The BYD (EV) Thread

BYD’s Fang Cheng Bao Formula S and S GT go on sale in China

For the past couple of years, Fang Cheng Bao was the brand you associated with squared-off, boulder-crawling plug-in beasts - a sub-brand built specifically to pull wealthy outdoor hobbyists away from their Land Cruisers and Defenders. Yet here we are, watching that off-road-centric outfit park a pair of sleek EVs right in the Xiaomi SU7 and Tesla Model 3's front yard.

The new models - the Formula S coupe-styled sedan and its wagon sibling, the Formula S GT shooting brake - borrow their design cues from the Fang Cheng Bao Super 9 concept. But what really is shocking is the ruthless pricing. When pre-orders opened on August 20, BYD pegged the series between RMB 230,000 and RMB 280,000 - which already was attractive. But at the official launch, BYD announced that the Formula S will start at RMB 189,900 (around €23,800), and top out at RMB 229,900 (around €28,900). That's a 17.4% haircut - RMB 40,100 (nearly $ 6,000) shaved clean off the bottom end before the first customer even signs a finance agreement.

Even the stunning Formula S GT shooting brake starts from RMB 219,900 (about €27,600). Tesla's refreshed Model 3 asks around RMB 235,500 to RMB 259,900 in China, and Xiaomi's smash-hit SU7 starts from RMB 215,900 in its baseline trim. Fang Cheng Bao is undercutting the entire class while possibly offering more.

Size-wise, the Formula S twins dwarf the American benchmark. The Formula S stretches to 5,060 mm in length, it is 1,967 mm wide, and stands 1,483 mm tall on a 2,960 mm wheelbase. The shooting brake Formula S GT is surprisingly shorter at 5,025 mm; it is 1,967 mm wide and 1,458 mm tall, but it shares the identical 2,960 mm wheelbase.


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BYD's smallest urban runabout is about to grow bigger

The original hot hatchback philosophy never had anything to do with raw horsepower - but everything to do with chucking a light, squared-off box through tight city roundabouts. When the BYD Seagull first arrived in early 2023, it captured that exact pocket-sized cheeky essence. It showed up on the scene as a compact, sub-four-meter city car built with a focus on affordable, everyday electric commuting. Drivers embraced its pinpoint turning radius, and BYD went on to sell more than 1.5 million units across thirty-odd months.

Unfortunately, in the hyper-competitive Chinese auto market, cars have the shelf life of fresh sushi. After selling 529,537 units in 2025 alone, the Seagull hit a wall. After 12 months of year-on-year sales slumps chipped away at its dominance, with volume down by 37.50% across the first eight months of this year. An August uptick to 36,106 deliveries suggested a revival, but it was too little too late - BYD decided that a mid-cycle nip and tuck was not going to cut it.

Official design sketches released by Zhang Zhuo, general manager of BYD's Ocean series, reveal a complete overhaul that abandons the pint-sized proportions of the original. The teasers show a way more aggressive machine with chiseled surfaces, angular trident-style headlamps, and a sharply rising beltline that meets a floating roofline. In internal development circles, whispers had long pegged this project under the affectionate working title of the "Big Seagull." Now confirmed for a launch this year, the sketches leave zero doubt: BYD's feisty entry-level hatch is shedding its baby fat in favor of a grown-up, broad-shouldered look.

According to regulatory filings with China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the second-generation Seagull is 4,205 mm long, 1,810 mm wide, and 1,570 mm tall, with a 2,650 mm wheelbase. The newcomer is 425 mm longer overall and rides on a platform with 150 mm of extra wheelbase compared to the outgoing model. Adding nearly half a meter of metal between bumpers is a full-blown promotion into a different vehicle class.

Every single millimeter of that newfound footprint pays back inside the cabin. The original Seagull was a strict four-seater, which limited its appeal for growing households, but the second-generation model gains a fifth seatbelt. That revision transforms the car from a student commuter or second runabout into a do-it-all primary family car. You also gain rear legroom and enough trunk capacity to swallow luggage without playing Tetris.

The previous generation's rather modest 55 kW motor was perfectly adequate for darting between traffic lights, but it ran out of puff on open motorways. The new car fixes that deficit by having a permanent magnet synchronous motor delivering 95 kW, equivalent to 127 hp. That output is not going to set the drag strip on fire, but it should be enough to give this enlarged hatchback a decent punch needed for confident highway overtakes.


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BYD's smallest urban runabout is about to grow bigger

The original hot hatchback philosophy never had anything to do with raw horsepower - but everything to do with chucking a light, squared-off box through tight city roundabouts. When the BYD Seagull first arrived in early 2023, it captured that exact pocket-sized cheeky essence. It showed up on the scene as a compact, sub-four-meter city car built with a focus on affordable, everyday electric commuting. Drivers embraced its pinpoint turning radius, and BYD went on to sell more than 1.5 million units across thirty-odd months.

Unfortunately, in the hyper-competitive Chinese auto market, cars have the shelf life of fresh sushi. After selling 529,537 units in 2025 alone, the Seagull hit a wall. After 12 months of year-on-year sales slumps chipped away at its dominance, with volume down by 37.50% across the first eight months of this year. An August uptick to 36,106 deliveries suggested a revival, but it was too little too late - BYD decided that a mid-cycle nip and tuck was not going to cut it.

Official design sketches released by Zhang Zhuo, general manager of BYD's Ocean series, reveal a complete overhaul that abandons the pint-sized proportions of the original. The teasers show a way more aggressive machine with chiseled surfaces, angular trident-style headlamps, and a sharply rising beltline that meets a floating roofline. In internal development circles, whispers had long pegged this project under the affectionate working title of the "Big Seagull." Now confirmed for a launch this year, the sketches leave zero doubt: BYD's feisty entry-level hatch is shedding its baby fat in favor of a grown-up, broad-shouldered look.

According to regulatory filings with China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the second-generation Seagull is 4,205 mm long, 1,810 mm wide, and 1,570 mm tall, with a 2,650 mm wheelbase. The newcomer is 425 mm longer overall and rides on a platform with 150 mm of extra wheelbase compared to the outgoing model. Adding nearly half a meter of metal between bumpers is a full-blown promotion into a different vehicle class.

Every single millimeter of that newfound footprint pays back inside the cabin. The original Seagull was a strict four-seater, which limited its appeal for growing households, but the second-generation model gains a fifth seatbelt. That revision transforms the car from a student commuter or second runabout into a do-it-all primary family car. You also gain rear legroom and enough trunk capacity to swallow luggage without playing Tetris.

The previous generation's rather modest 55 kW motor was perfectly adequate for darting between traffic lights, but it ran out of puff on open motorways. The new car fixes that deficit by having a permanent magnet synchronous motor delivering 95 kW, equivalent to 127 hp. That output is not going to set the drag strip on fire, but it should be enough to give this enlarged hatchback a decent punch needed for confident highway overtakes.


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Wait.. seagul is our dolphin surf. So plans are already underway to replace it barely a year after launching locally? Shooooweeeeee
 
Wait.. seagul is our dolphin surf. So plans are already underway to replace it barely a year after launching locally? Shooooweeeeee
Yeah, cars aren't these wonderful things with five year lifecycles. These days they're more like cellphones, with new variants released every year. Don't worry about the depreciation, I don't think anyone will care if you're driving the BYD Dolphin 1.2x, 1.6b or 1.7h.
 
BYD's Yangwang brand is working on a luxury executive sedan, here it is in spy shots

BYD's Yangwang brand seems to be very busy working on a new luxury executive sedan, which is allegedly internally codenamed Hu. Yangwang is BYD's premium luxury brand in China, so this makes perfect sense.

The upcoming car has been spotted on the streets of China wearing heavy camouflage. As you can see in the images below, it seems quite massive, as you'd expect given its positioning.

The front is rumored to be quite similar to that of the Yangwang U8, and the Hu is apparently going to be around 5,500 mm long. It has rear-hinged coach doors like a Rolls-Royce, and a LiDAR on the roof. Since it's shown in one image next to a BYD MW Flash Charging Station, it could support BYD's latest fast-charging tech.


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