Episode 78; Quick Charge; BYD Atto 2 PHEV Confirmed, EVs Hit 21.7% and Zeekr 9X Detailed

BYD confirms an Atto 2 plug-in hybrid for Australia, potentially creating the country’s cheapest PHEV, while the electric Atto 2 Premium receives a new $2000 cashback and accessories offer.

We examine the European specifications for the Australia-bound Zeekr 9X, including its 660-kilowatt powertrain, 55-kilowatt-hour battery and nine-and-a-half-minute charging claim.

Australian battery-electric vehicles maintain more than 20 per cent market share for a second consecutive month, affordable EVs dominate the RACV’s most-searched vehicle list, and the Victorian Government releases a detailed guide for installing EV charging in apartment buildings.

YOUTUBE TIMESTAMPS

00:00 — Introduction
00:44 — BYD Atto 2 PHEV confirmed for Australia
02:58 — BYD adds $2000 Atto 2 Premium offer
05:04 — Zeekr details Australia-bound 9X
06:50 — EVs claim 21.7 per cent of July sales
10:04 — Affordable EVs dominate Australian car searches
11:15 — Victoria releases apartment-charging guide
13:46 — Outro

Disclaimer:

All specifications, pricing, and information discussed in this episode were correct at the time of recording. The electric vehicle market moves quickly, so we recommend you always check the latest details directly with manufacturers, dealers, or official sources.

This podcast provides general news and information only, based on publicly available sources and Australian Consumer Law guidelines. It is not legal, financial, or professional advice. For advice specific to your situation, please contact the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) or seek independent professional guidance.

Plugged in Australia and its hosts are not responsible for any decisions, misunderstandings, or purchases made based on the content of this show.

Sourcing & Transparency

At Plugged in Australia, all our stories are sourced from publicly available news articles and reports. We do not receive any advance information or briefings from brands or manufacturers.

Any analysis or opinions we share are based solely on this public information.

Our main sources include (though we also use many others, and they vary by episode):

• https://www.carsales.com.au/
• https://www.carexpert.com.au/
• https://thedriven.io/
• https://www.carsguide.com.au
• https://autotalk.com.au
• https://www.carsguide.com.au
• https://evcentral.com.au
• https://www.drive.com.au

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

And today, welcome to Plugged in Australia Quick Charge, the shorter version of the show for when you want the main EV news without the full deep dive. And this is episode 78 for Thursday, the 6th of August, 2026. And today, BYD confirms its ADO2 plug-in hybrid for Australia and introduces another offer on the existing electric version. We've got European specifications for the Australia-bound Zika 9X, including 660 kilowatts of power and a claimed 10-80% charging time of less than 10 minutes. Electric vehicles have also remained above 20% of the Australian market for a second consecutive month. Affordable EVs are dominating new car searches, and Victoria has released a practical guide for apartment charging. Without further ado, let's get into it. Expressions of interest have now opened, although Australian pricing and final specifications remain unconfirmed. The existing Ado2 EV starts from 31.990 before on-road costs, while the current cheapest plug-in hybrid is BYD's own Sea Lion 5 Essential at 3390. That gives BYD a fairly narrow pricing window. The British market provides an indication of the specifications Australia could receive being a fellow right-hand drive market. The entry level active combines a naturally aspirated 1.5 litre petrol engine with an electric motor and a 7.8 kWh blade battery. It produces 121 kilowatts and 300 newtonm of torque, offers 39 km of WLTP electric range, and which is 100 km per hour in 9.1 seconds. The higher specification boost increases battery capacity to 18 kWh, lifting electric range to 89 km and claimed range to 999 km. Power rises to 156 kW, torque remains at 300 Nm, and the 0 to 100 time falls to 7.5 seconds. We do not know yet whether Australia will receive both versions, or we might just get the bigger one. However, the larger battery model would make considerably more sense here because an electric range approaching 90km could cover the daily driving of many owners without using petrol at all. The Electric ADO2 has already recorded 6,615 Australian deliveries during the first seven months of 2026, and that includes 1,214 in July. Adding an affordable FEV could broaden its appeal further, particularly among buyers who want an electrified small SUV but cannot rely completely on public or home charging. The existing Battery Electric Ado 2 has also become the latest BYD to receive a promotional offer. Customers who order an Ado 2 premium by the 30th of September and then take delivery by the 31st of October can receive $2,000 through BYD's quote unquote your way promotion. The amount can be taken as cashback or applied to selected accessories, car care products, merchandise, and charging equipment. The exact selection depends on the participating BYD dealer and needs to be confirmed when the vehicle is ordered. The offer only applies to the Atto 2 premium, which normally starts at $3590 before on-road costs. Using the full amount as cashback effectively offsets the price by two grand, bringing it close to $33.99 before on roads. That leaves it only $2,000 above the entry-level dynamic. Both versions use a 51.3 kilowatt hour blade battery and a 130kW front motor. The Ado 2 produces 290 newtonm, reaches 100km per hour in 7.9 seconds, and has a claimed range of 345km. The premium adds features including a 12.8 inch rotating touchscreen, wireless phone charging, an 8-speaker audio system, a power adjustable heated and ventilated front seats, a panoramic glass roof, and a 360-degree camera. Timing's interesting because of the recently announced Ado2 DMI, which is going to be due in September, as I mentioned before. The BYD may be encouraging buyers to take existing electric premium stock before the new plug-in hybrid gives customers another similarly sized option. Generally, when a car maker does an incentive like this and specifies it only on a particular model, that means they got too much stock of it, or that's the model that they can get plenty of. There's no constraints on it, so they're like, well, let's just sell as many as we possibly can because the factory will give us as many as we want, no dramas. So you usually it's either one of those two options. It's also another example of how Australia's EV price war has expanded beyond permanent list price reductions into cashback, driveway pricing, finance deals, and charging equipment offers. Zika has detailed the European version of its enormous 9X extended range SUV, providing our clearest indication yet of what Australia could receive. The 9X has already been confirmed for Australia, although local specification variants and pricing have yet to be finalised. Zika has previously indicated that it would arrive late 2026 or early 2027. And the European 9X Ultra combines a turbocharged 2-litre petrol engine with two electric motors and a 55.1 kWh NMC battery. Combined output is 660kW 935 Nm of torque. Zika claims the nearly 2.9 ton SUV can do the 0 to 100 kmh dash in 4.1 seconds and go on to a top speed of 240 kmh. Preliminary European figures gives it 179 km of electric range and 737 km of combined range. Its 900 volt electrical system supports DC charging at up to 330 kW. Zika claims a 10-80% charge can be completed in 9.5 minutes under ideal conditions. An 11kW onboard AC charger can take the battery from 10 to 100% in about 5.5 hours. The 6-seat interior uses a 2 plus 2 plus 2 configuration and includes two 16-inch OLED screens, a 47-inch augmented reality heads-up display, a folding 17-inch rear screen, and a 32-speaker Naum audio system. There is also dual chamber air suspension, active noise cancellation, napper leather, second row captain's chairs, and an 8.6 litre refrigerator. The Chinese market hyper goes even further using three electric motors to produce 1,030 kilowatts and 1410 Nm Wowzers. Obviously, whether Australia receives that version is unknown, but whichever variant arrives, the 9X appears intended to challenge full-size European luxury SUVs while offering performance and technology normally associated with much more expensive vehicles. Australia recorded its strongest July on record for new vehicle deliveries, with battery electric vehicles accounting for more than one in every five vehicles sold. So combining the figures we mentioned in our last episode from the Electric Vehicle Council, which is Tesla and Polster, combining those with the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, who published the monthly VFAX, which is everybody else, we got 108,577 new vehicles delivered during May in total, total market. Of those, 23,510 were battery electric, giving BEVs a 21.7% share of the overall market. Now that follows a 23.5% share in June, meaning battery EVs have remained above 20% for two consecutive months now. Plug-in hybrids added another 10,359 deliveries. So combined battery EVs and FEVs represented approximately 31% of the market. Year to date, Australians have purchased 127,244 battery electric vehicles, representing 17.3% of all new vehicle deliveries. Toyota remaining King of the Castle, so to speak, with 20,409 sales in July. BYD finished second overall for the third consecutive month with 7,857 ahead of Ford, Kia, and Mazda. Tesla finished seven with 4,778 deliveries. The Toyota Rap4 returned to the top of the individual model rankings with 5,564 sales. And Toyota says approximately 39% of those with a new plug-in hybrid. That's pretty cool. The Toyota Hilux finished second with 4,721, followed by the Tesla Model Y with 4,644, and lastly Ford Ranger 4,042. The BYD Sea Lion 7 recorded 2,548 deliveries, placing two battery EVs within Australia's five best-selling vehicles for the month. The Gili EX5 followed with 2,034, while the Zika 7X achieved its strongest result yet with 1,892. I am seeing a lot more of those Zekas on the road now. The JQ J5 added 1654, and the BYD Ad 02, 1214, and Key EV3 804. I think the important point is that growth is no longer being carried solely by Tesla and BYD. Several brands are now delivering electric vehicles in meaningful volume. Two consecutive months above 20%. It really doesn't guarantee every future month will remain at that level, but it's becoming increasingly difficult to dismiss Australia's EV growth as a temporary shipment spike. Some new data from the RACV suggests affordable electric vehicles are attracting considerable interest from Australian car buyers. Well, obviously, with those fake VFAX figures there. Electric models occupied all five positions on the RACV's most searched new vehicle list, with four of those wearing BYD badges. The ADO1 generated the most searches, Australia's cheapest new EV starts from $23.990 before on-road costs, placing it within the price range of conventional petrol-powered city cars. The ADO 2 finished second, followed by the C Line 7, the Dolphin was fourth, and the MG4 rounded off the top five. And the obvious theme here, I think, is the price. Four of the five models are compact EVs priced around or below the mid-30,000 dollar mark. The C Line 7 is the exception, but it has attracted buyers by offering family SUV space and strong equipment from $54,990. Interestingly, the Tesla Model Y did not appear in the top five despite remaining Australia's best-selling electric model. Now those RACV figures only represent searches conducted through its own car search service, so you've got to treat them as such and not as a complete survey of every Australian buyer. And searches also don't automatically convert into sales. Even so, the results suggest that the falling entry price of electric vehicles is getting people's attention. For many buyers, the discussion is no longer about purchasing an expensive EV primarily because of its technology. It's increasingly about comparing a $24,000 or $32,000 electric car with a similarly priced petrol car and deciding which one will be cheaper and easier to own. The Victorian government has released a detailed guide to help owners' corporations install electric vehicle charging in apartment buildings. Home charging is one of the biggest advantages of owning an EV, but apartment residents can face technical, legal, and financial obstacles that do not exist for most detached homes. The new 34-page guide recommends that owners' corporations develop an overall EV strategy rather than approving individual installations without considering the building's future requirements. It divides the process into three connected frameworks. The technical framework examines electrical capacity, infrastructure constraints, charging equipment, and load management options. The commercial framework considers how installation, maintenance, and electricity costs should be allocated. The legal framework covers approvals, common property, documentation, and compliance within Victorian Owners Corporation legislation. The guide also compares ordinary socket outlets with dedicated chargers, discusses metering and billing systems, and explains how dynamic load management can allow multiple vehicles to share the building's available electrical capacity. Importantly, it doesn't assume every apartment building needs to install a charger in every parking space yesterday. Possible approaches include installing a complete charging backbone, staging infrastructure as demand increases, approving limited initial work that remains compatible with future expansion, or deferring installation where the building is not quite ready yet. Although the legal information is specific to Victoria, the broader technical and commercial advice is relevant across Australia. As always, let me know which of these stories you would like to add to the weekly deep dive. My initial thoughts are the apartment charging and then possibly about the Zika 9X, but not necessarily just about the 9X, just about plug-in hybrids that have bigger batteries than some of the initial BEVs even had, and faster charging than some EVs have now on the market. I might uh dive into those, but those are the two that I'm thinking about now. If there's any other ones that you think of, please do let me know. Any feedback, info at plugged inastralia.com.au. And as always, thank you so much for listening. Until the next time, stay plugged in and stay charged. Chevy the ammo.