Author: Guo Hehe
In the past, no Chinese brand could squeeze into the top three in the A-class sedan market. Joint venture brands took the meat, and independent brands were lucky enough to drink the soup, let alone coveting the champion throne.
But who would have thought that the story of “Qin sweeping the six kingdoms” would continue in the 21st century.
To celebrate Qin Plus, the first Chinese brand to win the A-class sedan monthly sales championship in 12 years, BYD launched the Qin Plus DM-i 2023 Champion Edition after the spring.
From the perspective of consumers, this can be simply understood as a mid-term facelift and configuration upgrade version. However, I have seen facelifts that come with “more price for more features” or “more features without more price.” Qin Plus DM-i 2023 Champion Edition is the first facelift that comes with “more features for less price.”
The new car is directly priced at 99,800-145,800 yuan. This price is undoubtedly a huge atomic bomb in the A-class sedan market. Whether you are driving a fuel or electric car, you will be faced with fierce competition, and no one can escape.
The appearance of the new car remains the same as the old model. The front face adopts the Dragon Face family design language. The Arrow Wing Dragon Eye LED headlights together with large black aerodynamic spoiler give the car a strong presence. The entire series comes with LED headlights as standard and comes with functions such as automatic headlights and headlight delay-off. The biggest change in appearance is the addition of a new blue color. Officially named “Mo Yu Blue,” it is a relatively calm color that presents different textures under different light angles.
The interior design of the new car retains the hug-style design of the old model, and the layout remains unchanged. However, the biggest upgrade lies in the upgraded configuration. The most noticeable upgrade is the floating LCD instrument panel in front of the driver, which has been upgraded to 8.8 inches. Both the content information and display accuracy have been greatly improved, effectively solving the previous problem of small-screen feedback from old car owners.
The central control screen is still the familiar 12.8-inch 8-core adaptive rotating suspension screen, but the built-in system has been upgraded to the latest DiLink 4.0 (4G). The display accuracy, menu operation logic, and response speed have been improved. In addition, the intelligent voice interaction system “Hey Xiao Di”, intelligent cloud service, 4G network service, and in-car WiFi functions with faster response speed have greatly improved practicality.
In the high-end models, the speakers have been upgraded from 6 to 8 high-fidelity speaker systems. According to official data, the engineering team has tuned the system to ultimate sound effects across the entire frequency range, and the actual sound quality has indeed been improved.
In terms of seat comfort, the new car offers two interior colors: Dao Cloud Blue and Warm Sunshine Brown. The Warm Sunshine Brown color looks warm and homey, and the cushion has added perforation technology to improve heat dissipation performance. Both the driver and passenger seats have also added heating and electric adjustment, and the passenger seat has also added 4-way electric adjustment. The front seats are equipped with heating and electric adjustment, which is rare in the 100,000-level A-class sedan market.
Overall, the upgrades of the new model are aimed at addressing user pain points and improving configuration, while further reducing the selling price.In terms of power, the Qin PLUS DM-i 2023 Champion Edition is still equipped with the familiar BYD DM-i Super Hybrid System, consisting of a Xiaoyun 1.5L efficient engine + motor. The maximum horsepower of the engine is 110Ps, with a peak torque of 135N·m. The version with a pure electric range of 55 km is equipped with the EHS132 hybrid system, with a maximum horsepower of 180Ps and a maximum torque of 316N·m. The version with a range of 120 km is equipped with the EHS145 hybrid system, with a maximum horsepower of 197Ps and a maximum torque of 325N·m.
To once again verify the advantages of DM-i, an official fuel consumption test was added in this test drive event. The test started from the BYD Pingshan Yanziling gas station with a full tank, and the driving route included urban areas, highways, and a section of high-speed road conditions. The total distance driven was approximately 220 km, and the actual fuel consumption was tested by filling up at the Pingshan Yanziling gas station with the same gas pump.
The vehicle we drove was the version with a pure electric range of 120 km, and all test vehicles were uniformly operated in forced battery protection mode, with the battery level set at a uniform 25% discharge mode. The driving mode was HEV ECO, and regenerative braking was set to strong. The air conditioning temperature was set at 22°C with air flow level 2.
During the test, I didn’t adopt any particularly fuel-efficient driving method, basically driving at the speed limit set on the road. The final result for fuel consumption per 100 km was 3.07 L/100km, although this result can only be used as a reference, it is still very impressive.
Even without considering the low fuel consumption, due to the power characteristics of the DM-i system, driving with the motor is very lively, and the acceleration response is also much higher than that of the same level of gasoline vehicle. The driving experience cannot be matched by same level gasoline vehicle, plus the flexibility of using both oil and electricity and the green license plate policy preferences, these are the biggest selling points for Qin PLUS DM-i to be sustained in the market.In the past year, BYD has been eye-catching with monthly sales approaching 200,000 units. The launch of the Qin PLUS DM-i 2023 Champion Edition to dominate the A-level sedan market is not impossible. And about the most concerned entry-level version priced at 9.98 million RMB, the official stated that production capacity is sufficient, not just a marketing strategy. The story of the Qin sweeping the A-level sedan market is perhaps another milestone for a Chinese brand when we look back in 10 years.
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.