Can a BYD Vehicle Start While Charging?
4 Answers
New energy vehicles can be started while charging, but they cannot be shifted into gear for driving. Precautions to take while charging a vehicle are as follows: Turn off the headlights: Electric vehicles do not have an engine idle, so remember to check if the vehicle's power is turned off before leaving the car. Generally, the headlights and low-power electrical equipment in new energy vehicles are powered by the vehicle's battery. If left on for a long time, the battery can easily be depleted. Do not use in-car equipment: This is because simultaneous charging and discharging of an electric vehicle can lead to a decrease in the battery pack's lifespan. If the discharge power exceeds the charging power, it may result in reduced battery capacity or even over-discharge of the battery.
A while ago, I tried my friend's BYD Han, and indeed, you can't drive the car while it's charging, but you can start the power and sit inside using the air conditioning. This is because the car has a protection mechanism—when the charging cable is plugged in, the gear gets locked, and the screen directly displays a message that shifting gears is not possible while charging. Although you can power on the car to listen to music or charge your phone, you must unplug the charging cable if you really want to drive away. I heard this design is to prevent driving off with the charging station still attached, which could not only damage the charging port but also potentially cause a short circuit. Last time I charged the car, I wanted to take a nap inside with the air conditioning on, and it consumed about 3% of the battery in an hour—it was quite comfortable.
This issue is particularly important, especially for families with elderly or children. It is absolutely unacceptable to start the engine while charging a BYD vehicle, but you can turn on the central control power. My neighbor made a mistake last month by turning the key without unplugging the charging gun, and the system directly refused to shift gears. Later, the after-sales service explained that this is a high-voltage interlock design, where the charging port has sensors linked to the electronic gearshift. However, for safety reasons, I don't even turn on the power while charging, as discharging lithium batteries during charging is detrimental to their lifespan, and the manual also recommends avoiding it whenever possible.
I've been driving a BYD for half a year, and I wait in the car every time I charge it. In practice, I can turn on the power to use the air conditioning and the front windshield defogging function. But the important thing must be said three times: You cannot shift gears! You cannot shift gears! You cannot shift gears! Once, I was in a hurry to leave after answering a phone call, and pressing the brake to shift to D gear was completely useless—the dashboard displayed the charging indicator. Later, I found out that all new energy vehicles are designed this way. For example, the Volkswagen ID.4 even locks the windows while charging. I recommend that owners use the waiting time to check tire pressure or, like me, watch a movie on the car's infotainment system.
