BYD's New Flagship EV Promises 621 Miles of Range for Under $40,000

BYD just opened pre-orders for the Great Han, a new full-size electric sedan that the company says can travel more than 1,000 km (621 miles) on a single charge — with a starting price under $40,000. For EV owners in the US who have watched range and charging speed climb year after year, the spec sheet is worth a look, even though this car is a China-market vehicle.

Known as the Da Han in China, it's the first D-segment flagship sedan in BYD's Dynasty family. The car first surfaced in June in a batch of new energy vehicles approved for sale by China's MIIT, and Lu Tian, general manager of BYD's Dynasty series, confirmed last month that the full reveal would land at the Chengdu Motor Show. It did, and orders opened at the same event starting at 249,900 yuan, or roughly $37,200.

What BYD is Actually Offering

There are three variants, split between single-motor and dual-motor setups:

• Premium (RWD) — 249,900 yuan (about $37,200), single 370 kW (496 hp) motor, 102.326 kWh battery, up to 1,008 km (626 miles) CLTC range.
• Flagship (RWD) — 269,900 yuan (about $40,200), same motor, battery, and 1,008 km CLTC range.
• AWD — adds a front motor for a combined 570 kW (764 hp), same battery pack, 880 km (546 miles) CLTC range.

Worth noting: CLTC is China's test cycle, and it's considerably more generous than the EPA numbers American drivers are used to. A 626-mile CLTC figure would translate to meaningfully less on a US window sticker. Still, the underlying battery is a genuinely big 102 kWh pack.

Five-Minute Charging is the Real Headline

Every Great Han variant ships with BYD's Blade Battery 2.0 and its Flash Charging technology. Using 1,500 kW charging, BYD says the car goes from 10% to 70% in just five minutes, and from 10% to 97% in nine minutes.

That's the number that makes EV owners sit up. For context, most of us are working with home Level 2 charging overnight and DC fast charging on road trips measured in tens of minutes, not single digits. Charging that fast requires infrastructure that doesn't broadly exist yet — but it does show where the technology is heading.

Over 400 miles with 5-10 minute charging is all that is needed for like 95%+ of use cases and to overcome range anxiety. — LoveMyEvs, top-rated comment on Electrek's coverage

It's Bigger Than a Model S

The Great Han measures 5,256 mm long, 1,999 mm wide, and 1,510 mm tall, with a 3,130 mm wheelbase. That makes it larger than both the Tesla Model S and the Lucid Air — closer in footprint to a long-wheelbase Mercedes S-Class.

BYD is loading it up with standard equipment, too: DiSus-A dual-chamber air suspension, rear-wheel steering, and zero-gravity front seats. Every variant also gets BYD's God's Eye B smart driving system with ADAS features including Navigation on Autopilot and remote parking. The sedan joins the Great Tang SUV and a run of new models under BYD's premium Denza brand as part of a broader push upmarket.

What This Means for US EV Owners

Let's be direct: the Great Han is not coming to a US driveway anytime soon. BYD doesn't sell passenger cars in the United States, and tariffs make that unlikely to change in the near term. But cars like this set the bar that Tesla, Lucid, Hyundai, and everyone else will be measured against — and pressure at the top of the market tends to trickle down into better batteries, faster charging, and more standard features on the vehicles we can actually buy.

In the meantime, the practical move for a Model 3, Model Y, Model S, or Cybertruck owner is to make the most of the range and charging you already have. That means keeping a quality Level 2 setup at home so you start every morning topped off, carrying the right adapters so no public charger is off-limits on a road trip, and packing a portable charging kit and roadside safety gear for the stops where the fast charger you planned on turns out to be down.

Five-minute charging will get here eventually. Until it does, a well-stocked frunk is what actually kills range anxiety.