A rare sporty electric hatchback will arrive in China later this month. BYD’s new Seal 06 GT electric hot hatch will launch on October 18, 2024, as the EV giant expands into new segments. Here’s what we know so far.
BYD’s electric hot hatch is set to arrive in China
We got our first look at BYD’s electric hot hatch at the Beijing Auto Show in April. Dubbed the Ocean-M concept, BYD claimed it was the industry’s first RWD performance electric hatchback.
You can clearly see the design influence from its other Ocean series models like the Dolphin and Seal but with an almost Volkswagen Golf-like silhouette.
Based on its new e-Platform 3.0 Evo, the EV hot hatch features higher performance and faster charging speeds.
The interior is also packed with BYD’s latest tech and connectivity software. A floating 15.6″ infotainment and 10.25″ driver display are at the center of an otherwise minimalistic design. BYD’s electric hatchback also comes with a 12″ head-up display.
BYD opened pre-orders, officially calling it the Seal 06 GT in August. The company said prices would range from as low as $21,300 (150,000 yuan) to upwards of $28,400 (200,000 yuan).
Although it was expected to launch in China last month, BYD’s Ocean series manager Zhang Zhuo confirmed the EV hot hatch will hit the market on October 18.
Taking on new segments
At 4,630 mm long, 1,880 mm wide, and 1,490 mm tall, with a wheelbase of 2,820 mm, BYD’s Seal 06 GT is slightly longer than Volkswagen’s new ID.3 GTX Performance (4,265 mm long / 1,809 mm wide / 1,563 mm tall / 2,770 mm wheelbase).
With hatchbacks not as popular in China, there are few comparisons. However, the electric hot hatch is expected to launch in Europe.
VW’s ID.3 GTX Performance starts at $57,200 (€ 52,295) with up to 321 hp (240 kW) for a 0 to 62 mph acceleration in 5.7 seconds. Powered by a 79 kWh battery, the sporty ID.3 GTX gets up to 373 miles (601 km) WLTP range.
The BYD Seal 06 GT is available in three powertrains. The base model features a 214 hp (160 kW) rear motor. The middle trim has 221 hp (165 kW), while the dual-motor model offers 415 hp (310 kW) for a 0 to 62 mph acceleration in 4.9 seconds. With the larger 73 kWh battery, the EV hot hatch gets up to 375 miles (605 km) range in China.
BYD’s new electric hot hatch is the latest as it expands into new markets. Although best known for its low-cost EVs like the Seagull, which starts at under $10,000 in China, BYD is launching new models across different segments, such as pickup trucks, electric supercars, and luxury vehicles.
Saudi Aramco’s Ras Tanura oil refinery and oil terminal
Ahmed Jadallah | Reuters
Saudi state oil giant Aramco reported a 15.4% drop in net profit in the third-quarter on the back of “lower crude oil prices and weakening refining margins,” but maintained a 31.05 billion dividend.
The company reported net income of $27.56 billion in the July-September period, topping a company-provided estimate of $26.9 billion. The print is also a 5% drop from the previous quarter, which came in at $29.1 billion, as lower global oil prices, weaker demand and prolonged OPEC+ production cuts led by Saudi Arabia continue to impact crude prices.
The average selling price of oil for the second quarter of 2024 stood at $85 per barrel, but dropped to $78.7 per barrel during the third quarter, according to Saudi-based bank Al Rajhi capital, as non-OPEC supply volumes grew.
The oil firm said its year-on-year decline was partly offset by a “reduction in selling, administrative and general expenses primarily driven by a gain from derivative instruments, and a decrease in production royalties largely reflecting lower crude oil prices and a lower average effective royalty rate compared to the same quarter last year.”
Aramco’s dividend includes a base payout of $20.3 billion and an atypical performance-linked one of $10.8 billion. The Saudi government and the kingdom’s sovereign wealth vehicle, the Public Investment Fund, are the main beneficiaries of the dividend, holding stakes of roughly 81.5% and 16% in the company.
The remaining shareholding trades freely on Saudi Arabia’s Tadāwul stock exchange, with the company having finalized its second public share offering back in June.
Aramco’s earnings before Interest and Taxes (EBIT) came in at $51.45 billion in the third quarter, down 17% year-on-year. Aramco’s capital expenditure guidance was brought up 20% to $13.23 billion.
The company was trading at 27.45 riyals following the announcement, down 0.18% on the previous day.
The earnings align with a broader trend across oil majors, whose third-quarter profits have also suffered from declines in crude prices and refining margins. Aramco said it achieved average realized crude price of $79.3 per barrel in the third quarter, compared with $89.3 per barrel in the same period of last year.
Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude exporter who produces roughly 9 million barrels per day of crude at present, serves as the de facto leader of the OPEC+ oil producers’ alliance, a subset of whom agreed over the weekend to delay a planned December output hike by one month.
“Aramco delivered robust net income and generated strong free cash flow during the third quarter, despite a lower oil price environment,” CEO Amin Nasser said in a statement. “We also progressed our upstream developments, strengthened our downstream value chain, and advanced our new energies program as we continue to invest through cycles.”
The revenues will be a boon to the Saudi economy, which is currently undergoing a diversification process under Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s legacy Vision 2030 scheme spanning a slew of high-cost infrastructure “gigaprojects.”
Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Finance cut the kingdom’s growth forecast to 0.8% in 2024, in a steep decline from a previous projection of 4.4%, and raised the outlook for the national budgetary shortfall to roughly 2.9% of GDP, from a prior indication of 1.9%.
On today’s episode of Quick Charge, Tesla’s Cybertruck is now available in Canada – and, like in the US, there’s no waiting! Plus, we’ve got an “actually” smart summon Tesla that’s actually stuck, GM reaches a sales milestone, and we get a brand-new title sponsor!
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Mobile car care company Yoshi Mobility launched a DC fast charging EV mobile unit that it likens to “a supercharger on wheels.”
November 4, 2024 update: Yoshi Mobility will only be charging EVs on the side of the road now – it announced today that it’s selling its fleet fueling operation to EZFill Holdings (Nasdaq: EZFL).
It was originally founded as a direct-to-consumer, mobile fueling business in 2016, but now it’s going to focus on mobile EV charging, virtual vehicle inspections for partners like Uber and Turo, and onsite preventative maintenance.
Bryan Frist, Yoshi Mobility’s CEO & cofounder, said, “By spinning off our fuel business and focusing all of our energy on solving hair-on-fire problems that fleet owners face, we are meeting the changing needs of enterprise customers while making the future of transportation safer, cleaner, and more sustainable.”
May 22, 2024: Yoshi Mobility saw that its existing customers needed mobile EV charging in places where infrastructure has yet to be installed, so the Nashville-based company decided to bring the mountain to Moses.
“We recognized a demand among our customers for convenient daily charging, reliable private charging networks, and proper charging infrastructure to support their fleet vehicles as they transition to electric,” said Dan Hunter, Yoshi Mobility’s chief EV officer and cofounder.
The company says its 240 kW mobile DC fast charger, which can turn “any EV” into a mobile charging unit, is the first fully electric mobile charger available. It can provide multiple charges in a single trip but doesn’t detail how they charge the DC fast charger or who manufactured it. (I asked for more details, and they replied that they won’t disclose client names or the manufacturer of its DC fast charger yet.)
Yoshi is launching its mobile charger on two GM BrightDrop Zevo 600s and will introduce additional vehicles throughout 2024. It aims for full commercialization by Q1 2025. (I wonder if the Zevo 600 ever charges itself? Yes, I asked that too.)
Yoshi Mobility says it’s already deployed its EV charging solutions to service “major OEMs, autonomous vehicle companies, and rideshare operators” across the US. Its initial customers are made up of large EV operators managing “hundreds” of light-duty vehicles requiring up to 1 megawatt of energy per day that don’t yet have grid-connected EV chargers. I’ve asked Yoshi for details of who it’s working with, and will update if they share that info.
The company says pricing is based on location and enterprise charging needs. Once under contract for service, the service will be deployed to US-based customers within 10 days.
To date, Yoshi Mobility has raised more than $60 million, with investments from GM Ventures, Bridgestone, ExxonMobil, and Y-Combinator in Silicon Valley.
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