L: How many of these brands going to be around in 3 let alone 7 years. BYD which would be the most likely to survive is apparently cutting production due to large inventories. Can these others survive?
@tomfool: Geely is one of the largest auto makers in the world with more brands than VW under it's flag. there are no 100% safe bets - even Honda is on the edge of bankruptcy, so what's your point?
Yaris cross is nice car too i personal what pay for by NDIS kms at work
The equivalent EV answer is always MG4
I don't think MG comes close to Toyota in terms of reliability and build quality.
In general for petrol cars, yes. The MG4 and their EVs in general appear to be the exceptions.
Currently renting a RAV4 Hybrid, <TLDR>Hybrid is a scam, drives nothing like an EV. Not a bad car, but I expected to drive closer to an EV than an ICE car.
Why is it a scam? It's a car with a CVT, with dual power trains. You're getting crazy good fuel economy. Where are you being fooled by Toyota?
Why did you think it would drive like an EV? Did you get confused with plug-in hybrid vs Toyota's petrol only hybrid?
I have an EV (MG4) and a ICE (CX5), never driven a hybrid before but I expected it to be more ev than ice. I am getting around 7L/100 which isn’t spectacular and car feels super heavy compared to the EV SUV’s I have driven.
As I originally said it’s not a bad car. Perhaps in the city you would get better fuel economy. It certainly has a lot more power than the CX5 which is thirsty.@UltimateAI: A standard non-plugin hybrid (ie all the ones Toyota sells here) are just an ICE vehicle with electric assist to improve efficiency and economy in urban environments.
If you want more of an "EV with ICE assist," such a thing does exist - range-extender EVs (REEVs) are solely propelled by electric motors, but have a small ICE running a generator to increase range. The Leapmotor C10 is a recent example of this.
Ironically, driving a rental hybrid RAV4 in "EV only" mode was my first experience with electric driving, and I enjoyed it so much that I rented a Tesla the next time I needed a hire car.
@UltimateAI: Range and speed in EV-only mode is limited, but it's worth a shot. But it's not a very powerful electric motor and a small battery, so don't expect it to drive like your MG4.
@UltimateAI: That makes sense.
And sorry - I re-read my comment and it's a bit too "attacky" - my apologies, it wasn't meant that way, I was just curious about the "scam" part.
Yes, city driving would definitely show better mileage - the Toyota marketing material says 4.7/100km, though that could be a slight advertising embellishment.
@Droz: On a mostly highway trip over somewhat hilly terrain with a bit of city driving in the middle, I averaged 6.6L/100km over ~900km in a near-new RAV4 rental.
That's decent for a modern mid-size petrol SUV, but my 2015 diesel Mondeo would easily beat it, and it's a similar size in terms of passenger and luggage space. I reckon you'd struggle to get anywhere near 5L/100km.
@klaw81: Yeah, hybrids don't shine on the highway, but that's serviceable. I think I higher city to highway ratio would see the numbers drop lower.
Diesels do win on consumption, but I think diesel itself as a fuel is more problematic than petrol when it comes to emissions and whatnot.
Excellent choice for Uber.
Best mix of broth world
Only if you're an uber driver bro.
unless you do not mind the mistaken identity by every tom dick and harry when doing your everyday travels
I would be embarrassed to drive a Tesla these days.
Everythings computer
Hunter Biden's Laptop. I love how the Liberals conveniently forget about that.
Operation Warspeed and a Presidential Commendation given to Dr Fauci.
I love how Trump Thumpers conveniently forget about that.@tenpercent: How could I forget about warpseed and the commendation, if I've never heard of it before?
Also I love how libreals forget about Joe Biden sniffing little girls.
I've never heard of it
It was pretty significant. Arguably one of the most signifiant things that has happened since September 11. And you are not aware of it? But you willingly and enthusiastically jump in to redirect negative attention away from Trump towards others?
Yeah the laptop was pretty damning and Biden's interaction with children was very creepy.
But the failings and foibles of the senile clown don't detract from or excuse the failings and foibles of the orange clown.@John Barosa: Bro secretly donated and delivered to Israel a bunch of hellfire missiles days before they bombed Iran.
Then bro deployed the US Military machine to bomb Iran directly.
Bro is totes down for peace.Bro is a A-grade troll though. He gets his conervative ultra straight macho supporters to dance along to the gay anthem YMCA.
@John Barosa: So far this term Trump has:
- Proposed Trump Gaza
- Nominated himself as Pope
- Frequently threatened to take over Canada and Iceland
- Accused the Ukrainian President (without evidence) of starting the war (then later backtracked and said the opposite)
- Appointed a 22 year old with no relevant experience to head a Homeland Security anti-terrorism departmentHe's intentionally making inflamatory 'jokes' and statements to stir up division both within and outside of the US, while also internally gutting experienced employees from core defence and justice centers. The only "4d chess" Trump is playing is to make the US weaker and more isolated from its international peers. A happy society isn't one with mass protests in the streets, and where tourism plummets because no one wants to visit your country.
I wouldn't be shocked if a horrific terrorist event happens within his term and its used to justify a power grab
@John Barosa: That's not why he got mad at Israel. He wanted a "perfect war", "a showstopper", so if the show goes on it ruins the production.
I'll remind the LNP.
But he loves Teslur?
Yes if you have green hair, otherwise, not really.
Yep. It's basically saying you're a sucker driving a Tesla.
How about 12~ months ago?
I would be embarrassed to drive
What is embarrassing is to still bitch/talk about Trump when the topic is EVs …
Few things as embarassing as buying a Chinese EV. Simply screams "I couldn't afford my first choice". It's unfortunate but it's true.
Nah I could afford either but still wouldn't be caught in a Tesla.
Neither. But rather that than a xpeng, jaecoo or other flavour of the month. Avoiding a Tesla for political reasons is plain stupid - but not wanting it for features or technical reasons makes sense
@niknikniknik: Elon Musk is a tool regardless of his political opinions. If you don't care where your money is going, that's fine, but don't pretend like it isn't a valid reason to avoid a product.
@Vinodra: I can see your point of view. But avoiding a better product because of the beliefs of its manufacturer's CEO only cause you, the paying customer, to lose out.
@niknikniknik: Its not just his political persuasions. It is becoming more apparent he doesnt care bout his oriduct ebough to make it good, just about selling the next shiny thing quiclly. Cybertruck is a case in point. Focussing on steering wheel less robotaxi when FSD is still very glitchy rather than a model 2 is another.
@Euphemistic: If you're not happy with product quality that's fair. Not building a Model 2 that you want is a stupid reason. "Not buying TimTams until Arnotts makes Oreos". FSD is still better than any other competitor. Not saying this as a Tesla fan, I don't like them - but your reasoning is daft.
@niknikniknik: Im just saying that his business practices are erratic at best. Dont oaeticularly care what he does, but firing a whole bunch of people to cut costs without considering the implictions seems to be routine. And when you consider the implcations of short staffing a FSD team.
He appears to run his businesses as a vanity project, not aiming to have longevity pr real cuatomer satisfaction.
@Euphemistic: I, a non billionaire, probably wouldn't try school Elon Musk on how to successfully run his businesses - many of which don't have predecessor examples to copy from. Nevertheless - that's hardly relevant to the product quality vs alternatives such as Chinese EVs with no long term track record of customer satisfaction etc. Don't see them putting forward any decent FSD tech. If you were comparing to MB/Porsche/BMW or something then sure…but with the example of FSD there is literally no one close.
but with the example of FSD there is literally no one close
Are you sure about that? Tesla just have the monopoly on FSD media coverage. There have been driverless taxis operating innthe US for ages. There are autonomous vehicles operating in lots of different environments.
@Euphemistic: These are industrial solutions. FSD is accessible to the general public with the purchase of a Tesla. There is no consumer alternative with a private vehicle.
@niknikniknik: https://www.carsguide.com.au/car-news/how-byd-is-taking-the-…
BYD, Xpeng have FSD on the cards. Tesla is no closer to full release than the others at this point
https://www.engadget.com/transportation/a-tesla-robotaxi-ine…
Tesla is doing a great job with FSD. .
@Euphemistic: No one else has a usable version of FSD other than Tesla in the US/Canada etc. So long as manufacturers progress their own proprietary FSD tech, there will be years of teething issues to solve. Tesla are doing that now. BYD and co aren't yet at a state where they have software suitable for public face, let alone the teething issues.
No one else has a usable version of FSD other than Tesla in the US/Canada etc.
Because the chinese vehicles have been tariffed out of the market?
So long as manufacturers progress their own proprietary FSD tech, there will be years of teething issues to solve. Tesla are doing that now. BYD and co aren't yet at a state where they have software suitable for public face, let alone the teething issues.
Because tesla is beta testing on the public while other makers know their stuff isnt ready yet?
Tesla is pretending they are first to market and have a good record of FSD cars crashing. The others are probably learning from this and not releasing because they dont have the same lax attitude to safety.
Move fast, break stuff silicon valley bravado is finenwhen you can just revert to yesterdays data but doesnt work well when live are at stake.
@moortoozzy: Okay, so how about the shody boddy work, and laundry list of recalls that happen with every model they release? Enjoy your Nazi car man.
@Vinodra: Funny how a genuine Nazi car (Porsche 911 and it's family of descendents) are genuinely the best cars in the world today with the best public perception for quality, reliability and sales. You're clearly clouded by emotion not reason, so buy whatever generates the least tears for you - the rest of us will focus on product value and after sales support.
…as opposed to Chinese?
Industrial Rubbish
Lost 2 world wars. Recovered to become EU's most important economy. Continues to produce some of the most essential technology for global industries incl manufacturing, energy, mining etc. The country is known for its engineering prowess, and this extends to cars.
99 Luft Ballons
Sausages
Sgt Schultz
Caved in to Trump (they aint alone there,though)
There's only one country that frightens me - that's the country of Germany. I don't know if you guys are students of history or not, but… For those of you who aren't, Germany, in the previous century - in the early part… they decided to go to war. And who did they choose to go to war with? The world. So you think that would last about five seconds and the world would (profanity) win, and that would be that. But it was actually close. And then… I don't know how that worked, but… Then 30 years pass, and Germany decides to go to war again. And, once again, they choose as their foe… the world! And now… this time, they really almost win. So at this point you would think the world would go, "Germany, you're (profanity) not a country any more, all right?" "What the (profanity)?" "You're not a country because you keep going to war with the world," and… no one does… "What do you think you are, Mars?" "Do you think you're Mars or something?"
Get a German one.
Dutifully made in … Spain, Eastern European "countries", South Africa, Argentina, China … sehr gut, meine Freunde …
Isn't Elon German enough?
Depends on what you need.
If you need a nice city runner; a Chinese EV like BYD or MG would do great. If you want something with a large boot space to carry a lot of stuff; no EV comes close to Tesla Model Y for the price.
Tesla Model 3 - I would not bother. A BYD is a much better option.
"no EV comes close to Tesla Model Y for the price."
Xpeng G6.
XPeng G6 Boot Space:
With rear seats up: 571 liters.
With rear seats folded: 1374 liters.
No frunk: The G6 does not have a front trunk (frunk).Tesla Model Y Boot Space:
Rear boot space: 854 liters (including underfloor storage).
Frunk: 117 liters (front trunk).
Total cargo space with rear seats folded: 2158 liters.An aftermarket frunk can be bought, if you require. Can't do much about the other dimensions, but coming from a Rav4 I haven't felt like I've missed out on any boot space.
@stuffandthat: Depends on the individual person needs.
For me; my kids play cricket and during cricket season; I've easily been able to put 6 adult cricket kit bags into the boot of my Model Y just in the rear space. I regularly take 4 cricket players; their gear and the club gear most weekends in summer - so for me; other cars were just not suited.
The frunk has picnic bags with snacks and food and it still leaves the underfloor storage for crap like charging cables; whatever other stuff.
I regularly take 4 cricket players; their gear and the club gear most weekends in summer
I hope you charge them.
The answer is always Toyota Camry Hybrid