The BYD Seal electric vehicle (EV) starts at $49,888 before on-road costs, with deliveries commencing in December.
That sees it beat the rival Tesla Model 3 by $12,012; the hot-selling electric sedan opens at $61,900 before on-roads.
UPDATE, 20/12/23 – Our review of the BYD Seal is now live, so we’ve brought this article forward.
UPDATE, 25/10/23 – ANCAP has published its safety rating of the Seal, and we’ve updated this article accordingly.
UPDATE, 20/10/23 – BYD has cut the price of the flagship Seal Performance by $50, allowing it to qualify for additional electric vehicle incentives.
Designed under BYD global design director Wolfgang Egger (formerly the Audi Group’s head designer), the Seal is said to use an ‘Ocean Aesthetic’ design language with the look and feel of a sports sedan, complete with sculptured curves that follow the momentum of waves.
The Seal is slippery, boasting one of the industry’s lowest drag coefficients: just 0.219 Cd.
Billed as a sports sedan, the Seal features double wishbone suspension up front and a multi-link set-up down back.
In order to minimise or eliminate loss of traction under heavy loads the Seal also employs the latest iTAC (Intelligence Torque Adaption Control) technology, as its own version of torque vectoring.
Pricing
- 2024 BYD Seal Dynamic Standard Range: $49,888
- 2024 BYD Seal Premium Extended Range: $58,798
- 2024 BYD Seal Performance AWD: $68,748
These prices exclude on-road costs.
Drivetrains
The 2024 BYD Seal is offered with a choice of three drivetrains.
The Dynamic Standard Range features a single electric motor and rear-wheel drive, with 150kW of power and 310Nm of torque.
Its claimed 0-100km/h time is 7.5 seconds.
The Premium Extended Range also uses a single-motor rear-wheel drive configuration, with 230kW and 360Nm and a 0-100km/h time of 5.9 seconds.
The Performance AWD features a dual-motor all-wheel drive configuration with 390kW and 670Nm and a claimed 0-100km/h time of 3.8 seconds.
Efficiency
Range varies for the BYD Seal based on the variant. WLTP combined cycle figures are as follows:
- Dynamic Standard Range: 460km
- Premium Extended Range: 570km
- Performance AWD: 520km
BYD uses its Blade batteries in the Seal: a 61.4kWh unit in the Dynamic Standard Range, and an 82.5kWh battery in the others.
It can be charged at up to 150kW using DC power, and has Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) capability.
Dimensions
The Seal stretches 4800mm long, 1875mm wide and 1460mm tall on a 2920mm wheelbase.
It boasts 400L of boot space plus 50L under the bonnet.
Kerb weight is 1922kg for the Dynamic, 2055kg for the Premium and 2185kg for the Performance.
Servicing and Warranty
The BYD Seal is backed by a six-year, 150,000km vehicle warranty and an eight-year, 160,000km battery warranty.
Servicing is required every 12 months or 20,000km. BYD says the first eight services are priced at $189, $370, $189, $447, $189, $370, $189, and $447, respectively.
Safety
ANCAP has awarded the Seal a five-star safety rating, against new, tougher 2023-25 testing criteria.
It received an adult occupant protection rating of 89 per cent, a child occupant protection rating of 87 per cent, a vulnerable road user protection rating of 82 per cent, and a safety assist rating of 75 per cent.
Standard safety equipment includes:
- Autonomous emergency braking (forward and reverse)
- Adaptive cruise control
- Blind-spot monitoring
- Front and rear cross-traffic assist
- Lane-keep assist
- Emergency lane-keep assist
- Rear cross-traffic assist
- Traffic sign recognition
- Intelligent speed limit assist
- Surround-view camera
- Front and rear parking sensors
- Dual front airbags plus driver’s far-side airbag
- Side and curtain airbags for both rows
- Safe exit warning
- Rear occupant alert
Standard Equipment
The Dynamic Standard Range comes standard with the following equipment:
- 15.6-inch touchscreen infotainment system
- Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
- Satellite navigation
- 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster
- 12-speaker 775W Dynaudio sound system
- DAB digital radio
- 1 x USB-C, USB-A outlet (front)
- 1 x USB-C, USB-A outlet (rear)
- Dual wireless phone chargers
- Eight-way power driver’s seat
- Six-way power passenger seat
- Four-way power-adjustable steering wheel
- Heated and ventilated front seats
- Leatherette-wrapped steering wheel
- Leatherette upholstery
- Keyless entry and start
- Ambient lighting
- Panoramic glass roof
- Rear privacy glass
- 18-inch alloy wheels
- Automatic high-beam
- Automatic LED headlights
- Rain-sensing wipers
The Premium Extended Range adds:
- Head-up display
- Exterior mirror auto-tilt and memory
- Leather-wrapped steering wheel
- Leather upholstery
- Driver’s memory
- 19-inch alloy wheels
- Four-way lumbar adjustment
The Performance AWD adds:
- Heated steering wheel
- Frequency Selective Damping shock absorbers
Colours
The BYD Seal is available in the following exterior colours:
- Arctic Blue
- Atlantis Grey
- Aurora White
- Cosmos Black
- Shark Grey
Aurora White is a no-cost option, with the other finishes costing $1500 or $2000 in the case of Shark Grey, which is available only on the Performance.
Interior colours are either Ocean Blue or Thaumas Black.
The Ocean Blue interior costs an extra $1500.
MORE: Everything BYD Seal
