The price competition in China's auto market is becoming increasingly fierce. At the same time, domestic young consumers are paying more and more attention to domestic brands, and high appearance, personalization, technological feel, and cost-effectiveness have become key factors in car purchasing, which is precisely the prominent advantage of domestic new energy vehicles in recent years.
Competition among numerous domestic new energy models has led to an intensifying price war, and price cuts are undoubtedly a good thing for consumers. Previously, with 150,000 yuan you could only focus on the BYD Song PLUS EV, but the price war has pulled more and more models into this price range, allowing car owners to buy more capable new energy models with a better user experience at a lower cost. For example, in order to meet the needs of more family users, Arcfox has focused on creating the Alpha T5. Under the price war, the discounted price of this car has reached 130,800 yuan. It directly competes with the Song PLUS EV, whose starting price is 149,800 yuan. So what are the advantages and characteristics of these two cars, and how should they be chosen? Let us compare them below.
The exterior design differences are obvious
Although styling is a matter of opinion, for young consumers, the appearance of a vehicle still has a great impact on purchasing decisions. Leaving aside the product strength of the two cars, from the perspective of appearance, each actually has its own characteristics. After its mid-cycle facelift, the BYD Song PLUS EV adopted the design style of the Ocean Network, and its appearance has improved compared with the previous fuel version, but the car still has not escaped the traditional SUV design framework. Overall, it looks grand and steady, and the design leans more toward traditional family use. From the perspective of the overall vehicle design, this car, like its model name, incorporates many Chinese-style elements. The styling is dignified, and overall it looks low-key. It is a model with mature design.
The center console of the Arcfox Alpha T5 has almost no physical buttons, cancels the traditional instrument panel, and integrates most functions into the 15.6-inch central control screen. The technological atmosphere and minimalism are well created. From this point of view, the automaker is still very confident in the intelligence level of the Alpha T5, and this style is also what many young consumers like. Unlike the Song PLUS EV, the Arcfox Alpha T5 adopts a column shifter design, which is more convenient to use and gives consumers a surprise.
In terms of dimensions, the length, width, and height of the Arcfox Alpha T5 are 4690/1936/1650 mm respectively, with a wheelbase of 2845 mm. The length, width, and height of the BYD Song PLUS EV are 4785/1890/1660 mm, with a wheelbase of 2765 mm. Both cars are positioned as mid-size SUVs. It can be seen that the BYD Song PLUS EV is longer than the Arcfox Alpha T5, but in terms of actual wheelbase, the Alpha T5 instead has the advantage. We know that wheelbase determines the passenger space inside the car. In comparison, the Alpha T5 has a higher "space utilization rate," and its rear row has more spacious room, with slightly more legroom than the Song PLUS EV.
Safety and health are top priorities
At present, the safety and health of vehicles are what consumers pay attention to. For a pure electric model, only by achieving sufficient safety can it gain consumers' long-term recognition. The Song PLUS EV adopts a cage-type body design, and the proportion of high-strength steel and above in the body is as high as 62%, of which hot-formed steel accounts for 19% and ultra-high-strength steel accounts for 9%, providing a certain guarantee for collision safety. The vehicle is equipped as standard across the range with front dual airbags, front side airbags, and front and rear through-type side curtain airbags, which can protect passengers to a certain extent in the event of danger.
The proportion of high-strength steel and aluminum alloy in the Alpha T5 body is as high as 81.0%. In terms of the proportion of hot-formed steel, the industry average is 15%, Volvo XC40, known for safety, is 20%, while the Alpha T5 reaches 30.08%. Its entire vehicle body torsional rigidity reaches 47,119 Nm/deg. In comparison, the body torsional rigidity of the Song PLUS EV is 440,500 Nm/deg. Torsional rigidity, as an important indicator of body strength, shows from the data that the body safety of the Arcfox Alpha T5 is stronger than that of the Song PLUS EV. Thanks to this, the Alpha T5 simultaneously meets the C-NCAP 5-star collision standard and the C-IASI G-level excellent standard, and its various collision tests are more than 20% higher than the world's highest standards.
For consumers pursuing a high-quality life, the in-car environment is equally important. Some vehicles, due to unhealthy materials used inside the car, emit substances harmful to the body even at ordinary temperatures or in summer heat. In this regard, Arcfox made in-car health a key focus of car manufacturing from the very beginning. Its models all use eco-friendly materials, achieving a maternal and infant-level standard for in-car VOC. At the same time, Arcfox combines "adsorption and degradation black technology materials" with components such as the headliner, carpet, spare tire cover, and front bulkhead sound insulation pad, giving them a new air purification function and achieving infinitely close to "0 formaldehyde and 0 benzene," which the Song PLUS EV cannot do.
Smart technology and intelligent assisted driving
At present, cars are all promoting smart cockpits. The Song PLUS EV is equipped with mainstream apps such as WeChat, karaoke, games, and audio-visual entertainment. It can include almost all apps with high daily usage frequency. However, while current mainstream infotainment systems are all equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 chips, the Song PLUS EV uses the lower-cost Qualcomm 665 chip, resulting in reduced computing power and no guarantee that the system will not lag later.
The Alpha T5, on the other hand, is equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8155 chip, which not only ensures the smoothness of the infotainment system, but also, with high computing power, brings programmable new ways to play to the cockpit, with more future expandability. In addition, the Arcfox Alpha T5 voice assistant supports four-zone wake-up recognition, visible-and-speakable functionality, continuous command recognition, and 3D dynamic navigation brought by a 22.8-inch HUD head-up display. The Song PLUS EV does not have these functions, and its in-car voice recognition does not support four-zone recognition, limiting convenience of use.
In terms of intelligent driving, the Song PLUS EV is equipped with the DiPilot intelligent driving assistance system, which can realize L2-level intelligent assisted driving, such as freeing both feet at low or high speeds while keeping the vehicle driving within the lane. It can also predict collisions in advance and automatically brake according to the degree of emergency to reduce the risk factor. In addition, the car is also equipped with a 360° high-definition panoramic image and transparent chassis, ensuring there are no visual blind spots around the body or under the car, but these configurations are not standard across the entire range.
The Alpha T5 is equipped with L2.5-level intelligent assisted driving. The hardware includes 1 front-view camera, 5 millimeter-wave radars, 12 ultrasonic radars, and 4 surround-view cameras, leaving no blind spots in every corner of the car and better assisting the driver in safe driving. In terms of functions, it can not only realize the ACC adaptive cruise and lane keeping found on the Song PLUS EV, but also adds lane changing on this basis, as well as an intelligent parking system that can park in place in one step. Obviously, the Alpha T5 is more capable in assisted driving.
Power, battery, and range section
The Song PLUS EV uses a 71.7 kWh blade battery, with an NEDC range of 505 km, and the top trim has a maximum range of 605 km. Its energy consumption per 100 km is 14.1 kWh. It is equipped with a front-mounted permanent magnet synchronous motor, with maximum power options of 150 kW and 160 kW. Its 0-100 km/h acceleration is above 8 seconds. As a pure electric SUV, this kind of power is actually already sufficient, and the acceleration feel is not much different from traditional family fuel vehicles.
The Arcfox Alpha T5 also adopts a pure electric drive method, with two maximum power versions of 185 kW and 200 kW, meeting the needs of different consumers. At the same time, the new car is also equipped with two versions of batteries, lithium iron phosphate and ternary lithium, both supplied by CATL, ensuring battery cell quality. The car offers two battery capacity choices, 65 kWh and 79.2 kWh, with driving ranges of 520 km and 660 km. Its energy consumption per 100 km is 13.9 kWh, and its 0-100 km/h acceleration is 7.5 seconds. For ordinary families, whether for city commuting or self-driving travel, it is sufficient. From the perspective of energy consumption, the Alpha T5 is more "power-saving" than the Song PLUS EV.
Most importantly, the Alpha T5 supports 800V high-voltage charging, with a peak fast-charging power of up to 260 kW. In ordinary fast-charging mode, charging from 30% to 80% takes 25 minutes, while with 800V high-voltage fast charging it takes only 17 minutes, greatly shortening waiting time. At the same time, the Alpha T5 can add 260 km of pure electric range in 10 minutes of charging. In the time of one service area stop, it can achieve ultra-long-distance energy replenishment, and there is basically no range anxiety when driving on the highway. The Song PLUS EV's peak fast-charging power is 140 kW, and charging from 30% to 80% takes 30 minutes. This charging speed was mainstream a few years ago, but in the era of high-voltage supercharging, the charging speed of the Song PLUS EV is clearly "holding it back."
Summary: At present, the guide price of the Song PLUS EV is 149,800 yuan to 182,800 yuan, while the manufacturer's guide price of the Alpha T5 is 155,800 yuan to 199,800 yuan. In terms of price, the starting price of the Alpha T5 is indeed higher, but amid the current price war, the Alpha T5 has launched a limited-time discount policy of 25,000 yuan across the entire range, bringing the terminal retail price into the 130,000 yuan range. The discounted price is comparable to that of the Song PLUS EV. Although the prices of the two cars are similar, the Arcfox Alpha T5 is more complete and thoughtful in building product strength. In particular, it has obvious advantages in in-car health and technological intelligent configuration. Its styling is also younger and more avant-garde, making it look more competitive.
By comparison, the advantage of the Song PLUS EV lies in being more traditional and pragmatic, and after many years in the market it has also accumulated user trust and reputation. There are still differences between the two cars in building product strength. When car enthusiasts buy a car, a careful comparison will make it clear which one is more suitable for them.
