While traveling between Gwanak-gu, Seoul and Suwon, Gyeonggi-do, the car ran on the road in five driving modes.
From the driver's perspective, the mode change was not felt. I thought of a swan floating peacefully on the surface of the water, but constantly stamping its feet beneath the water.
On the 2nd, we test drove the 'Sea Lion 6 DM-i', a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) mid-sized sports utility vehicle (SUV) introduced in Korea by BYD, China's largest electric vehicle company.
PHEV is a vehicle that combines the advantages of hybrid vehicles (HEV) and electric vehicles (EV). It also has a plug-in function that allows external charging while using the engine and electric motor together.
BYD's own PHEV technology, 'DM-i' (Dual Mode Intelligent), is characterized by shifting the center of gravity toward EV.
BYD explained that while in a conventional PHEV, the engine plays a main role and the battery plays a supporting role, in DM-i the battery serves as the main power source.
In everyday situations, the car runs on battery power alone, but when additional power is needed, such as when climbing a hill or overtaking on the highway, the engine intervenes.
The core of this car is the five drive modes that switch organically according to the driving situation.
When the battery level is sufficient, the 'pure EV mode' completely stops the engine and runs only with the motor. It is suitable for city driving and maximizes high efficiency and low noise.
When the battery drops below 20-25%, the engine switches to 'series HEV mode', which provides power to the electric motor. The engine is not mechanically connected to the wheels.
When accelerating hard or overtaking at high speeds, drive in 'parallel HEV mode', where the engine and motor roll the wheels together. There is also a ‘series-parallel HEV mode’ in which the engine participates in driving while also charging the battery.
When driving at a constant speed of 70 km/h or higher, the engine's power is transferred directly to the wheels through the clutch, switching to 'engine direct mode'.
During the test drive, I drove through city traffic, constant speed driving on the highway, and uphill roads, but the mode transition was so smooth that it was difficult to tell which mode the car was running in.
I got the impression that the overall driving texture was close to that of an electric car.
Noise and vibration were not significant from the time of departure to high-speed sections, and when the accelerator pedal was pressed, the speed increased smoothly up to 100 km/h. Even when going over speed bumps or bumps, the impact was well filtered out.
DM-i can be driven with only refueling without external charging, and conversely, it is also possible to run with only battery charging without refueling.
It seemed like it could be a realistic alternative for domestic consumers who hesitate to purchase electric vehicles due to charging infrastructure.
However, a subtle high-pitched sound could be heard while driving, whether in EV or HEV mode. It was similar to the high-frequency sounds that can be heard in a hearing test, but depending on the individual, it may be a concern.
The exterior seemed to have found a good balance between being stable and agile. The interior design felt a bit clunky, but considering the recommended retail price of 37.5 million won, it was satisfactory.
Sea Lion 6 DM-i is equipped with an 18.3 kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP)-based blade battery. It is said that it can drive up to 70km (certified by the Ministry of Environment) in pure electric mode alone, and by using both electricity and fuel, it can run up to 1,080km based on European WLTP standards.
It supports fast charging, taking about 30 minutes to charge the battery from 30% to 80%, and has an external power supply (V2L) function of up to 3.3kW.
