Top-Selling BYD Tang Crushes Corvette’s Power

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As we recently wrote, the BYD Tang plug-in hybrid electric SUV/crossover is the top-selling electric car in China. It is also apparently the top-selling vehicle in its class in China! While most Americans and Europeans probably wouldn’t even know that the BYD Tang is a vehicle, I imagine Chinese consumers watch videos of it out-accelerating sports cars just like we watch of Teslas doing so. Because the car is powerful.

BYD-Tang

Steve Hanley on sister site Gas2 notes that the BYD Tang has a 505 horsepower and 605 ft-lb of torque, which even crushes a Corvette Z51, with its 460 horsepower and 465 lb-ft of torque.

He adds: “The Tang can scamper to 62 miles per hour in 4.9 seconds. A Porsche Cayenne SUV outfitted with the Sport Chrono option needs 5.1 seconds to do the same job.”

Not too shabby. I assume this is a big help in shattering the idea that electric cars are glorified golf carts, and it surely contributed a fair of percentage of the Tang’s 15,615 sales in the first 5 months of 2016. (Click on the “YTD” tab below to see the large lead the Tang has on the #2 BAIC E-Series EV.)

Steve adds more details and context:

The Tang has a thoroughly modern, contemporary design that has a hint of the Lexus RX series about it. It is priced quite modestly at between $38,200 and $42,500, after all subsidies for “new energy” vehicles  available from the Chinese government. On the inside, it offers its owner and passengers luxurious appointments and includes a large touchscreen and infotainment system that comes with a television function. There’s even a built-in air purifier to clean the dirty Chinese air.

BYD markets its large hybrid SUV with the phrase ”542 Technology.” The five stands for acceleration under five seconds, the four stands for four wheel drive, and the two stands is for fuel consumption of just 2 liters per 100 kilometers. Add it all up, and the Tang is not only the best selling car in the BYD lineup, it is one to the best-selling cars in the whole country.

One extra feature is that its 18 kWh lithium-ion-phosphate battery can be used for other things other than just powering the vehicle. When parked, it can be tapped to run appliances like an electric BBQ or microwave oven. At the Shanghai motor show, it wowed the crowds by making popcorn in an electric corn popper. While that may not be exactly what you need your car to do, it does suggest that the Tang could be used as a source of electricity at home during a power outage.

Word from our partners at GridHub is that BYD brought the BYD Qin (a similarly attractive and popular plug-in hybrid electric car) and BYD e6 (a fully electric car … with some quirks) to Intersolar Europe last week, and is actually now selling these vehicles in Europe. Hmm, did my constant pestering of BYD’s Founder & Chairman have some effect? 😀 Is the Tang coming next?

For more on BYD, see:

Electric Car Sales, History, & The Future (Cleantech Revolution Tour Highlights)

Automaker Response To Tesla Model 3, Plug-In Hybrids, & BYD (Cleantech Revolution Tour Highlights)


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Zachary Shahan

Zach is tryin' to help society help itself one word at a time. He spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as its director, chief editor, and CEO. Zach is recognized globally as an electric vehicle, solar energy, and energy storage expert. He has presented about cleantech at conferences in India, the UAE, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, the USA, Canada, and Curaçao. Zach has long-term investments in Tesla [TSLA], NIO [NIO], Xpeng [XPEV], Ford [F], ChargePoint [CHPT], Amazon [AMZN], Piedmont Lithium [PLL], Lithium Americas [LAC], Albemarle Corporation [ALB], Nouveau Monde Graphite [NMGRF], Talon Metals [TLOFF], Arclight Clean Transition Corp [ACTC], and Starbucks [SBUX]. But he does not offer (explicitly or implicitly) investment advice of any sort.

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