China’s biggest EV manufacturer is investigating retail and rideshare opportunities to put its passenger vehicles on Canadian roads

In bold defiance of Canada’s consideration of increasing tariffs on Chinese-made vehicles, BYD is making plans to enter the Canadian electric passenger vehicle market.

The China-based automaker already sells electric buses and trucks in both Canada and the U.S. Moving into the passenger EV market — through retail, initially, and then a rideshare program with Uber — would be a big step for BYD.

In federal and Ontario lobbyist registry documents filed in July (first reported by Automotive News), BYD states as a new lobbying goal, “To advise the government of Canada on matters related to the expected market entry of BYD into Canada for the sale of passenger electric vehicles, and the establishment of a new business, and the application of tariffs on EVs.”

Then, just a few days later, BYD and Uber released a joint statement announcing a “partnership designed to bring 100,000 new BYD electric vehicles onto the Uber platform across key global markets.”

The rideshare program would begin in Europe and Latin America, expanding into the Middle East, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

An unfriendly retail market

BYD’s moves come against a backdrop of an increasingly hostile North American market toward the import of made-in-China passenger EVs.

Earlier this year, the U.S. announced a 100 per cent tariff on passenger Chinese vehicles. Canada concluded consultations on the matter on Aug. 1 and will release a decision about any tariffs it might impose.

Industry stakeholders — like the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association — argue in favour of a strong tariff on Chinese vehicle imports. The reasons include unfair competition, unscrupulous supply chains and oversupply that would drown the fledging EV industry in North America.

China is already the second-largest supplier of EV imports into Canada.

According to federal figures, $2.2 billion worth of made-in-China EVs (all classes) came into Canada in 2023. That is a jump from $84.4 million in 2022.

“There is a risk that China’s unfair support for the EV sector, if left unchecked, could lead to an exponential surge of imports that will adversely affect planned EV investments and the transformation of Canada’s automotive sector,” reads the government’s consultation brief.

Differing industry opinions

Electric Mobility Canada (EMC) represents 180 members of the auto industry across Canada. It made a submission as part of the government’s tariff consultation that supports the measure with provisions.

“Any import surtax should be applied equally to internal combustion vehicles, as well as electric vehicles assembled in China. There is no environmental value to keeping out Chinese EVs but allowing internal combustion vehicles manufactured in China to replace the EV supply,” reads the EMC submission, exclusively provided to Electric Autonomy.

“In exchange for this program, the Ontario government should be required to supply EV incentives for light duty vehicles to make sure that EVs are affordable in that province.”

EMC also recommends putting a time limit of three years on the tariff.

This is “to allow affected EV manufacturers sufficient time to adjust their production plans…[and] provide OEMs fair warning that they need to address issues of affordability and be prepared for competition.”

It also recommends that no tariff should apply to made-in-China EV components.

However, some advocates believe imposing extra tariffs on Chinese EVs may keep affordable zero-emission vehicles out of the hands of consumers and ultimately slows the transition to clean mobility.

“Putting unjustified conditions on imports, without measures to mitigate the impact on consumers, could limit Canadian access to lower-cost EVs,” reads a press release from Clean Energy Canada.

“Reducing competition not only means fewer models are available, it also removes market incentives for other automakers to build cheaper EVs, making it harder for Canadians to unlock the huge fuel and maintenance savings that come with going electric. In short, the federal government should support Canada’s EV industry without shielding it from competition that would benefit consumers.”

BYD did not respond to multiple requests for comment from Electric Autonomy regarding its plans to retail its passenger EVs in Canada.

BYD-Uber rideshare

Happening in tandem with BYD’s near-term desire to sell its passengers cars in Canada is a longer-term plan to have a BYD-Uber vehicle rideshare program here.

“Uber drivers are going electric five times faster than private car owners. [T]he price of EVs and availability of financing remain the key barriers to switching,” reads a press release from Uber announcing the launch of the two companies’ partnership.

“By working together, the companies aim to bring down the total cost of EV ownership for Uber drivers, accelerating the uptake of EVs on the Uber platform globally.”

Uber and BYD haven’t given a timeline for when their rideshare program would launch in Canada.

They do indicate an interest to “collaborate” on incorporating autonomous technology into the fleet.

“As the largest on-demand mobility and delivery platform in the world, Uber is well-positioned to bring autonomous vehicle technology to a global audience at scale,” reads the release.

BYD and Uber did not respond to requests for comment from Electric Autonomy regarding the ridesharing program.