BYD is on a roll in China proper now, with 35% larger gross sales year-over-year and 7 out of the ten hottest automobiles in China final month. It’s always increasing its lineup, and the most recent and most attractive addition is the BYD Seal 06 GT, a hatchback that not solely appears to be like sporty but in addition guarantees to ship a driving expertise to match.
It’s the manufacturing model of the BYD Ocean-M idea, and it’s constructed on a brand new platform referred to as e-Platform 3.0 Evo (an evolution of e-Platform 3.0), whose huge innovation is that it includes a structural battery pack. The Seal 06 GT is about the identical measurement as a Kia EV6, however it sits decrease to the bottom, and there’s no trace of crossover in its design.
Gross sales of the mannequin will begin in China within the third quarter of the 12 months, however Chinese language media says this can be a mannequin largely aimed on the European market the place it gained’t have a direct hatchback rival its measurement that isn’t a crossover. Its closest opponents in Europe would be the smaller Volkswagen ID.3 and MG4, which have seen some gross sales success, and BYD is clearly making an attempt to faucet right into a section that appears fashionable however gives a bigger and extra posh car.
Will probably be fascinating to see if the brand new European import duties imposed on vehicles manufactured in China will impression BYD’s plan to carry the brand new hatchback to the continent.
The bottom single-motor rear-wheel-drive Seal 06 GT has a peak energy output of 214 horsepower. The twin-motor all-wheel-drive model provides a 147-hp entrance drive unit for a mixed output of 415 horsepower. That’s a powerful determine for the section, however it’s barely lower than what the MG4 Xpower gives.
BYD hasn’t launched efficiency knowledge, however the dual-motor model ought to be capable of hit 62 mph (100 km/h) in somewhat over 4 seconds.
Base fashions will obtain a 59.52 kilowatt-hour pack, whereas higher-spec variations will get a 72.96 kWh pack. These are good for 313 and 375 miles of claimed vary on the optimistic Chinese language take a look at cycle, the CLTC. The extra life like WLTP take a look at cycle utilized in Europe will carry down these vary estimates by at the very least 10%.
When BYD unveiled the Ocean-M idea, it introduced that for the manufacturing mannequin, it was focusing on a value vary of 150,000 to 200,000 yuan, roughly between $21,000 and $28,000. Extra particulars are anticipated to be shared with the BYD Seal 06 GT because it makes its official debut on the Chengdu Auto Present, which begins on August 30.