BYD launches affordable Dolphin EV in Japan to unlock market dominated by Toyota
China’s largest automaker, BYD, is set to take on Toyota on its home turf. BYD launched the all-electric Dolphin hatchback starting at ¥3.63 million ($24,570) in Japan Wednesday as it looks to take on Toyota head-on.
The Chinese automaker introduced the Dolphin EV at a launch event in Tokyo on Wednesday. Powered by a 70 kWh battery, the base model provides a range of 250 miles (400 km).
The extended-range variant offers up to 295 miles (476 km) range with a 150 Wh battery pack. It will cost around ¥4 million ($27,080).
Although BYD has rapidly expanded its brand in China and overseas markets, the automaker (like many foreign companies) has gained little traction in Japan.
Domestic automakers dominate Japan’s auto market, including Toyota, Honda, and Nissan. Imported vehicles accounted for just 6% of the market, according to data from Bloomberg senior auto analyst Tatsuo Yoshida. Most of them are luxury cars from Porsche, BMW, and Mercedes.
The Dolphin will join BYD’s Atto 3 (Yuan Plus in China) electric SUV launched in Japan in January as the second EV model in the region.
The Atto 3 starts at ¥4.4 million ($29,800) but has yet to compete with Nissan’s LEAF, starting at ¥4.1 million ($27,800). That said, BYD has sold around 700 Atto 3 models in Japan since launching.
BYD Dolpin EV to take on Toyota in Japan
Toyota, one of the biggest laggards in the EV transition, still dominates its home market.
Last year, Toyota sold around 1.25 million vehicles in Japan, more than twice as many as the runner-up Suzuki, with just over 600,000.
Although Japan is the third largest auto market globally, it still largely favors hybrid vehicles. Toyota’s Yaris was the best-selling car for the third year straight, while the Corolla placed second.
Outside of Toyota, Nissan, and Honda were the only brands with passenger vehicles in the top ten in 2022. The top three foreign brands included Volkswagen (Porsche), Mercedes-Benz, and BMW.
BYD plans to expand the brand in Japan with plans to open 100 dealerships and showrooms by 2025. Meanwhile, the Chinese automaker aims to launch its SEAL electric sedan in the region by early next year.
The move comes after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a probe into Chinese EVs, claiming “their price is kept artificially low by huge state subsidies.”
BYD and several other Chinese automakers made their presence known at the IAA Mobility Show in Munich. Automakers from China doubled their presence at the event over the past two years.
BYD showed off six electric models, including the SEAL and SEAL U, aimed at European buyers. The SEAL starts at 45,000 euros ($48,000) with up to 570 km (354 miles) range.
Electrek’s Take
Toyota may still have the edge (for now), but as buyers in Japan transition over to EVs, they will realize the benefits of going all-electric.
EVs offer superior technology, advanced drivetrains, smoother rides, instant acceleration, and much more than ICE-powered (or hybrid) cars could only dream of. The transition took Europe by surprise as Chinese electric vehicles are taking market share away from domestic automakers, which have also notoriously dominated their markets.
The same could happen in Japan. BYD’s Dolphin EV will compete head-on with Toyota’s top-selling Yaris.
With advanced tech, added features, and an affordable starting price, the Dolphin is ready to make its mark in the world’s third-largest auto market.
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British Columbia got its first 400 kW DC fast charger last week at Canadian C-store chain On The Run, but that’s not the good part. As part of a limited time offer, these chargers are FREE!
The Canadian convenience store chain just took the wraps off its new, ABB-developed, 400 kW chargers earlier this month, but they’re already planning to bring the ultra-fast 400 kW dispensers to at least four more locations in BC this spring, and have them online just in time for the summer road trip season – something On The Run hopes its customers will appreciate.
“The A400 charger delivers an enhanced customer experience, with reliability and performance from a 32-inch screen to higher power charging sessions and power sharing,” reads the company’s official announcement, via LinkedIn. “Download the Journie Rewards app to start the charge – free for a limited time.”
On The Run’s new 400 kW ABB DC fast chargers are compatible with CCS and CHAdeMO plugs, and can accommodate Tesla and other NACS-equipped vehicles with an adapter. That said, the company seems to imply that Tesla drivers in particular will have a maximum charging speed of “just” 50 kW, which feel hilarious (given the current state of affairs between Tesla and the Canadian government), but probably isn’t.
In addition to the ABB A400 400 kW units shown here, On The Run locations also employ the ABB Terra 184 dispensers rated at 180 kW. On The Run plans similar deployments at the four BC locations mentioned above, as well as two more each in Quebec and Ontario slated to go live towards the end of this year.
Electrek’s Take
Tesla’s controversial CEO Elon Musk once mocked 350 kW charging speed as being “for a child’s toy,” despite the fact that, nearly nine years later, his own cars and Superchargers can barely make it to 325 kW while others have sailed right on past. I made fun of that fact on the Quick Charge episode shown, above – and, while I do think it’s funny and relevant, the much more relevant piece of news here is that companies like BP Pulse, Revel, and Wallbox are actively deploying 400 kW solutions, today (while others hit the same mark as far back as 2017).
It’s just a fact: Tesla has fallen way behind.
SOURCE | IMAGES: On The Run, via Electric Autonomy.
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Terawatt Infrastructure‘s first medium- and heavy-duty electric charging truck stop in California is now online, in Rancho Dominguez.
Located 12 miles north of the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, the private Rancho Dominguez site, which is shared among multiple fleets, will support electric trucking fleet operations in and out of the largest container ports in the US.
First customers include Dreaded Trucking, Hight Logistics, PepsiCo, Quick Container Drayage, Southern Counties Express, Tradelink Transport, and WestCoast Trucking & Warehousing.
Terawatt’s electric charging truck stop features 20 pull-through and bobtail DC fast charging stalls with a capacity of 7 megawatts (MW), enabling charging for up to 125 trucks per day using a simple reservations system. Terawatt’s site features a proprietary charge management system, in-house technicians, 24/7 customer service, and onsite parts management.
“This launch underscores growing collaboration between enterprises, shippers, carriers, and charging infrastructure providers to advance sustainable technologies across logistics and transportation operations, especially in the medium and heavy-duty sectors,” said Neha Palmer, CEO and cofounder of Terawatt. Palmer added that the company will bring another charging site online in Rialto, California, in June.
Terawatt joined some of the world’s largest shippers and carriers in September 2024 to launch the I-10 Consortium heavy-duty EV operations pilot, the “first-ever US over-the-road electrified corridor.” Terawatt is providing charging infrastructure, including software, operations, and maintenance support at six of its owned charging hubs along the I-10 corridor.
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In its most aggressive attack against offshore wind yet, the Trump administration halted the $5 billion Empire Wind 1, already under construction off New York’s coast.
Norwegian developer Equinor announced yesterday that it received notice from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) ordering Empire Wind 1 to halt all activities on the outer continental shelf until BOEM has completed its review. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum posted this tweet yesterday:
Burgum gave no indication of what insufficiencies there were in the approval process for the fully permitted offshore wind project, despite Trump’s recent declaration of a national energy emergency that speeds up permitting processes.
The commercial lease for the 810-megawatt (MW) Empire Wind 1’s federal offshore wind area was signed in March 2017 during the first Trump administration. It was approved by the Biden administration in November 2023 and began construction in 2024.
The project is being developed under contract with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). Empire Wind 1, which was due to come online in 2027, has the potential to power 500,000 New York homes.
“Halting construction of fully permitted energy projects is the literal opposite of an energy abundance agenda,” said American Clean Power Association CEO Jason Grumet in a statement. “We encourage the administration to quickly address perceived inadequacies in the prior permit approvals so that this project can complete construction and bring much-needed power to the grid.”
As Electrek reported, Equinor secured $3 billion to finance Empire Wind 1 in January. The total amount drawn under the project finance term loan facility as of March 31 was around $1.5 billion.
As of March 31, Empire Wind has a gross book value of around $2.5 billion, including South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (pictured above), which was expected to become the US’s largest dedicated port facility for offshore wind.
In response to BOEM’s stop work order, New York Governor Kathy Hochul issued the following statement:
Every single day, I’m working to make energy more affordable, reliable and abundant in New York and the federal government should be supporting those efforts rather than undermining them. Empire Wind 1 is already employing hundreds of New Yorkers, including 1,000 good-paying union jobs as part of a growing sector that has already spurred significant economic development and private investment throughout the state and beyond.
As Governor, I will not allow this federal overreach to stand. I will fight this every step of the way to protect union jobs, affordable energy and New York’s economic future.
Equinor says it’s considering appealing BOEM’s order.
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