PHP 1.6M Hybrid SUV Comparo: 2025 Chery Tiggo rEV vs BYD Sealion 6 DM-i
[Music] The new sweet spot for any family car is now at 1.6 million pesos. You’ve got plenty of choices from SUVs, MPVs, and so much more. But what if you’re in the market for a hybrid SUV? And that’s what we have here. We have two examples here. One is a BYD C Lion 6 DMI. The other one is a Cherry Tiggo REV. Which one is going to be the right one for you? Let’s go check both out. Hey everyone, Vince here from Autoinducer and yes, we’re doing one more of our comparros when it comes to plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. We’ve got a contender from Cherry and a contender from BYD, both of which fit the budget of 1.6 million pesos. And now we’re going to find out which one has the edge over the other. Now, full disclosure, this Comparero was asked of us by Cherry because they want to see how their TGO REV stacks up to an established and popular model like the BYD Sea Lion 6. And while they did request this, don’t worry. Whatever I say, I can say whatever I want because that’s just how we do it here in auto industria. We want to compare both side by side. Give your honest take on which one has the pros, which one has the cons in which aspect of everyday motoring to suit you so you can make a more informed decision. So now let’s get right to it. Starting with the Sea Lion 6. The BYD Sea Lion 6 is a vehicle that needs little introduction. Chances are you see a lot of these on the road because it’s proving to be very popular driving the sales of BYD here in the Philippines. And why wouldn’t it? Because you’ve got great styling. They call this part of the ocean series. So you have the oceanic styling with the front. It looks very, how do you say, aerodynamic or hydrodnamic. Whichever the case, it does look good. You have these 19-in wheels. You have the sleek look of the body, the silver roof rails with the panoramic glass roof. And to be frank, one of the nicest rears we’ve seen in a crossover SUV. And it’s also fairly wide. Later inside, we’ll show you more in terms of cargo space. Well, let’s pop it open. It’s got a power tailgate. And it’s got about 31 in from here up to there in terms of height. And then you have about 39 in of width. And then in terms of space, like from here to there, about 35 1/2 in. You can also fold down the rear seat to give you even more space. And that’s what they’re really offering in this BYDC Lion 6. Lots of space inside. But if you notice, this is just a five-seater. So later, we’ll when we show you the REV, you’re going to see that there’s something very different going on there. Now, when it comes to the interior, when we step inside, you’ll see an interior that is actually quite nice. It’s like a bit of blue. You know what? Let’s power it up and let’s open the sun shade here so to let in a bit more light. Maybe even open the window. Yes, this is a nice and tinted unit. So, even though with a glass roof, uh that one I think is I’m not sure if that’s tinted from the factory like this, but hey, if you drive a Sea Lion 6, let us know. But the interior is very youthful, you know, like the the color combinations of the white or the cream and the orange uh piping and contrast stitching look very good. The gray here, the soft touch materials up on top is very nice, as is the steering wheel with a flat bottom and your controls for all kinds of things like your cruise control, your audio, all that stuff you can control here and the rotate for the touch screen. Although it’s not really rotating. Wait, I’m pressing the wrong one. Right here, there’s a button for the rotate of the touchcreen. Yes, it does rotate. It’s a bit of a gimmick. I’ve mentioned this many times before because when you switch over to your Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, which this one does have, it does switch over to the landscape mode. So, in in later models of BYD, they’ve been starting deleting these. Now, you do have a nice uh screen here in front. It’s curved to the shape of say this uh this binnacle compartment, you know, where your instrument cluster would be. And it’s a very nice system. has a nice clear display of everything you need to need uh need to see like your speed, state of charge, all of that stuff contained right here. And then you have this really nice screen here where you can also control all kinds of things like your AC and all that. We’ve shown you many of these before, so take a look at our previous videos of the BYD so you can check out more of the features yourself. Now, here you have your drive control. So, your uh reverse, neutral, and drive. Your park is right here. And then you have your driving modes that you can access here. So you have the modes for the say sport, eco, all that stuff is right here. And then you have your EV or HEV. Of course, EV will depend on your state of charge. Uh if most of the time, you’ll probably just have it in HEV anyway. You have dual wireless chargers here, which always uh proves to be useful. And then two cup holders here. They’re a little bit uh small in size, but overall very good compartment here with your NFC right here. You can have all kinds of stuff. There’s a lot of stuff in there, so I don’t want to show you that. And these uh sporty seats, but if you notice, it’s a bit of a youthful vibe. So, if you want something a bit more conservative, we’ll show you what the REV has to offer. But what’s interesting here is when we look at what’s under the hood, because this BYD has something they call DMI, uh which is basically BYD speak for a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. Ta-da. Congratulations. you’re seeing a lot of plastic. They like doing that, covering up everything to make it look nice and neat, and that’s always a useful thing. So, powering this under that plastic is a 1.5 L gasoline engine paired up with an electric motor, and it’s giving you upwards of 197 PS, so it’s pretty respectable. the battery pack underneath with a which is a lifo 4 or LFP battery. It gives you 18.3 kilwatt hours of capacity. So overall your range you can usually do around 100 on these things which is quite respectable for a PHEV and you can charge it via the type 2 charging port over there in the back somewhere. And that really gives you the flexibility of both worlds when it comes to being a hybrid and being an EV because if you, you know, have a route that’s, let’s say, under 100 kilometers every day, you can run all day on EV mode. Now, let’s check out what the Cherry has to offer. And that brings us to this, the Cherry Tigo REV, the pinnacle of the TGO SUV line available here in the Philippines. So, this latest evolution has a very distinct look about it with a cherry diamond motif going on in the front grill, which by the way is no longer kind of like the 3D kind. It’s more like a nice clean gloss panel here in front. Very neat to look at with a bit of chrome with the LED headlights, which is standard for a lot of these vehicles now. But if we look at the wheels, these are actually a bit smaller. So, the Sea Lion 6 has 19-in wheels. This one has 18. But the key thing about having 18-in wheels is that you have a bit more tire for a bit more comfort. Now, we look around the side of the vehicle. It’s actually huge because this is about the same size as a Sea Lion 6, but if you notice, it’s a bit more upright. So, you do have a bit more headroom inside. You do have these concealed door handles which will fold flush once you lock the vehicle. That’s actually something very interesting with this. Makes it nice and neat when you’re cruising out on the road. But one big difference here, if you notice this panel here, it’s a bit more upright compared to the Sea Lion 6, which is a bit more slanted. The key there is that it provides you more space. Now, we’ll show you what’s inside in a bit, but the rear end looks very clean with a full width LED tail light there. TGO rev neatly spelled out here, the LECDM for the hybrid system of the vehicle, and then this very sporty looking lower bumper with a diffuser kind of effect. But when we open the rear, pop that open, also a power tailgate. Now, if you noticed, why is the cargo area so small? Well, I mean, there’s only 12 in here and about 39 uh in wide and 31 in also. It’s pretty much the same as that other one. Uh but the difference is really the 12 in here. And the reason for that is because you got an extra row of seats in this vehicle. So, yeah, for a similar kind of price, you have a three row crossover SUV. Now, if you want more space, you can fold this down here. Let me do that for you now. Fold that down. Come around. Fold that down. And then you have here upwards of 41 in from here to there. Lots of space. If we fold down that middle row as well, you are going to get a space that is about 65 1/2 in from here to over there. You can even do a bit more if depending on how you adjust the front seats. But we usually only measure up to the edge of the well middle row to be able to make it more or less equal for everyone, you know, regardless of the seating capacity of the vehicle. Now, let’s go around. Let’s switch around again. Let me show you the interior of this. So, here’s the interior of the TGO REV. It’s a very premium, maturelook one, and I think a lot of customers are also going to appreciate this, especially those who are looking for a family car. Now, the Sea Lion 6, great if you’re looking for something young and sporty, that’s kind of thing that’s going to be fun for you. This one is more for well a lot of people who like to chill in the back, sit here in front, really relax, not worry about too much color. That’s the kind of customer that they’re going for here. Someone who’s a bit more, say, dignified in their choices in life. Now, looking around the dashboard, what do we see? For one, we have a nice clean dashboard aesthetic. Almost they can almost make it symmetrical in how they do the dashboard up top with this. It’s not really suede, but it does remind me of it in terms of the look. It’s like a very nice matte leather. And then you have the wood panel here with the satin silver trim. Black leather here. Same here. And then this same kind of material that you have there, but perforated and ventilated, so you can cool down the seat if you’re parked after a long day. Now, here in the middle, what do we get? We have the dual zone climate control system, which you can control from the screen here. here. And then you have vents here, which I always find useful because just like in the BYD, you can point it at your phone while it’s sitting here on the wireless charging pad. Granted, the BYD does have the advantage when it comes to wireless charging pads because it has two. This one has one, which I think is fine because I can have my wallet here and my phone here. I mean, how many phones do you have in your pocket? The cup holders are a little bit deeper here. You also have the controls here for your hazard, your EV HEV mode, your AC quick access panel here, so you can turn off the AC or turn it on depending on what you want. You have a compartment under here where you have your USB ports and USBC ports. Yes, it has a USBC port. And then you have the compartment here, a split in the middle, which I think is kind of useful because I mean if I just if someone’s like has their arm there, I can press that one open just one side and vice versa. So it gives you access to one side so you don’t have to bother whoever’s in the other side. Now steering wheel flat bottom with audio controls on the right and your smart cruise control, your adaptive cruise control here on the left, which I think is always very useful. You have a digital screen in front which has all the things that you need on your daily drive like your speed, uh transmission state, state of charge, range, mileage, all that stuff. You can find it here. You can see the overall range here. Uh right now it’s reading 1,17 and my state of charge, which is 36%. Maybe we’ll charge it up later on and go for a drive. Here in the middle, we have a massive screen. Now, unlike the BYD, this one doesn’t rotate because for one, there’s no room for it to rotate. And two, it’s not really useful. So, again, uh when you hook up your Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, you’re not going to need that anyway. And this one does have the wireless CarPlay and wireless Android Auto. Just like the BYD, it also has the AVM or the around view monitor. The version here though has the Android Auto in so not the Android Auto the 360 camera in the 540°ree mode which meaning you have different modes for your AVM but also up top you get a panoramic glass roof. You open that there you go if you want the sunlight in that’s the level of tinting they have going on here which is pretty much a light tint always useful. And if you want to open that, press it twice and then you have really the sky up there. So long as it’s not raining, you’ll be able to enjoy the sunlight and some fresh air. You have these nice nice ring light style mirror there. Yes, ring light. So if you want to do your vlogging, you can do it here. Not that you would anyway, but if you’re someone who likes to relax in the back in the middle row like an executive, then you can have your manung driver do the adjusting of the seat right here. Like there’s a panel here where you can control that so to give you the maximum leg room in the back. Zach opened the rear door for our videographer over there so you can show the amount of space. Hello sir, welcome po. Would you like to go to the airport or the nearest fivestar hotel? That’s the kind of space that the TGO REV offers. But if you have kids, let’s say a lot of kids, like uh you know, if you’re sitting here like mom and mom and pop, and then you have uh you can have up to five kids or maybe three kids plus two yayas in the back. Depending on what you want uh to carry, how many you want to carry, you can definitely do it here. And by the way, if you have someone in a child seat, you have ISOIX anchors there for easy access. Now, let’s check out what’s under the hood. Because powering the TGO REV is a 1.5 L gasoline engine. Now, it sounds very similar to the one under the hood of the Sea Lion 6. And here we can definitely see more of that, but the difference here is that this is a turbo gasoline engine, not a naturally aspirated one like in the Sea Lion 6. And being that it’s a turbo on the highway, you’re really going to be able to enjoy this. This is the the engine that they use in a lot of their more upscale models to give you the power to give you the efficiency overall for your daily drive. How wherever you want to go and you’re not limited by the charging. Although you can charge in this one, you can plug into a mall, top up that battery, which by the way, the battery of this one 18.66 kW hours in the BYD is 18.3. So, you get a little bit more range out of out of this battery pack because you got a bit more capacity all going on. But now, let’s take out both vehicles so we can show you the differences in how these vehicles drive. [Music] The fact that everyone wants to be compared to their uh let’s say direct competitor BYD model, it says a lot because over the years BYD has really become the standard by which a lot of hybrids and EVs are measured. Uh and that’s why everyone wants to say hey you know compare our vehicle to this uh the BYD are you sure? uh but again they they feel that they’re they’re confident about their product even though BYYD undoubtedly is the standard setter in the class. Now how did that come about? Well first and foremost BYYD is a battery manufacturer. That’s how they made their their whole their company around basically. They had batteries so they put it in in with their uh with their ICE. They made hybrids. They took out the IC. They made EVs. I mean, I’m just that’s just a rough way to describe it, but it just says a lot about how well they’re building cars, and the Sea Lion 6 is the proof of that. This is one of our if not actually this is our favorite vehicle of last year because it offers you so much for the price. Like for the price of 1.6 million, again, it’s a nice sweet spot for a lot of uh buyers in our market. It offers you a lot. You know, you get your ADAS, you get your dual zone of climate control, nice interior, nice looks, and al depends on your preferences, but more importantly, it gives you the the technology, you know, connectivity. You have the big screen here with the CarPlay, the Android Auto, you’ve got the digital screen in front. All these things play a role into making a vehicle that is great for everyday. But also what’s great for everyday is the plug-in hybrid system of this one because you drive it around like right now we’re in we’re in heavy traffic here on Katipunan and uh I’m just in EV mode. The engine is off. It’s I’ve got my AC. I’m relaxed. You know, it’s quiet. It’s not vibrating. It’s just nice and comfortable for traffic. Yes, the worst conditions you can imagine traffic. It’s great for this kind of driving and that’s what everyone likes about EVs, you know, and the fact that this also has an engine, albeit it’s not turbocharged, it won’t have the power of the other one, but when it comes to, let’s say, just driving it around, it’s going to be efficient, too. Uh now when it comes to range uh they claim 105 km of EV range meaning you fully charge that LFP or the blade battery underneath 18.3 kW then you’re going to get around 105 km if you couple that with a full tank you are going to get a range of about 1,100 kilo uh kilm you can probably do more if you want to uh but why why would you I mean just the whole idea is for you to be able to do it comfortably And the BYDC Lion 6 is great at being comfortable. Uh, you know, when it comes to the ride over some of the bumps, it’s going to be great. But what I’m curious to see is how the Cherry Tigo REV is going to compare. So, let’s hop on over into that other vehicle. From the moment you get inside the TGO Rev or Togo RV, the biggest difference right away off the bat compared to Sea Lion 6 is the feeling of size. Like like you’re really driving over something bigger. And by the way, when you just went over that really big hump there, no problem in this vehicle. Very comfortable. But immediately you feel that it’s a much bigger vehicle. Like you know, like it’s something it’s something more midsize. is yes, there is a third row there, but it’s it really makes a difference when you sit in here and then you just kind of just kind of get a feel for how it goes around the corners, how it rides over the bumps. It’s just different from the Sea Lion 6, which is lighter and not really shorter. It’s It’s not really smaller, per se, but this one just it just feels more heftier, you know? It just feels good. you drive it, it almost I wouldn’t say American, but it feels like that kind of size of SUV. Now, this isn’t a PPV like a, you know, Mona Sport, that kind of vehicle. It’s more of a it is really is a crossover and they did well, like you know, with Cherry. We’ve seen how they’ve progressed from their early beginnings here in the market to what they’ve got now. And it’s really exciting to see that level of progression when they when they started from really affordable cars to these cars that are more upscale that can really compete with some of the more established brands in our market today be they Japanese or Chinese like the BYD. Now, when it comes to the comfort, like I mentioned earlier, the comfort is good. Like going over the, you know, when they connect these uh these concrete slabs, uh when they pour them over, you know, you notice there are always like gaps that they have to fill and then just feels uneven. This one kind of smooths it out. It’s very nice. And granted, I’m only one person in the car. So, if you have maybe four people in here, it’s going to be even more comfortable as the suspension settles in a bit more. If seven, it’s also should be pretty good. But there is going to be a bit more squat in the suspension, but that’s just to be expected out of any sevenseater out there. Uh, now where it does have an edge is when it comes to the technology. Like they’ve got so much stuff in this vehicle, loaded into this vehicle that you have to think to yourself, you have to learn a lot of it like right off the bat. Like how the ADAS works. It’s got 14 ADAS functions more than what the the Sea Lion 6 has. And then it has this nice screen here that takes does take a bit of getting used to, but once you get the hang of it, it’s going to be great. And the fact that is wireless, Android Auto, wireless CarPlay is also great. And overall, like just sitting here, there’s so much like lateral space. Yes, for someone like me, you know, lateral space does matter. And it’s it’s great. It’s like and the cushioning, it’s it’s sofa like it’s sofa like the the support on the back. When I lean back, the headrest is nice. I can adjust it. Granted, the Sea Lion 6’s uh headrest here was also pretty comfortable, but this just feels more substantial. That’s the term I’m looking for. Substantially more cushioning overall and support. It just feels nice. Now, I’ve got a nice heads-up display there, which I think is a big advantage on this vehicle. And when I have navigation, that’s also going to come in handy. But overall, like I I like the layout of this vehicle. It’s not like with the C Lion 6 and even the Auto3, some of the other like BYD vehicles we’ve had, they were a bit more liberal with the design. So, it’s kind of distracting when you’re driving around. It is nice, but uh this one is nicer. It’s more simpler. It’s more minimalist. It’s what you would experience more when you, let’s say, drive some of the European cars uh from the more upscale manufacturers, which I think we appreciate that, you know, that that level that they’re trying to bring at this price. And mind you, at this price at under 1.6 million, this is going to be great. Now, where this does have a clear advantage is when it comes to range. Now, I know BYD did set the standard, but everyone is trying to surpass them like you, you know, you know, this game of one upmanship like when you go for a slightly bigger battery, then you get a bit more range. So, yeah, this one has an electric range of 130 km and an overall range with a fuel of 1,400, which is mind-blowing that they would, you know, that they would make that their official figure. But there you go. Maybe you can get more, maybe you’ll get less. It all just depends on the driving conditions that you find yourself in. But what you’re going to appreciate here is going to be the power. Let me put on a different driving mode right now. normal. It’s going to tell you sport mode. Very nice voice. And then the throttle response from the turbo engine and from the from the hybrid electric motor is going to be great. You know, like I kind of wish I don’t have to deal with traffic, but that’s just the reality of daily life here in the metro. You know, like as much as you want to enjoy these vehicles on long drives, which I already did on a drive to Subi recently, and it it’s great. like it’s it’s something you’re really going to enjoy because it’s smooth, it’s quiet, it’s got power, it’s got response like right there and it’s very very efficient. But once you head back into the city, let’s pop it back into um the normal mode or eco mode. Eco mode, right? And then you try to put it in, let me see, I’m not sure if my state of charge is enough uh because I’ve only got 27%. But the big advantage here is that this vehicle has a type 2, sorry, CCS2 DC fast charger. And that’s something that BYD C Lion 6 does not have. But also, the fact that it has an extra seat or sorry, extra pair of seats is also going to come in very handy as well. Anyways, let’s head back to our not the warehouse, but to the pool house and we can wrap up this compar of the Cine 6 and the TGO Rev RV. Rev. Rev sounds better. [Music] You know what? I’m really starting to like doing these head-to-head comparros because it gives me a perspective on what each one has to offer side by side as opposed to driving one then after a couple of months then driving the other. At least this time I can show you exactly what are the differences between the two. So, as we know in terms of size, in terms of space, definitely the TGO REV has the edge. And the fact that it has two more seats over there in the back is already a big plus for anyone who’s has a family, they want to carry more people, they want to carry more stuff. This is going to be very useful. But the Sea Lion 6 also no slouch either because it’s got plenty of space, also very sporty inside. It just gives you that choice. If you want something sporty and fun, you can look at this. If you want something more mature, more family-like, more executive like, this is going to fit the bill. But the big advantages here are actually with the TGO. And the reason for that is there’s actually a few. One, you get DC fast charging here. Yes, you get type 2 or CCS2 fast charging here. In this one, you just get the regular charging in type two. So, that in itself is a big plus. If you plug into a fast DC charger, you can easily top up your TGO REV at any compatible charger. Plenty of those around here in the Metro and beyond. Also, when it comes to the overall comfort, there’s a big advantage here. Of course, that’s going to be subjective, as is the speaker system that they chose, the Sony here. I just find it’s better overall, at least in my ears, to the Infiniti that they have in the Sea Lion 6, especially on a long road trip. that is going to be very useful. Where the BYYD has the advantage though is when it comes to the BYD app as well as the NFC and the fact that they’ve already established themselves as a strong and credible player in the EV and PHEV market. Cherry is also doing because they’re now expanding their PHEV and HEV and EV line in the future and hopefully we’ll see more so we can put them headto head. But where it will be really interesting is when it comes to the ownership proposition, particularly when it comes to the warranties. So, this one has a 6-year warranty, general warranty, or 150,000 km, whichever comes first. And then it has a warranty, 8-year warranty on the hybrid battery and the motor overall, which is nice and long. This one though has a longer warranty because instead of 6 years, this one has a 7-year general warranty or 200,000 km, whichever comes first. And then you have an 8-year warranty on the battery as well. All things considered, it’s not much to pick between them. But there is a one-year edge when it comes to the general warranty of the vehicle. But there’s also an edge in terms of pricing because you see the BYD Sea Lion 6 before they were retailing for a bit over or around 1.6 6 million. Uh it’s now starting at 1,548,000 depending on the variant. They’re starting to trim down their model range, so it’s hard to pick out which one is which. But the current starting price of the Cine 6, 1,548,000. The TGO REV, it retails at 1,528,000. So, yep, that’s 20,000 pesos less based on SRP alone in terms of savings overall, which you can put towards fuel, tuition, groceries, all that good stuff that you can enjoy with your family. Anyways, let us know in the comments below what you think of these two vehicles. Yes, one’s a 7, one, but for the price, which one would you pick? This is Vince of Auto Industria. Thank you for watching and see you in the next compar. [Music]
What can you get for PHP 1.6M? Plenty, especially if you’re looking at a hybrid SUV. In this comparo, we check out the 2025 Chery Tiggo rEV and see how it compares to the established player: the BYD Sealion 6 DM-i.
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