BYD Seal

Hi I am in the fortunate position of having a cash budget upto 50000 euros to buy a car going electric any thoughts on byd seal or face-lift tesla model 3 and any advice on getting a discount since I have no trade in thanks.

I was pretty shocked to see the pricing of the Ioniq 6 AWD which is probably the closest I could find to seal in terms of size and features. 77kwh though versus seal 84kwh. 70,600 Euro rrp.

Ioniq is 4.4 seconds seal is 3.8

Huge price differences

An estate version would get me very interested.

Yikes. 3m would be incredibly tight for some installs.

Yeah, too close for most I'd imagine. In fairness, the lad in the Cork showroom initially told me 3mtrs for the lot then started doubting himself so he unpacked all 3 to verify.

This, the Nio ET5 is the only estate EV built on a dedicated platform that I've seen so far. AFAIK MG5 is based on an older ICE platform.

Still has a roof like a London taxi though

Ya. Hate it with a passion

Would be lovely without , what were they thinking?🤔

Fully Charged have a UK overview video up. Well received.

I test drove the AWD seal this weekend and thought I'd share some thoughts while hopefully not repeating what was already said.

Bear in mind I'm coming from an older high end car that retailed around 100k when new.

While subjective, I have to say looks excellent from the side and front and if you were to slap a premium brand badge on it nobody would complain. The back is a bit bland but rear light bar looks well. Overall it has aggressive styling and bodykit bits similair to likes of full fat AMG/M/RS cars.

Phenomenally spacious cabin which feels bigger than a 5 series, floor is lower than most EVs so knees don't hit your chin when sitting and rear seats are quite reclined. Foot space under front seats was not an issue for runners but that depends how high you set your front seats. Quality of build/finish is excellent with no creaks and centre console very solid. However, there is cheap scratchy plastic on bottom of doors and their storage parts which don't seem padded. BYD did a pretty good job of hiding the cheaper bits but there are still some like buttons feeling less premium but the synthethic leather and alcantara feel great.

The screens don't seem too bright in direct sun but this was mostly due to a protective film on them which is meant to be removed. HUD is very clear and large. Sunroof has a green tint to it which doesn't match the rest of tint but this can be sorted by getting a film to account for it.

While it was a short drive there was a chance to take it on some twisties which showed the composure of chassis and very little body roll. Steering is extremely light but precise, however doesn't seem to be noticeably changeable. What surprised me most is even in Sport mode, the power delivery is relatively smooth and while extremely fast it doesn't feel so until you notice traffic comparatively looking like standing still. Cabin noise is also excellent due to double glazed windows. Drag mode unlocks this limitation but its use is limited. Still a phenomenally fast car.

Assistance features are a known issue and update is on the way to limit their intrusiveness alongside a lower volume of pedestrian warning especially from within the cabin. Furthermore, rumours are that the cost of the premium colours will go down from 1.5k to 1k.

Overall a pretty compelling package with some quirks but when compared to what's on the market, unless you're ok with a Tesla M3 there is no competition even when compared to the likes of BMW i4 IMO.

No I did not and not sure if it even has that? The excellent 360 cameras on the large display with proper proximity sensors made it extremely easy to park. Also did like the side and front camera popping up when taking a slow turn to see the front corner of the car and curb.

Excellent review, thanks. Can you elaborate a little on the "cheap scratchy plastic on bottom of doors". Is that on the inside or outside?

Also, "quirks". Do you mean the indicator stalk on "the other side" or something else?

I will report back on dashcam if it arrives and I can get it installed.

Tbf I don't know many cars have anything but plastic in that zone. It's heavy mark and impact area. Needs to be plastic for cleaning foot marks off it.