Translation

Author: WU Jingtao

This is the most enjoyable and sporty BYD I have ever driven!

Entering 2022, I found an interesting phenomenon that when I talked about BYD with colleagues and friends, they would first mention the sales volume. The reason for this is simple–BYD is selling too well!

In September, BYD sold as high as 201,000 vehicles in a single month, a year-on-year increase of 151.2%. The cumulative sales volume this year has reached 1.18 million, a year-on-year increase of 249.56%.

Behind the soaring sales volume, BYD must have a group of model products that are recognized and sought after by consumers. While making the cake bigger and bigger, BYD has not been satisfied with the status quo. This year, they continue to launch a batch of heavyweight products that try new styles and new routes, which can be said to be “rolling” to the end.

First, there are the DM series, which launched Han DM-p and Tang DM-p, two plug-in hybrid models that follow the performance route and impact the high-end market. On the pure electric side, e-platform 3.0 also launched the heaviest model, the pure electric mid-size sedan–Hai Bao.

In the promotion, BYD officially praised Hai Bao as the “culmination of e-platform 3.0”. Two weeks ago, I took some time off on the weekend and went to the store to experience it briefly in advance.

After a short test drive of a few kilometers, I think BYD’s official description of Hai Bao is actually not accurate enough, because the most impressive thing about Hai Bao in the test drive is not the “complete” culmination, but the surge in texture-“precision”!

Therefore, I prefer to call Hai Bao “the top work of e-platform 3.0 at present”.

Obviously, in that short test drive, Hai Bao gave me a big surprise. This time I participated in the official test drive event, and I was curious whether the “good impression” Hai Bao gave me can continue after a longer period of experience and contact.

Over-designed or fully designed?

First of all, about the appearance of Hai Bao, there has been some controversy on the Internet. Interestingly, the focus of everyone’s attention is not whether the appearance design of Hai Bao looks good or whether there is a design sense in the details. Instead, people are discussing whether the appearance design of Hai Bao is over-designed or not?

Looking at this issue from two perspectives, firstly, people generally do not doubt the attractiveness of the seal’s exterior design, which has indirectly proven that the “marine aesthetics” design applied to the seal presents an effect that is in line with the public’s aesthetic perception.

Secondly, the online discussion about “overdesign” is related to some subtle details of the seal that are presented visually in the picture.

The height of the seal’s front face is highly restored from the design of the Ocean-X concept car, and the large arc-shaped line design of the front engine cover creates a certain low-level visual impact. The double U-shaped headlamp cleverly connects the front engine cover, fender, and front bumper, giving the entire front of the car a dynamic and concise visual impression.

On both sides of the front bumper, in order to highlight the “marine elements”, the designer designed a set of wave-shaped lights called “ocean ripples”. This is one of the evidence that people think that the seal is “overdesigned”, especially in photos taken from a higher altitude, this set of wave-shaped lights may appear somewhat abrupt.

But after seeing the actual car on site all day today, the presence of these wave-shaped lights is not really out of place, and when lit, it can enhance the sense of layering and recognition of the front of the car.

The side of the car can best display the lines and posture of the seal. The seal adopts a low-drag design of 0.219Cd, and the side lines of the car are very smooth, using a hidden door handle design.

The waistline of the car body quickly drops at the rear door, adding some dynamic feeling to the smooth and soft side lines.

The rear-wheel-drive long-endurance version that we test drove is equipped with a set of 19-inch multi-spoke wheels, with Michelin SportContact 7 tires in size 235/45 R19.

Judging from the previous evaluations of these wheels online, the design of this wheel is highly recognized.Translated English Markdown text with HTML tags preserved:

The rear end is the most admired part of mine. The through-type taillights are equipped with a large number of droplet-shaped matrix LED light sources. Regardless of daytime or nighttime, the texture when the taillights are lit is particularly advanced.

It is not an exaggeration to say that the credit for the well-received design of BYD’s S8 is largely due to this set of taillights.

Under the rear bumper, the S8 is equipped with a large area of ​​diffusers. In the rendered image, many people think that these diffusers are too “exaggerated” and do not match the bursting taillights in terms of texture.

However, when the actual car is in front of you, because the diffusers and the lower edge of the bumper are both blacked out, the existence of these diffusers is actually not strong, whether in static or dynamic shooting.

Overall, in terms of appearance design, compared with BYD’s other models, the S8 has a considerable improvement in texture. The detailed design discussed online does not actually conflict with the visual sense of the actual car.

Therefore, this is a model that looks more coordinated and beautiful in reality than in photos. It is recommended that you still go to the store to see the actual car when you have time, and perhaps there will be a different feeling.

In the interior part, the design keyword of the S8 is still “ocean elements”. The center console uses a wave-like design, and the air conditioning vent is hidden behind the contour lines and is integrated with the instrument panel decoration.

Conventional BYD configurations such as the rotatable central control panel screen, Denon sound system, and W-HUD are all available.

The gear lever adopts the popular miniature crystal electronic gear lever design, and a circle of physical buttons is arranged around the gear lever.

In actual use, a large number of buttons arranged densely will increase the “learning cost”.

The most surprising part of the seal interior to me is the setting of the front and rear seats. The front seats adopt an integrated seat design, and the side wrap, cushion length, and softness and hardness of the filling are all excellent. Sitting in the front seat has a certain sense of wrapping, and the support is also in place.

The setting of the rear seats is also excellent. The inclination angle of the backrest is moderate, and the length and inclination angle setting of the cushion are also reasonable, allowing the rear seats to have a good “seat depth”.

Don’t underestimate the seal, which is a young and sporty sedan. After a morning of test driving, the riding experience of the seal’s rear seats is also excellent, and I strongly recommend that you bring your family to experience it.

Furthermore, the test drive car this time is also equipped with a panoramic sunshade gifted by BYD. The sunshade is designed in sections, which can independently cover the panoramic sunroof above the front or rear seats, and is also convenient to install and place.

On a sunny day in Guangzhou at 33 degrees Celsius, after covering the sunshade in the rear area, the thermal insulation effect is still relatively obvious compared to the front.

Excellent chassis quality, dynamic performance refreshes cognition

Sitting in the driver’s seat of this seal, what impressed me at first was not the power, chassis, or steering feel. It is the progress in human-machine engineering aspects such as the sitting height of the entire car, the range of steering wheel adjustment, and the driving sightline.

Especially the sitting posture, in my impression, BYD’s previous models had a high sitting posture, whether it was the height of the car cabin platform or the basic height of the seat, which was obviously high. For a model like the seal that is designed for young sports, not creating a low sitting posture is definitely a pain point.

Obviously, BYD has noticed this. In addition to adopting a lower body styling design, thanks to the CTB battery pack body integration technology, the seal integrates the battery pack cover with the bottom plate of the traditional structure of the car body, further reducing the height of the body and the interior platform, and the basic height of the seat has also been lowered as much as possible.Sitting in the driver’s seat of the Sea Lion now offers a relatively low seating position. Although it might not reach the extreme level where one can touch the ground while bending over to open the doors, this improvement still fits well with the Sea Lion’s positioning.

The model we test drove is the rear-wheel-drive long-range version, first let’s list the specs.

This long-range Sea Lion uses a rear-wheel-drive single motor powertrain, with a maximum power output of 230kW and a maximum torque of 360N·m, with an official 0-100km/h acceleration time of 5.9 seconds.

It comes with a lithium ferrophosphate blade battery pack with a capacity of 82.5kWh and a CLTC range of 700km. It is priced at 259,800 yuan.

We will share the performance results for acceleration, braking, and range after borrowing the test drive car. For now, due to time constraints, we will focus on sharing the dynamic driving experience.

The Sea Lion’s chassis quality is still what gives me the greatest impression when I drive it for the second time. The Sea Lion’s chassis adopts a structure of front double wishbone and rear five-link, which is quite impressive in terms of hardware indicators and also performs well in actual driving experience.

First is the dynamic driving. The Sea Lion’s chassis setup is clearly biased towards sportiness with quick response and precise movements. When driving on urban roads, the chassis provides a strong sense of adhesion to the road surface.

As the test drive route is on public roads, we cannot carry out more aggressive driving. However, during a few U-turns and quick lane changes, the Sea Lion’s lateral support and suppression of body roll can provide drivers with the confidence to drive aggressively, and the official moose test results reach 83.5km/h.

In terms of ride quality, both the front and rear seats of the Sea Lion can receive positive feedback. During the test ride, the chassis provides a solid and resilient riding experience. Due to the sports tuning and large wheel size, the road feedback is quite clear, but these fine vibrations are handled quite gently and will not cause any discomfort to passengers.

The only issue that exists is that the vehicle’s rear axle will have obvious extra bouncing when facing large undulations (such as large road undulations, bridge jump and other road conditions) compared to the front axle. When sitting in the rear, you can clearly feel the same bounce. The front axle has already taken hold of the vehicle body, but the rear axle still has extra longitudinal ups and downs.

At the same time, it should be noted that due to the abnormal tire pressure of the test car, the tire pressure of the rear wheels reached 320kpa (3.2bar) during driving, so the jumping in the rear seats on undulating roads is more obvious. Before this, when I test drove a car with a normal tire pressure, the riding performance in the rear seats would be significantly improved.

Flaws can’t conceal its beauty, and the chassis performance of the sealion is definitely a first-class level among cars of the same level. Compared with Tesla Model 3, the chassis of Model 3 provides more direct feedback, but the riding experience is hard and bumpy. The subjective feeling of the sealion’s chassis is significantly more advanced and precise.

In terms of power experience, the power of pure electric vehicles has always been something that people don’t need to worry about. As a rear-wheel-drive long-endurance sealion with over 300ps horsepower and a 5.9-second 0-60 mph acceleration time, this is especially true.

The vehicle provides three driving modes: ECO, Normal, and Sport. No matter which mode you are in, the power reserve for daily city commuting is quite abundant, and rapid acceleration and overtaking are not a problem.

However, if you like the strong push feeling during full acceleration and the accelerating amplitude that will make your adrenaline soar, you still need to experience it on the performance version with four-wheel drive and dual motors.

Regarding the characteristics of power output, the power output characteristics of the sealion are more similar to traditional fuel-powered vehicles, and the power output is linear. The power output in the initial stage of the accelerator pedal is relatively soft, which is more friendly tuning for users who frequently switch between fuel-powered and electric vehicles.

Equally friendly is the adjustment of the kinetic energy recovery force. Like the previous BYD models, the sealion provides two modes of kinetic energy recovery adjustment. Even if it is set to the “stronger” gear, it is not strong kinetic energy recovery, and the recovery force is relatively moderate, without obvious drag feeling.

In terms of mechanical braking, the Sea Lion adopts a four-piston front brake caliper plus a large-sized perforated brake disc. The braking experience is very “refitted”, with early and fierce brake force release, giving a feeling that you can stop with a light press.

Overall, compared with the models previously launched by the company, Sea Lion has made significant progress in terms of dynamic experience on open roads and mechanical quality. Whether it is in the design of human-machine engineering or the driving quality of the chassis, Sea Lion has left a profound impression on me, and has also given me a new understanding of the dynamic tuning style of BYD models.

In the same level of models, the driving feel and riding quality of Sea Lion are its advantages, combined with the price of less than 260,000 yuan for long-range models, which is quite cost-effective.

Auxiliary driving assistance urgently needs to be strengthened

After praising the impressive human-machine engineering and mechanical quality of Sea Lion, let’s talk about what I think Sea Lion currently needs to strengthen compared with mainstream competitors.

Undoubtedly, this is the auxiliary driving assistance function. At present, the auxiliary driving system of Sea Lion only supports basic L2 level auxiliary driving functions.

Whether it is hardware or software, there is a certain gap between the auxiliary driving ability of Sea Lion and the current mainstream “new forces” models.

Of course, this is not only the aspect where Sea Lion currently falls short, but also the direction where BYD needs to make efforts.

Fortunately, since this year, BYD has been making efforts in automatic assisted driving. First, in April, BYD announced a fixed-point cooperation with domestic well-known automotive AI chip company-Horizon, which will use Horizon’s high-performance automatic driving chip Journey 5 in some BYD models.

After that, BYD also applied for a patent for the laser radar cover of the Sea Lion model. Based on the information that Journey 5 will be equipped on BYD models in mid-2023, Sea Lion, which is equipped with laser radar and high-computing power assisted driving chip, may be launched next year. By then, the biggest shortcoming of Sea Lion’s product power will be addressed.

## Proving Oneself

Personally, every time I see the progress made by domestic brands and drive their new models with obvious improvements, I am filled with great psychological satisfaction.

And without a doubt, among all the new domestic brand cars I’ve driven recently, the sea lion is the most joyful one for me. (PS: I haven’t driven the NIO ET5 before publishing this article)

Before the sea lion, BYD models were all about balance, without any major issues but also lacking a bit of refinement in design and driving experience, which made them more “mainstream” models.

However, after test driving the sea lion, BYD has surpassed my expectations and proven their own capabilities.

BYD now has the ability to produce products that cater to different groups and meet different needs. They can produce models like the Dynasty series, which appeals to the mainstream and pleases the majority of ordinary consumers. At the same time, they can also produce models like the sea lion, which has excellent mechanical skills and is focused on individualistic vehicles for young consumers.

I dare not make the conclusion as to which of the two models is more important or more technically difficult. But one thing is for sure, BYD has mastered both styles today and the cars they produce can be widely accepted by the consumer groups.

With BYD’s sales continuously rising and achieving good results, the sea lion to BYD is not just a heavy new car that attempts to explore a new style, but also an excellent work that proves the brand’s hard strength.

This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.