2024 BYD Yuan+ first drive review: The Chinese Tesla Model Y?
If you’ve been paying attention to the news lately, you’ve probably heard about BYD. The Chinese automaker made headlines after it overtook Tesla to become the number one producer of hybrid and electric cars, selling more than 700,000 cars globally in the second quarter of this year. Most recently, the company launched a $12,000 electric car in China earlier this yearThe company launches the Dolphin model in Brazil. In March this year, BYD entered Mexico, becoming BYD’s first market in North America.
The automaker has a bold strategy to expand outside China and is supported by American billionaire Warren Buffett. BYD has no plans to expand its passenger car business into the US market, but the automaker has a factory in Lancaster, California, whereManufactures electric buses.
We traveled to Mexico City for a few weeks and borrowed a 2024 BYD Yuan Plus, a car with…Honda HR-V Or the Toyota Corolla Cross, which has an all-electric range of just under 300 miles, and whose stunning design, technology, and materials look better than some of the electric cars we have in America.
From Mexico City to Puebla – Test Drive and Handling
Mexico City isn’t an ideal location for a test drive due to severe traffic issues, but a drive from the Mexican capital to Puebla, a city about 85 miles southeast of the country, proved to be a good way to evaluate the Yuan Plus’s range, ride and comfort. Famous for its colonial architecture,Volkswagen and Audi factoriesPuebla offers fine Mexican cuisine and a relaxed atmosphere. It has received roads and highways nearbyThe famous La Carrera Panamericana, one of the most challenging and deadly open road races.
Despite Mexico’s steep Sierra Nevada mountains, the toll road connecting the two cities posed no challenge to our BYD Yuan Plus electric car. With 201 horsepower and 228 pound-feet of torque, the Yuan Plus isn’t fast, but it’s not weak either. This small crossover delivers sophisticated torque to the wheels, and thanks to its single-motor electric powertrain, it doesn’t suffer from the lack of oxygen in Mexico City and its environs like an internal combustion engine. These power and torque numbers may not sound like the most attractive, but they suit the Yuanga’s size, and the car happily outpaces other vehicles struggling to climb steep hills.
What is BYD’s biggest advantage? Her journey. While toll roads in Mexico are generally free of potholes and potholes (also known as speed bumps), the same cannot be said for Mexico City’s streets. Even there, its suspension feels refined and can overcome most road imperfections with ease, something not many cars in the United States can do. People who have ridden it say that the suspension controls body movement smoothly and vibrations in the car are well dissipated.
The Yuan Plus offers three different driving modes – Eco, Sport and Normal. The Eco system limits the power and torque sent to the wheels, making the electric car feel underpowered. The advantage is that it saves a lot of power, making it a good option if you don’t have easy access to a charger. Movement has the opposite effect – it makes the Yuan Plus feel more powerful, but drains the battery faster. This is common in any electric car. The electric crossover also has settings for adjusting brake regeneration, with two levels that allow the driver to drive with one pedal or to swing as if he were on the road.Diesel locomotive. We spent most of the time driving in Normal mode, which has the most aggressive regeneration settings and can be easily adapted to the Meta’s driving style.
Pay attention to details
BYD is not a luxury brand, but the time we spent at the Yuanli made us feel like we were sitting in a luxury car. The interior design is original and the attention to detail is similar to what we sawModern Genesis and Lincoln products. The designers took inspiration from gyms, including weight-inspired door handles and gear levers. There are no traditional door pockets, but strings inspired by guitar strings and pop-up speakers at the top of the door panels also serve as door openings. Even the openings have a cool, modern, distinctive and eye-catching vertical design.
In Mexico, the 2024 BYD Yuan Plus is available in just one model, but it’s equipped like a luxury SUV. The two-tone interior design is a mix of beige and blue, with red details throughout the cabin and ambient lighting that adds to the feeling of luxury. It’s not as aggressive as the Mercedes Ibiza’s nightclub-like interior, but it looks stylish and changes color to the beat of the music. A panoramic roof is standard but comes withTesla Model 3 The car roof, which you can close to prevent sunlight from entering the car. We have one big complaint: The dashboard screen is small and looks cheap, and it’s the only part of the interior where BYD has cut costs.
The 12.8-inch infotainment screen rotates to provide landscape or portrait orientation, adding a modern feel to the cabin. Apple-like graphics and a huge screen make it easy to follow navigation without having to look downApple CarPlay Can be used over a wired connection. Another great feature is voice command, just like a Mercedes, just say “Hey BYD” and issue your command. Tasks such as lowering all the windows or turning the air conditioning on or off worked relatively well and were all performed in English.
The Yuan Plus looks small on the outside, but spacious on the inside. Electrical engineering and final packaging provide a spacious cabin. Even for tall people sitting behind tall people, the Yuan Plus’ long wheelbase (107.1 inches, longer thanHonda CR-V or Toyota RAV4) provides plenty of legroom for rear seat passengers. The luggage room is also spacious, with a two-level luggage floor to maximize capacity. Unfortunately, there is no franc.
Electric car stuff
The Yuan Plus tops out at 298 miles based on the optimistic European NEDC cycle. During our two-week rental, we found that the estimated distance on the driver display matched our mileage, especially when we traveled to Puebla. The 60.48 kWh battery was 87% charged when we left Mexico City and arrived in Puebla with 55% charge. We could have returned to Mexico City without charging, but we stopped at XC Power, a 1-megawatt (1,000 kWh) charging station located behind the Volkswagen production plant. The Yuan Plus has a maximum charging capacity of 80 kilowatts, but we’ve seen numbers as high as 90 kilowatts while charging.
Although 80 kW is the average power for today’s electric cars, it is not ideal. All similarly sized Hyundai, Kia and Genesis electric vehicles can be chargedIt increased from 10% to 80% in about 18 minutes. Our BYD test took exactly this to get from 52 percent to 80 percent, and took another 24 minutes to reach 100 percent. BYD batteries are known for their technology and capacity, but our fast-charging experience took longer than we’d like.
Will BYD Yuan Plus come to the US?
After driving the 2024 BYD Yuan Plus in Mexico (We also reviewed the JAC E10X mini electric car), we were impressed with the quality, technology and riding experience it offers. Their design and attention to detail are better than some of the automakers we have in America today, and the models we drove offered tremendous value in terms of features per dollar. In Mexico, the BYD Yuan Plus sells for 800,000 pesos, or 100,000 pesos (about $6,000 USD).less From the 2023 Honda CR-V Hybrid. As the Mexican peso has appreciated against the US dollar in recent months, the yuan is trading at around $45,000 as of this writing, but just six months ago it was equivalent to $38,000.
Chinese SUVs are not perfect. Fast charging speeds need improvement, but compared to some EVs in the US today, the BYD Yuan Plus performs much better.BYD plans to enter the US market as early as 2010But the automaker currently has no plans to enter the United States. However, it has put itself at the center of the electric vehicle debate by developing high-quality products and expanding rapidly globally.