Baku to Gabala in the new BYD Qin Plus: a family trip in a modern hybrid

My name is Pavel Antonov, I am from Saint Petersburg, and we came to Azerbaijan as a family of four — my wife, our son and our daughter. The plan was a week in Baku and three days in Gabala, so a car was not a luxury but a necessity.

I arranged car rental in Baku through Karavan Rent A Car in Baku and chose the new BYD Qin Plus. The deciding factor was the combination of a spacious sedan and a hybrid powertrain: with two children you want comfort, and with a long route you want low running costs.

The car was delivered to our rented apartment in the Nasimi district. It was brand new, with very low mileage, and prepared properly — clean, fully fuelled and charged.

The road from Baku to Gabala took about four hours with two stops. On the motorway the hybrid works as an ordinary petrol car but noticeably quieter, and the children slept most of the way. The boot easily took two large suitcases and a pushchair.

In Gabala we drove to Tufandag, to Nohur Lake and up to the Seven Beauties waterfall. The mountain roads are good, and the car handled the climbs confidently. On the descents the energy recovery works so well that we arrived back at the hotel with more charge than we left with.

What impressed me most was the fuel cost. For the whole trip, Baku to Gabala and back plus all the driving around the region, we spent less than we usually spend on a single day of driving at home.

Along the way back we stopped in Shamakhi and then in Ismayilli for lunch. This is exactly the kind of freedom you take a car for: you decide where to stop and for how long.

The company kept in touch during the trip without being intrusive. When I asked about the return time, the answer came in a couple of minutes and we agreed everything by message.

For families planning car rental in Baku with a trip to the regions, the new BYD Qin Plus is an excellent option: roomy, quiet and very economical on long routes.