The Chinese electric car manufacturing giant BYD Auto has recently trademarked the name Seagull in India. According to reports, this new electric vehicle will be a hatchback which the company has already showcased at the 2023 Shanghai Auto Expo in China. This new EV hatchback will most likely be offered in India in the price range within which the Tata Motors Tiago EV currently rules. BYD Auto currently has two electric cars for sale in India, and this new model will be their third car in the Indian EV lineup.
The BYD Seagull will also become the smallest EV offered by the brand in India once launched. This EV hatchback, in terms of design, will be distinct and will feature various sharp body lines. The size, although small, will feature a tall-boy design and will look somewhat like the hatchback Toyota GR Yaris, which the Japanese carmaker offers in the international markets. The front will feature a sharp bumper with a blackout lower grille and a snake fang-like design.
Most likely, it will get LED projector headlights and small slatted DRLs. There will be no grille on the front as it will be an EV, but overall, the front-end design will be modern and not too quirky. Moving on to the side profile, the front doors will be normal and will feature flap door handles, but the rear doors will have a unique design and will have a tapered window line. The side profile will also get thin black plastic cladding over the front and rear fenders, and some cladding on the doors as well. A set of thick 5-spoke alloy wheels can also be noticed.
As for the design of this upcoming hatchback’s rear, from the pictures of the car available in the international markets, it can be noted that the rear will also boast a much sharper-looking overall design. The taillamps will be sleek and will have LEDs in them. Another key design element of the rear will be a connected LED light, which has become a norm in the current automotive design scene. A sharp and extended rear spoiler can also be noted along with the same snake fang-like design on the lower portion of the rear bumper. Just like the front, the middle portion of the rear lower bumper will feature a blacked-out portion and will house the number plate.
In terms of the interior, it will be the opposite of the exterior. The interior of the BYD Auto Seagull will not be sharp and instead will be very flowy, like its other sibling, the Atto 3 mid-size EV SUV. It will feature a similarly designed steering wheel with all the controls on both sides, and it will also feature a digital instrument cluster. The exact size of this cluster is not known as of yet.
Next up, the center of the dashboard and the entire interior will be dominated by a massive touchscreen infotainment system, which mostly will feature all the modern connectivity features that we are used to in this modern age. The automatic air conditioning controls will be placed just right below the screen, and the AC vents will be placed below them. Overall, the theme of the interior will most likely be dual-tone, with silver garnishes spread across.
Lastly, under the bonnet or shall we say the floor, there will be a powerful electric drivetrain. The Seagull in the international markets comes available in three variants, namely the Vitality Edition, Freedom Edition, and Flight Edition. All of these three variants come powered by the same 55 kW or 74 bhp electric motor, which has a top speed of around 130 kmph. 0-100 on this small EV hatchback will be around 13 seconds.
As for the battery side of things, the Vitality and the Freedom variants of this bike come available with a 30 kWh battery, which can provide it with an impressive range of 305 km. Meanwhile, the Flight Edition model comes with a 38 kWh battery, which offers this hatchback a seriously impressive range of around 405 km. If these numbers could be delivered in the Indian market, then it would most likely become the killer for the Tata Tiago EV, which currently is the best-selling EV hatchback in the country.
