BYD owners can switch on and adjust their TCL air conditioners at home from the car, as BYD builds a connected-home ecosystem through partners rather than making its own appliances.
The BYD and TCL integration works through the Smart IoT app in BYD’s DiLink infotainment system. Owners link their TCL account once, after which their TCL wall-mounted and floor-standing air conditioners and fresh-air units appear in the car, with devices added or removed in the TCL app later syncing automatically.
The units can be controlled by touchscreen while parked, or by voice, with commands such as asking the car to turn on the air conditioning at home and set it to 25°C. A Home Mode scene can switch the air conditioning on automatically when the car is about 1km from home, so the house is at the right temperature on arrival.
The feature is available on the Han L, Tang L, 2026 Xia and Datang from BYD’s Dynasty range, the Fangchengbao Titanium 7, and the Denza N8L, N9, Z9, Z9 GT and 2025 D9.
BYD says the link uses OAuth 2.0 authorisation, so the car never receives the owner’s TCL password. Commands pass from the car through BYD’s cloud to TCL’s smart-home cloud and on to the appliance, and status updates return the same way. TCL maps each product category to a standard device model, so new air conditioners in an existing category work without further development. The project began in September 2025 and went live in March 2026.
Partners rather than products
Xiaomi, which makes phones, home appliances and cars, has built its Human x Car x Home ecosystem around its own devices. BYD doesn’t make home appliances, so it is assembling a similar ecosystem by signing up partners.
In November 2025 it signed a strategic agreement with Midea, attended by BYD chairman Wang Chuanfu and Midea chairman Fang Hongbo, covering all BYD vehicle brands and Midea brands including COLMO, Little Swan, Hualing and Toshiba. The following month BYD applied to join the Global Intelligent IoT Alliance, a HarmonyOS-focused group whose members include Huawei and Haier. The plan there is shared standards that would let a voice command in the car turn on a home’s air conditioning, lights and water heater before the owner arrives, and let owners preheat the car or check its battery from a smart display at home.
Hisense and TCL appliance control was added to the Denza Z9 and Z9 GT in an over-the-air update in June, and this week BYD and smartphone maker vivo announced a strategic agreement to deepen their phone-car integration, starting with the Denza N8.
BYD is also inviting appliance makers, car app developers and theme designers to join its open ecosystem platform, offering standardised onboarding, authorisation and integration support.
