Introduction

BYD, or Build Your Dreams, has been around in India for a few years now, and in case you didn’t happen to notice, they’ve been running their buses on Indian soil. And the next logical step would be to enter the passenger vehicle segment.

That said, BYD is taking a different approach with the E6, which will be operating only in the B2B market to begin with, and will be getting these vehicles to India via the SKD route, with a limit of 2,500 units a year. Ahead of its debut in the country, we were invited to Chennai to check out the car and drive it to get an idea of what we can expect.

What is it?

With a starting price of Rs 29.15 lakh (without the charger, ex-showroom), the BYD E6 aims to take on the likes of the Toyota Innova Crysta and the Kia Carnival. With the idea to retail only in the B2B segment to begin with, the model will be sold only to fleet operators, hotel chains, and private companies. Well then, how will it fare in terms of the competition that is currently running in the market?

In terms of dimensions, the BYD E6 measures 4,695mm in length, 1,810mm in width, and 1,60mm in height, while the wheelbase is rated at 2,800mm. This puts it just a shade under its closest rival, the Innova Crysta, in almost every aspect. But let us check out a few more details before we come to a conclusion.

Can it walk down the aisle at a beauty pageant?

A first look at the BYD E6 EV and you’d be wondering if it is an MPV in terms of design. It’s a five-seat vehicle, yes, but it's also got a massive 580-litre bootspace for those long hauls with heavy luggage. The overall design is unoffensive, and at the front one is greeted by a single-slat chrome strip and a hexagon-shaped grille with a honey-comb like pattern right below it.

Placed on either side is a pair of dual-pod headlamps, while the bumper also features triangular black inserts on either side, devoid of any fog lights. The side profile benefits from blacked-out B and C-pillars, front-door mounted ORVMs, a shoulder line that moves up after the C-pillar, and a set of 17-inch alloy wheels that might remind you of an offering by a certain aftermarket brand.

The posterior of the vehicle is rather simple, and incorporates a set of LED tail lights, an integrated spoiler with a high-mounted stop lamp, a shark-fin antenna, and a chrome strip running the width of the bootlid, extending above the tail lights.

Does it have the features to keep you comfortable?

Unlike it's rivals, which offer multiple seat layout options, the BYD E6 is offered only with a five-seat layout. With an aim to appeal to the fleet segment, there is ample space, be it the legroom, headroom, or even the boot space for that matter.

With the front seat adjusted to my position, I had more than sufficient legroom upon making my way to the second row. The headroom at the back was satisfactory too, while the shoulder room could’ve been a tad bit better.

In terms of features, the model does get a 10-inch touchscreen infotainment system, although there’s no Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, let alone wireless functions. That reminds me, don’t let the space on the centre console trick you, it's not a wireless charging pad, but just a space to conveniently keep your phone. The infotainment screen though, can be turned 90 degrees to give it a vertical layout. Given an option, I’d prefer this layout only if I was hanging on to the maps on a trip, else the regular, landscape mode does the job. However, an extra feature or option never hurt anyone, right?

A few other notable features on the car include a five-inch instrument console, tilt and telescopic-adjustable steering, two steering modes (soft and comfort), rear AC vents, EPB, and six-way manually adjustable front seats. That said, it does miss out on a few features such as the lack of locking buttons for the rear doors, an arm-rest with cup-holders for the second row, and foldable rear seats. The company has already received feedback on these lines and plans to make the changes accordingly for future versions.

In terms of safety features, the E6 gets four airbags, ABS with EBD, ESP, rear parking sensors, a rear view camera, HAC, HBA, TPMS, seat-belt reminder for all passengers, and a smart key. The carmaker offers a standard warranty of eight years/5 lakh kms for the battery and three years/1.25 lakh kms for the vehicle.

How does it run?

Being an EV, the BYD E6 is propelled by a single AC motor that powers the front wheels while producing 70kW and 180Nm of torque. The 71.7kWh battery pack has a claimed WLTP range of 415kms. With the introduction of the E6, BYD has also debuted its own blade battery technology that is said to be more efficient and yet smaller at the same time. The company offers two variants for the B2B market, including GL and GLX.

The former is available only with a 60kW CCS2 charging option that juices up the battery from 0-100 per cent in 1.5 hours. The latter, on the other hand, gets multiple charging options like the 6.6kWh that can charge the battery in 12 hours, a 40kWh AC Type2 charger that takes just two hours for a full charge, as well as a DC CCS2 60kWh charging option.

Release the brake pedal and you’re off to a steady start, and as you push the pedal further down, the car increases the pace until you hit highway cruising speeds. The highway is where the car feels at home the most, and the suspension is tuned rather soft, to give a comfy ride to the customers that this E6 would usually be ferrying around. With the latter in mind, the top speed is limited to 130kmph, and hence the claim of a higher range, which is 415kms according to the WLTP cycle, doesn’t seem to be a distant dream.

In fact, during the complete course of the drive, which included the drive itself, photo shoot, and the rest of the half-day that we usually require to understand a car, the charge barely dropped to the 350kms mark, and for the first time, we had no range anxiety whatsoever. Coming to the steering modes, they were very much as described, comfort giving you a light steering feel, while sport giving you a heavier steering feel. The ground clearance, standing at 170mm (unladen), might be a cause of concern, and you might have to end up negotiating those few oddly high speed breakers.

Pricing

The BYD E6 is currently offered in two variants including GL and GLX, with prices starting at Rs 29.15 lakh and Rs 29.85 lakh, respectively. Considering BYD’s claims that the battery pack uses 76 units for a single charge, the cost per full charge comes to approximately Rs 912, which is very economical, to say the least. That said, they have no plans for B2C right now but this is a glimpse of what we can expect if they do enter the B2C segment