BYD e6 - with a little hypermiling...
 

Been waiting a while, but my article on the e6 is finally up:

The BYD e6 and range anxiety: Do electric vehicles really make sense? | TopGear.com.ph

Was an interesting experience. And I would love to have an EV in my garage, only our government has hemmed, hawed and stalled on tax-break initiatives for EVs, leaving most EVs with a 100%+++ tax based on sticker price.

We used to have a displacement based tax. I've asked (only semi-jokingly) if that means EVs get 0% tax, since they have no displacement. No such luck.

This economy chart wasn't in the article. Doesn't fit site format. Still, can't let it go to waste.
https://scontent-hkg3-1.xx.fbcdn.net...13&oe=566CABE0
(sorry for the FB level resolution)

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A very interesting drive. Have never driven an EV with that much battery before. It has so much battery, in fact, that you've got to watch it going over humps, or you'll scrape the underbody reinforcement.

While I liked the drive, I can't help thinking that having the transport grid go EV requires a massive change in approach to vehicle design...

Nice article, interesting car. Thanks!
Using lithium iron phosphate batteries and yet have a range of 300 km, wow!

I get the feeling that the BYD e6 needs some finetuning before it could compete in the US and European market, yet at 1/3 of the price of a Tesla model S it would be the ideal EV for many. I'll keep it in mind.

I wonder whether your tax rules could be trumped by building a car with a very small petrol engine, to be retrofitted with an EV conversion so it would end up as an EV with range extender?

Could be done if the vehicle is imported as "raw materials" for an EV or hybrid, then put together.

Taxes apply to sticker price only, nowadays. But yes, parts for hybrids and EVs are tax exempt... only if you can prove they're to be used in the manufacturer of an "alternative energy" vehicle.

Supposedly. Having talked to local EV assemblers, still no luck in that regard.

Basically, it seems to follow the approach of the original Mercedes-Benz A-Class concept, with the underbody battery packs, but in a heavier and less aerodynamic shape. And that sure harms the range.


It's valid as a proof-of-concept, but there's really a lot of room for improvements. I actually wonder why BYD didn't try to make it more aerodynamic like the Prius, the Volt or the Leaf.

The idea, I guess, is to go where no one else goes.

Western manufacturers have covered the sub-compact, compact, compact crossover, medium-sized sedan and luxury sedan range, as far as EVs go, but no one is building an MPV-sized EV, with all the space benefits that suggests.

The e6 sells decently in China, where it's used as a taxi and service vehicle. And for that, foregoing ultra-slippery aero for more headroom and luggage room makes sense.

There's at least one taxi firm in the UK with a fleet of these things. They're making full use of the free public charging we currently have.

Just because it's an MPV, does it really need to look so unappealing? Anyway, in the 90's as a response to a CARB mandate, Chrysler offered an all-electric version of the Dodge Caravan in California and, IIRC, Arizona.


There is a handful of e6's undergoing tests in Brazil, used as taxi. But, as long as BYD don't update the design for something more appealing to Western eyes (no racial conotations intended), the e6 would still be overlooked by private customers.