The Ministry of Industry of China has shed light on an update coming for the large all-electric sedan BYD Han. According to Autoevolution, the official driving range of the model went up from the already impressive 605 km (376 miles) to 715 km (444 miles). Just how the automaker was able to improve the range by 18% remains unexplained.
The vehicle mimics the Tesla Model S in appearance and body dimensions. It is still bundled with an 85-kWh traction battery. Autoevolution supposes that BYD was somehow able to extract more efficient power capacity out of the current battery unit. Despite being marked as an 85-kWh pack, it could only yield up to 76.9 kWh of electricity before a recharge was needed.
According to another theory, the redesigned Han might have inherited the innovative 800V architecture of the recently introduced Dolphin EV.
According to the official documents published by the Ministry, the range of 715 km (444 miles) is only valid for the single-motor spec rated at 218 PS (215 hp / 160 kW). The dual-motor AWD spec also enjoys a range boost, albeit on a lower scale: instead of 550 km (342 miles), it now covers 610 km (379 miles). Furthermore, it now has a new electric motor on the front axle rated above 240 PS (237 hp / 175 kW). The rear motor stays unchanged at 272 PS (268 hp / 200 kW).
The availability dates remain to be announced. BYD should be introducing estate and convertible variants of the Han soon, so it would be logical for the update to be revealed at the same time.