Who says driving costs have to keep climbing with fuel prices? Not if you’re a BYD DM-i owner — and now BYD are giving you the chance to prove it.
To celebrate the launch of the BYD Community, the DM-i Efficiency Challenge is live, and five lucky winners will each walk away with a brand new iPhone 17e. All you need to do is show BYD what “drive smarter” really looks like.
What Is the Challenge?
BYD are asking DM-i owners to submit their real-world efficiency data — miles travelled, fuel used and electricity consumed — and share their best MPG figures. Five winners will be chosen at random from all valid entries.
The challenge is open to owners of the following models:
- Seal U DM-i
- Sealion 5 DM-i
- Seal 6 DM-i
- Seal 6 DM-i Touring
The challenge runs until Friday 22nd May 2026.
My Experience With the DM-i System
I recently spent 1,000 miles behind the wheel of the BYD Sealion 5 DM-i and came away genuinely impressed by what BYD have built.
The DM-i drivetrain runs as an EV first, with the 1.5-litre petrol engine stepping in primarily as a generator to top up the battery, or to assist directly at higher speeds or loads. The result is a driving experience that feels much more like a full EV than a traditional hybrid — smooth, silent and completely seamless. The transition between electric and petrol power is so subtle that passengers don’t even notice it happening.
From a hypermiling perspective, the DM-i is at its most efficient in exactly the conditions most UK drivers experience every day: urban roads, suburban commutes, stop-start traffic. And the figures back that up. In EV mode, I was consistently hitting over 5 miles per kWh — not on a carefully engineered best run, but as a repeatable, everyday figure. Combined with an Octopus off-peak tariff at 5.5p per kWh, that translated to a running cost of around 2p per mile. That’s not a headline figure — that’s what it actually costs day to day.
To put that in context, with petrol sitting around £1.50 a litre, a typical petrol car costs somewhere around 15p per mile in fuel alone. The DM-i, driven well, costs a fraction of that.
My wife was sad to see the Sealion 5 go when it was collected. That, more than any efficiency figure, tells you everything you need to know about the DM-i experience. At least my wallet was happy!
How to Maximise Your Efficiency for the Challenge
Whether you want to win the challenge or just get the most from your DM-i, the techniques are the same. The DM-i Hybrid system rewards smooth, considered driving — which is exactly what hypermiling is all about.
Here’s what makes the biggest difference, drawn from our Hybrid Hypermiling Techniques guide:
Get to know your efficiency display. Your DM-i shows you in real time how power is being used and where energy is being recovered. Spend time learning it — understanding when the electric motor is working and when the petrol engine cuts in is the foundation of everything else.
Be light on the accelerator. The DM-i stays in EV mode under gentle throttle inputs. Press too hard and the petrol engine kicks in. Smooth, gradual acceleration keeps electricity doing the work and fuel consumption at zero.
Use ECO mode. It manages throttle response and energy use more conservatively, making it significantly easier to stay in EV mode without having to concentrate as hard on your right foot.
Enable EV mode in town. Use it for school runs, supermarket trips and anything at lower speeds. With a full battery and a gentle throttle, you can complete entire urban journeys without the petrol engine touching a drop of fuel. On the DM-i this can be achieved by holding the model toggle in EV mode for 5 seconds. The EV text on the instrument panel will turn blue.
Master regenerative braking. Anticipate traffic, junctions and roundabouts well ahead. Lifting off the accelerator early lets the regen system recover energy rather than wasting it as heat through the brakes. Long, gentle deceleration is far more efficient than braking late. Every time you slow down smoothly, you’re putting charge back into the battery. This will show as a minus kWh reading on the display.
Use hills to your advantage. Descending with your foot off the accelerator — or with light brake pressure — feeds energy back into the battery. What goes downhill can power the next stretch of flat road.
Manage your ancillaries. Air conditioning, heated seats and the stereo all draw power. On shorter runs especially, turning off what you don’t need keeps more energy available for the electric motor.
Apply all of these Hybrid Hypermiling tips consistently and the figures will speak for themselves The more consistently you apply them, the further your electricity (and fuel) goes — and the lower your pence-per-mile figure drops.If you have any further DM-i Hybrid or even just general hybrid hypermiling tips you’d like to suggest, let us know in the comments.
How to Enter
- Follow BYD UK on social media
- Like the official competition post
- Tap the link in their bio and submit your latest trip details
- Drop your best MPG in the comments and tag #BYDChallenge and #DMiChallenge
Or go direct to the entry form here BYD DM-i Efficiency Challenge
You’ll need your miles travelled, fuel used (in gallons), electricity used (in kWh) and your registration plate.
Is It Worth Entering?
If you own a DM-i and you’ve been driving it well, absolutely. The entry takes minutes, it’s free, and the process of pulling together your efficiency data is genuinely useful — it gives you a clear picture of what your driving is actually costing you.
Five iPhone 17es are up for grabs, and with the closing date of 22nd May 2026 approaching, there’s still time to get a quality run together and submit your best figures. Saving money with the chance of winning a new iPhone. What have you got to lose?
Good luck — and if you hit 2p per mile, let us know in the comments.
