(Yicai) May 29 -- Chinese new energy vehicle giant BYD has unveiled its new-generation plug-in hybrid electric vehicle technology.

The fifth-generation plug-in hybrid EV technology that BYD released yesterday enables vehicles to use only 2.9 liters of gasoline to run 100 kilometers in case of low battery, for a total range of 2,100 km.

Based on rough calculations, owners of plug-in hybrid cars with the new technology will spend 25 Chinese cents (4 US cents) per km, compared with 16 Chinese cents for owners of battery EVs.

BYD yesterday also unveiled two new car models, the Qin L DM-I and the Seal 06 DM-i, which both use the fifth-generation plug-in hybrid EV technology.

Shenzhen-based BYD debuted its first plug-in hybrid EV in 2008. Its sales of such models jumped to over 1.4 million last year from only 48,000 units in 2020.

BYD will hike investment in hybrid technologies, intelligent driving, and chip algorithms this year, and the new hybrid technology will likely be an essential part of the company’s earnings growth in the period, BYD said in a meeting with investors.

Last year, BYD sold more than 3 million cars, up 62 percent from the previous year. The automaker set its sales target for this year to 3.6 million units, having sold about 940,000 units between January and April.

Editor: Futura Costaglione