A previously mysterious electric BYD sedan has been exposed by a government ministry and is called the e7. There are a number of things interesting about the new car firstly it’s relatively lightweight considering its size and secondly the name e7.

Although BYD‘s first EV was called the e6 the company in recent years has not used the e name apart from with exported models. The e5 name had previously been used as a cheaper all-electric version of the first-generation Qin. This may give some indication of the pricing of the new model.

There are two Ministry of Industry and Information Technology listings for the new car, one with a curb weight of 1499 kg and the other of 1566 kg. The new model has a length of 4780 mm, a width of 1900 mm, and a height of 1515 mm. The wheelbase, on the other hand, is 2820 mm.

It should be noted that these dimensions are relatively similar to those of the all-electric Seal (4800/1875/1460 mm wheelbase 2920 mm). Furthermore, the e7 has a generally similar appearance to the Seal.

This leads us to believe that the e7 is a cut-down, cheaper version of Seal, something which is furthered by the fact that the car has traditional-style door handles rather than hidden ones. This would obviously keep down production costs.

Both listings display the same TZ180XSJ electric motor, which has all of 100 kW of power, enough to give the car a top speed of 150 Km/h. The car uses 16-inch wheels. All these suggest costs being reduced and range maximized. There is no word yet on battery capacity, but it will use BYD’s lithium iron phosphate blade battery.

The e5 was largely aimed as a taxi or ride-hailing car, and all the indications are that the e7 may well be the same.

Source: MIIT