Ride-hailing favourite gets huge upgrade, including God’s Eye C, less than one year since it was last updated.
BYD is set to launch an all-new version of the Qin L EV on March 23rd with significant upgrades that could reportedly include an 800-volt architecture.
If so, it would become the first electric car on an 800-volt platform car in the RMB 100,000 to 150,000 (£10,650-£16,000 / $13,800-$20,700) price range, marking a significant shift in the affordability of high-speed charging cars and giving BYD a uniquely compelling proposition.
The updated car has gained a more dynamic appearance as a result, with far cleaner, sharper front-end styling than its DM-i sister car, a visibly wider and more purposeful stance, and 18-inch alloys that fill the arches rather snugly. Think Han styling on a Seal body and you’re halfway there.
At the rear, the Qin gets simplified, darker lights, a high-level camera in a fin above the rear window, and a much more modern bumper area with the somewhat cheaper plastic look of the last model replaced by a design with far more painted area and a look that’s far more sporty than the staid fake diffuser of before.
Overall, it’s an appearance that’s far more muscular and athletic than previous iterations of the Qin that came across as rather run-of-the-mill due to the sheer volume of which they can be seen on Chinese roads, often operating as ride-hailing cars.
At 4,720m long, it sits between the Seal 06GT and Seal saloon in length, and has a width of 1,880mm, height of 1,495mm, and wheelbase of 2,820mm, matching that of the Seal 06GT.
It’s expected to utilise either a 110kw or 160kW motor on the rear axle, and employ LFP battery packs of 46.08kWh or 56.64kWh for ranges of 470 and 545km on CLTC.
Charging, if utilising an 800-volt platform, should improve considerably, and if it was indeed 5C capable as some outlets have suggested, then it may debut the Blade battery 2.0. We’d be a little surprised if this was the case, even with the enormous sales of the Qin L demonstrating its importance to the brand, but it’s not beyond the realms of possibility.
Inside, the Qin L EV is expected to retain much of the same dashboard design as the DM-i variant, with a two-tone colour scheme, a rotatable 14 or 15-inch screen in the centre, twin phone holders, one of which is a vented, wireless charger, and twin cupholders. For once on a BYD, the drive selector is stalk-based rather than on the centre console.
A new introduction, however, is that of a heating and cooling box in the centre cubby, like that seen on the updated Atto 3 and the more expensive Fangchengbao Bao 5, which should offer space for up to eight 330ml drinks cans or four 500ml bottles, and cool to -6C and heat up to 50C, a feature ride-hailing drivers and private customers alike will surely appreciate.
Following the announcement of BYD’s move to put their God’s Eye C hardware suite on all of its models, the Qin L EV will also gain the technology, which features ultrasonic sensors, 12 cameras, and millimetre wave radars to offer autonomous highway driving and memory-based urban autonomous driving for frequently used routes.
A promotional video for the car ahead of the launch also heavily references the intelligent auto-parking functionality and notes that activation of the DiPilot 100 autonomous driving system will be on a paddle behind the steering wheel.
