BYD Seal U DM-i
Discussion
Me too.
What is interesting to me is that all EU cars imported face no tax but those from China are at 12% (10 plus 2 for the vat that gets added on top). And yet they still manage to compete.
They get mediocre reviews in the likes of WhatCar but I have to wonder what kind of relationship those magazine reviewers have with the existing manufacturers.
I'm thinking for myself though - planning on a test drive fairly soon.
What is interesting to me is that all EU cars imported face no tax but those from China are at 12% (10 plus 2 for the vat that gets added on top). And yet they still manage to compete.
They get mediocre reviews in the likes of WhatCar but I have to wonder what kind of relationship those magazine reviewers have with the existing manufacturers.
I'm thinking for myself though - planning on a test drive fairly soon.
I had one as a hire car last week. It was much better than I expected. The electric running was better than the hybrid ice. I thought it would have made a better EV than hybrid. Nothing for the enthusiast as far as driving it goes but that's no different to the Qashqui, Octavia, MG, DS7, Grandland etc I usually get. It's nicer than the Vauxhall and MG and no worse than the rest.
I have one of these bad boys as a rental car this week.
The powertrain is the most interesting part of it.
However, for my own amusement I plugged it into a rapid charger at the local Sainsburys last night when I popped in for supplies.
In the 15 minutes I was inside it managed to add a whole 14 miles to the EV range.
It is so slow charging (Google suggests it does 18kwh, so would need around an hour to fill the battery) that it makes the plug in part of it worthless. No point lugging around a heavy battery if the engine never charges it (unless there's some secret self charging option I'm missing) and if you had access to a home charger then why wouldn't you just get a full EV?
If it could charge at 50kwh like most other small EVs then that would make it workable for those without home charging, and you could do plenty of EV mode commuting.
The powertrain is the most interesting part of it.
However, for my own amusement I plugged it into a rapid charger at the local Sainsburys last night when I popped in for supplies.
In the 15 minutes I was inside it managed to add a whole 14 miles to the EV range.
It is so slow charging (Google suggests it does 18kwh, so would need around an hour to fill the battery) that it makes the plug in part of it worthless. No point lugging around a heavy battery if the engine never charges it (unless there's some secret self charging option I'm missing) and if you had access to a home charger then why wouldn't you just get a full EV?
If it could charge at 50kwh like most other small EVs then that would make it workable for those without home charging, and you could do plenty of EV mode commuting.
Edited by Truckosaurus on Tuesday 7th July 13:09
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