BYD e6

Expert Review by Maxabout

Overview

The all-electric BYD e6 arrived in India in 2021, but it was only available to commercial buyers at the time. BYD made the e6 available to private car buyers in September 2022. That makes it India's first electric MPV. The e6's main selling point is its claimed WLTC city cycle range on a single charge.

The B2B market for fleet vehicles in India is rarely in the spotlight. That is because everything sold there is either a previous gen of an existing private market car or a watered-down version. It is designed to save money and withstand the rigours of transporting people on a daily basis.

BYD (Build Your Dreams) has been manufacturing buses and other larger electric hauliers in India for a decade. BYD has a different perspective on the approach to building people movers. It recently launched its E6 EV MPV in the luxury people-mover space. Its sights are set on large corporates, luxury hotels, and aggregators looking for something unique to offer in their fleet.

BYD E6 Design and Style

The exterior of the E6 is unobtrusive and pleasing to the eyes, if not a little vanilla. Because this is an EV, there is no grille, but rather a slew of small vents that direct air to the electric motor. The headlamps are sleek double-barrel units.

In the profile view, there are many elements to consider that lend this electric MPV a sporty appearance. The wheel arches are flared, and the roofline begins to taper backwards after the D-pillar. There's also a strong shoulder line and these rather unusual 17-inch wheels that help the car stand out. The rear has a single large chrome strip, a spoiler, and these downward LED-facing tail lamps. These wrap around the edge and add character to the rear appearance.

2023 BYD E6 has a length of 4.59 metres and a width of 2.8 metres. Its main rival, the Innova Crysta, is 4.73 metres long with a 2.75-metre wheelbase. The Kia Carnival is much larger, measuring 5.1 metres in length with a wheelbase of 3.06 metres. The Innova and Carnival are available in six and seven-seat configurations, whereas the E6 is only available in five seats.

BYD E6 Interior

Let's start from the back seat because that's what it's all about. When you walk in, you'll find a comfortable space with enough room for two or even three normal-sized adults. While headroom and knee room are adequate, the seat base could be too soft for some people's tastes. The glasshouse is large and gives the car a spacious feel all around.

What it lacks in space, it makes up for features for the rear occupants. There are two USB ports, a central air vent, and very small door pockets. There is no central armrest with cup holders, seatback pockets, and folding rear seats. it does not have bottle holders in both doors, or even the option to move the front passenger seat from the left rear. These are all features that one would expect from a vehicle in this price range. Not only in the consumer market, but also in the business-to-business market. The boot is massive at 580 litres and has a flat loading space, so you can pack whatever you want. But because the rear seats do not fold down, you are limited in space.

The front seats are comfortable, with nice bolstering around the edges to keep you tucked in if you ever get behind the wheel. The dashboard has hard grainy plastics but there are soft leather pads on the door armrests.

BYD has gone the obvious route by using glossy plastics. It makes everything look classy but attracts fingerprints and dust more. The centrepiece of the dashboard is a 10' touchscreen infotainment system. It runs Android OS and includes most of the features found in a Droid tablet for this purpose. It has a high-quality display with sharp colours. It can be used in both landscape and portrait orientations thanks to a rotation mechanism built into the mount.

BYD E6 Powertrain and Battery

2023 BYD E6 has one front-mounted AC motor that powers the front wheels. It has a power output of 70 kW and a torque of 180 Nm. The battery pack is a 71.7 kWh unit with a WLTP range of 415 km in the city and highway. It introduces blade battery technology for the first time in India. Developed by BYD and allows for smaller yet more efficient battery packs. When compared to conventional LION packs and safer battery pack packaging. The GLX variant provides 6.6 kWh/12 hours of full charge. 40 kWh AC Type 2/2 hours of full charge, and DC CCS2 60 kWh charging provides a full charge in 90 minutes. The CCS2 60 kWh fast charger is the only option for the GL variant.

The low torque of 180 Nm means that pick-up is not as powerful as one would expect from an electric vehicle. It is best if you build up momentum and carry speed for any type of overtaking. There are two levels of regeneration. The high mode is useful for cities with a lot of stop-and-go traffic. The range of this battery pack is the star of the entire driving experience. The DTE at the start of a drive was 500 km. By the end of a day of testing in both city and highway conditions, dropped to 375 km leaving with more than 75% charge. There is little doubt that if charged to 100%, it will achieve its full range. According to BYD, a full charge of the battery pack requires 76 units. It comes to Rs 912 for a full 'tank,' which is less than the price of an ICE vehicle in any case.

BYD E6 Ride and Handling

The E6 is designed with one goal in mind: comfort, which BYD has prioritised. The suspension is on the softer side and performs best at city speeds when the road is not too rough. But it is not too bad on a flat highway as well.

It has good straight-line stability and will allow you to cruise in comfort if your route has few turns and undulations. The ground clearance is only 170 mm (unladen), and a full car will drop even more. Forcing you to weave around poorly constructed speed breakers, potholes, and imperfections. Despite having two modes and being quite accurate, the steering lacks feel. Particularly in the dead-ahead position. But this car will always have a driver behind the wheel. Soft handling dynamics will be of little concern to those who add these vehicles to their fleet.

Pulling away from a stop, you'll notice that the MPV has a smooth acceleration. Despite the fact that electric motors provide instant torque. This is due to how BYD tuned the motors, with a greater emphasis on linear power delivery. Given that the e6 will be chauffeur driven. The e6 feels quite peppy at city speeds, making it easy to manoeuvre through traffic gaps.

At speeds less than 30 km/h, there is a constant hum for pedestrian safety. Its steering is nice and light at slow speeds, but it takes too many turns from lock to lock, which limits its manoeuvrability in the city. The steering also has a Sport mode, which adds more weight to it as you gain speed.

On the highway, the e6 is quite capable of reaching and cruising at triple-digit speeds. But it is equipped with an electronic speed limiter that activates at 130 km/h. Another advantage of the e6 is that its NVH levels are very good even at highway speeds, with little road and tyre noise filtering into the cabin.

The e6 has two drive modes: Eco and Snow, with Eco serving as the default. As the name implies, snow mode is intended for slick road conditions. This mode dulls the throttle response to provide the most linear outputs to the front wheels to mitigate any loss of traction.

The MPV has two levels of regenerative braking: Standard and Larger. The former is gentle and feels like regular engine braking in an ICE vehicle. The 'Larger' mode is much more noticeable, and first-time EV drivers may face a slight learning curve. The infotainment screen shows useful battery usage graphs and a cool regenerative braking animation.

2023 BYD e6 performs well in ride comfort. It is sprung and can handle almost any road imperfections thrown at it at low speeds. Due to the soft setup, there is noticeable side-to-side movement on rougher roads, but it is flat and composed at higher speeds.

The BYD e6's soft suspension compromises the electric MPV's handling to some extent. While the e6 is stable on the highway, it's quite floaty around corners. Neither the steering response nor the tyre grip inspires much confidence in pushing it hard.

Key Features of BYD E6

A well-organized dashboard with a free-standing 10.1-inch touchscreen infotainment system takes the centre stage. It has few physical buttons because all the climate controls are integrated into the touchscreen. The only physical buttons are located on the centre console. These buttons control the drive modes, regenerative braking, and hazard lights.

The touchscreen infotainment system is responsive, and it is an Android-based operating system. Onboard Wi-Fi allow it to use App Store applications such as Gaana and Google Maps. This touchscreen is not compatible with Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. When this screen is rotated 90 degrees, it becomes portrait-oriented. In portrait mode, the screen can display more information in apps such as Google Maps. It makes it easier to navigate for smartphone users, though it does appear a little gimmicky.

It has a tilt and telescopic steering wheel, steering-mounted media controls, and keyless entry. An informative 5.0-inch coloured MID is also part of the package.

Safety features include TMPS, CN95 medical-grade air filtration system, and a rear parking camera. The E6 has ABS with EBD, four airbags, TPMS ISO-FIX child seat mounting points, and a rear-view camera with dynamic guides. There's even an exterior sound that the car emits at speeds of up to 30 km/h to warn pedestrians of the car's proximity.

Conclusion

BYD's electric MPV is not cheap, costing almost Rs 30 lakh ex-sh for the e6 GL and e6 GLX trim. It also lacks the option of a 7-seat configuration. It also lacks a slew of features found in similar-priced competitors. Wireless charging, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay support, and connected car technology. As a result, it will not appeal to private buyers, but that is the company's intention.

2023 e6 is aimed at commercial operators who are currently served by the Toyota Innova Crysta. While it is more expensive, it provides fleet operators with some important and unique benefits. It has a very spacious and quiet cabin, a large boot, low running costs of Rs 1.59 per km (claimed) and an impressive real-world range.

Given the number of kilometers that fleet vehicles travel each year, the higher price may be offset sooner by the EV's low operating costs. BYD also provides an 8-year/500,000-kilometer battery warranty.