BYD Launches Cheap Version Of Sedan Seal, Tesla Will Follow?

JAKARTA - The global EV leader from China, BYD, launched a cheap version of the Seal electric sedan, namely the Honor Edition, which is priced at 179,800 yuan or around Rp391 million.

Honor Edition is predicted to trigger price battles in the local market. Quoting from the Electrek page, Tuesday, March 26, BYD introduced the 'Seal Honor Edition' on its Weibo account, a new version at a lower price than the rival electric sedan, the Tesla Model 3.

With the presence of this new version making the trim BYD Seal in China increase, now it is five with a price range ranging from 179,800 yuan to the most expensive to reach 249,800 yuan or around Rp546 million.

Equipped with e-platform 3.0, this new EV is offered with a BYD Blade 61.4 kWh or 82.5 kWh battery, each of which provides a range of 550 km and 700 km in CLTC counts.

Most of the specifications remain the same, but BYD includes new configurations and features. The brand, which is already present in Indonesia, also offers significant incentives such as 0 percent interest for three years, free charging (including installations), data (5GB/month), and cloud services for two years.

With a length of 4,800 mm, a width of 1,875 mm, and a height of 1,460 mm, this new Seal is a direct rival to the Tesla Model 3 (length 4,720 mm, a width of 1,848 mm, a height of 1,442 mm in China in comparison, the Tesla Model 3 is priced at 245,900 yuan (IDR 537 million).

The presence of this latest version of Seal is certainly a danger sign for Tesla, which does not rule out the possibility that the model will sell well on the market because the price is cheaper.