What a great time to be in the market for an EV or hybrid. Hybrids and electric vehicles that used to be the domain of wealthy buyers have begun to trickle down to the middle class.

Toyota launched the Corolla Cross earlier this year with a competitive price of P1,498,000 for the base model, and Nissan followed suit just a few weeks ago by dropping the price of the Kicks to just P1,179,000.

BYD had been quietly promoting its line of EVs, but as good as the lineup is, range anxiety has been and will always be a concern for many erstwhile buyers. However, the Sealion 6 may be the car that will catapult the brand into mainstream acceptance.

Being a Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV), the Sealion 6 is rated for a little over 1,000km of combined range, utilizing a permanent magnet synchronous motor and 1.5-liter gasoline engine combo.

Dubbed Super DM-i, the system is programmed to utilize the electric motor whenever possible, only activating the gas engine when the Blade lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery drops to a 25% charge.

With up to 105km range for the 18.3kWh Blade battery, someone who primarily uses the car for a city commute could conceivably never need to tap into the gasoline tank, plugging into a charger at the end of the day to top up the battery like a mobile phone.

While the electric motor makes 194hp and 325Nm of torque, the 1.5-liter ICE makes 105hp and 135Nm of torque. Combined, the DM-i system has enough grunt to do the 0-100km/h sprint in 8.3 seconds.

But more than the numbers is the fact that BYD has made a concerted effort to make the Sealion 6 appealing to the C-SUV-segment demographic. At 4,775mm long, it’s longer than the Ford Territory (4,630mm), the Toyota Corolla Cross (4,455mm), and the Honda CR-V (4,691mm).

Externally, it looks pleasant if slightly generic, with the Ocean X Face front clip bearing a passing resemblance to the Porsche Macan thanks to the raised LED headlamps and the horizontal slats.

Inside, the roomy “Ocean-styled” cabin (whatever that means) is characterized by a low dashboard and a huge 15.6-inch rotating touchscreen. The seats are swathed in leather, with ventilation for the driver and the front passenger.

Our preview drive was limited to several kilometers of low-speed passes for the photo and video shoot, so I can’t say much about the handling except it has the overboosted and lifeless steering that is so common to Chinese cars these days, along with a soft suspension that’s biased toward road comfort rather than twisty-road handling chops.

Despite wearing 50-series, 19-inch tires, I couldn’t detect any hint of road rumble or tire noise, indicating the level of insulation for the cabin.

A full ADAS suite comes with the car, including 360° cameras, a six-sensor radar system, adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping assist, lane-departure assistance, auto emergency braking, front collision warning, and intelligent speed limit control.

Passive safety features include driver and front passenger airbags, side and curtain airbags, ABS, traction control, and tire-pressure monitoring system.

Many luxury features abound, such as the power tailgate, the 10-speaker Infinity sound system with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, the dual-zone auto climate control, the rear privacy windows, and the 15W wireless charging for not one but two mobile phones.

A Vehicle-To-Load (V2L) feature also lets you power up accessories using the battery, such as for camping trips.

And now, for the kicker. The Sealion 6 is hitting showrooms with a price of P1,548,000, right up the alley of the Territory and the Corolla Cross, and well below the CR-V and the RAV4.

The vehicle comes with a six-year/150,000km warranty, while the battery has an eight-year/160,000km warranty. Finally, the electric motor also has an eight-year/150,000km warranty.

With concerns of range anxiety addressed by its PHEV nature, and a full boatload of safety and luxury features at this price, it may just be the car that will win buyers over to the BYD brand.