Who is spending $100k on an electric LDV?

Chinese brand LDV raised eyebrows when it announced trams, vans and passenger vans would have a list price of around AU$100,000.

The company makes no secret of the fact that it does not target private buyers with eT60, eDeliver 9 carsAnd MIFA transports 9 people for that price though. Instead, it focuses on commercial fleets.

Six months later, we have some data on how well that strategy worked.

So far in 2023, local distributor Ateco has delivered 27 examples of eT60, 7 examples of MIFA 9 and 12 examples of eDeliver 9.

While those numbers aren’t close to what LDV is seeing from its diesel products, local general manager Dinesh Chinnappa said the brand is pleased with the progress of its electric vehicle rollout.

“What we thought was going to happen is actually happening,” Mr. Chinnappa said. CarExpert.

“When it comes to commercial vehicles, they’re not really for parents – the parents who buy at this point, or the small business buyers, are not the primary buyers of a commercial vehicle running. by electricity.

“There are one or two private buyers, but when we stand in front of dealers we say ‘this is an electric truck or electric pickup’; it could be the big Australian public companies… or they are the government.”

Along with Woolworths, which last week confirmed it will use the eDeliver 9 chassis as the basis for its electric delivery vehicles, the brand says it is working with a number of Australian companies – including Both mining companies are interested in the T60 electric vehicle.

Part of that process is figuring out how an electric vehicle fits into their existing processes, what infrastructure needs to change, and whether those changes are worth making. As you’d expect, it’s not a simple thing to do.

“They all have to sit back; start the process, start the journey to electrification and find the infrastructure to do it,” said Mr. CarExpert.

“If you go to the Ateco office tomorrow and say you are going to put 30 trucks in the area and they will all need to be charged, there is not enough electricity in the local area to bring it in here.

“Someone has to solve it all… None of this is earth breaking, but it takes time – and people don’t know what they don’t know when they get into the process.

“This entire testing process is a necessary part of what I call ‘phase one’ of the commercial vehicle market electrification.”

Competitors for the brand’s electric cars are unlikely to appear in Australia.

No factory power supply matches the eT60, although the aftermarket is working to fill that gap, while the eDeliver 9 goes head-to-head with Ford eTransit… but nothing else at this stage.

MIFA 9 has some competition from Mercedes-Benz, but EQV is significantly more expensive.

Mr. Chinnappa said LDV’s advantage over those competitors, along with those to come, will become stronger as the electric commercial vehicle market accelerates.

“Perhaps the difference between us and some others is that we are laying the foundation stones regarding the preparation for electrification,” he said. CarExpert.

“When we launched, we couldn’t let every dealer sell and service electric cars. We have to get our agents ready.

“Technicians need to take a training course to make sure they understand how to work with high voltage systems. Dealers must have special tools and special safety requirements. You can’t just flip a switch and increase EV overnight.

“What we are trying to do at the moment is use our market leadership to implement all the lessons. Ready for life, ready yourself… for when it explodes [of demand] happens, which I believe will happen, we’ll just sit there.”