BYD’s seven-seat Ti7 is edging closer to South African showrooms, with local dealers now teasing the plug-in hybrid SUV on their social media pages, reports The Citizen.

The development comes after BYD South Africa confirmed in August that the model was still under evaluation for the local market, with the latest dealer postings suggesting that its arrival is now moving closer.

Having debuted in the United Kingdom earlier this year, the Ti7 is marketed by BYD-owned Fangchengbao as the Tai 7 in China, with the export model set to be sold as a BYD and not under the Denza marque as previously reported.

Strategic rebadging for export markets

Seemingly, the decision has been strategic as Denza, outside China, has been devised as an off-road-specific division despite its B5 and B8 models being sold by Fangchengbao as the Bao 5 and Bao 8 in its home market.

Consequently, the Ti7 in China is marketed under the Tai or Titanium family of products along with the Tai 3, which is not designed for strenuous off-road use.

As such, the Ti7  Ti7 will wear the BYD nomenclature and, based on the teasers, be powered exclusively by a plug-in hybrid powertrain.

Dimensions and seating capacity

Revealed in China last year, the Ti7 rides on a unibody platform rather than the ladder frame used by the Bao 5 and Bao 8, and provides seating for seven as standard.

Styled to resemble the Defender 110, the Ti7’s dimensions are as follows:

Length: 4 999mm

Wheelbase: 2 920mm

Height: 1 856mm

Width: 1 995mm

Powertrain options and performance

Up front, the plug-in hybrid powertrain, under BYD’s DM-p designation, uses the familiar 1.5l turbocharged petrol engine as its base, but with a choice of two battery pack options in China.

Whereas the engine itself develops 115kW/225N.m, the base 26.6kWh battery powers a single front-axle-mounted electric motor capable of 200kW/315N.m.

While no combined output is known, the so-called Pro variant will get from 0–100km/h in 7.9 seconds and do 135km on a single charge according to China’s CLTC cycle.

Moving up to the Long Range Max brings the larger 35.6kWh battery paired with the same combustion engine and electric motor, resulting in a claimed CLTC range of 200km and 0–100km/h acceleration in 7.5 seconds.

Completing the range, the Max and Ultra variants use the same battery pack as the Long Range Max, but with the addition of a second electric motor on the rear axle.

In a departure, though, output for the front motor has been reduced to 160kW/260N.m while the rear produces 200kW/360N.m.

Combined with the petrol engine, the dual-motor all-wheel-drive Max and Ultra will get from 0–100km/h in 4.5 seconds and do 190km on the electric hardware alone.

Regardless of the powertrain or electric motor count, all models’ top speeds are limited to 190km/h.

Local availability and pre-orders

Based on the mentioned dealer postings, pre-orders are now open, though no pricing was disclosed.

BYD South Africa itself is yet to finalise the Ti7 after merely confirming to cars.co.za in August that it is under evaluation. As such, expect more details in due course.

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