Australians will have three electric vehicle options under $40,000 after another automaker dropped the price of its next-generation car in the country.

GWM revealed plans to cut $4000 from the asking price of its Ora electric car on Wednesday, just weeks after the vehicle began arriving in the country.

The reduction will put the vehicle’s price tag $1100 higher than the cheapest electric car launched in Australia, the BYD Dolphin, and $1000 more than its nearest rival, the MG4.

The price cut also arrived as Australia recorded its highest sales for electric cars, with the vehicles representing 8.8 per cent of all new models sold in June, according to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.

GWM announced price cuts across its Ora electric vehicle range shortly after the cars arrived in showrooms, citing a fall in the cost of battery materials and “other factors”.

The price reduction will bring the cost of its entry-level vehicle to $39,990.

“The costs of battery technology – the largest single contributing component in EV cost – has fallen recently due to lower raw material prices,” the company said in a statement.

The announcement comes two weeks after the launch of Australia’s cheapest electric vehicle, the BYD Dolphin, at $38,890, which is expected to arrive in Australia this October.

EV Direct chief executive Luke Todd said Australians had placed more than 1000 pre-orders for the Dolphin since its June 22 announcement.

The BYD brand will also launch “megastores” in Sydney and Brisbane to show off and demonstrate the vehicle and others from the brand, he said, as well as BYD Service and Fulfilment Centres.

The expansion follows a second investment from BYD investor Eagers Automotive.

“We’re in a very unique period of time where a day in the life of EV technology and development is equivalent to about five years in the automotive industry,” Mr Todd said.

“We want to demonstrate to more Australian consumers the technology and the safety.

“Electric vehicles are not the future – they’re the present.”

While the sub-$40,000 vehicles have yet to show up in sales figures, Australia recorded its highest rate of electric car sales in June, also released on Wednesday.

Battery electric cars made up 8.8 per cent of all vehicles sold during the month, up from 1.1 per cent in June last year.

The cars made up 7.4 per cent of all new vehicles sold in Australia in the first six months of the year.

The best-selling electric car in the country, Tesla’s Model Y, also defeated the Ford Ranger to become second best-selling vehicle, second only to the Toyota HiLux.

Chamber chief executive Tony Weber said the arrival of electric vehicles “across all model segments” and “at prices the mainstream buyers can afford” was critical to growing the market.

Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson
(Australian Associated Press)