Five or six years ago, when a consumer had a budget of just over 100,000 yuan to buy a pure electric SUV, their only requirement might have been "reliability." As long as it drove well, had an acceptable exterior and interior, and sufficient range, that was enough. But now, with the same budget of over 100,000 yuan, consumers are no longer asking "whether it can be driven" but rather "how easy it is to use."
Between these two issues lies an entire industry evolution cycle.
In the early days of pure electric SUVs, users were most concerned about range, space and price; later, intelligent cockpit, driver assistance and chassis quality began to become the dividing line; today, a more basic question has returned to the forefront: if a pure electric vehicle is to truly enter the daily lives of families and young people, can it be like a gasoline car, with less planning and more spontaneity?
This is the question that the third-generation Yuan PLUS aims to answer. On May 21st, BYD officially launched the third-generation Yuan PLUS, with an official guide price of 119,900 yuan to 149,900 yuan. The new car offers two CLTC range versions with 540km and 630km ranges, all equipped with the second-generation blade battery and flash charging technology, and offers an optional "Eye of the Gods B" – laser-assisted driving version, also known as DiPilot 300.
The Yuan PLUS of the past was a calling card for BYD to open up the global market. Just as the Yuan Dynasty was the most extensive dynasty in Chinese history, the third-generation Yuan PLUS is more like a "value refill" for the mainstream market: it does not make any single breakthrough or extreme cost performance, but tries to provide relatively good performance in high-frequency perception aspects such as energy replenishment, battery, intelligent driving, space, chassis and safety, and then continue to become a blockbuster product.
All models are equipped with BYD's flash charging technology, fully charging in 10 minutes.
Even today, pure electric vehicle owners still experience some range anxiety. However, the anxiety isn't necessarily about the range itself, but rather about refueling. In the era of gasoline-powered cars, users rarely planned specifically "which gas station I'll refuel at." But for a long time, pure electric vehicle owners have needed to calculate routes, waiting times, charging station availability, and even consider temperature, power output, and queue conditions in advance. This psychological cost is a problem that pure electric vehicles must address as they further penetrate the mass market.
One of the most significant changes in the third-generation Yuan PLUS is the standard inclusion of BYD's flash charging technology across the entire range. BYD states that the new car can achieve a 10%-70% SOC charge in 5 minutes, a 10%-97% SOC charge in 9 minutes, and in a -30℃ low-temperature environment, a 20%-97% SOC charge in 12 minutes.
The experience of fully charging in about 10 minutes is quite similar to that of recharging a gasoline car. You can stop at a service area to charge, get out of the car to use the restroom, stretch your legs, take a short walk, and then return to find the car fully charged.
In the past, long range solved the problem of "whether you can get there," while fast charging solved the problem of "how long to wait after you arrive." When a pure electric SUV priced at just over 100,000 yuan offers both a 630km range and minute-level charging, it's no longer just a city commuter tool, but begins to possess stronger cross-city travel capabilities. For young families, this means less mileage calculation for weekend trips, holiday road trips, and impromptu business trips, and more spontaneous travel.
BYD has also improved the charging experience in detail. For example, the zero-gravity flash charging gun adopts a liquid cooling and suspension design to reduce the weight of the charging cable; and the contactless payment reduces fragmented actions such as scanning, waiting and paying.
The adoption of the second-generation blade battery represents another advancement. The third-generation Yuan PLUS is equipped with the second-generation blade battery, with capacities of 57.545kWh and 68.547kWh respectively. The official claim is that the energy density is more than 5% higher than the first generation, while safety, lifespan, and low-temperature fast charging capabilities are further enhanced. For mainstream-priced vehicles, battery technology upgrades are often more important than specifications, as they determine a car's real-world driving experience several years later.
From "good enough" to "good enough", A-segment SUVs can be small but cannot be lacking.
What makes the Yuan PLUS special compared to other electric vehicles is that it's not a niche model. As BYD's first global strategic passenger vehicle, the Yuan PLUS has achieved cumulative global sales of over 1.1 million units in four years since its launch, covering more than 100 countries and regions. Precisely because of its large scale and strong benchmark role, each upgrade is not just a facelift of a single model, but rather a migration of the mainstream A-class pure electric SUV standard.
The third-generation Yuan PLUS measures 4665×1895×1675mm with a wheelbase of 2770mm. Rather than simply making the car bigger, the Yuan PLUS focuses on maximizing space utilization. For example, it offers 39 storage spaces throughout the vehicle, including a phone holder, cup holder, and glasses case in the front, and a map pocket, B-pillar hooks, and seat drawers in the rear. The trunk also features a sunken design and side storage areas. It offers a 180L power front tailgate and a 750L rear trunk, along with a power tailgate, retractable cargo cover, and dual rear storage boxes, aiming to proactively address the fragmented, real, and sometimes awkward driving scenarios common with family users.
At this level, it even comes equipped with an in-car refrigerator that combines heating and cooling, an integrated tissue box, a "magic house" for the passenger side, and a threaded expansion interface for the driver's side. These features don't sound like the big items that traditional car engineers love to emphasize, but they are actually closer to the real lifestyle of young users: some want to display figurines, some want to hang action cameras, some want to prepare baby food for their children, and some just want a pack of tissues to stop rolling around in the car.
A 15.6-inch central control screen, a 12-inch W-HUD, an 8.8-inch LCD instrument panel, 50W wireless phone charging, 256-color music-inspired ambient lighting, a 16-speaker sound system, and a mobile phone NFC car key—these features constitute the basic digital experience. Meanwhile, the ever-changing themes, the My Little Pony co-branded theme, the Cyber Wooden Fish, the in-car game center, and the interconnection of ecological devices give this cabin a stronger emotional value.
This approach is somewhat similar to today's smartphones, where hardware specifications are the basics, but what truly determines user stickiness is often the wallpaper, themes, plugins, ecosystem devices, and those subtle expressions of personalization.
Rear-wheel drive, five-link suspension, and the Yunlian-C – BYD hopes its major features will also be appealing.
In many people's minds, the core task of a 150,000-level SUV is practicality, while handling and chassis are often not the first priority.
The third-generation Yuan PLUS adopts a rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout, offering two motor versions: 200kW and 240kW. The highest-powered model accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 5.9 seconds. All models feature a front MacPherson strut and rear five-link independent suspension, and are equipped with a 4.7m turning radius. Higher-spec models also feature the Yunlian-C intelligent damping body control system, which can adjust damping in milliseconds based on road conditions and driving status.
Electric vehicles, with their fast motor response and low center of gravity, are inherently prone to creating a nimble feel. However, the true quality of the chassis often depends on the suspension structure, damping control, and vehicle posture management. Rear-wheel drive and a five-link suspension provide a better foundation, and the Yunlian-C attempts to adapt this foundation to more scenarios: smoother when going over speed bumps, more stable during sharp turns, acceleration, and braking, and reduced unnecessary swaying during long journeys.
Safety features are also a key focus of the third-generation Yuan PLUS. The new car is equipped with the iTAC 2.0 intelligent torque control system, which utilizes the motor's response speed and high-precision control to actively manage rear axle drive and feedback torque, reducing the risk of slippage when starting on low-friction surfaces, accelerating through corners, or when releasing the accelerator or applying light braking. It also features the TBC high-speed tire blowout stability system, providing tire blowout stability control within a speed range of 40km/h to 140km/h. Combined with seven airbags, driver fatigue monitoring, roadside assistance call, and a five-way dashcam, this forms a more comprehensive safety system.
In terms of driver assistance, the third-generation Yuan PLUS offers an optional "Eye of the Gods B" – a laser-based driver assistance system, equipped with Eye of the Gods 5.0. The official statement emphasizes that it adds reinforcement learning capabilities on the end-to-end basis, enabling functions such as city navigation, high-speed navigation, and intelligent parking in all scenarios.
To some extent, the evolution of the Yuan PLUS also represents a new stage for Chinese brand pure electric vehicles: in the past, the focus was on making electric vehicles cheaper and easier to drive; now, the goal is to make charging, intelligence, space, and lifestyle more natural. Of course, the Yuan PLUS's journey has never been limited to the domestic market, but to the global market, with a target of hundreds of thousands of units sold annually. Therefore, to a certain extent, the Yuan PLUS has a strong defining power in this mainstream market. The third-generation Yuan PLUS aims to define itself by achieving a balance between range, charging, comfort, safety, quality, and intelligence at a reasonable price, becoming a "hexagonal warrior" in this mainstream vehicle market.
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