LDV defends high prices of new electric models

It’s fair to say the price of Australia’s first electric ute, the LDV eT60, has raised some eyebrows.

At $92,990 before on-road costs the EV dual-cab is more than twice as pricey as a diesel T60 Max and well above the threshold to be eligible for any state government incentives.

The Aussie pricing is also higher than what the same ute costs in New Zealand where you can buy an eT60 for NZD$79,990 drive-away.

LDV’s other new electric models, the eDeliver 9 van and Mifa 9 people-mover, also carry similarly high price tags in Australia and start at $116,537 and $106,000 respectively.

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The EV pricing lifts LDV – which is known for its budget-focused combustion models – into new territory, but the company’s Aussie boss says he’s happy with where the new vehicles are positioned.

“We’re okay with the pricing,” Dinnesh Chinnappa, LDV Australia’s general manager, told Wheels. “We believe the pricing aligns to our volume expectations. To be very clear our core business is still our internal-combustion vehicles (ICE). We’re not dependent on the EVs to keep us alive or propel the business forward, but it’s wonderful to be at this early stage and be one of the first to market.”

A key driver behind the eT60’s price is its target market. Australia’s first electric dual-cab isn’t pitched at private buyers, sole traders or small business owners. Instead, LDV says the eT60 is targeted directly at blue chip companies, fleets and all three levels of government which are looking to hit strict emissions targets. And on that front, LDV says it’s already generating an encouraging degree of interest.

“We’re holding about 80 orders across everything with a huge bias towards the eT60,” said Chinnappa. “We’re had about 600 enquires come through our website, so I’d regard that interest as being a fairly high level of interest. And that interest is coming from both private people who are just tech geeks and love technology and want to be involved. But we’re also getting decent enquiries from fleet. Of the 80 deals we’ve done, two or three are private individuals. The rest are all fleet.”

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Higher production costs are also a key contributor to the pricing of the EV models, according to LDV spokesperson Oliver Peagam.

“We understand these prices position LDV in a new realm,” he said. “But we are expanding our product portfolio to appeal to a broader group of customers. The fact is these new products and technologies cost more to produce currently and LDV is leading the way in electric commercial vehicles in Australia.

“But to be clear we are not walking away form our current core ICE business of providing new vehicles at affordable pricing. LDV is in the nice position of being able to do both: offer a range of affordable ICE vehicles and a range of segment leading electric vehicles.”

Peagam added early interest in the eDeliver 9 van has been encouragingly high. The EV van is available in a range of sizes and shares the same 88.5kWh battery as the eT60 ute, but has a lower claimed WLTP driving range of 280 kilometres.

“We’re in deep discussions with a cross section of some of Australia’s largest corporations – they’re household names – and government agencies,” Peagam said regarding the eDeliver 9.

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“And all of the tier one fleet management organisations are kicking our doors down to find out more. Some have already embarked on self-funded trials and the rest are working through their internal processes before doing likewise. All of these companies we are confident will place orders.”

LDV says it’s having similar conversations with multiple customers about ordering fleets of the eT60 dual-cab, despite the limitations of its 330km WLTP driving range, reduced towing rating and 4X2 capability.

“We have orders and active conversations with some of Australia’s most-storied companies and fleet operators who are committed to running their business in a more environmentally sound manner,” said Peagam. “I can’t name them of course, but they know the rear-drive eT60 isn’t going to cross the Nullarbor or cross the Simpson Desert and they also know the 330km [driving] range is more than adequate for what their businesses require.”

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But it’s not just who will buy LDV’s new EVs that helps to provide some context around the high pricing; it’s how they’ll buy them. Chinnappa told us LDV is currently exploring a host of new finance and leasing deals that will make the EVs more attractive from a cost perspective.

“We’ve already been contacted by a number of EV turn-key solution providers,” he said. “There are a number of people who are emerging and they’re saying: ‘We will do everything. We’ll fund the cars, we’ll fund the recharger infrastructure and we’ll fund the delivery of the electricity to your warehouse or loading docks’.

“We’re in communication with two or three of those companies already and I might be holding an order with one of those companies,” added Chinnappa. “There’s all these different business models popping up. You may not even own the car. You may not own the battery. The battery might be on lease and if it shows an issue you swap it out, it’s not your problem. All this stuff is emerging and evolving. Everyone is looking at ways to make it easier for people to get in and out of these vehicles.”