Hybrid BYD Seal enters the market, it only looks like an electric one

The European premiere of the BYD Seal electric business sedan took place at the Munich Motor Show (it debuted in China last year) and here its sales began, the price in Germany is from 44,900 euros. In China, meanwhile, a completely different, more affordable plug-in hybrid BYD Seal DM-i entered the market — we tell you what is known about it.

The Seal sedan belongs to the so-called BYD ocean line, its name is translated from English into Russian as “seal”. The electric Seal is built on a modular e-platform 3.0 trolley with 800-volt architecture, it is selling quite cheerfully in China, 54,147 units were sold in the first three quarters of this year, and now the plug-in hybrid Seal DM- has come to the rescue. i, which, as it turns out, is a completely different model. Actually, last spring, during the premiere at the Shanghai Motor Show, the hybrid sedan was called BYD Destroyer 07, but then it was called Seal DM-i for marketing reasons, with that name it went on sale in China today.

1/2 2/2Overall length BYD Seal DM-i — 4980 mm, width — 1890 mm, height — 1495 mm, wheelbase — 2900 mm. For comparison, here are the key dimensions of a purely electric «seal»: length — 4800 mm, width — 1875 mm, height — 1460 mm, wheelbase — 2920 mm. As you can see, the sizes are different, and different proportions of the bodies of the same-named models are visible to the naked eye, they are united only by a common style, it seems that there are no interchangeable parts at all. Moreover, the two sedans have different front suspensions: the electric one has double wishbones, the hybrid one has McPherson struts. The rear suspension in both cases is multi-link, with spaced springs and shock absorbers.1/3 2/3 3/3The salon of the hybrid “seal” is also its own, it borrowed only the crystal selector of transmission modes on the central tunnel from the electric counterpart. The 10.25-inch instrument screen is complemented by a projection screen on the windshield, the central multimedia screen is 15.6-inch. Almost all surfaces are upholstered in leather, wooden inserts are actually made of wood, 12 airbags are declared in the equipment (including knee airbags for the driver and front passenger), a high-end Dynadio audio system and a large arsenal of various electronic driver assistants.

BYD Seal DM-i entered the market with three power units to choose from, in all cases the entire power unit is located in front under the hood , driving wheels — only the front, a flat traction battery is built into the floor of the body.

The basic version is a combination of a 1.5-liter naturally aspirated petrol (110 hp, 135 Nm), an electric motor (197 hp, 325 Nm), an electromechanical variator and a battery with a capacity of 17.6 kWh. A sedan with such a power plant accelerates to 100 km/h in 8.2 s, the maximum speed is limited to 180 km/h, the range on electric traction in a fully charged battery is 100 km according to the WLTP cycle, the fuel tank capacity is 50 l.< /p> 1/5 pg» /> 2/5 3/5 b6.jpg» /> 4/5 5/5

The second power unit is arranged in the same way as the first one, but here the 1.5-liter gasoline turbo engine (139 hp, 231 Nm) and a more powerful electric motor (218 hp, 325 Nm) act as an internal combustion engine, acceleration time up to «hundreds» is reduced to 7.9 s.

The third power plant is the same as the second, but the capacity of the traction battery is increased to 30.7 kWh, the range on electric traction is 160 km on the WLTP cycle, the volume of the fuel tank is reduced to 45 liters.

The BYD Seal DM-i costs in the range from 166,800 to 236,800 yuan, depending on the modification (from 21,215 to 30,115 euros in terms of current rate or from 2.23 million to 3.16 million rubles). For comparison, let's say that an electric BYD Seal costs between RMB 189,800 and RMB 279,800 in China.

Recall that since last year, BYD has been producing only “plug-in” models, that is, electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, but it sells only electric vehicles in the European market. In Russia, the BYD brand is not officially represented, however, almost the entire model range can be found at gray dealers, Seal DM-i will probably also appear soon.