There’s no doubt that the BYD Sealion 6 DM-i has made a huge impact on the local motoring scene. It’s easily the top-selling plug-in hybrid (PHEV)/range extended electric vehicle (REEV) in the land, and there’s no signs of it slowing down.
If anything, the BYD Sealion 6 has helped make electrification more mainstream in the country. It has the promise of what feels like infinite kilometers per liter, all for less than P1.6-M.
That said, we’re keeping our fingers crossed for a new variant of the popular crossover. Over in Australia, there’s now what’s called the Dynamic Extended Range. The name pretty much explains itself with even greater range from its batteries.
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So, what’s the reason for more gas-free kilometers? That’s thanks to a much larger 26.6kWh battery pack. For reference, the version we get here already comes with sizable (for an REEV) 18.3kWh batteries. It’s the same pack most of the world gets, so we’re not missing out on much.
But the larger 26.6 kWh batteries are a huge deal as BYD is starting to export these versions to more countries outside of China. With a greater capacity, BYD claims that the car can travel on 160km on battery power alone before the engine kicks in to charge it. That’s a massive 55km improvement over the 18.3kWh version that already has an impressive battery-only range of 105km.
Power is still the same as the standard Sealion 6 DM-i, even with the bigger battery. Still, that’s 215hp and 300Nm from its 1.5-liter engine mated to a single motor. Acceleration times are likely to be similar, meaning a 0 to 100kph in 8.3 seconds. As for fuel consumption, BYD Australia claims figures as low as 90.9km/L.
So, are there any plans for a Philippine introduction? So far, there are no signs of it just yet. However, the rollout of the extended range version in other countries points to a positive sign. We’ll keep an eye out for any updates that come along the way.
