BYD Seal Review: Sealing The Deal?

Updated: Monday, April 22, 2024, 9:09 [IST]

Chinese EV firm Build Your Dreams (BYD), has been operating in India since 2017. While that journey started with electric buses, BYD released its first electric car for India - the e6 MPV - in 2021.

The e6, initially only offered for the commercial market was finally made available for the general public in 2022, the same year BYD introduced its second offering for the Indian market - the Atto 3 family SUV.

BYD now has sent out its third offering for the Indian market onto our roads in the form of the Seal sedan. So when BYD called us out to Delhi to test out the Seal, we jumped right to it.

BYD Seal Review: Exterior Design - Ocean-Inspired Air Cutter

The BYD Seal has been designed to cut through the air as smoothly as possible with its Ocean-inspired design. This 4,800mm long sedan (around the same length as the long-wheelbase BMW 3 Series) has a 0.219 coefficient of drag, which is the best for any electric car currently on sale in the world.

At the front, the BYD Seal sports the ow rather popular split lighting setup. While the headlights are found up next to the bonnet, the LED DRLs, which are meant to represent ripples on the ocean are found lower on the front bumper. Under the sculpted bonnet is where you find the 50-litre frunk, enough to easily keep the charger and charging cables in place.

Other design highlights of the BYD Seal's exterior include the coupe-like glass roof that features tinting to keep the heat at bay, the flush door handles and the 19-inch aero wheels that help the Seal go the distance.

At the rear, the Seal features a full-width light-bar-style taillight that runs across the length of the electric sedan's boot. Speaking of which, the boot offers 400 litres of space, more than enough for a weekend trip out of town. However, the lack of a spare wheel is a bit annoying.

BYD Seal Review: Interior & Features - Premium Indulgence

Step into the Seal's cabin and you're greeted by a stylized cabin that has its quirks but looks rather sophisticated, something that will appeal to the clientele the electric sedan is aimed at.

There is high-quality leatherette material everywhere from the dashboard to the door cards and the plastics along with the metal finishes for the trim pieces all look like they belong in a luxury car.

As always the piece de resistance of the Seal's interior, like that of the Atto 3 is the massive swivelling touchscreen infotainment screen that dominates the centre of the dash. The 15.6-inch screen can switch from landscape to portrait mode in an instant and is on the whole quite easy to use and allows for wireless Android Auto connectivity (fruity fans need a cable).

While we appreciate the smoothness and largeness of the infotainment unit, the fact that BYD has once again buried most of the controls including those for the air conditioning system in a series of menus and sub-menus means that using this display on the go is just not possible.

There is also another 10.25-inch display that sits behind the flat-bottomed steering wheel of the Seal and provides the driver, with all the details needed to run an EV on the go.

Also seen is a heads-up display, a 360-degree camera that works on the go, a premium audio system tuned by Dynaudio, two wireless phone charging pads and multiple USB A and C ports for charging.

The quilted front seats are ventilated and heated and offer a plush and comfortable place to be on the move. The rear seats though are the place to be, especially if you're not on the taller side.

There is ample legroom, your thighs are properly supported and despite the slight knees-up seating position, the big seat with its reclined backrest makes any journey enjoyable. However, taller occupants will feel the headroom pinch thanks to the coupe-like glass roof that slopes down at the back.

In terms of safety, the BYD Seal comes packed with all the goodies including 9 airbags, radar-guided ADAS and more that helped the electric luxury sedan get a 5-star safety rating from Euro NCAP.

BYD Seal Review: Performance & Range - Big Numbers

The BYD Seal is offered in three guises in India - Dynamic (Rs 41 lakh), Premium (Rs 45.5 lakh) and Performance (Rs 53 lakh). While the Dynamic and the Premium both offer single-motor, rear-wheel drive setups, the Performance version of the Seal comes with two electric motors and all-wheel drive.

The Seal rides on BYD's modular e-Platform 3.0 setup which features an 800V electrical architecture and features the carmaker's Blade LFP batteries. The e-Platform 3.0 setup also means that the battery pack in the case of the Seal is integrated into the EV's chassis for better safety and rigidity.

The base Seal Dynamic uses a 61.44kWh battery pack that delivers an NEDC-certified range of 510km on a single charge and powers a single electric motor producing 201bhp and 310Nm of peak torque. This variant goes from 0-100km/h in 7.5 seconds.

Next in line is the Premium variant which ups the battery pack size to 82.56kWh for a NEDC range of 650kmon on a single charge. The battery pack powers a single electric motor that pushes out 308bhp and 360Nm of torque which propels the Seal from 0-100km/h in just 5.9 seconds.

The all-wheel drive Performance variant (which we drove) uses the same 82.56kWh battery pack for a range of 580km as per the NEDC testing cycle. The battery pack powers two electric motors (one on each axle) producing a combined 523bhp and 670Nm of peak torque, enough for a supercar baiting 0-100km/h time of 3.8 seconds.

The BYD Seal models with the larger battery pack support 150kW DC fast charging and the carmaker claims the electric sedan will charge its batteries from 0-80 per cent in just 45 minutes when plugged into one of these fast chargers. The entry-level model tops out at 110kW. However, AC charging is limited to a disappointing 7kW.

BYD Seal Review: Driving Impressions - Electric Supercar Baiting Deal Sealer

The BYD Seal variant that we were handed the key to was the supercar baiting performance numbers. All versions of the Seal come with three driving modes - Eco, Normal and Sport - and while Eco seems like the least responsive of the trio, putting your foot down in any of the modes i not what you call an ordinary experience.

In Sport mode though, the Seal comes alive and you get to experience that head-snapping performance which makes the 3.8 second, 0-100km/h sprint time very believable.

Changing the driving mode also changes the regen level along with damping levels and the feel of the steering wheel. Speaking of the steering, the Seal doesn't come with the quickest rack in the world but it gives you enough feedback and feels weighty and reassuring.

The stiff chassis of the BYD Seal integrates the battery pack into itself for extra rigidity and this combined with the brilliant ride quality means that bumps and ruts are taken with aplomb (albeit with a bit of thinking thanks to the 19-inch wheels) and once you get up to speed, the stability is extremely reassuring allowing you to easily have some fun on a twisty section of tarmac.

BYD Seal Review: Verdict & Final Thoughts - Sealing The Electric Dream Deal

The BYD Seal is an electric sedan that does not muck about with what it is trying to sell. With its aerodynamic design, premium interiors and the supercar baiting Performance variant, the Seal is the real deal for those not wanting to join the electric crossover circus.

If you want a bit of fun and feel like the German and Swedish ICE options are a bit too old school and that you'd rather take a cab than get into an electric SUV, then the BYD Seal may just be the car to seal the deal for your transition to the electric future.