BYD may have only just launched the BYD Seal last year, but the Chinese firm is about to bring a selection of tweaks to the executive EV to help it take on the recently-updated Tesla Model 3.
First off, don’t go looking for any massive changes on the exterior. As seen on the Chinese-market BYD Seal we’ll get the same ‘marine aesthetic design language’ as before, but there might be a new BYD badge in red on the bootlid and additional colours – including a new ‘Sky Purple’.
The most significant change on the exterior is a new bulge on the roof. Despite BYD’s recent agreement to provide 100,000 cars to Uber, the roof dome isn’t a taxi sign – it’s actually home to BYD’s LiDAR system. The sensor is built in-house by BYD and should make the Seal capable of hands-free driving. The introduction of the Seal’s new LiDAR system comes at a time when Tesla’s anticipated autonomous Robotaxi reveal was delayed until October.
The Chinese market BYD Seal also features a smaller battery than the outgoing model. Still based on BYD’s e-Platform 3.0 architecture, just like the upcoming Sea Lion 07, the updated Seal will get an 80.6kWh pack instead of the current car’s 82.5kWh unit. A range figure is only given based on China’s more lenient CTLC tests at this stage, so we’ll have to wait and see if the Seal’s current 354-mile range on the WLTP tests will be reduced by the smaller battery. The Chinese market also gets an even smaller 61.4kWh battery version, but it’s not known if we’ll get this in the UK.
Inside the new Seal we can see a revised steering wheel and there’s a new centre console – although the layout of the gear selector and main buttons remains the same. The main 15.6-inch touchscreen looks unchanged as does the driver’s display, but there’s a new piece of trim that runs the full width of the dash behind it.
The BYD Seal kicks off at £45,695 here in single-motor, rear-wheel drive form while the dual-motor, all-wheel drive Excellence costs £48,695. We don’t expect too much change in terms of pricing, especially given that the refreshed Tesla Model 3 in its cheapest guise undercuts the Seal by over £5,000.
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