Chinese EV Owners (Australia)

Buy the granny charger separate to any wallbox decision — BYD's own accessories catalogue has a 10A unit for around $350-400, genuinely certified to AS/NZS 3112, same one plenty of Atto 3 owners run. A few of the sub-$300 no-name listings look identical on spec but skip the local compliance testing. Check for the marking moulded onto the housing itself, not just printed on the box.

Get that GPO checked before you commit to running it every night long-term. A carport outlet sharing a circuit with a fridge or freezer is how switchboards end up cooked after a few months of steady draw. Doesn't need a full install, just get someone out to confirm it's not doubled up first.

BYD's own unit was backordered six weeks when I went for it. Grabbed a generic one from Autobarn to get through the wait, still running that one eight months later with no issues, for what it's worth.

How would I actually find that out without pulling the switchboard apart myself? House isn't old, only about six years, if that changes anything.

Newer builds are usually better labelled at the board, but 'usually' isn't 'always'. Twenty minute job for a sparky with a tester to trace it properly rather than just assuming the newer wiring means it's fine.

Whatever you land on, check the housing temperature on the hot days too. Mine gets properly warm to touch by afternoon up here, nobody ever mentions that bit in the reviews.

in the same boat, watching this

Ask him to show you the compliance plate before you sign off on anything else. No AS/NZS 3112 marking, no rating plate on the housing itself — that's not a portable charger, that's a fire risk with a badge stuck on it. Had two of these mystery units come through for warranty work after cooking a GPO. Buy your own, it's a $300-400 spend that'll outlast the car.

GWM's aftersales varies a lot dealer to dealer on exactly this. Some hand over a proper branded unit off the shelf, others give whatever's cheapest in the warehouse that week. Worth asking specifically which brand it actually is before you decide, not just whether one's included.

Would a decent portable one actually cope if it ends up being your only charging option most weeks? Trying to work out if that's asking too much of a granny charger or if it's genuinely fine long-term.

Took the free one on my Atto 3, no issues so far, but I've got a wallbox so it's only ever backup for me. If it's your only option day to day, wouldn't want to trust an uncertified one for that.

Is the AS/NZS 3112 marking something printed right on the charger housing, or does it usually just show up on the box it came in?

Should be moulded or printed directly onto the unit itself, not just the packaging. The box gets binned within a week, the housing marking is what you'd actually go back and check later.

Genuine question from someone still in the research phase — does a bad portable charger actually risk the car's battery itself, or is it purely the house wiring copping the consequences?

House wiring and the GPO mostly. The car's onboard charger has its own protection built in, it's your outlet and switchboard doing the suffering if the unit's dodgy, not the battery.

watching this, need to decide soon

How would I actually find out which one my specific dealer hands over before delivery day — just ask outright, or is there a better way to word it?

Ask outright and ask for the brand name specifically, not just 'is a charger included'. Salespeople will say yes to the second question without knowing the answer to the first.

Didn't realise this varied so much until reading this thread. Mine came with an actual branded one in the boot on the MG4, no drama at all on delivery day.

MG S4 comes with a proper Type 2 cable and a 10A portable in the box as standard, that's the one causing the fewest delivery-day surprises based on what's floating around owner groups. Jaecoo J5 is newer to the local market so accessory pricing isn't settled yet — budget a few hundred beyond whatever's actually in the boot. Chery varies more by dealer bundle than the other two, get the accessory list in writing before you sign anything.

Whichever one you land on, the same check applies across all three — confirm the granny charger has an actual AS/NZS 3112 marking on the housing before you rely on it daily, not just a number printed on the box. Seen people caught out across all three of the brands you've mentioned, it's not specific to one of them.

Can confirm on the MG side at least, mine's an MG4 not the S4, but cable and a portable charger were both there on delivery, no chasing needed. Didn't realise that wasn't standard across the whole segment until this thread.

Following this because I'm looking at doing whichever one through a novated lease rather than cash. Does anyone know if accessory costs like this get folded into the running cost budget, or is that always a separate out-of-pocket thing regardless?

Mine wasn't bundled, provider called it 'non-standard equipment' straight up and I paid for the charger separately outside the lease altogether. Might be different provider to provider, no idea if that's universal.

commenting so i remember to check back

When you say check the housing marking — is that something dealers will actually hand over details on if you ask, like an accessory list in writing, or do you have to push for it?

Depends on the dealer a lot more than the brand in my experience. Ask before you put a deposit down, not after — you've got more leverage at that point and they're more likely to actually put something in writing.

Good to know, will do that up front then. Is that a normal ask that dealers expect, or does it tend to put people offside asking for it that early?

No home charging option where I am at all, so whichever of these three I ended up with, the accessory situation would matter more to me than any of the driving comparisons. Following for that reason.

Nobody ever compares how these three actually handle charging in real heat, it's always the cold-weather write-ups getting all the attention. Would be curious myself, up here it matters more than the marketing suggests.

Different climate for me in Newcastle but same complaint really. Most reviews assume a fairly mild commute and don't say much about anything outside that.

Whichever one you land on, check the cable length before you rely on it day to day. Mine came with something barely long enough to reach a standard bay, learned that one the hard way.

Mine's the standard 5m on the MG4, reaches fine for street parking near me but I haven't tried squeezing it into a tight multistorey bay yet.

Does the 5m reeling in and out easily matter as much as raw length for a tight multistorey bay, or is it more about clearance around the bay itself?

Not across these three specifically, but priced accessories for a couple of sub-$40k Chinese EVs for a mate recently and the gap between what's advertised as 'included' and what actually turns up in the boot was bigger than either of us expected. Get everything in writing, matches what's being said above.

Curious whether any of the three actually specify the portable charger's continuous amp rating anywhere in the delivery paperwork, or if that's another thing you only find out by asking directly.

Not in the paperwork for any of the three from what I've seen, it's on the unit itself if it's a properly certified one. Worth asking the dealer to point it out at delivery rather than assuming it's documented anywhere.

Went through basically this exact comparison before landing on the Ora instead, different segment I know, but the 'what's actually in the box versus what you'll end up buying' question was the same one that got me. Ask dealer by dealer, not just by brand, seems to be the theme here.

watching this before we decide too