- Doors and Seats
4 doors, 5 seats
- Engine
Perm Magnet, LI
- Engine Power
390kW, 360Nm
- Fuel
580km range
- Manufacturer
4WD
- Transmission
Red'n Gear
- Warranty
6 Yr, 150000 KMs
- Ancap Safety
5/5 star (2023)
2024 BYD Seal Performance review: Australian first drive
The BYD Seal has been labelled a genuine threat to the best-selling Tesla Model 3. We've put the flagship Performance model through its paces to find out if the hype is warranted.
- Sleek design inside and out
- Stunning straight-line performance
- Composed ride
- Over-reliance on touchscreen for vehicle functions
- Overly eager safety assist systems
- Confusing and patchy warranty terms
2024 BYD Seal Performance
As sales of electric vehicles continue to grow in Australia, so do the choices available to buyers. The latest new electric car to join the party is this, the BYD Seal, a medium-sized sedan that is a direct rival to the best-selling Tesla Model 3.
The BYD Seal is the third electric car from the Chinese car maker to make its way to Australia in a little over 12 months. It joins the Atto 3 medium SUV and Dolphin hatchback in the brand’s local line-up. It’s arguably also the most important for the brand, a showcase of engineering and a statement of intent that says BYD is a serious player in the electric car market.
How serious? It’ll come as no surprise that in 2023, Tesla remains the largest manufacturer of electric vehicles in the world. But BYD, in second place, is gaining ground on the American car maker, with many industry analysts predicting that BYD will overtake Tesla sooner rather than later.
The Seal shares its dedicated EV platform – e-platform 3.0 – with both the Atto 3 and Dolphin. But it’s here the similarities end. It’s been lengthened, for starters, to accommodate the Seal’s bigger dimensions. And the company’s ground-breaking ‘Blade’ battery – a lithium iron phosphate array – doesn't just sit under the floor, but actually forms part of the Seal’s structure. The top cover of the battery array is the floor of the Seal.
That affords BYD’s mid-sizer better than average torsional rigidity while also allowing for improved interior packaging, an improvement most keenly felt in the cabin where the lower floor has opened up passenger comfort.
But is sleek design, clever technology and sharp pricing enough to push the BYD Seal into the consideration lists of EV buyers everywhere, and in particular those eyeing off a Model 3?
Let’s find out.
How much does the BYD Seal cost in Australia?
There are three BYD Seal variants – Dynamic, Premium and Performance – in the brand’s Australian line-up.
The entry-level Seal Dynamic, priced from $49,888 plus on-road costs, is fitted with a 61.4kWh battery sending power to a single 150kW/310Nm electric motor at the rear wheels. It has a claimed WLTP driving range of 460km.
The mid-spec Seal Premium, also rear-wheel drive, offers 570km of driving range from its 82.6kWh battery powering an upgraded 230kW/360Nm electric motor. It’s priced at $58,798 plus on-roads.
Sitting atop the range, the flagship Seal Performance uses the same 82.6kWh battery array as found in the Premium. Unlike the rear-wheel-drive Dynamic and Premium models, the Performance is all-wheel drive thanks to its two electric motors, one each at the front and rear axles.
With combined outputs of 390kW and 670Nm, the Seal Performance is able to complete the benchmark dash from 0–100km/h in a claimed 3.8 seconds. Driving range drops to a claimed 520km when compared against the Premium fitted with the same battery. That’s down to the Performance model weighing 130kg more thanks mainly to its all-wheel-drive underpinnings.
Get a great deal today
Interested in this car? Provide your details and we'll connect you to a member of the Drive team.
The Seal Performance is priced from $68,748 plus on-road costs, earning it the distinction of offering more power for the money ($176.28 per kilowatt) than any other new car on sale in Australia today. It’s the car we have on test here.
As the flagship, the BYD Seal Performance is generously equipped. You can find our comprehensive pricing and specification guide here, not only for the Performance model, but for the entire BYD Seal range.
But a precis summary of the Performance’s standard equipment would read a lot like this: 19-inch alloy wheels, head-up display, 'genuine' leather seat upholstery, four-way powered driver’s seat lumbar support, memory settings for driver’s seat and side mirrors, torque vectoring, heated steering wheel, and frequency-selective dampers.
That’s on top of an already generous equipment list across the entire Seal range: LED headlights and daytime-running lamps, a 15.6-inch rotating infotainment touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, satellite navigation, FM/DAB (but not AM) radio, a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster, and power-adjustable front seats with both heating and ventilation (cooling).
There’s also a 12-speaker Dynaudio sound system, dual-zone climate control, wireless phone charging for two smartphones, a panoramic glass roof, powered tailgate, and rain-sensing windscreen wipers.
The entire range is also fitted with BYD’s comprehensive list of advanced safety features that we’ll detail later.
The most obvious rival to the BYD Seal is the Tesla Model 3 (from $61,900 plus on-road costs), although if we’re comparing mid-size EVs with mid-size EVs, the $71,900 Model 3 Long Range and its circa-80kWh battery offer far greater driving range (629km claimed), but is more than half-a-second slower to the benchmark 100km/h sprint (4.4sec against the Seal’s 3.8sec).
The Model 3 Performance would be a closer match – which claimed a 0–100km/h time of 3.5 seconds – but it's currently off-sale until an updated model arrives in 2024.
Buyers in this space might also consider the Polestar 2, which in Long Range Dual Motor all-wheel-drive spec starts from $76,400, while the all-wheel-drive Hyundai Ioniq 6 gets underway at $82,000.
Key details | 2024 BYD Seal Performance |
Price | $68,748 plus on-road costs |
Colour of test car | Arctic Blue |
Options | Premium paint – $1500 |
Price as tested | $70,248 plus on-road costs |
Drive-away price | $71,381 (in NSW) |
Rivals | Tesla Model 3 | Polestar 2 | Hyundai Ioniq 6 |
How much space does the BYD Seal have inside?
It’s evident from the moment you slide into the Seal’s cabin that a lot of work has gone into ensuring the cabin feels at once sophisticated and pretty special. Park your notions about Chinese cars being cheap and cheerful, because the interior of this car looks and feels a cut above those assumptions.
Its centrepiece is the 15.6-inch touchscreen that, as it does in every BYD, rotates through 90 degrees to display in either landscape or portrait mode. It’s a party trick to wow your friends the first time they sit inside, after which you’ll leave it in the more user-friendly landscape mode and forget about it.
The materials in the cabin – whether plastic, ‘leather’, or the sumptuous suede-like material liberally used throughout – are soft to the touch, giving off a distinctly prestige vibe.
The seats, with their contrasting piping and quilted pattern, are comfortable and supportive with good bolstering. Power-adjustable too, as well as heated and cooled for added comfort in cold or hot weather. The seat cooling worked a treat on a particularly hot Sydney day during our time with the Seal.
The steering wheel continues the premium vibe, wrapped in leather and chunky in hand. It frames the 10.25-inch driver display that can be configured in a number of ways to display various driving data. It’s not the most intuitive to use, requiring a series of presses on the steering-wheel-mounted buttons and switches, leading to some initial frustration. But once you work out how to access the screens you want – such as energy consumption – it becomes second nature.
Practicalities up front run to a pair of cupholders, a wireless charging pad for two devices, a good-size central storage bin, door pockets that can take bottles, and a larger area under the centre console that can easily accommodate handbags or smaller backpacks.
The second row is where the Seal’s clever battery integration can really be felt. Thanks to taking up less space under the Seal’s floor, there is loads of foot, knee and leg room. But head room does take a hit thanks to the standard-fit panoramic glass roof working in tandem with the Seal’s sloping roof line. Still, it felt perfectly fine for my 173cm frame, but anyone over 183cm might feel a little cramped.
The back seats themselves feel plush and plump, seats you can sink into for those longer road trips. The middle seat, though, as it is in oh-so-many new cars, is less comfortable with a firm base and even firmer back rest thanks to the Seal’s fold-down armrest that houses two cupholders. The middle seat is also slightly raised over the outboard seats and impacting head room.
Amenities in the second row run to air vents (but no separate climate controls), a small storage cubby under the air vents, decent door pockets, and two USB charging points, one each Type-A and Type-C. The outboard seats are equipped with ISOFIX child seat mounts, while all three seats feature top-tether anchor points.
The boot, accessed via a powered tailgate, isn’t especially large at 400 litres, but does expand with the second row folded away in 60:40-split fashion. BYD doesn't quote a figure for the expanded cargo area. There’s a large nook under the boot floor for holding the Seal’s charging cables, while under that area you’ll find a tyre inflation kit.
Helpfully, there’s an additional 50L of cargo capacity under the Seal’s bonnet. It can easily take a carry-on suitcase, larger backpack or a couple of bags of shopping.
2024 BYD Seal Performance | |
Seats | Five |
Boot volume | 400L seats up 50L front trunk |
Length | 4800mm |
Width | 1875mm |
Height | 1460mm |
Wheelbase | 2920mm |
Does the BYD Seal have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto?
The large 15.6-inch touchscreen impresses at first viewing with a clean layout, crisp graphics and its sheer size. It plays host to wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Additionally, if your preference is for wired connections, there are two USB plugs – one Type-A and one Type-C – housed in the cubby under the centre console.
We ran wired Apple CarPlay – which only works through the USB-A port – and recorded no glitches and came away impressed, smartphone projection utilising the entire width of the central screen, not always the case in other brands when faced with similarly large screens.
The screen, as previously stated, rotates through 90 degrees for those who prefer portrait orientation, but to my mind at least, it’s a fun gimmick that’ll impress your mates without any real benefit.
There’s inbuilt satellite navigation, while radio bands run to FM and DAB+. There is no AM reception, which could be an issue for some rural dwellers where AM is the only reliable bandwidth and it is used for emergency alerts.
Nearly all the Seal’s functions are accessed via the touchscreen, which is a bit of a modern curse to our mind. Having to adjust climate settings is not only unintuitive, but also more distracting than more traditional dials and switches.
Similarly, most of the car’s advanced safety systems are accessed via the screen, often through multiple touches and swipes, again a frustrating user experience.
You can try and use the ‘Hi BYD’ voice-activated commands, but as is often the case, it’s not always responsive, leaving you hanging.
Like many of today’s new cars, the BYD Seal features remote access via an app-based system. The BYD Connect app allows owners to remotely unlock and lock the car, monitor charging, and use climate controls to pre-condition the interior.
Is the BYD Seal a safe car?
The BYD Seal range was awarded a five-star ANCAP safety rating in 2023 based on testing conducted by ANCAP’s European counterpart, Euro NCAP.
The Seal was awarded 89 per cent for adult occupant protection, 87 per cent for child occupant protection, 82 per cent for vulnerable road user protection, and 75 per cent for safety assistance technology.
2024 BYD Seal Performance | |
ANCAP rating | Five stars (tested 2023) |
Safety report | Link to ANCAP report |
What safety technology does the BYD Seal have?
Underpinning the Seal’s five-star rating is a full suite of advanced driver assist systems. The BYD Seal range is fitted with a rear-view and 360-degree camera, autonomous emergency braking, lane-keep assist, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, front and rear cross-traffic alert with braking, door exit warning, traffic sign recognition and automatic high beams.
A complement of nine airbags (including front-centre, and rear-side) covers both rows of occupants.
While it’s commendable BYD hasn’t scrimped on advanced driver assist systems, our experience in the Seal threw up a couple of concerns, both around the autonomous emergency braking (AEB) where we noted two false positives. The first as we drove under a bridge and the Seal’s system detected a pylon as a vehicle. And the second as a semi-trailer moved slightly to the right of its lane (but without crossing the lane markings) as we were drawing alongside.
Both times AEB intervened by applying the brakes; a little disconcerting, especially when there are no obvious obstacles in front of you.
The lane-keeping assist, too, proved over-eager, prompting me to switch it off through several inputs on the touchscreen. Similarly, speed-sign recognition and its insistent bongs and beeps soon get old. Again, disabling via the touchscreen is the answer, but you’ll need to do this every time, the system defaulting to ‘on’ at start-up.
And for those sitting there thinking ‘well, don’t speed then!’, as it does in just about every car from every manufacturer we’ve driven with speed sign recognition, the system will pick up off-ramp speed signs, the 40km/h speed sign on the back of a bus, and any number of other speed signs that don’t pertain to the road you’re driving on. Annoying.
How much does the BYD Seal cost to maintain?
BYD covers the Seal with its standard six years/150,000km warranty, while the battery is covered for eight years/160,000km. While the battery warranty is standard fare for an electric car, the vehicle surety is a touch on the low side, certainly in terms of distance. However, BYD attaches conditions to its vehicle warranty, with different components – such as suspension and infotainment – receiving shorter coverage. You can check out the full terms and conditions here.
Service intervals are every 12 months or 20,000km, whichever comes first. Under BYD’s Standard Service Plan, the first trip to the workshop at three months/5000km is free. The first annual, 20,000km service asks for $189, followed by $370 (24 months/40,000km), $189 (36 months/60,000km), $447 (48 months/80,000km) and $189 (60 months/100,000km).
That’s a total of $748 for three years’ scheduled servicing or $1384 for five years. Very reasonable.
Comprehensive insurance runs to $2249 annually based on a comparative quote for a 35-year-old male driver living in Chatswood, NSW. Insurance estimates may vary based on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances.
At a glance | 2023 BYD Seal Performance |
Warranty | Six years, 150,000km |
Battery warranty | Eight years, 160,000km |
Service intervals | 12 months or 20,000km |
Servicing costs | $748 (3 years) $1384 (5 years) |
Is the BYD Seal energy-efficient?
Estimated energy consumption for the all-wheel-drive BYD Seal Performance is 18.2kWh per 100km in European WLTP testing. Our time with the Seal, covering 334km of mixed driving conditions, saw 16.9kWh/100km.
BYD’s ‘Past 50km’ gauge settled on 15.2kWh/100km when we returned the car, but we did see as low as 13kWh on the motorway.
The 82.6kWh battery can take both AC and DC charging at a maximum rate of 7.2kW and 150kW respectively.
Using a 7kW home-installed wallbox will take around 11.5 hours to recharge from zero to 100 per cent. A 50kW public charger will take considerably less time – unsurprisingly – 52 minutes from 10 to 80 per cent.
Going all-in on a fast charger reduces that to 26 minutes from 30 to 80 per cent, but be aware the BYD Seal can only take a maximum of 150kW, so using a 350kW super-charger won’t be any quicker.
Energy Consumption - brought to you by bp
Energy Efficiency | Energy Stats |
Energy cons. (estimated) | 18.2kWh/100km |
Energy cons. (on test) | 16.9kWh/100km |
Battery size | 82.6kWh |
Driving range claim (WLTP) | 520km |
Charge time (7kW) | 11h 30min (estimated) |
Charge time (50kW) | 52min (10–80%, estimated) |
Charge time (150kW max rate) | 26min (30–80%, estimated) |
What is the BYD Seal like to drive?
The flagship BYD Seal Performance stuns with its straight-line acceleration. With two electric motors, one at each axle, combining for 390kW and 670Nm, the Seal Performance can complete the sprint from 0–100km/h in just 3.8 seconds. That’s staggering for any car, more impressive still when you consider the Seal Performance tips the scales at a not inconsiderable 2185kg. Lest you forget just how fast this electric car is, the Seal Performance is festooned with a 3.8s badge on the tailgate.
Of course, straight-line speed is one thing, how the Seal handles more sedate driving another. And here the news is also good.
Despite that impressive acceleration, the Seal Performance is happy to be driven in a more refined manner. Take-off from standstill at traffic lights, say, is spritely, a predictable surge of speed that never feels unwieldy. Of course, while 3.8 seconds has few applications in the real world, it comes into its own when merging onto motorways or plugging gaps in traffic.
The ride, on the side of firm, remains nicely balanced. The Seal is fitted with passive dampers, although in this top-spec variant, BYD claims “semi-active suspension” thanks to the fitment of variable-frequency dampers. Simply, damping remains high for a firmer ride on smoother road surfaces, but softens off over rougher roads to better absorb impacts over potholes and the like.
It works, too, the Seal Performance offering a compliant ride that never felt overly jarring, no matter what the road threw up.
There are four drive modes – Eco, Normal, Sport and Snow – and while Sport adds a touch of razor-like sharpness to throttle response and steering weight, Normal is perfectly fine for most conditions. It remained our preference.
Road noise levels are nicely kept at bay, with double-glazed windows and decent sound-deadening ensuring cabin comfort is maintained.
There is a level of regenerative braking, which harnesses energy from braking and coasting and feeds it back into the battery, but its default setting is quite low. You can ask for more aggression, but again, like so many of the Seal’s functions, through the touchscreen. There is no single-pedal driving mode, though.
Key details | 2024 BYD Seal Performance |
Engine | Dual electric motors |
Power | 390kW |
Torque | 670Nm |
Drive type | All-wheel drive |
Transmission | Single-speed automatic |
Power-to-weight ratio | 178.5kW/t |
Weight (kerb) | 2185kg |
Spare tyre type | Tyre repair kit |
Turning circle | 11.4m |
Should I buy a BYD Seal?
The BYD Seal Performance is an impressive electric car. Well packaged with a well-resolved interior, the undoubted star of the show is its performance.
Straight-line acceleration is one thing, but the Seal in this flagship specification proved an accomplished tourer, equally at home in traffic as it is out on the open road.
We’ve only spent time in this flagship version, but indications are good that the entry-level Dynamic and mid-spec Premium variants should also be on the money.
Certainly, the BYD Seal has emerged as a genuine, more affordable, rival to the Tesla Model 3.
How do I buy a BYD Seal – next steps?
The BYD Seal range has arrived in Australia and deliveries have already commenced. Ordering one today should see a new Seal in your driveway in January or February, 2024, according to BYD's website.
Ready for the next step towards purchasing a BYD Seal of your own? Check the BYD Australia website for stock of your preferred Seal variant or use the configurator to build your own. You can also find BYDs for sale at Drive.com.au/cars-for-sale.
We strongly recommend requesting a test drive before committing because personal needs and tastes can differ.
If you want to stay updated with everything that's happened to this car since our review, you'll find all the latest BYD news here.