All-new BYD Ti 7 arrives with 408hp and a mission
BYD flagship shoots for Defender jugular with seven seats and sub 5-second-to-62mph time...
No, your eyes do not deceive you. Though the new seven-seat Ti 7 might bear more than a passing resemblance to the Bao 5 we recently drove (and is made by the same firm), it is in fact quite different. We’ll get to that, but the perhaps the salient point to make about BYD’s new plug-in hybrid is that it’s handily cheaper than its stablemate: in fact, at £47,995 on the road, it makes the £69,500 starting price of the Bao 5 look faintly ridiculous.
Perhaps more pertinently, it makes the £64,315 starting price of a Defender 110 (or £84,250 for the larger 130) look very costly by comparison. Were you not an informed PHer, you might struggle to explain why a D250 with a mild-hybrid diesel engine dramatically exceeds the price of a car which boasts something called a DM-p Super Hybrid system - one said to be capable of 74 miles of battery-powered range.
Of course, ‘well, it’s Chinese’ is an explanation of sorts - and given its positioning, not even BYD would claim the Ti 7 is direct rival for the Defender’s all-terrain ability - but there’s no question that the car is custom-built to appeal to an audience which seized upon the likes of the Toyota Land Cruiser (it powered by an even more old school diesel engine, and priced from £80,945) as the best thing since sliced bread.
To that end, the new model has a lot going for it. The new DM-p powertrain differs from the Bao 5 in so much as its tri-motor configuration includes a longitudinally mounted 150hp 1.5-litre petrol engine capable of contributing to the car’s output - though BYD suggests that ‘for the most part’ it is there to generate charge for the 35.6kWh battery, thereby ‘blending electric response and refinement with petrol flexibility and range’. The bulk of the claimed 408hp comes courtesy of two electric motors, one per axle.
These are sufficiently chunky for BYD to indicate a 4.8 second 0-62mph time, though you’d imagine the Ti 7’s EV-style efficiency will be the key marketing message for anyone after a seven-seat SUV. Unlike the Bao 5 with its rugged separate chassis, the new model is a unibody design, which is almost certain to make it more at home on the road. You’ll get a high level of spec (only the flagship Excellence trim will be sold in the UK); leather upholstery, three-zone climate control and a 15.6-inch infotainment screen are all standard.
As are three rows of seats, though obviously the rearmost pews are foldaway affairs (not least because you’ll only have 126 litres of bootspace with them up). In five-seat format, you get 970 litres; fold them all away and you’ll get 1,830 litres to fill. Expect, in time, to be able to fill the battery up via BYD’s Flash charging system, too, if you're not happy to let the range-extending petrol engine see to it. If that all sounds too good to be true, it’s worth mentioning that UK deliveries aren’t expected to kick off until January next year. Though you can already preorder with a £500 deposit. Expect Land Rover to keep a close eye on the people who take up that offer...
That is blatant and the most similar looking to another car yet I can immediately think of.
Is their a point JLR can take them to court?
I recently heard a lady in the pub telling her friend her new Jaecoo was just like a Range Rover and people probably thought it was one…..hope they do anyway….
Am guessing it’s the closest she’s ever been to a RR as well
I think the discovery is a good looking car but wouldn’t buy this - even though it is imo a goodlooking car as it’s a facsimile of the defender.
Imagine someone thinking I’d bought it on the off chance that someone might think it’s the real thing….
Not that I care what others think of my car purchases but that is mind blowing…..
Toward the top of the market, legacy manufacturers have felt a need to preserve their "authenticity" with adjustable suspension, difflocks, terrain software and big, torquey multi-cylinder powertrains.
Maybe all that stuff is a nonsense and all the consumer (save for the very small traditional 4x4 market) wanted was a big, butch-looking MPV.
If you were the boss of Stellantis, with a roster if pretty ordinary cars and brands, you must be bricking yourself....
Whislt, as the article itself says, 'made in China' has a connotation to it - I am not sure that those same people are as fussed with regards to their iPhone, trainers or a host of myriad other 'made in China' products.
This SUV is evidence, writ large, that China is learning rapidly and soon will become the dominant manufacturing economy, globally.
Whilst I may not relish that, they have learnt quickly and are (AI models as an example) making iterations that are making proverbial mincemeat of their US (and often, European) equivalents.
JLR, VW, all have had plenty of time to make their own changes - now the investments they (and our Governments didn't make) are coming home to roost.
Whislt, as the article itself says, 'made in China' has a connotation to it - I am not sure that those same people are as fussed with regards to their iPhone, trainers or a host of myriad other 'made in China' products.
This SUV is evidence, writ large, that China is learning rapidly and soon will become the dominant manufacturing economy, globally.
Whilst I may not relish that, they have learnt quickly and are (AI models as an example) making iterations that are making proverbial mincemeat of their US (and often, European) equivalents.
JLR, VW, all have had plenty of time to make their own changes - now the investments they (and our Governments didn't make) are coming home to roost.
It’ll be beyond difficult to compete with china on mass so probably better to focus on quality, feel, heritage and go back up market….. euro brands may not have a head start any longer on development but are still well ahead on brand perception.
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