We have more information about BYD Seagull. We have prices and it’s an awesome car. So you need to hear about this car again.
The BYD Seagull has been seen again in some spy photos, in some bizarre colors. To be honest, I’m not a fan of the color. It certainly does stand out, though. But who cares what color it is? It’s going to revolutionize the industry. I think Japanese automakers will be hit the hardest because they’re the ones who are selling vehicles in this space. Korean automakers as well. They’re the ones who will be disrupted the most. Remember, the best-selling car in the world is the Toyota Corolla. Now you’re probably saying, yeah, but hang on, this vehicle is way smaller than a Toyota Corolla. But is it? Are you sure you’re right about that? Now, I’ve seen that comment and I’ve seen people say it, but is that true? Have a look at the size of the bonnet on the Seagull. It’s very, very small. The interior space of EVs are often deceptively large. No transmission tunnel. No engine. Meaning, well, the interior space of this car might not be that different from a Toyota Corolla. If you look at the Toyota Corolla, the world’s best-selling car, with 1.1 million sales last year. It has a tiny, tiny boot. It’s smaller. It’s far, far smaller. For many of the competitors, it’s 240 liters. I mean, there’s a good chance the boot in this will be bigger.
The price? Well, yeah, that’s where things get pretty concerning. If you are competing with this car, it starts at $8,800 and it looks quite good. Now, new photos of the Seagull EV come out. Car News China has reported on these. The BYD vehicle was spotted at a development facility. I’m going to guess that it was probably released by BYD. But hey, every manufacturer does this and I think it exposes that. This car is a good-looking car. It’s a five-door car, with four seats. I mean, technically it’ll have five, but I’m not sure you’d put a person in the middle seat, but whoever does that in a hatchback anyway. So what do we know about this car? Well, we know that it has a 75HP electric motor located in the front. For the front wheels, the top speed is 130km/h. When you compare the power of this car to other cars, it’s underpowered, but the torque will be closer to 200 Nm, which is well, exactly what the Toyota Corolla has. Interesting that. But the difference here is if you drive an EV, it’s different. I mean, it really, is. When you see the 0 to 62 miles an hour figures or the 0 to 100 times, you think, oh, that’s slow. Then you drive it and it has instant torque at any part of the rev range of course, it doesn’t have a rev range or instant torque and it feels completely different in the real world in terms of actually getting off the line overtaking driving in and out of city traffic, where often that power is an issue, low down torque is an issue. EVs, in my opinion, from my personal experience, don’t have any problems with this, even when they are underpowered. Electricity comes from the lithium iron phosphate blade battery that this vehicle will have. BYD hasn’t said what the range is yet but we think that it will be around 250 to 300 km. I’m going to guess probably 250km, more than enough.
The Seagull is 3.8 meters long, 1715 mm wide, and 1540 mm tall. Its wheelbase, though, is pretty long. It’s a 2.5 meters wheelbase and it weighs only 1160 kilos, meaning it’s lighter than some of its gasoline-powered competitors. That is quite an astonishing feat here from BYD. So to give you some context here, wheelbase often is a big determinant of the interior space of a car. The Toyota Corolla wheelbase, guess what that is? 2.6 meters. The Seagull wheelbase, guess what that is? 2.5 meters. Not very different at all. So the Corolla’s wheelbase is 104 inches and the Seagull’s is 98.4 inches. Not a very big difference like I said. However, the Corolla does weigh several hundred kilos more. I think that’s going to be a big advantage for the handling of this car as well. You can have all the weight low down in the car where the battery pack is. The handling will be locked on rails. I think it’s going to handle well. So when is this vehicle coming out? Well, it’s not coming out in China until the 2nd quarter of 2023, although that’s not far away. That’s a month away? However, it won’t come out in international markets for probably a few more months. I think we’re looking at Q3, Q4
Australia? Are we getting it? No. Why not? I have no idea. No, Okay. I’m sure the importer of a BYD here in Australia will say something like, there’s not enough demand for small cars, but I think this would be a real winner. However, it will sell much, much better. It’s true. In Southeast Asia; countries like India, Indonesia, China, and Vietnam. This could be one of the best-selling cars in the world. If you think about it, the Wuling Hongguang mini EV is in this car sites, and An that is currently the first best-selling EV in China, which is the world’s biggest car market. 27 million cars a year. Prices are $8,800 for the base model and $14,770 for the premium luxury edition long-range model.
That, to me, is a really good deal, considering just how impressive this car does look. I’ve got to say, as you can see, I’m very excited to see this car. I’m excited to see what this car will do to its gasoline-powered competitors and I have no sympathy for the cars and the manufacturers who are about to be disrupted. They’ve had time and they’ve chosen not to make them. So it was up to them, and they chose otherwise. What are your thoughts? Would you consider one of these? Do you think it’s going to be a winner?
