This 2+2+3 Seat Layout from BYD and Now Xiaomi Could Get Popular

This one is not really about home energy upgrades, so there is not much here for a homeowner planning insulation, heat pumps, or rebates. It is a car news item about seating layout in Chinese electric vehicles.

The news itself: two Chinese automakers, BYD and Xiaomi, have both built electric SUVs with a "2+2+3" seating layout, meaning two seats up front, two individual seats in the middle row with an open aisle between them, and a third row behind that seats three. That aisle lets someone move between the front and back rows while the vehicle is moving, something minivans have offered before but that hasn't been common in this SUV format. BYD introduced the layout first in its Great Tang model, and Xiaomi has now used it in an upcoming SUV called the SkyNomad N90. That model also has front seats that rotate 180 degrees, "zero-gravity" middle-row seats designed for extra comfort, a sliding ceiling screen, and lidar (a laser-based sensor system increasingly common in Chinese EVs).

None of these vehicles are sold in the United States, since BYD and Xiaomi are Chinese automakers currently unable to sell cars there. So this is simply a look at a seating design that may become more common in Chinese-market electric vehicles, not something available to buy or import right now.