Chinese brand BYD plotting electric ute to be built in Australia

EXCLUSIVE: Australians could soon have a home-grown EV ute that would be a spiritual replacement to the Fords and Holdens that once ruled the paddocks and suburbs.

Chinese car maker BYD is secretly developing an electric ute that could one day be manufactured locally.

As it looks to mount a major assault on the Australian car market, BYD importer Nexport has confirmed an electric ute is currently under development.

And it’s on the wish list for Australia.

Nexport managing director Luke Todd told EV Central development of the top-secret new EV ute is already under way.

“We have a pick-up style vehicle in prototype stage,” confirmed Todd, cautioning that it will not arrive in the next few years but is part of a longer term EV play.

For now, the focus from Nexport is on establishing BYD as a brand in Australia, something that kicks off within months.

But as part of the longer-term vision, BYD has plans to manufacture vehicles locally, something it flagged in 2020.

BYD importer Nexport has already purchased land near Moss Vale, south of Sydney, with plans to establish an engineering and manufacturing hub that could eventually build the EV ute.

“We’re [Nexport] 100 percent Australian owned, we’re an Australian business, we all live in Australia, we’ve all grown up with utes and so it’s something we would love to bring to market when it’s viable and suitable to do so,” said Todd.

“Ideally, that would be the first vehicle that we would love to have local production for.

“There’s a lot of a lot of work to be done before that happens.”

Electric utes are nothing new, at least in the realm of soon-to-arrive vehicles. More than a dozen brands – including Ford, Rivian, Tesla, Hummer, Lordstown, Bollinger and Chevrolet – are currently working on pick-up trucks powered purely by electricity.

None are yet on sale in Australia, but Tesla is taking orders for its Cybertruck, Chevrolet is expected to consider a promised electric pick-up for Australia as part of its local distribution through GMSV and hard-charging Rivian – which featured on the motorcycle adventure series Long Way Up with Hollywood actor Ewan McGregor – has Australia on its hit list.