The Beijing Auto Show hosted the debut of a new vehicle that might make some luxury car owners look twice at their bank accounts. BYD revealed its latest flagship sedan: the Seal 08. This car does look sleek, but more importantly, it carries technology that promises to solve the biggest headaches people have with EVs – how far you can drive and how long you have to sit at a charging station.

The secret of this sedan is the second-generation LFP Blade Battery. BYD says the new battery allows the car to travel over 620 miles on a single charge based on Chinese testing standards. While real-world driving in the United States or Europe will result in a lower number, it still beats most electric cars currently on the road.

If the range does not impress you, the charging speed might. The Seal 08 uses an 800V system that supports “megawatt-level” flash charging – you can add 249 miles of range in just five minutes. If your battery is sitting at 10%, you can get it up to 70% in the same five-minute window. Even if you live in a place where it gets freezing cold, the car performs well. At -22°F, it can charge from 20% to 97% in 12 minutes. Most people take longer than that to defrost their windshields.

The Seal 08 is a battery on wheels and it has plenty of muscle too. The top-end version comes with all-wheel drive and two motors. Together, they produce 510 kW – that’s 684 horsepower. The front motor provides 190 kW, while the rear motor does the heavy lifting with 320 kW. If you do not need that much power, BYD offers rear-wheel-drive versions with either 255 kW or 320 kW. No matter which one you pick, each version can reach a top speed of 149 mph.

This is a big vehicle – it measures 202.8 inches in length. To help with parking such a long car, BYD included rear-wheel steering. This feature lets the back wheels turn slightly, making the car much easier to turn in tight spots. The wheelbase is 119.3 inches – this usually means there is a lot of legroom for people sitting in the back. The car apparently weighs 4,497 lb, which is surprising for an EV this big and packed with heavy batteries.

BYD also put a lot of work into how the car rides and drives. It gets the DiSus-A system, which is an intelligent body control setup using air suspension. This helps the car stay level and comfortable even on bumpy roads. For safety and self-driving features, the Seal 08 has a LiDAR sensor sitting on the roof. This sensor acts like a set of eyes for the “God’s Eye” driving system, helping the car see obstacles and navigate traffic more safely than a human might on a tired Monday morning.

BYD has not given a final price for the Seal 08, but we believe it will sell for between RMB 300,000 and 350,000. That is roughly £30,600 to {{$49,000}. The Seal 08 is part of a new “Ocean 8” series from BYD. It was revealed alongside a sister vehicle, the Sealion 08 SUV. BYD plans to launch the sedan in China during the second quarter of 2026. While the company has not officially said it will sell the car in the United States or Europe yet, they are moving quickly into international markets.

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Today’s Internet is in many ways a disappointment, but at least it’s still great for shopping. Somewhere in the depths of Ali Express is a listing for a massive V-twin diesel engine, which the YouTubers at CarsandCameras recently bought and grafted to a go-kart.

The 2V98FDE displaces 1,300 cc, produces 26.8 horsepower, and revs to 3,600 rpm—all in a package that weighs 244 pounds dry and cost $1,999.73 at the time of purchase. The specs listed on the website, the crate, and the engine itself differed; the V-twin actually had to be dropped on a scale to confirm its weight. That’s not the only way Ali Express lived down to expectations. The engine took months to arrive, and when it did, there were holes in the cardboard sides of its crate. The engine also wasn’t bolted down for shipping.

Today’s Chinese auto industry defies stereotypes of shoddy workmanship, but this engine is a reminder of where those stereotypes came from. It had poorly-cast parts, bits of still-wet Loctite, overspray, and the manufacturer’s name on the valve covers was upside down. A random bolt piercing the intake manifold probably isn’t great for airflow, but on the other hand the engine arrived with electric start, a supplementary electric fuel pump, and an emergency valve lifter to prevent runaway combustion.

It also fired right up, but that still left the issue of how to fit it into a go-kart. For perspective, the kart came with a 98cc engine (although it had a 400cc diesel fitted for a previous built) and 670cc is about as big as kart engines usually get. Full of fluids and with the kart’s CVT attached, the Chinese diesel weighed about 300 pounds by itself. That’s nearly as much as a conventional go-kart with a rider.

We Bought a GIANT Diesel V Twin from China and Put It on a Go Kart!

To get the V-twin to fit, the kart’s rear axle was moved back six inches. The engine itself sits on a subframe and steel plate reinforced with angle iron. Mounted in the kart, it’s about as tall as a seated rider. But 26.8 hp and diesel-style torque delivery lets you spin the tires pretty much at will. And despite the lack of quality control on the part of the manufacturer, the V-twin seemed to run okay. The main issue was the transmission, which needed some modifications to ensure full engagement.

CarsandCameras thinks the V-twin is powerful enough to propel a car, although such a swap would probably be more about hypermiling than speed (a bit like this Chevy S-10 diesel build). Or maybe it would be better to see how much work this diesel could do. A go-kart tractor pull would be pretty awesome.