New BYD Ti7 is China’s answer to the Land Rover Defender, and it’s coming to the UK

BYD’s most ambitious model yet is coming to the UK, and it might have Land Rover, Toyota and even Audi looking over its shoulder. Taking the form of a large, three-row SUV with a plug-in hybrid powertrain, the new BYD Ti7 will arrive here within the next few months, with the same aggressive pricing as the rest of its fast-growing range. 

The Ti7 is already available in other markets, but it’s not sold under the BYD badge. Instead, in its native China it’s actually sold as a model from BYD’s Fangchengbao brand, which is an upmarket rival to the likes of Land Rover and Volvo. This means that despite wearing a BYD badge here, it should arrive with higher levels of quality and features than we’ve previously seen from the Chinese company’s cars.

This ambition is evident in its design, which doesn’t hide behind its desire to attract Land Rover Defender customers. Its blocky upright stance, contrasting black bumpers and floating roof all draw from the same playbook – look closely and the silver inserts on the bumpers and body-coloured panels on the rear glass might actually sit too close for comfort. 

BYD hasn’t revealed pictures of the interior yet, but in other markets the Ti7 comes with the familiar combination of a tablet-style infotainment display sat within a luxuriously appointed cabin. It will seat seven, with a three-row layout containing two rear seats that can fold down into the boot floor.

Under the bonnet will be BYD’s DM-p powertrain, which is a plug-in hybrid set-up where the two electric motors provide a majority of the drive to the wheels. These work in conjunction with a 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine; this will predominantly be used to charge the battery, although it can power the wheels directly at high speed. 

BYD has not announced any specific power or torque figures, but it has revealed a 0-62mph time of just 4.8 seconds. This suggests it’ll be powered by the AWD powertrain available in other markets, which has just over 600bhp. 

The company hasn’t confirmed the capacity of the battery pack, either, but has confirmed it’ll have an all-electric combined range of 79 miles.

Just like the Land Rover Defender, the Ti7 runs on a unibody-style construction, rather than a more rugged body-on-frame seen on rivals such as the Toyota Land Cruiser. This set-up is beneficial in terms of interior space and driving refinement, so although the Ti7 looks like an off-roader, it shouldn’t drive like one. 

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