It’s a Battle of the Budget EVs. Who will Come out on top?
So I’ve rounded up three of the most affordable electric cars you can buy in New Zealand right now and put them through their paces. The contenders? The MG4 51 Excite, the BYD Dolphin Standard Range, and the Great Wall Ora. The mission was simple: find out which one has the best tech, the most range, and most affordable. It’s a proper budget EV shootout, and spoiler alert: things got competitive. The Ora wins on price, the MG4 wins on range at 350km per charge and is simply the most fun to drive. The Dolphin meanwhile wins on tech with its massive rotating 12.8-inch screen, built-in karaoke, Tinder (yes, really), and a vehicle-to-load adapter thrown in for free. It also took the most points overall, which means if you’re the kind of person who makes rational decisions, that’s probably your car.
But here’s the thing. After all the cornering tests, boot space comparisons, potato storage ratings (yes, PSC is a real metric), and one very sweaty back in the Ora’s faux-felt seats, I’ll be real with you: they’re all genuinely decent machines. My wallet’s screaming Ora, my brain’s saying Dolphin, and my heart’s already got an MG4 parked in the driveway. Whichever one tickles your fancy, go test drive it and just don’t blame me when you drive off in it.
