Own a cheap Chinese electric car. Will the seagull BYD hold up in the Czech position? | Currently.cz

It is said that Chinese car makers manage to do more than a generation shift in a short period of time. And it’s very easy to see on the BYD Seagull, especially compared to the close two-year-old Dolphin model we tested this spring. No, the two cars cannot be compared in terms of size or technology, however, looking at the body shapes and the interior, the difference is more than obvious.

The outer contours of the dolphin may be indistinct, but it is not particularly attractive and it is almost easy to forget. With Seagull, the designers put in a lot more work so that it could evoke some emotions. The lines are cut sharper, the rear “bulging” is very similar to some Renaults from the beginning of the millennium. The glass rises faster at the back and turns into a black column. Whether you like an electric city car is certainly subjective, but you won’t miss the Seagull on the road.

Even more progress has been made with the interior, which still suffers from the unpleasant smell of adhesives and plastics, but looks much more valuable than in the Dolphin. Different textures and colors have decreased, now there are only two surfaces: hard plastics, but the quality has increased compared to the bigger brother, and the lower part of the dashboard and the arms covered with soft material.

In the car tested, this material was dark blue, but in China it is also available in pink. There is also a catalog device in the form of a 90-degree rotating 10.1-inch Seagull screen, the position of which can be changed even while driving.

For the multimedia system, you have to make a short trip to the origin of the car. Seagull to the Czech Republic introduced by Cario and these are cars imported directly from China. Unlike the Dolphin or the Atto 3 SUV, the Seagull has not yet been introduced in Europe. It might arrive next year, but for now it’s only available from China. This includes various usability features, but here and there there are some benefits as well.

For example, the car is not necessarily equipped with an intelligent speed limiter, so the car does not crash when you exceed the speed by even a kilometer, which it will – until often by mistake – reading from a road sign. The assistant for driving in lanes is also missing, which many drivers also turn off immediately. But the Seagull has six airbags, ESP or even cruise control.

And the negatives? In addition to cost, which will be discussed later, for example the operation of the system on board. It is based on Android, so it is relatively easy to install various applications in the car. Maybe even YouTube. It just doesn’t handle things like Android Auto or Apple CarPlay. Therefore, the importer also provides a special box with the system, with which you can easily fix the mobile phone with the car, as you are used to cars sold in the Europe.

Although most items in the menu are in English, for example the weather is always shown in Chinese. Also, some of the buttons on the steering wheel have Chinese labels, but they are said to work on Romanization. And the voice control also only understands Chinese. What is important, however, is that the car communicates with the crew in English for the necessary functions such as average wear, recovery conditions or assistants.

The price mentioned in the introduction is mainly helped by the fact that the four-seater Seagull is a purely urban electric car with a length of 3.78 meters and a width of 1.72 meters. However, the wheelbase is stretched to only 2.5 meters, so there is surprisingly enough space in all directions at the back, you can even stretch your legs under the front seat. The price for this is less luggage space, but you can store your weekly shopping here without any problems.

The technical parameters also correspond to the focus. The front axle is driven by an electric motor with a power of 55 kW, which is enough to ensure that you are almost always as fast as you start at traffic lights. However, BYD also only claims acceleration from a standstill to 50 in 4.9 seconds. Up to 80 km / h, the Seagull is very dynamic, which is also helped by its low weight of 1,240 kilos, but the lack of power begins to fully appear from this limit. The maximum speed is still 50 kilometers higher, but the car is not very suitable for the highway, as you will quickly understand with the high noise level.

Acceleration from, for example, 110 or 125 km / h with the gas completely on the floor takes a long time, but the car then keeps the speed well. But it is a feature that all urban electric cars suffer, starting with the Dacia Spring. On the highway, you’ll also notice that the miles on the dashboard are ticking by at an alarming rate. The on-board computer showed a consumption of more than 15 kWh / 100 km during a short trip on the highway.

But then you drive into town and suddenly the Gull is a completely different car. You can move around Prague with a consumption of up to 10 kWh / 100 km, even if you combine the city and the districts, you will not get much higher than 12 kWh / 100 km. Cario will bring a version with a 38.8kWh battery to the Czech Republic, while a smaller one, 30.08kWh, is also made in China. However, it would seem that the price would only be slightly lower and the sale would not be profitable for the importer.

BYD manufactures the battery itself, and according to the more profitable Chinese cycle, the car can travel 405 kilometers on a single charge. The importer himself recalculated the values ​​to about 340 kilometers in European traffic, but this is a rather pessimistic figure. In the city, the value of four hundred is possible, at about fifty percent the on-board computer still showed a range of about two hundred kilometers.

The charging power has a limit of 6.6 kW for alternating current and 40 kW for direct current. Here comes another Chinese special, because the Seagull has a Chinese connection, so to use European chargers, an adapter is needed, which will bring the import to the car. BYD also supports the V2L function in its smallest electric car, so you can power electric devices from the battery.

How does the Seagull drive? You will be surprised by the very soft chassis, which is very comfortable in the city and can filter most irregularities. The negative thing is that if you cross a series of tunnels in a row, the car floats and moves a little uncomfortable. The steering is light, some would say underpowered, but it can be useful on narrow city streets. However, it could be more accurate. However, the Seagull is not built for faster cornering, Chinese eco-friendly tires are also a limit. A quieter ride suits the electric city car even in the suburbs.

As mentioned before, Cario sells the Seagull for 659,000 crowns including tax (for comparison, the same car costs about 273,000 crowns in China). The rich equipment includes, among other things, LED lights, cruise control, rear parking camera and sensors, six airbags, air conditioning, keyless unlocking, inductive charging on a smartphone, multi system -center with rotating screen or 16-inch alloy wheels. It is also possible to apply a state subsidy of up to 200,000 kroner, so that entrepreneurs can get an interesting 345,000 kroner tax-free.

Cario provides a warranty of three years or 300,000 kilometers for the entire car including the battery, which can be extended to five years. The importer keeps the most common body parts in stock, then orders more specialized parts from China. At least until the Seagull goes on sale in Europe.

Also check out the Microlino urban electric egg test: