SINGAPORE – After all this time, I still find it mildly amusing that a car’s range has become central in an electrification conversation. And no segment of cars takes this, ahem, farther than the plug-in hybrid.

Before I go on, a hybrid is a vehicle which employs a combustion engine paired with one or more electric motors. It converts energy lost in braking and coasting into electricity, which is stored in a battery to be used when necessary.

A plug-in hybrid allows you to charge said battery from an external power outlet. This battery is usually larger, which lets you drive in electric mode for a longer period. When plugged in regularly – as often as once a day – it will hardly call upon the combustion engine.

While earlier plug-in hybrids had poor power recovery on the go, current ones are able to preserve battery charge via brake recuperation and coasting fairly decently.

The BYD Seal 6 DM-i is the latest of such a plug-in hybrid. It has a 19kWh battery, which gives it an all-electric range of more than 100km. It is also equipped with a 1.5-litre petrol engine with a 65-litre fuel tank. Because of the electric pairing, it promises a mixed fuel consumption of 3.9 litres/100km. This translates to a range of more than 1,600km, or a round-trip to Penang with fuel to spare.

The test car averages 5.3 litres/100km over three days on a single charge. This still means an impressive range of more than 1,200km.

Now, if you need a car with a 1,200km range in a compact place like Singapore, I will not judge. After all, I know of folk who have extra freezers so they do not have to go to the supermarket for half a year. Or run out of frozen pizzas, ever.