DHL Express kicked off the first phase of their 10-year EUR 7 billion sustainability program for the country by acquiring 3 BYD T3 EV vans. DHL’s new BYD T3 logistics vans can haul 3.5 cu.m. of payload with a range of 250km.
Press Statement by Solar Transport Corp.,”DHL Express chooses BYD,” 17 Febuary 2022:
BYD, which stands for Build Your Dreams, the leading electric vehicle manufacturer in the world, helped kickstart DHL Express Philippines’ Sustainability Roadmap, which aims to reduce CO2 emissions with a seven billion Euro investment over the next ten years.
DHL chose to start the first phase with 3 BYD T3 Electric Van for the Philippines, Pure Electric Logistics Van, with a range of 250km, powered by BYD’s Blade Battery, one of the safest and most advanced Battery technology in the world. The Vans can carry up to 3.5 cubic meters of load.
“With our goal of reducing logistics-related emissions to zero by 2050, we are attempting to reach a larger milestone. The purchase of these electric vehicles is our first step towards greener logistics, which will benefit the environment, our customers, and our people,” said Nigel Lockett, Country Manager of DHL Express Philippines.
This initiative is part of Deutsche Post DHL Group’s global target of running 60% of its vehicles electrically by 2030, which will strengthen its portfolio dedicated to EV logistics as well as the increased pace of decarbonization.
“On behalf of the BYD Team, we’re so honored to serve and take part as one of the first movers to kickoff DHL’s Sustainability Roadmap in the Philippines. I find it admirable that companies like DHL are choosing the courageous path towards an exciting sustainable future for the whole community to enjoy.“ Said Mark Andrew Tieng, Managing Director of BYD.
BYD’s EV and HEV line up consists of the Dolphin, a 5-door fully electric hatchback with a range of 400kms on a full charge; The T3- a 7-seater fully electric van with a range of 250km per charge; The Tang, the premium luxury flagship 7 seater SUV with a range of 600km and the Han, the premium luxury flagship sedan with a range of 600km; Song Plus, a new generation hybrid SUV that is powered by BYD’s DM-I technology: which has a 60km EV range and a 1.5-liter engine that acts as an EV range extender, that powers the motors and recharges the battery, and only propels the vehicle when speeds are more than 80km/h.
BYD has been the most aggressive among all carmakers that charge from grid electricity. They have led the EV-olution of vehicles in China and are making their presence felt all over the world. Their blade batteries are game-changing in the EV industry, as it is safer, lighter, more reliable, and more energy-dense.
In the Philippines, Solar Transport Corp., is the exclusive distributor of BYD vehicles. Headquartered in 1702 Dian St cor Gil Puyat Ave Makati City.
For more information, log on to www.byd.com.ph.
There’s no clutch pedal to work with. All clutchwork is delegated to the electronic shifter, leaving just the brake and gas pedals. And, about that gas pedal, the AMT also overrides your throttle inputs as it works the clutch, letting up on the gas as it pulls back the clutch for a shift, then bringing the gas back to where you had it as it lets the clutch back in to engage the new gear.
But, as it turns out, I was wrong. Working with the same gear ratios as on the manual box, that 3000rpm shift-point I had pegged is where the AMT would have you in its more aggressive S mode, with shifts happening at a similar 20, 40, 60 and 80km/h. In contrast, in normal A mode, the F-0’s AMT programming defaults to extreme economy, its logic and fast electronic controller managing to deliver an even more frugal shift sequence.
At 2,000rpm with its fairly flat power curve, the F-0’s BYD 371QA engine already delivers 86% or 57lb-ft of its peak torque of 66lb-ft at 4000rpm. It really is enough for getting you to the next shift point. The problem is, with the throttle so responsive on the MT variant, that 2000rpm comes and goes very quickly—difficult to hit when you’re minding a stick. But with the drive-by-wire controllers on the AMT kit, triggering things at 2000 is just routine of course.
On rolling out, shifting from N down to A will put the F-0 in gear only if you’re stepping on the brakes at the time. If you forget this and, perhaps, put it in A not while stepping on the brakes but rather with the parking brake engaged, it won’t put you in gear. The stick selector will be in the center position where it should be but the dash display will show you as being still in N. Remember this and don’t panic when you might be coming off the handbrake instead of the brake pedal (like when you move again in stop-and-go traffic). Simply step on the brakes, then cycle the stick to N then back to A. That’ll put you in gear.
But you can still use that old handbrake trick when rolling out from an uphill hang. Just do what you’d normally do after shifting the selector in drive while stepping on the brake. Engage the handbrake, step off the brake pedal, and then give it a little gas in A before disengaging the handbrake as well.
With a gear shift completed, the gearbox will restore full throttle control, putting the engine revs instantly back where your foot on the gas tells the AMT to put it. What’s this like? Have you seen the movie Apollo 13, particularly the part when their first stage booster cuts out and the second stage suddenly comes on to take over? It’s like that. You’d feel a sudden absence of acceleration as the AMT starts into a shift, followed half a second later by its equally sudden return. But, again, that’s only if you keep pressing on the gas pedal the same way throughout the gear change.
Somewhat related to this, A mode will keep you in a particular gear as long as it keeps you moving along at the gear’s corresponding minimum speed, regardless of not being able to accelerate beyond it. This makes for some hair-raising episodes when you’re going uphill. An A mode’s short-shifting sequence, while good enough on level ground, could cause a sudden loss of critical gear reduction as you deal with a climb. Instead of speeding through a climb on a lower gear, an untimely up shift would likely keep you at a low speed, not letting you accelerate further for the duration of the uphill run … makes for a lot of horn-honking at your back.
But in the end, after logging about 250km on the F-0, I’d suggest keeping it in A mode instead. Just build on old muscle memory to learn a new set of instincts for easing off the gas pedal when the gearbox idles down the throttle and come back in with the gas only after it completes a gear change. This way, you reap all the fuel-saving benefits of the AMT while enjoying its clutchless operation. Consume less fuel than with a conventional AT while still enjoying its clutch automation, what’s not to like?
The decision to keep the tires at 28psi proved fortunate when, at Real and already on the seaside road, the concrete pavement gave way to a long stretch undergoing upgrade. The bare ground still being tamped down had apparently been reshaped by heavy rain, the terrain turned into mounds and valleys.
While the lack of powered features may sound unappealing, the manually operated controls are all simpler to maintain and keep expensive motors, wiring and switches off the list of parts that’ll probably need replacing during the useful life of the taxi sedan. Good news for fleet operators.
On the return trip, after the Marifanta Highway (labelled “Marcos Highway” on some maps), we eventually hit traffic where I strove to conserve fuel by short-shifting, emulating what veteran cabbies do whenever they can get away with it, and I discovered that the F3 could short-shift with the best of them.
The answer is in the engine’s output. While the engine’s 107hp at 5600rpm and 107lb-ft at 4800rpm seem unimpressive, its power contour is another thing altogether. The F3’s 1.5liter inline-4 already produces 70% of peak torque while still just idling at 800rpm . That’s 72lb-ft of torque coming off the engine even before you step on the gas. (In fact, you can roll-out with the engine at idle. Put her in first gear and then slowly let up on the clutch pedal without stepping on the gas. You’ll roll out past a slight engine shudder and accelerate to 8km/h—enough speed to gently roll over speed bumps—even with a full passenger load.)
Step on the gas and the engine quickly reaches 84lb-ft, or 82% of peak torque, at just 1200rpm, and surges up to 93% at 2400. Beyond that, torque levels off while horsepower keeps climbing due mainly to the increased revolutions. Then, torque resurges to 97% at 4000, goes through 99.6% at 4400, and reaches peak at 4800rpm.
It took a second look at the F3’s technology package to discover that it has the equivalent of Honda’s legendary VTEC system under the hood. The F3’s BYD473QE engine features VVL, not just VVT, that last letter signifying it could vary not only valve timing but valve lift as well. On the fly adjustment of both lift and timing gives the F3 a wide range of settings to optimize either power or efficiency depending on the car’s load and speed. It’s like having two kinds of powerplants doing the pushing—a booster for lift-off and an endurance engine for cruise, so to speak.
By April 2012, the BorgWarner-China joint venture was reporting a large and increasing demand for DCTs in the emerging automotive markets of both Europe and Asia. They estimated that the market for DCTs in China alone would grow from 0.6 million in 2012 to 2.7 million units by 2017, growing each year by 35%. Months later, in August 2012, after they had already launched their F5 sedan with the Ti+DCT package that took two years to develop, BYD both admitted that they had problems with supply of the DCTs for their popular vehicles and reported that they had already solved these. Though they didn’t elaborate on their solution, soon afterwards in November 2012 they announced that by the next year, BYD would be putting their own in-house developed DCTs in their vehicles. Then, in 2013, BYD started featuring their in-house developed DCT even on vehicles without high-end turbocharged engines.
More efficient with the positive contact of the clutch instead of the hydraulics of a torque converter, a DCT must have the programming to discern when to engage or disengage either of its clutches. Unlike an AT that can rely on slippage to cushion both the torque from and the load on the engine, a DCT needs to actively manage the clutch-work, manage the clutch friction. The DCTs programming triggers when to engage the clutch on the first gear and when to transition to the other clutch for an up-shift, when to go back to the other clutch for another up-shift, and so on until the top gear is reached at cruising speed.
On a day’s drive in the city, the L3 DCT turned in a figure of 11km/l with frequent prolonged stops burning fuel at a rate of 1ltr per hour being offset by the car’s noteworthy ability to move off again and accelerate decently with the engine never exceeding 2,200rpm—this, even with a full family load of two adults and three kids. With a long enough stretch of open road, that 2,200 rpm cap could bring the L3 up to 60km/h where you could settle back at 2,000rpm and remain in 5th gear. At those readings, at 60 in 5th and with 2,000, the trip computer would show current fuel consumption of just 5ltrs per 100km—the equivalent of 20km/l for those few seconds that you can remain at 60km/h on city streets.
That smooth shifting indicates that the DCTs programming has good routines for toggling between the dual-clutches. But popping the selector out of D and into N, and then back again, while already at cruise, that shows how well the DCT emulates a human driver. Pop her into N to disengage the active clutch, then take your foot off the gas. The car will go free-wheeling and you’ll see the revs settle back down to the 800rpm idling level. All as expected.
No wonder that the L3’s DCT has an uphill assist feature—it’s absolutely necessary after all, not just a gimmick. What is surprising is the sheer elegance of how the designers will have you activate it. If you’re stopped on an incline and needing to climb uphill, a tried and tested technique on manual gearboxes is to pull up the hand-brake to keep you stationary while you balance you’re clutch and throttle to put torque on the wheels and make them start pushing against the brake. This way, when you release the hand-brake, the car will immediately start inching up instead of down the incline.