Choice of EV's

  • Steve6371's Avatar
    I need some help to make a decision on which EV to have as my company car. Options Tesla 3 or BYD Seal. What's everyone's thoughts?
  • 8 Replies

  • Rolebama's Avatar
    I have heard too many negatives about Teslas.Questions about who actually 'owns' it when you've bought it, and built in failures of some components. Only hearsay and anecdotal admittedly, but I am not aware of any statements denying allegations. There are too many incidents reported factually to deny that Tesla have got problems.
    As to BYD, I had never heard of them until I heard an ad on the radio, and visited their website out of curiosity. I did notice they keep your personal data 'secure', which just begs the question of why do they want to collect it?
  • Beelzebub's Avatar
    I have heard too many negatives about Teslas.Questions about who actually 'owns' it when you've bought it, and built in failures of some components. Only hearsay and anecdotal admittedly, but I am not aware of any statements denying allegations. There are too many incidents reported factually to deny that Tesla have got problems.
    As to BYD, I had never heard of them until I heard an ad on the radio, and visited their website out of curiosity. I did notice they keep your personal data 'secure', which just begs the question of why do they want to collect it?
    Tesla have been the victim of more than their share of conspiracy theories, probably because of Musk's divisive personality and behaviour.

    As for BYD, you'll probably find similar data security statements from every manufacturer.
  • Drivingforfun's Avatar
    I'd never really considered BYD, I always just lumped it in as like Ssangyong i.e. cheap cars for people who don't really care, but I seem to be totally wrong... the BYD Seal seems very high tech, has loads of stuff as standard that is optional on the Model 3, is generally quicker than any Tesla at the same price point, better range, costs about £5k more but for me seems £5k well spent

    I guess you might favour the Tesla for the brand or the interior, both of which are subjective?
  • Drivingforfun's Avatar
    As for personal data I have an extension that shows me which sites have requested to track me (a tracker tracker?) and often the sites which you may consider more reputable or trustworthy are at the top of the list when ordered by the amount of trackers they have requested to put on my computer ... BBC, newspapers and such ... multiple automobile sites are frequently near the top for some reason
  • Mark07's Avatar
    Community Manager
    I don't know too much about BYD, but I saw they sponsored the Euro's during the summer.

    Supposedly, the German motoring industry weren't thrilled to see their cities awash with officials being driven around in Chinese cars.
  • Drivingforfun's Avatar
    @Mark07

    I'm finding the transition to EVs quite interesting in the sense that it seems to be causing a kind of "reset" of which brands are considered "good"

    Lots of the nice German brands are selling cars with quite poor ranges and things (perhaps trying to hope their brand will sell itself?) and brands like Kia and MG and even new Chinese brands as above are coming along with very respectable offerings
  • Mark07's Avatar
    Community Manager
    (IMO) Kia were a disruptor in the motoring industry. They were the first car company that I remember to offer a 7-year warranty's as standard, and their cars were significantly cheaper than the traditional brands.

    Now, I see so many Sportage's on the road, not to mention their other models, that I think they're now fully established. I guess that is why their prices are more closely aligned to industry norms. Based on the styling, I expect to see their EV3 and 9 ranges will be super-popular in coming years.

    I don't want to get too political, but China is the market leader in the renewable energy industry (solar, battery production, wind), I can only imagine that their brands are benefiting from this and will start to breakthrough.

    As you say, the traditional brands (BMW, Merc, Ford etc) may need to rely on their brand recognition until they can catch up.

    Am I overlooking anything?