If you look at the pre-sale price of 146,800-173,800 yuan, you may say that this is similar to the price of the old Song MAX DM 14.99-21.49 million yuan, right?
So you should take a moment to look at my static review of the 2022 Song MAX DM-i, and after reading it, you may ask in turn, is BYD crazy? Shouldn't such a new MPV increase in price?
Why? Because the new 2022 Song MAX DM-i has three major upgrades, we look at them one by one.
Little "i" big love
I sometimes think that if BYD had hired a Shanghainese or Taiwanese to be the marketing boss, it would definitely not have a name like that.
From the name of the new and old Song MAX new energy models are only one "-i", formerly called Song MAX DM, now Song MAX DM-i. But in reality, its powertrain has undergone an earth-shaking upgrade.
The principle behind the DM-i plug-in hybrid system is not to be said, otherwise this article will become a 10,000-word long article, and today we will pay attention to the difference in the use of the owner.
The old Song MAX DM will soar to a very high level in the case of no power in the power battery, while the new DM-i in the same feed state, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology data is 4.4 liters per hundred kilometers, and according to my experience of the DM-i system, the actual urban fuel consumption should be more than 5 liters. That is to say, the new Song MAX DM-i you can drive completely as a fuel car that is more fuel-efficient than Fit.
Of course, you can also go to charge once in a while. The old DM high-end is only 81km endurance, and can only be slow charged; while the new DM-i high-end model has a 105km endurance, and also supports 30 minutes of half-charging DC fast charging.
Now let's take a look at the pre-sale price, even if you buy the top match of 214,900 yuan for the old model, it is also a 51km short-endurance slow-charging version (the high-endurance of 170,000-190,000 yuan is 81km endurance). The 2022 model has been a 105km long-endurance fast charging version since the beginning of the 156,800 yuan of the middle match.
Isn't it fragrant?
In addition to the cost of use, the new DM-i also has a significant upgrade to the feeling of daily driving than the old DM. However, because this time there is only a static experience, the dynamic part is left to the next dynamic test drive and report it to everyone.
The screen is more than a little bigger
The configuration of Song MAX has never been low, and the old model also has a large central control screen.
However, the old model is low-equipped with 10.1 inches, and high with 12.8 inches can be rotated. The new model this time is upgraded to a low-end 12.8-inch, and the top with 15.6-inch rotatable.
The equivalent of the top-of-the-line central control screen has been upgraded from the iPad Pro to the MacBook Pro.
In fact, the new car can not only upgrade the size of the screen, the new central control screen operating system has also been upgraded to DiLink 4.0, adding a lot of new features.
One of my favorites is the split-screen feature. In the past, you had better be "undistracted" when navigating, otherwise you might have missed a road junction when you switched to the music app to choose songs. But with this split-screen feature, I can keep the maps app open while letting the passengers in the co-pilot use their favorite entertainment functions at will.
In addition, Song MAX is after all a family MPV, so BYD engineers also consider the needs of small passengers, and deliberately optimize the speech recognition function of the car for the habits of children.
For big friends, they will also have a clear feeling, that is, the response speed of this car machine to voice wake-up has been greatly improved. The speed of people blinking is about 300-400 milliseconds, and when you call out Song MAX DM-i's voice assistant with "Hello Xiaodi", it will respond to you after 611 milliseconds. Blink twice to sell a cute, Xiao Di came.
The fluency of this set of cars is also very high, I did not know what chip was used later, but from the perspective of the switching speed between the applications and the fluency of the map application, this system should be no problem to insist on 5-7 years.
In addition, BYD's engineers also left a hand, after all, the ecology of Android is understood, so they prepared a "speed mode" in this car. In fact, it is to automatically clean up background applications, and at the same time, you can customize the whitelist. So in a few years, if you feel stuck, then leave your most commonly used maps and music applications, and let the system kill the rest.
By the way, DiLink 4.0 also supports changing the default navigation app, which is still quite new in the car.
Luxury grand upgrade
The promotional copy of the new Song MAX DM-i is "Happiness Upgrade". At first, I thought it was to upgrade the seats and get some so-called "business class" configurations such as aromatherapy mood lights in the carriage.
Unexpectedly, BYD gave Song MAX a "physical upgrade".
On the top model, BYD added a "big backpack" to the Song MAX DM-i, which looks like a roof suitcase, but actually raises the roof by 20cm.
Therefore, the new Song MAX DM-i after the "upgrade" has an external height of 188cm, and the net height of the second row of the car is slightly more than 140cm. If your child is not yet tall enough to pay the full price for the buffet, then he can stand straight in the second row.
At the same time, because this increased roof runs through the whole car, it is much easier to enter the third row from the second row, without bending the waist too low, and the passengers in the first row can also enjoy more spacious head space. But unfortunately, after all, this clever design does not really raise the roof, so the head space in the third row is the same as the standard version of the model.
If you think that increasing the head space of the occupants is of little significance, it is better to really install a roof suitcase to share the tight luggage space, then you can also buy a low-end model, this upgraded roof will only appear on the top model.
In addition, the new model has also added a lot in other configurations, such as a very good and useful auxiliary driving system, the old model is L1, that is, basically none, and the new model directly gives you a complete set of L2 DiPilot. This includes ACC active cruising, lane keeping, traffic sign recognition, and collision prevention. In addition to the two endurance versions of the entry-level model, the other three configurations are available. The 540-degree reversing image (360+ transparent chassis) is standard in the entire series.
Passive security has also been upgraded, the old model is only equipped with 6 airbags in a few high-end versions, while the new model is the standard of the whole series. By the way, BYD engineers also told me that their 6 airbags include two side air curtains that run through the car, which is 4 in some brands. In any case, the safety performance of the new Song MAX DM-i is really improved a lot.
Well, now let's look back at the pre-price of the new Song MAX DM-i, and its price has been reduced while the power system has been upgraded, the car engine system has been upgraded, and the configuration (top configuration and physical space) has been upgraded. Of course, the new model also reduces the configuration that you don't need a little, the 18-inch rim is reduced to 17 inches, and the top configuration no longer provides seat ventilation, but in general, the list of additional equipment is far longer than the reduction, especially in the low-end model.
Moreover, although the price of the new car is zero and complete, it is still a "pre-price" after all, so everyone can expect a little surprise when it is officially listed.
And I'm looking forward to the next dynamic test drive, to see how one more "-i" power system and more comprehensive DiPilot assisted driving system perform in the real world.