BYD have officially taken an iconic American vehicle name – Corvette – for one of their own.
BYD, the Chinese vehicle and battery manufacturer, has revealed a new Plug-in Hybrid SUV called the Corvette 07 at the 2022 Chengdu Motor Show. Now, you may be thinking that this is a direct rip-off of the iconic American sportscar, the Corvette. However, BYD insists that this is actually part of their ‘Warship Series’. And in that sense, yes, a ‘Corvette’ was first a warship class before it was even an American performance vehicle.
The BYD Corvette 07 is huge, but the largest SUV from China we’ve seen. It’s about the size of a Geely HaoYue, so still noticeably larger than a Proton X70. Still, it is about It spans 4,820mm from bumper to bumper with a width of 1,920mm and a height of 1,750mm. The wheelbase is 2,820mm. What’s interesting is that in terms of actual warships, the Corvette is the smallest class of vessel in a fleet. That might mean that a slightly larger and purely theoretical BYD Frigate might be in the pipeline. Or maybe the whole series of vehicles will use the numbers at the end to denote size – so a larger Corvette 08 and a smaller Corvette 06? Maybe.
The BYD Corvette 07 is available with two powertrain options. The basic model is known as the DM-i while the more powerful version is called the DM-p. While both share the same 139hp turbocharged 1.5-litre four cylinder petrol engine, the DM-i makes do with a single electric motor that supplements the power of the ICE. This puts about 197 hp onto the tarmac through the front wheels only. On the DM-p version, there’s an additional electric motor at the rear axle for an effective 401hp, 656Nm of torque all-wheel drive setup. The BYD Corvette 07 DM-p will go from 0-100km/h in just 4.7 seconds.
In terms of design, the frond end features a rounded and very large grille with loads of daytime running lights. There are loads of thinly spaced vertical bars and 6 larger horizontal slats as well. Around back, we have a more elegant and globally palatable look with a taillight signature that looks woven and a very empty looking tailgate with the license plate pushed down to the bumper area. The top half of the tailgate features a light bar with the script ‘BUILD YOUR DREAMS’ emblazoned across confidently right below that light bar.
Pricing for this new BYD vehicle in China is expected between 220,000 and 280,000 yuan. This converts to about RM144,000 and RM182,000 today. The ‘Warship’ series of cars is expected to slot above BYD’s basic lineup which consists of cars like the Atto 3. A Q4 2022 launch date is expected. No official interior pictures were shared but CarNewsChina has leaked interior shots here.
