BYD unveils plug-in hybrid with a total range of 1,305 miles

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Folks, here's a story that could change the landscape for non-traditional cars: a plug-in hybrid from BYD with a claimed total range of 1,300 miles. According to Autoblog, the latest versions of the BYD Qin L and Seal 06 sedans feature the Chinese automaker's latest plug-in hybrid technology. With a fully charged battery and a full tank of gasoline, the technology can provide a driving range of 2,100 kilometers (1,305 miles), said BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu. The company's PHEV technology, now in its fifth generation, achieves a record low fuel consumption of 2.9 liters per 100 km (62.1 miles), even after the batteries are depleted. Google says this translates to 0.776 gallons. Divide that into 62 miles and you get a rather astonishing figure of 80 miles per gallon. Wow!

Yahoo also ran the numbers and came up with 80mpg, so that seems to confirm my calculations. If so, this is a very impressive achievement from BYD. We don't know which standard is used to calculate MPG (or liters per 100 km) in China. Perhaps the tests are conducted at a constant speed of 55 km/h on a road that slopes slightly downhill. The point is that these two new BYD models can go very far without stopping when both the battery and gas tank are full. There are no specifications available that reveal the size of the battery or gas tank. Nevertheless, 1,200 miles is a range of about 500 miles more than what a 2023 hybrid Lexus ES is capable of. Last year, the Lexus topped the Kelley Blue Book list of hybrids with the longest range.

The previous generation of BYD plug-in hybrid technology offered a driving range of several tens of kilometers on batteries alone and a fuel consumption of 3.8 liters per 100 km on the petrol engine alone. It helped boost BYD's sales from 2021, when models like the Qin Plus DM-i sedan and Song Plus DM-i SUV first hit the market.

A plug-in hybrid for long distances at a low price

Okay, will you sit down? If you happen to live in China, the base price for the BYD Qin L and Seal 06 is 99,800 yuan ($13,775). Holy EV disruption, Batman! If these cars ever came to the US, BYD would never be able to keep up with demand. Of course, they won't come to the US since there's now a 100 percent tariff on Chinese-made cars, but even at double the price, American buyers would break down the doors to get one.

But wait, there's more. BYD says owners of cars with the new plug-in hybrid technology can save up to 9,682 yuan ($1,336) per year in fuel costs compared to driving a traditional gasoline car. By a lightning calculation, this means that the Qin L or Seal 06 can have a net cost of zero – as in nada – if you buy it and keep it for ten years. That's incredible.

Autoblog says BYD has priced its plug-in hybrids from 79,800 yuan ($11,014) over the past three years. During that time, 3.6 million were sold. It cut prices of its plug-in hybrid cars by 10 to 22 percent in the first quarter, with the Qin and Song outselling gasoline models such as the Lavida and Sagitar in the mass market, while lower prices and better fuel economy came at a cost . sensitive Chinese buyers. Globally, BYD, which has accelerated its international expansion, still lags behind major automakers such as Toyota, Volkswagen, General Motors and Stellantis in sales. But it is turning its attention to overseas markets such as Southeast Asia, Australia, the Middle East, Mexico and South America, where governments impose fewer trade barriers and tariffs.

BYD and the plug-in hybrid conundrum

The battery-electric versus hybrid versus plug-in hybrid debate is currently raging, as many manufacturers find that buyers are not as hungry for their electric car offerings as hoped. Some companies are focusing on hybrids, like the ones Toyota has been selling for decades. Others, like General Motors, say they are dusting off the plug-in hybrid technology they shelved when production of the Chevy Volt ended five years ago.

If you read the news, there are messages that are everywhere. The EV revolution is dead if you rely on Faux News for information. Hybrids are red hotaccording to some. Plug-in hybrids are touted as the way to heal people fear of distance anxiety, say others. They are a gateway to fully electric cars, as owners learn the ins and outs of charging, but still have that familiar petrol engine under the hood if they screw up their range calculations or arrive at a charger to find it occupied or broken . And yet statistics say that plug-in hybrids have the highest number of fires and the highest maintenance costs. It's hard to know the right way to jump into this confused and confusing market environment.

The takeaway

The BYD Qin L sets no standards when it comes to styling. It looks functional and lacks some of the crazy people expect from a Tesla, Nio or Xpeng. But it starts at less than $14,000 in the domestic market. There are plenty of people who would be happy with a competent car that costs so little and promises such extraordinary efficiency. You can see why most top manufacturers are terrified of the prospect of competing with Chinese-made cars like the BYD Qin L.

Thirty years ago, Saturn offered an entry-level version of its SL sedan, which cost about $9,000. Three decades later, BYD offers a sedan that is light years ahead of the Saturn, but sells for less than half what the Saturn sold for, adjusted for inflation. What BYD has done is truly remarkable, which begs the question: If America is serious about reducing greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector, wouldn't the Qin L – with a fuel economy of nearly 80 mpg – be an ideal car for that purpose? to help achieve?

We get the feeling around the water cooler CleanTechnica headquarters that America won't be able to keep BYD and other Chinese companies from selling cars in the US for long, not when they sell for at least a third less than comparable models sold in North America, after import duties and shipping costs. Interesting times ahead.