BYD Seal Review: More Than A Cute Name!

Let me tell you what impresses me and what doesn't quite hit the mark.

The car generating chatter all over the world is in India. The BYD Seal is an all-electric wonder that has a lot going for it. This one becomes a tad extra special because I was the only journalist from India to have already gotten my hands on it. A lot has changed since I first drove the BYD Seal, well, for me, a bit extra. The biggest change is the fact that this car is now on sale in India, it's available in our market. The other thing that has changed for me is like I said, that car was white, this car is dark blue, they call it grey. The weather, was cold and snowy conditions. Here it is blazing hot, pretty much like we expect here in our market and the fact that this is also a car that was one of the runner-ups at the World Car Awards didn’t win. Still, the fact that it was in the top 3 speaks volumes about how big a model this is for the company and the electric vehicle market as a whole.

I've already gone over the Seal's features in my Exclusive review on our website, so let's skip a recap, you can always read that too. Instead, let me tell you what impresses me and what doesn't quite hit the mark.

BYD Seal: A Unique Exterior?

The BYD Seal earns a big thumbs up for its stylish design which let’s face it looks kinda like the Hyundai IONIQ 6 and also the Porsche Taycan depending on the angle you see it from, maybe even the Tesla Model 3. BYD design chief Wolfgang Egger knew he had to take on all those cars in a way so achieving strong aerodynamics was key.

Unlike those cars here the result is rather pretty. So, sharp front end, highlighted by the DRLs and that cool lighting in the bumper. Flowing roofline and flush door handles, very stylish alloys and as I said before, the dot-matrix taillights are the coolest design detail on this one. The car comes across as well-built and premium.

BYD Seal: Is The Cabin Premium Enough?

Spending time inside the BYD Seal’s cabin is something that you’re going to like because there are lots of bits that have been done nicely and come across as very high-end. Look at the seats, it's got this quilting in it, looks very comfortable and is designed quite comfortably too. You can adjust a lot of the functions from this screen, we’ll talk about this in a second, the rear seats are also very comfortable, I’ll show you those in a second, but the styling on the dash is again unlike any other car’s, it’s got this almost organic quality in terms of its design and the materials and the colours are very nicely done. It’s got different textures and layers but they all work together, little bit of Alcantara here as well which is high-end.

Two wireless chargers have a nice animation to it on the screen and that’s where we come to the screen. The animation, and quality of the graphics, all of it is crisp, is nicely done. Good resolution, the same applies to the instrument cluster screen as well, it is all intuitively done, so that’s something I do like.

It does have the party trick of making that screen go from vertical to horizontal, this you do know, the Atto 3 had it, also if you’ve seen my previous review of the Seal would’ve seen it. Don’t forget thought, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay make the screen go back to horizontal. So when you are driving, a little of your hand blocks the vision from one corner of the screen, so that’s not great. I prefer to keep it in vertical mode.

But it is the functionality of the screen that many people will like. There may be too much happening over there, but once you get used to it though, it's not so bad, the good part is unlike so many other EVs. It's not like all the vehicle functions are also on the screen. As you are driving, you can quickly change the drive modes from the rotary knob on the centre console, you don’t even need to take your eyes off the road. You get the little display in the instruments and can easily change the modes, that is something that I do like.

You also see bits that may be borrowed from other cars, but you know what, that’s true for so many cars these days, the massive roof, some people would’ve preferred a blind. I for one, think that the tinting is pretty good, is effective. Then you’ve got the little BMW-inspired gear shifter which has the crystal finish, but you know what, it's finished well.

BYD Seal: Can You Be Chauffered Around?

The window and mirror controls on the driver-side door are angled towards the driver – nice touch. There’s space for stuff under the central console and lots of charging outlets for your gadgets.

Get in the back and the first thing that grabs you, is the sense of space, it is nice and comfortable and roomy, good amount of headroom, a great amount of feeling of space, and course actual space too. Look at that flat floor, legroom is great, under-thigh support is not bad, and the seat angle is very nice, very comfortable, cushiony seats. Having said all of that. I don’t think this is a chauffeur-driven car. In India, I know probably, it will probably end up being one, but you know what, in my head, I’m slightly biased, to me, no car outside barring the Phantom or the S-Class are chauffeur-driven cars, But having said that, because the buyers in this segment would like to sit in the back and they won’t be unhappy.

If I want to nit-pick a little bit. I would’ve loved a sunblind for the windows but is still comfortable without one. The sunroof, again the fact that it's full glass, and it doesn’t have a blind, doesn’t bother you. There’s no glare coming through and extends right over your head, that’s kind of different and also adds to the sense of roominess. You can put the armrest back up if you don’t want it there but I would want to keep it down, is very comfortable, but who am I kidding, I’m not going to be sitting here, I’m going to be up driving.

BYD Seal: Is It Made For Indian Roads?

Ok, so my previous drive was on the near-perfect roads of Switzerland. So how does the Seal do in the Haryana hinterland? Going over speed breakers, going into potholes, it is something that you don’t feel much in this car, that again is a good thing because that hard sort of feeling that you typically get with a lot of battery cars cause of all the weight they got in the bottom, that’s worked out well with the suspension. So overall, the suspension is sporty, is fun, and is comfortable.

This being the AWD version, has two electric motors powering all the wheels. That’s, 523 bhp and 670 Nm of peak torque, from its 82.56 kWh battery. What it means is that the Seal can catapult from zero to 100 in a flat 3.8 seconds. To put some perspective here, the Seal is only 0.5 seconds slower than the Lamborghini Urus Performante and a whole second behind the Porsche Taycan Turbo S.

When you start driving the car more regularly, you start to notice these little things about it. I’ve already told you about the performance, it is impressive. I like how it corners itself, the dynamics, are very smartly done. It picks up all the relevant things that the driver is going to appreciate, a good amount of ride quality with the comfort and the suspension, nice and taut steering feel, not being too hard and of course around these corners, it does it beautifully. BYD cleverly does all of this. Despite weighing well over 2 tonnes, the Seal’s Cell-to-Body tech has helped with the brilliant dynamics. Even defying physics with a heavy foot mid-turn, the Seal stays composed thanks to its Torque Adaptation Control or torque vectoring system.

If I again want to nit-pick, one little drawback, well you can say that the tinting on this all-glass roof is adequate, but you’ve got the sun right overhead. It is shining right onto my face, it's not bothering me, not a very strong glare, but I’m starting to feel the heat of it. A smart way to avoid that, is you don’t need a full sunblind covering the whole roof, this sun visor, you could flip over just to block out the little bit of glare from the heat, it can get a little uncomfortable on long drives.

BYD Seal: Is Safety Paramount?

The Seal comes loaded with Safety tech and features, ADAS, three-point seat belts and ISOFIX anchorages on all five seats are great. It received a 5-star rating at Euro NCAP but is not yet tested by Bharat NCAP. And then there’s this other thing.

The other thing that I like is that when it comes to air quality, cleaning out the air inside the cabin, say you put your window down, you get a burst of smoke from traffic, you want to quickly get rid of that, well, there’s a quick option to clean out the cabin air, that’s a nice thing to have, again, very relevant.

BYD Seal: Should You Buy This?

In India, the Seal has been launched with three variants, the rear wheel Dynamic, has 201 bhp, 310 Nm on tap, with a 510 km range, priced at Rs. 41 lakh (ex-showroom, India). The Premium trim, again rear wheel driven, has 308 bhp, 360 Nm, and 650 km of range on a single charge, with a Rs. 45.55 lakh (ex-showroom, India). And this one, that I’ve got, the top-of-the-line Performance, at Rs. 53 lakh (ex-showroom, India).

The rivals in India are varied, but these are the cars it must take on. Both the Koreans are underpowered, but both are absolute lookers. The BMW costs a lot more but can outperform the Seal in most ways.

So, in that sense, the BYD does SEAL the deal quite well. Do you agree? Tell me in the comments below.

Photography By: Apoorv Choudhary