PHEV SUV TO A T (some text hidden) --NONE--

By Jonathan Crouch

BYD calls the Ti7 its 'Urban Box Family SUV'. It's a tough, big, seven-seat family Plug-in Hybrid off-roader that packs quite a punch. Jonathan Crouch takes a look.

Ten Second Reviewword count: 39

BYD tries its hand at a big authentic luxury SUV with this Ti7. It's a PHEV with technology that will force rivals to up their game. And yet another car from this growing Chinese brand that might surprise you.

Backgroundword count: 155

Chinese maker BYD has made a big impact on the British market. And its largest car yet is this one, the Ti7. In almost every way, this chunky big SUV is a more premium kind of BYD than anything we've seen before from the brand. The premium BYD marque we don't get - Fangchengbao - sells this car in China (as the Fangchengbao 5); and the Ti7 was developed alongside a model from the premium BYD nameplate we do get, Denza - the Denza Bao5. All kinds of powertrains will fit into a Ti7, but it arrives here with BYD's currently heavily favoured Plug-in Hybrid tech, which in terms of EV range is a generation on from PHEV versions of potential rivals like the Land Rover Defender and Hyundai's Santa Fe. Should those brands - and others in the segment like them - be worried by what's on offer here? Let's take a closer look.

Engines and Tech Specword count: 281

There are no big diesel units here. Like so many new BYD models these days, this one uses a 1.5-litre four cylinder Plug-in Hybrid petrol engine. Which you might not think sounds a lot to propel along a large, heavy 5-metre-long SUV. But fear not because this is very different from the kind of PHEV unit you'll find in a BYD family hatch. It represents the first outing for the Chinese brand's latest DM-p powertrain that mates that compact four cylinder engine with two electric motors (one on each axle) energised by a substantial 35.6kWh lithium-iron-phosphate battery pack. The stats of this set-up are truly impressive; 646bhp, 845Nm of torque, 0-62mph in 4.5s en route 118mph and, perhaps most impressively, an EV range figure of 74 miles. To give you some class perspective, a Land Rover Defender PHEV manages just 31 miles; a Hyundai Santa Fe PHEV just 33 miles. Cars like this must be fully equipped to go properly off-road, but most spend nearly all the time on it and the Ti7 has been engineered to that remit. There's enough ground clearance (190mm) to occasionally put the provided off road drive settings to the test (Snow, Sand, Mud and Mountain) but the settings make only minor adjustments to the steering and suspension and you're going to be spending most of your time in the tarmac modes (Normal, Eco and Sport). There's also adjustable regenerative braking via the centre screen; and steering column-mounted paddles to activate low-level autonomous driving. You sit high and commandingly and expect body roll to be kept in decent check - at least by the standards of a 2,400kg big SUV anyway. Braked towing capacity is 2,000kg.

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