BYD Expands Its Ocean Lineup With Frigate 07 Plug-In Hybrid

BYD Frigate 07 is an all-new plug-in model, unveiled at the Chengdu Auto Show in August, with a goal to start deliveries in Q4 of this year.

Just like the plug-in hybrid BYD Destroyer 05, which entered the market in March, the Frigate 07 belongs to the "Ocean" family. The list of trademarks reserved by BYD includes also Cruiser, Lander, and Battleship, which indicate that more PHEVs are in the pipeline.

BEVs from the Ocean series are named after animals, like the BYD Dolphin and the latest BYD Seal.

In general, the Ocean models are positioned below the Dynasty models (like Qin, Song, Tang and Han), which are also available in both BEV and PHEV versions.

The BYD Frigate 07 is a mid-size SUV with two plug-in hybrid powertrain options: DM-i - focused on fuel economy and DM-p - focused on performance.

The DM-i has a single 145 kW electric motor in the front, while the DM-p has two electric motors (145 kW in the front and 150 kW in the rear) to achieve acceleration of 0-100 km/h in 4.7 seconds.

Not all details are known yet (like the battery capacity), but according to CnEVPost, the DM-i is expected to offer 100 km (62 miles) of all-electric range, while the DM-p will get a bigger battery for up to 200 km (124 miles) of EV range. Even if the test cycle is a rather optimistic CLTC, the EV range is pretty good for a PHEV.

The BYD Frigate 07 DM-i in pre-sales starts at 220,000-280,000 CNY ($30,860-$39,280), while the DM-p starts at 289,800-329,800 CNY ($40,654-$46,265) after subsidies.

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