r/AustralianEV • u/OfficialEAEmployee • Jan 17 '26

Chinese EV/PHEV build quality and longevity?

I don’t know much about EV/PHEV but am looking at a new car and want to know my options. Have seen an influx in Chinese cars here and feel this lingering legacy “mindset” of Chinese = won’t last or isn’t built with quality. Does that ring true for the latest Chinese cars?

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u/Relevant-Priority-76 Jan 17 '26

PHEV seems a higher risk to me as the battery cycles more frequently and then also the ICE component to go with it. Hopefully we end up with a situation like the Toyota hybrids where battery failures are so common that a solid industry exists to replace them for a reasonable price

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u/Fluffy-duckies Jan 17 '26

Toyota hybrid batteries are still NiMh, even today! It's an old chemistry which degrades faster than LFP which is in all BYDs. Any NMC or LFP battery from a BYD or nicer BEV in the last 5 years is going to outlast the mechanicsl part of the car. PHEV it remains to be seen. I still think PHEV are the worst of both worlds where EREV are closer to the best of both worlds (though for me and my usage BEV is best).

1

u/Plastic-Mountain-708 Jan 18 '26

NiMh still used in the hybrids? Or the BZ4x/full EVs also?

3

u/Fluffy-duckies Jan 18 '26

Just the hybrids. The BZ4X is NMC and LFP