The BYD D1 is a purpose-built electric compact multi purpose vehicle (MPV) developed by BYD in cooperation with DiDi exclusively developed for ride-hailing services.[1]
History
As of 2018, Didi formed an alliance with automakers including Volkswagen, BAIC, and BYD to develop purpose-built intelligent vehicles for ride-hailing and fleet management.[2] The alliance starts with DiDi offering its customer base and operational skills to automakers wanting to develop their own ride-hailing services as research database in return for design expertise. The D1 model is the first purpose-built model DiDi has unveiled for ride-hailing services that came out of the alliance with automakers.[3]
As of August 2020, Government documents show that BYD received approval from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China to sell an electric vehicle developed with DiDi called the D1.[4]