BYD

New electrified model of the Chinese brand has battery integrated into the body

BYD has been producing cars for nearly twenty years, although before that it specialized in lithium batteries. Electric vehicles are now, for obvious reasons, a strategic direction for their development, and the Seal model on the new platform demonstrates the use of the current principle of integrating the traction battery into the body's power structure. Orders for the car have already started at a price of $32,000.

As noted by Electrek, this is the first model for BYD that implies a similar traction battery layout. Tesla is on the verge of introducing such a body structure at a factory opened in Germany, although progress in this regard is moving faster at a new assembly line in Texas. In the case of BYD, it is claimed that due to the new layout, it is possible to increase the efficiency of using the volume by 66%, and the torsional rigidity of the body is doubled, which has a positive effect on the car's handling. Safety in a frontal collision is increased by 50%, the manufacturer even claims that a traction battery of this design has a high chance of surviving most road incidents.

Unlike Tesla, which uses cylindrical lithium batteries, BYD uses its own plate batteries. The capacity of the traction battery of the Seal electric vehicle varies from 61 to 83 kWh, and the cruising range in the CLTC conditional cycle is from 550 to 700 km for the rear-wheel drive versions. The four-wheel drive version with a power reserve of more than 650 km stands out, which will be offered for US$ 43,576. There are four configurations in total, three of them with rear-axle drive. Pre-orders of the novelty are already being accepted, at first it will only be supplied to the domestic market of China.

Autonews