BYD Seagull

wassie

BYDs new small affordable electric vehicle has just been launched in China.

Whilst there is a lot of hype and marketing surrounding this car, it does have the potential to help promote the uptake of EVs, especially in cities.

Pricing in China has been reported as RMB¥73,800 (~€9,700) for the base model, while the longer range version is RMB¥89,800 (~€11,800) - exchange rates at time of posting €1 = ¥7.606

Obviously we can expect to pay more with shipping and taxes etc. Also, this will be a basic car at this price. If we see a Euopean version, it may need higher specs to comply with safety & design rules. However this is still a giant leap in terms of new EV car affordability, not unlike the early Hyundai models were to ICE cars a couple of decades back.

https://carnewschina.com/2023/04/19/byd-seagull-got-10000-orders-in-24-hours-starting-at-11400-usd/

BYD has launched the new entry-level electric hatchback Seagull. The car was unveiled at the 2023 Shanghai Automobile Exhibition and is part of BYD’s Ocean series. The company has also announced that the Seagull has started pre-sales, and after the press conference, it received 10,000 orders in 24 hours

...

The Seagull is built on the e-platform 3.0 and has two battery options. The first is a 30 kWh BYD LFP battery with a range of 305 km CLTC. The second is a 38 kWh BYD LFP battery with a range of 405 km CLTC. Both battery options support DC fast charging, allowing the Seagull to recharge up to 80% in 30 minutes.

The quoted 405 km of CLTC range would more realistically be around 300 km on the WLTP cycle. More than plenty for a city car and the occasional journey across country.

No plans have been announced yet for the Seagull to be exported, given the launch focuses on the domestic Chinese market. The Seagull has been developed on BYDs 3rd Gen e-platform, which means a RHD version can be readily built. However, a report from Autocar (UK) said "...it's worth nothing that BYD’s Australian importer has ruled out importing the Seagull in 2023, which suggests that right-hand-drive variants aren't a priority.

However it is reasonable to assume a RHD version will be coming. Besides UK & Australia, India is also a RHD market and surpassed Japan last year to become the 3rd largest auto market globally. This combined with the pricing of the car, may make India an attractive target for the BYD.

Will be interesting to watch the space of the affordable EV market. I suspect the Chinese 'invasion' is not too far away.

AMKC

It's a nice looking little car. Better looking that the Dolphin which I find rather dull on the outside. Maybe they could give the Dolphin a revamp and get it looking more like the Seagull at the front and rear anyway.

AMKC

Here is a review of it,

https://youtu.be/P73KmleCuBg?si=osjJ4nSbmwPHKpgN

I wonder when it will be on sale in Ireland and for how much.

I am going to guess €16.000.

Maybe thst is being optimistic though. We shull see.

Gumbo

so they took the plans for the Aygo and put a BYD badge on it 😳