BYD Seal - The best yet? 

Owned an AWD Seal here in Thailand for a few weeks now - amazing car and great fun to drive. The Glass roof is silver coated and not hot with a sun blind in a bag in the boot. I drive in Eco mode most of the time as it's the most relaxing, but still plenty of punch if you need it. You can access the cooled/heated seats from the aircon screen which is always at the bottom of the screen, I set regen to max and leave it - I only use the break pedal to stop completely. OTA updates are already making improvements to the infotainment system here. Lots of videos on my channel.

Just got my AWD Seal here in Thailand, and it's an amazing drive, comfortable and quick with its 3.8 sec.

For the Australian market, we get 3 trim grades the same two you have, but both have the heads up display and an entry-level model with a 150kw rear motor and 60.5kw battery, I think it is and slightly smaller Alloy wheels with a different design and cheaper tyres, not Continental tyres fitted to the mid and high specification grades here in Australia. We also get a clip in shade for the panoramic glass roof that stores neatly in the boot. I think the interior colour isn't actually grey. it's blue as an option. It's called ocean blue for our market in Australia and costs an additional $1,500 Australian dollars and is available on all trim levels. The black interior is standard here at no cost. We also get an optional exterior colour for the all wheel drive performance model called Shark grey it cost $2000 extra for that color, white is free, the light blue, black and darker grey, which looks like a dark blue under certain lighting conditions is an additional $1,500 Australian dollar for these 3 external colours. Australian owners will start and take delivery of their BYD Seal sedans here in the next week or two, so a good early Christmas present for those who ordered early.😊 Like most presenters, they dont familiarise themselves with the technology and settings prior to driving. Most settings are adjustable by voice commands or flicking the screen down from top to bottom for the shortcut menu. BYD'S philosophy is to make their evs consumer friendly and familiar to an ice vehicle for owners who are transitioning from an ice vehicle to their first Ev and why their emphasis isn't on one pedal driving or advanced FSD on par with a Tesla and this is reflected in the price point. The level 2 safe features in my Atto 3 work flawlessly the ACC works well, briefly braking the vehicle when someone cuts to close to the front of you on a highway, or a pedestrian/child runs out in front of your vehicle, it pulls the vehicle up without hitting them, in my personal experience. How does BYD vehicles compare with European Ev brands and pricing? All European vehicle manufacturers should be worried especially when they make a token amount of Evs for the global market, Tesla and Chinese Ev companies are going to be the main players on the global Ev World stage, if European players dont upscale their Ev production. Here in Australia European Evs are too overpriced and many have been converted to an Ev from an ice platform or because they are a legacy brand, they have global supply issues, something that companies like Tesla and BYD do not suffer from they have the capacity to supply the globe with Ev's. BYD are going to be big players on the Ev global stage, they are in the process of building their own roll on, roll of vehicle carrying ships, 6 in total with each ship able to carry 7,000 vehicles. BYD is the 2nd best selling Ev brand behind Tesla here in Australia.

The best Seal review I've seen by a long shot. I notice the latest reviews all seem to be including a bit more info than those from a month or so back. I'm looking forward to taking delivery of my Seal Performance AWD in January. Got Atlantis Grey paint and Ocean Blue interior.

Say hi byd. Turn on seat heat. Or use the Quick Menu. Pull from the top. You can make it accelerate quicker in the settings.

As a Scottish colleague of mine would say the weather is very Scottish from the look of things. :) Gorgeous car, love that lighter interior makes the interior feel larger as well. Interesting the UK gets only two specs whereas Australia gets three the entry level has the 60kWh battery similar to the Atto 3 long range also nice that the batteries are all LFP.

Nice looking car. Clean and sleek. A huge contrast to today's messy lines, angles and cuts of most offerings. It is a breath of fresh air. Signal stalk wise, I am glad they placed it right. I always find it silly to place on the left side of the steering on a RHD car because when driving a manual car, your left hand is just busy.

An excellent review of the Seal, which I think is the best looking EV saloon in the class right now. I do think the exterior design of the updated Model 3 is an improvement but reckon the removal of indicator stalks and parking sensors will put off a lot of potential customers. I'll wait until I've had chance to take a close look and test drive one before making a final decision. You commented on the chore / frustration of having to look into settings on the Seal for things that you want straight away, such as heated seats. But can these things not be activated by voice command? You didn't really mention the voice control options in the car. I think most people will choose their preferred settings and then mostly leave all the other options alone, so perhaps this isn't really as big an issue as it might seem? I'll be seeing the Seal in the metal in a couple of weeks and think it may be my next EV.

I've just this afternoon been to London Mayfair BYD to see the Seal. Atlantis Grey, love it - looks fantastic. I've booked a test drive for 14th December.

I wouldn't swap my Polestar for it, but it's a damn nice lookin' car. If the Polestar 2 had never existed, this would be my frontrunner.

Your videos on the Polestar MY24 RWD pushed me over the edge to take the plunge on EVs, it arrived this month and I absolutely love my P2. The Model 3 and all Tesla cars are very overrated, give me the Seal any day. I hope we see a lot more different EVs on Australian roads.

Greetings from Lebanon. Just subscribed. Keep posting.

Love it in all black!🤩 Long range rwd is my choice. Thanks for this.

Great review very comprehensive

That’s the best review I’ve ever seen🔥

Happy with my MG4 XPower but if I wanted a sedan I’d shortlist the Seal. Excellent review.

Got one on order here in Ireland. Beats out any of the other cars in the design and interior aspects. Fair enough it might be not quite at the level of the polestar or BMW but it's also 30k less than those cars.

Wow, super Auto ! 👌

Exited for Seal's entry to Norway 👍👍

Nice one - thanks.

Please advise what the infotainment system software version, the CPU, the overall responsiveness, the ADAS features bundled, the open standards in compliance are and which features are certified for operation on the road in UK.

Is there no voice control for those bits that you mentioned having to go several menus in?

Can´t you just use the voice assistant to turn on/off the seat heating/cooling?

The Seal looks terrific

To be honest, I wanted the Byd Han model instead but it was below the 3.0platform. Hope they can release the right hand drive to Singapore for the Han with 3.0++as its update.

If I was given a choice between a Tesla 3, and this car, I’d buy the BYD. Why? It’s down to the dashboard as it has the speedometer in front of the driver and not off to the middle of the dashboard: that, and it’s a more interesting design. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Very good video thanks, the BYD Seal is a big step forward. Just wonder if the voice control takes care of heated seats? One critical comment, I never understand why commentators lean against cars, ocd on my part may be.

Had a model3 for the last three years and it’s never missed a beat, I looked at the byd but too fiddly in the centre column. Just placed my order for the new model 3 duel😊

Very nice video. One thing: I couldn't find any information about "Dynaudio"? If you compare this for example Volvo's Harman/Kardon or Bowers/Wilkins, how you describe different between those? If there is any. Any experiense on anybody? Thx.

Ordered Performance in Australia (Excellent in UK) equivalent to£37000,great value over here.Hyundai have IONIQ6 in stock they want to clear,with up to(depending of model)$12,000(£6500) off.BYD Seal maybe a factor.

Excellent review. Put my deposit down for the AWD last month. Fantastic insights into the car with a very balanced assessment of the Seal. Glad I've taken the leap and gone with BYD.

What a beautiful car

You know that you can get to the seat heating and venting from the aircon shortcuts right?

Can the indicator stalk be switched?from right hand to left??

Most people do not want TESLA Whiplash and a damaged neck. In China they think of passengers first not review drivers. In China safety and comfort comes first. Hence LFP battery and gradual launch in sport. They are 100% spot on. You need to adjust your mindset. PS Even ATTO 3 has some voice commands surely with this higher classification car the UK version should have some voice controls that may avoid those menu taps?

What is the colour of the indoor car, is it indigo grey or blue

What about the BEEP ALERTs...can they become annoying? (Speed limit for instance) cannot you block the sound Alerts to silence them forever ? Maybe in future updates? ...or to select Rumble alerts instead of sound alerts would be fine. The thing is that every time you turns the car on, you are forced to disable the Sound Beep Alers again and again, which can result very annoying... I am worried about this aspect really

“HEY BRYAN” could you have used voice-prompt to turn the seats on? Great video.Great car. Cheaper than a Polestar or BMW with DOUBLE the warranty 👍

Excellent review. I agree about too much stuff buried in the touch screen

Can't wait till the Seal comes on sale in the UK.

I’ve watched with interest the rise of BYD and in particular the UK models as they just seem to be getting better and better. The Seal is definitely their best effort yet and deserves to do well. I’m still a little sceptical about the pricing as £45k as a starting price, despite a high spec, is a hard ask against a Model 3 that is likely to be £40k next year when the Highland update is here. Still think the intrinsic advantage of the Tesla tech and Supercharger network tips the buying decision in Tesla’s favour but the gap is definitely narrowing.

I think for the acceleration BYD did it on purpose to make it like traditional petrol car. So previously who drives a petrol car will feel very familiar to drive it

I have been watching reviews for 2 years,when they were done in China.Also watched reviews of BYD Han as well. I wish BYD had kept prices slightly lower,like MG,that way BYD could be become best sellers in this range, just like MG. Same goes for Nio. Prices in China and Far East are lower then European prices for BYD and Nio.

10yrs ago at Pease Pottage services M23 use to come up against a BYD taxi from LONDON having completed a drop off at Gatwick..Back then at PP it was two 50kw ac chargers. So they been here for a while; but the SEAL is quite interesting. I'm about watch your review with more interest, possibly Byd falls into my group of manufacturers that i would look at ie.Tesla/volvo/bmw/audi/KIA/Hyundai /mercedes, not that i can afford all the offering from these guys -- but I look here first. I found the review show very interesting plus your trip to Scotland the other day.. If I win the lottery Porsche in the LAKE DISTRICT would be my first port of call.😂😂😂

BYD released their first car in 2005 and first EV in 2009.

In Oz we get a 3rd Seal model with a 60 Kw battery and a slightly smaller motor, smaller wheels and Chinese tyres. It is aimed squarely at the Taxi market and doesn't seem to have much competition. Personally I think that the Dolphin rather than the Seal will sell better because it fits well with the Yuppies idea of an urban second car, commuter, shopping etc. Some folk love, some hate Dolphin's styling. Overall a good review of the Seal but the main criticism from me is that I would like to see more thorough examination of the Blade Battery system and its comparative performance/safety features with other cars. Prices in Oz seem significantly better (Import duties perhaps?)

Looks good and very informative video as usual. Narrow boot opening is the deal breaker for me. Perhaps they will do a model Y version on this platform in due course?

The Highland ditching of stalks means I’ll be trading out of our M3 RWD !!!.

Waiting for its release in Scotland - planning on getting the performance version, can't wait! Also the indicator stalks are going to be swapped around so people won't have the problem many early reviewers found.

Vs the competition - you didn’t say - which one would you recommend, for what reason?

I like the look of this car but why do some markets get more? Like in Australia the Seal comes in 3 variations the top two have genuine leather seats and lot less money than the UK to buy?

Another informative review. Unfortunately, I have been unable to find a review on the 230kw RWD variant. It seems most (if not all) motoring journalists are pushing the AWD model - whilst a great powerful car it is not completely practical (or necessary) for most, and everyday drivers. Yes, AWD has it's advantages, but in a vehicle as powerful as the performance Seal, only in RWD would be pretty much lethal. Obviously BYD are pushing the AWD variant for motoring journalists to drive and review, but for most prospective purchasers the RWD variant(s) will be the bigger seller, by a HUGE margin. Cost and including insurance will be a big factor. I'm also thinking the RWD may prove to be more reliable long term as there is one less drive train to wear and develop trouble as well as the fancy dynamic suspension in the AWD version. I've put down a refundable deposit on the 230kw RWD variant, but will test drive all 3 variants available here in Australia once they are available locally EOY or early 2024.

I prefer the Chinese version with more fish themed décor and yes I would order it with Build Your Dreams on the back. You need to get over to Sweden or Norway and drive their flagship BYD HAN and be chauffeured in one...back seat is super luxury. The HAN does not have MODEL S trunk cargo capacity but the MODEL S does not have the HAN's back seat comfort and good taste.

I like your reviews, but as in most car reviews on youtube i miss in depth comfort review. I would like you to speak as much about comfort (especially noise level and suspension softness) as you speak about driving and handling.

43:05 What tires is on this car? Could the road noice be caused by tires?

Probably the best review of this car I've seen (and trust me........I think I've watched them all) Could I suggest putting the screens in Dark mode for the run through...........much easier for us to see detail on our device screens. I drive for a living and am considering one of these........the "buried in the menu" issue does worry me.......BUT........I have seen a lot of reviews, and the Voice control will do all of the seat and HIVAC stuff......pretty much anything. What exact colour was your main review vehicle??? And thanks again....... you've got yourself a new subscriber.

I’ve never once had to use my hazard warning lights in any car I’ve owned yet I’m willing to bet that there’s an easily accessible switch for it in the Seal - yet it’s three presses into the menu screen to access the heated seats. Weird how manufacturers work these things out.

OPD in the MG is brilliant. Does the byd have vehicle to load?. Not sure of the issue people have with the nmc vs lip battery differences. Just set the charge max level to 80% and charge it like that for everyday use. If as was said only doing max 209kms a day then charge the car really not an issue. If you are planning a long trip charge it to 100% for the extra range it really isn't difficult...

A good looking car indeed.

When did the UK change from having the indicator stalk on the right hand side,as we do in Australia,European car which are left hand drive did have to comply with it.This was changed as they complained at extra time and cost to comply to right hand drive.Therefore if you get into a BMW etc..here it’s on the “wrong side”

I wonder if those very clear bluish screens aren't too intrusive in darker weather conditions. I also hope this can be adjusted to some night modus, otherwise it would certainly be too blinding at nighttime. In my car, screen backgrounds are black which - at first glance anyway - I still seem to prefer. Plus, when I see people having to jam on these screens all the time to adjust about everything, I simply consider it bloody unsafe. We can't look at our smartphone for a second (keep your eyes on the road !!) without risking a fine, but this kind of tablet-using behaviour just passes... Some reply that the voice control remedies that, but I have very mixed and sometimes even frustrating experiences regarding voice control.

A big deal for me is road noise on a rough surface. I find my 2021 (made in China) model 3 too noisy on rough roads. What I have read previously, the Seal is quieter than the model 3, but your opinion indicates otherwise. The droning sound would indicate it's the tyres?

The answer is YES! Seal is the best EV for a single man without family.

Whar exterior color is this?

Very nice car.

It's stunning, looks better than an ioniq 6 though I've more trust in Hyundai Kia than BYD for now. But if competitively priced and proven to be reliable I'll be very keen on this second hand.

The 3rd BYD model you've leaned against. Stand up straight man!!

Whats the name of the color?

Love the look of this one. Funny that the same company can bring such a nice designed car and a totally boring one like the Doplhin almost at the same time.

I love the stat's and look of the Seal as well as cost and warranty period. My concern is reliability and quality control. On top not sure how good BYD is with warranty claims

Unfortunately, here in Australia the onboard charger is only 7.2kW. That is a deal breaker for everyone with 3 phase power.

I believe that there is a setting for the speed of opening of the boot. Sorry if someone else has made this comment elsewhere.

I perfer this over the M3, however, I'm not a fan of bigs screens and all functions embedded in them. The styling is very nice but I'm not keen on the black plastic trim on the front wings.

Good looking car, shame it's a boot not a hatch. Think I would use the front storage for the cables as with a boot full of stuff on any car makes the under floor storage a pain to get into.

Is Apple CarPlay wireless ?

In a few years having to navigate menus for functions will be no issue when we are over the adaptation phase. Drivers already use mounted smartphones in cars. Think back to old rotary phones and asking someone then that future technology will have you make a couple of steps just to get to the dial screen and they would probably tell you thats reverse progress.

Can you turn off the low speed whine/pedestrian warning noise? It would drive me mad in city driving

Don't go looking for things in the screen, just ask 'Hi BYD' and she will do it for you.

Got my sub, Sir. Be careful tho, Tesla fanboi here. 😄

Why did you say the boot is equal to benchmark Tesla 3 when my stats say the latter's boots 30% bigger despite being shorter in length.

Good looking car, good review but… i like the I4 even more

nice looking car, but that boot opening would rule it out for me.

Excellent video and review however it's not for me for two reasons. 1. I live near Southend in SE England and nearest BYD service dealers are London or Ipswich 40-55 miles away. 2. The Price, I've been looking at new Tesla 3, 5K cheaper, dealer just over 15 miles away, full Tesla charging network.

Wonderful EV! I would buy it NOW {with support} but we will NEVER see these in the USA! The reason is plain--they would put GM/Ford/Stellantis {sic} out of business in a week. The current USA policy has abandoned the long held precept free market competition/lazie-fair.

I think this is competitive with the Tesla Model 3. The Hyundai Ioniq 6 or the Polestar 2, once you spec them like the Seal they are 15K quid more expensive, which makes them irrelevant for any buyer in this segment.

Saw a big suv from byd on a not so good road. Was bouncing all over the place

No one pedal is a deal breaker. I have the Ioniq 6 myself only because the Seal came late to market (here in Australia). I also enjoy the sunroof that closes for our harsh summers. Nice looking car this one. Hope to see many Seals around to break up the 'boring' Model 3s everywhere ;-)

You say there are a lot of things buried in the screen.. Have you tried using the car's dropdown menu at all? There you can create shortcuts to the various functions yourself. Everything from deactivating safety systems, sound, seat ventilation, etc. You can configure it as you wish. It just seems silly that you spend so much time talking about a lot of other things, but you haven't familiarized yourself with a relatively simple and accessible function that solves one of your points of criticism 🤷‍♂

I have just ordered an Ioniq 6 through Motability. If the Seal had been available it would have been a very hard decision between the two. With this and Fisker hitting the UK market there are exciting times ahead.

The long range mid spec in Australia is the same price as the 77kw MG4 Long Range ~ £34K ($A64K) ….and includes HUD.

10:38 Ice Blue and Atlantis Grey?

Just booked the AWD variant yesterday. It’s gonna be my first EV, so hopefully it’ll be a good experience. I love the looks, but I’m not sure about the vegan leather. It feels too synthetic to me, and I hope I’m wrong, but it doesnt look durable at all. And the one thing that bothers me the most is the tyres. The AWD is supposed to be the high performance variant, but it comes with continental eco tyres? I think BYD put those tyres on purpose just to back their claim of 580 km range, because I imagine stickier high performance tyres would reduce the range quite a bit. I just think they should put better tyres on the AWD version to complement its high performance stance.

Thought experiment: if this styling was the latest from BMW and BYD had turned up with a car looking like the ix4 would have laughed our socks off?

So when can I buy one in the US

Fantastic car, shame that UK price is £23000 MORE expensive. What prices around the world? I've seen $27000, £48000 ($ 56000 with exchange rate )

What colour is this car?

ACTUALLY I AM TOSSING UP BETWEEN BYD VS MODEL 3. ONE SIDE TESLA HAS PROVEN THE RELIABILITY BUT BYD NOT SURE AND I HAVE TO USE FOR UBER. IF THERE WAS NO BYD SEAL IT WOULD HAVE BEEN EASY DECISION FOR ME TO BUY TESLA MODEL 3. I LIKE THE DRIVING OF MODEL 3 BETTER BUT SEAL GOT BETTER INTERIOR FOR ME AS IT GOT LOTS OF BUTTONS AND STALKS AND AROUND 70 to 80 KM RANGE BUT I AM NOT SURE SEAL WILL BE RELIABLE IN LONG TERM OR NOT. ANY BODY HAVE LONG TERM EXPERIENCE WITH BYD?

Yes but the UK is seen as such a backwater BYD's flagship sedan BYD HAN is not sold here but it is sold in Morocco, Jordan and Mexico and many other countries. We are not considered a priority. PS BYD also now have a Supercar brand BYD Wang Yang such as their U8.

这台已经out了，智界S7，敬请期待

I seldom touch my BYD screen as voice command is excellent for all those things that annoyed you (except one pedal driving).