🅟🅛🅤🅖🅖🅔🅓 🅘🅝 🅡🅘🅓🅔 Spotlight CONSUMER EV

Segment: Budget-friendly urban car 

Estimated Price: $20,000 – $25,000 CAD 

Rivals: Geely Geome/Xingyuan Wuling Bingo, Hyundai Inster, Dongfeng box.

Once, at a party, I paid $100 for a car. It had a 3-in-the-tree, manual steering and an oily lump for a mill. The lock mechanism would freeze in winter meaning that occasionally my door would swing out by inertia when making a hard-right turn. I had to occasionally grab the door and steady the wheel with my left while downshifting with my right. It was good fun despite demanding 4 lanes just to make a u-turn. I was convinced that it aimed to kill me; I called it Nemesis.

Fast-forward and I would have happily saved my money, scraped knuckles and rotator cuff for a Seagull. This is the vehicle which we believe will jump-start the EV revolution. The Seagull with a price tag of approximately $10,000 USD in China, it leads us to wonder whether this will be the first of future EVs to achieve price-parity with ICE cars.

Optimal market: Do you remember when you could buy an economy car for under $20k? Those days may be here again. The BYD Seagull is an option for all who seek economy EV cars. These can be city-commuters, second-vehicle households or for new drivers.

The Blade Battery Advantage

BYD’s proprietary Blade Battery technology (lithium iron phosphate (LFP) pack with a distinctive flat-cell design) is used in every BYD vehicle. The technology was tested using the following metrics:

1. Safety: Some EV batteries have succumbed to a fire risk known as thermal runaway. The BYD Blade Battery passed a nail penetration test, showcasing its safety.
2. Cold tolerance: Many around the world demand reliable winter performance. In some parts of the world, temps can drop to -40 C; ask me about square tire. BYD claims that LFP chemistry handles temperature extremes better than NMC or NCA alternatives. When paired with BYD’s active thermal management, the Blade Battery seems to instil confidence for more reliable winter performance.
3. Longevity: BYD claims 3,000+ charge cycles to 80% capacity, which depending on the frequency of charging can last the lifetime of the vehicle.
4. Daily charging: It is recommended that EV and other rechargeable batteries be charged to 80%, to prevent accelerated degradation. BYD claims that the LFP can be charged to 100% daily, limiting the aforementioned risk.

BYD and public transportation in Canada

Need more convincing about BYD’s commitment? BYD and Uber released a joint statement announcing a “partnership designed to bring 100,000 new BYD electric vehicles onto the Uber platform across key global markets.” The ride-share program would begin in Europe and Latin America, expanding into the Middle East, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

In large format, public transportation, BYD Canada announced that the Toronto Transit Commission aka TTC (Canada’s largest and North America’s third largest transit operator) will put into operation, 10 zero-emission, 40-foot K9M battery-electric buses. Remember, it gets cold in Canada.

BYD Models offered worldwide*

These days, it may be time to look for something smaller. The BYD Seagull is easy to live with. It is well-mannered and just plain fun. Whether you’re on a budget, looking for a second family vehicle or just tired of driving an SUV, this might well be your ride.

🅟🅛🅤🅖🅖🅔🅓 🅘🅝 🅡🅘🅓🅔