Good Car Co Pauses EV Imports: Major Shift in Business Strategy?

Good Car Co haven't publicly announced any changes to their business mode but they did quietly remove the Marketplace listings of used electric vehicles (EVs) from their website in mid 2024.

Image by - Neerav Bhatt

▶️MORE: Why should you import an electric car in Australia?

Good Car Co History

When Good Car Co began in 2019 there were hardly any EVs available in Australia, let alone affordable pre-owned options.

So Good Car Co started working with progressive councils and like-minded organisations across Australia, organising bulk buys and importing used EVs from Japan, primarily the Nissan Leaf.

Image by - Neerav Bhatt

Nissan has sold new Nissan Leaf EVs in Australia, but these were priced far too high in comparison with competitor EVs.

Good Car Co turned out to be a great success, and they sold hundreds of imported Nissan Leafs over the years, as well as occasionally other imported EV models and promoting special deals for brands like Polestar.

Image by - Neerav Bhatt

When I took a photo of a Good Car Co imported Nissan Leaf on display at the Fully Charged Live Sydney exhibition in early 2023, there weren't as yet any affordable new fully electric hatchbacks available for sale in Australia.

Then things changed. The MG4 was launched at that trade show and has been a solid seller since then. The BYD Dolphin and GWM Ora also followed.

Image by - Neerav Bhatt

Imported Nissan Leafs couldn't compete

Fast forward to mid-2024, and over 4600 MG4, BYD Dolphin, and GWM Ora electric hatchbacks in total have been purchased in Australia during the first half of the year.

These three cars all have base models priced at sub $40,000, including on-road costs.

There are many benefits of buying one of these new electric hatchbacks compared to a second-hand Nissan Leaf from Good Car Co, especially two big differences for peace of mind: a much longer driving range and long multi-year car plus battery warranty.

Besides these, the MG4, BYD Dolphin, and GWM Ora can all charge during longer trips via CCS 2 DC fast chargers, with some versions of the MG4 capable of a quite speedy 144kWh charging rate.

Nissan Leafs use the old and obsolete CHAdeMO charging port, which has a low fast charging rate of about 50kW compared to all new EVs, and I’ve noticed a lot of new DC fast charging stations either have few CHAdeMO cables or none at all.

Good Car Co Current Status

I called Good Car Co in early July to find out what the company was doing but their phone number just had a brief voice message that hung up on callers.

So I emailed Co-founder & director Anthony Broese van Groenou to ask are you changing your business model away from importing EVs? What happens to existing owners of Leafs imported by your company and their warranty support?

He replied to me as follows:

"Nothing to update you on at the moment. We're thinking about where we take Good Car Co next, but no change to the support our existing customers receive from us. We'll come back to you when we have more to share".

According to discussions on the Nissan Leaf Australia Owners group, Good Car Co customers have unofficially been told the company is not importing any more cars from Japan.

Jim said:

"I just got a reply from Anthony at Good Car in regards to sourcing a 40kw battery, so they're still selling something, because the lights are still on..."

AEVA WA's Ant Day speculated that:

"They [Good Car Co] were pitching their prices too high. And the prices dropped too fast to keep stock, which became too expensive as prices dropped. Their business model was flawed. If they had just facilitated imports, one at a time, that would have been sustainable. It still is worthwhile to import [Nissan Leafs]".

Michael commented:

"Their original business model worked, it was to get electric cars at a reasonable price and more widely purchased. They aimed to make their original business model obsolete".

Good Car Co Future Uncertain...

The Good Car Co team had their heart in the right place, helping with the fossil car to EV transition and extending the life of pre-owned EVs, but they must have realised that their imported second-hand EVs couldn't compete with a new MG4, BYD Dolphin, or GWM Ora or second-hand sales of these cars.

Good Car Co received an investment of over $10 million in late 2022 from philanthropic and investment venture Boundless, as well as Canva co-founder Cameron Adams and his wife Lisa Miller.

Hopefully, that all hasn't been spent already, and Good Car Co still has plenty of funds to change the way it operates in a new direction to continue encouraging the uptake of electric cars across Australia.