BYD SEAL U DM-i review

Driving position 

Getting comfortable in a new car is one of the first things you’ll do after unlocking it and clambering in. 

Thankfully, front cabin space in the SEAL U is excellent. There’s tonnes of headroom (even if you’re over six foot tall) and the driver’s seat is electronically adjustable forwards, backwards, up and down. 

There’s no lumbar support – even in the top-spec car – so come prepared for longer drives if you have a bad back. The two-stage heated seat should help soothe you though. 

The steering wheel has plenty of manual adjustment, and you can even move the head-up display (HUD) up and down from the infotainment settings. 

Tech and features 

Speaking of the touchscreen, sat in the centre of the dashboard is a massive 15.6-inch infotainment display that, get this, rotates into portrait mode.  

We don’t know how many people will ever use it in portrait mode because Apple CarPlay and Android Auto only work in landscape, but it’s a sweet party trick to show passengers. 

The screen itself is very clear and quick. And the software is easy to navigate and, because the screen is so big, everything is easy to read.  

Another nifty feature it has is a built-in karaoke machine. Yes, you can plug in your BYD-branded microphone and choose from loads of songs to sing to, obviously not while driving though. 

In front of the driver is a second, 12.3-inch screen that shows all your driving info, such as speed, fuel, electric range from the hybrid system and plenty more.  

Above everyone is a colossal panoramic sunroof, which is one of the longest we’ve ever seen, allowing lots of light into the cabin even on the UK’s darker winter mornings. 

Engines, motors and power 

There are three different BYD SEAL U trims to choose from. 

The first two models are the Boost and Comfort, which are powered by the same 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine. They both produce 211hp and get from 0-62mph in 8.9 seconds thanks to its front-wheel drive (FWD) setup. 

Move up to the top-spec SEAL Design trim we tested and you get 315hp and 0-62mph in 5.9 seconds, and an all-wheel drive (AWD) system with an electric motor on each axle. 

All three trims have a choice of Eco, Normal and Sport driving modes – with BYD adding the appropriately named 'Muddy Land' and 'Snowfield' to the AWD models. 

The plug-in hybrid system works quite well, using a mixture of electricity and petrol to power you along. We found Normal mode wasn’t the most efficient (surprise, surprise), so we switched to Eco and it sipped the electricity much slower. 

The throttle and brake pedals feel solid, but we noticed a slight delay when using them, especially in Eco mode as (we’re guessing) it helps reduce fuel consumption. They became more responsive in Sport mode as expected. 

Handling and ride comfort 

If you like a soft ride, the SEAL is for U (get it?) – it has soft suspension and light steering perfect for bumpier roads around town. It does feel a bit unsettled on a country road though. 

It also handles speed bumps with ease and feels composed when you get up to speed on a motorway. 

We covered a mixture of long motorway stints and faster B-roads and think it’s a pretty decent all-rounder if you don’t mind a slightly more wallow-y ride like you’d find in a Volvo XC90 or Honda CR-V. 

Our main gripe is the rear visibility, or lack of. Since the back window is so narrow and the car is so tall, you can’t see cars directly behind you, which is frustrating at times.  

Boot space 

For most people, the BYD SEAL U’s 426-litre boot is more than enough, but it’s not as deep as some other SUVs because of the under-floor batteries for the hybrid system. 

We packed the boot with bags, did a tip run and even had a big Bernese Mountain Dog in the boot and the SEAL U never ran out of space. 

On the left side of the boot is a small cubby hole where you can store small items – two small houseplants in our case. 

You won’t find any under-floor storage due to the batteries and the first-aid kit, which is a shame because there’s nowhere to hide the car’s two charging cables away neatly.  

For context, its Hyundai Tucson PHEV rival gets 558 litres, and the VW Tiguan PHEV gets 490 litres.  

Rear seats 

Space in the back is very good. Passengers over six foot tall won’t struggle to get comfortable for both head- and legroom, even with that massive sunroof eating into the headlining a tad. 

Rear-seat passengers also get a couple of USB-C ports to keep them occupied on longer drives. Plus, there are ISOFIX mounting points on the outer seats for child seats. 

The door bins are quite small, so even standard-sized water bottles might have to go on your lap or in the central folding armrest. 

Storage solutions 

Overall storage in the BYD SEAL U is decent but those door bins let it down. 

However, between the driver and passenger, there are two cupholders, two wireless phone chargers and a deep central storage unit that extends forward under the cupholders to create more space. 

There’s also added storage underneath the phone chargers where you can put a small bag, scarf, sweets, etc. This is also where the front USB-C ports live. 

Safety 

Like with all modern cars, the SEAL U comes with all the safety kit you could ever want from lane-keep assist and adaptive cruise control to rear-collision warning and alerts for passing traffic. 

Following its Euro NCAP safety test in 2023, it scored a full five stars with an impressive 90% for adult protection and 86% for child occupants. 

However, during our test, the hazard lights came on at random, which we think is related to the rear-collision warning system kicking in despite no one driving directly behind us (even with the poor rear visibility, we knew there wasn’t).  

Whether this was something else or a glitch with this particular car, it baffled us both times it happened. 

Fuel economy and range 

As well as power outputs, battery sizes range between SEAL U models. The entry-level Boost gets an 18.3kWh battery that has a claimed 50-mile electric range.  

The top-spec Design model has the same sized battery but a reduced range of 43 miles on electric power due to the added weight from the AWD system. 

So, if you want to maximise the car’s all-electric potential, the middle-of-the-pack Comfort is the one to have with its 26.6kWh battery that gets a massive 78-mile electric range. 

Our test car was the Design model, and we did get the full claimed mileage in electric-only mode. The SEAL’s hybrid system uses the batteries and the engine together to be as efficient as possible. We managed an average of 44.6mpg over a week’s test, which isn’t groundbreaking, but beats BYD’s claimed 38mpg. 

With both the electric motors and the petrol engine working together, we were able to eke out 450 miles on one tank of fuel and two full battery charges. Those charges cost £6.12 each at 7.2kW public chargers while at dinner for a couple of hours.  

Reliability 

Being so new to market, it’s hard to say how reliable a BYD SEAL U will be in the long run, but the car does get a brilliant six-year/93,750-mile warranty.  

Plus, the battery pack gets a separate eight-year/125,000-mile warranty that guarantees it’ll keep 70% of its overall capacity.