2024 BYD Seal of Excellence – Mercedes beater? (UK Drive)

#BYD #EVCars #new
Welcome to the first video of 2024, where we’re diving into the exciting world of the new BYD Seal! Join us on a road trip as we tackle a series of challenges to discover what this impressive vehicle has to offer.

In this video, I’ll be sharing insights into the BYD Seal’s range, cutting-edge technology, and overall driving experience. Priced at £48,695, the top-of-the-range Excellence model is set to compete with renowned electric vehicles like the Tesla Model 3 and Hyundai Ioniq 6.

But here’s the burning question: Can the BYD Seal rise above its competitors and take on luxury contenders like the Mercedes EQE? Equipped with powerful 530bhp motors and all-wheel drive, this car is not just here to participate; it’s here to dominate!

Join me on this journey as we explore the BYD Seal’s capabilities and see if it has what it takes to outshine the competition. Buckle up, and let’s hit the road!

This video was sponsored by Stratstone BYD, they currently have BYD stores in Mayfair, Birmingham & Milton Keynes. To contact the teams, and to find out more about BYD click here: https://bit.ly/40swUxc

📞 Stratstone BYD London Mayfair: 020 7514 8300
📞 Stratstone BYD Milton Keynes: 01908 289 810
📞 Stratstone BYD Birmingham: 0121 3785 810

IG: @stratstoneBYD

Stratstone BYD London Mayfair – 18 Berkeley Street, Mayfair, London, W1J 8NF

All warranty info here: https://bit.ly/3O5MolN

6 Years / 93,750 Miles Manufacturer Warranty
Additional Coverage for Battery up to 8 Years / 125,000 Miles
Additional Coverage for Drive Unit2 up to 8 Years / 93,750 Miles

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The byd seal has washed up on UK Shores and it’s not here just to participate but to compete make no mistake it’s going up against the big boys today we are driving the all-wheel drive Excellence model bearing two motors which produces 530 brake horsepower not only are we going to explore what this

Car drives and feels like we’re going to see what it has to offer in the way of tech and to see how close we can get to its claimed range so for that we need a destination Donna Nook Nature Reserve it’s 160 Mi away from where we are in

Mayfir which is where the flagship byd store is located so a roundtrip will equal the claimed range of 323 Mi on a combined cycle and we’re going to see if we can complete a couple of tasks along the way so not only are we going to see

If we can partake in some seal spotting but we’re going to try and see if we can get there and return on a single charge sounds easy enough so we’ve got our fully charged byd seal let’s hit the road byd take pride in being a pioneering company and if you want to

Know more about byd and what they’re about I’ll link the video to the atto 3 where I discuss all things byd however in this video we’ll be discussing all things byd seal it makes up one of three models available here in the UK and essentially the range topup with prices set around

$48,700 this being the Excellence model it can achieve 62 mph in just 3.8 seconds it seats 5 and thanks to 150 KW charging capability it can go from 30 to 80% in as little as 26 minutes it has a 82.5 KW battery on board speed camera Zone start ahead thank you which comes

With 8-year warranty and the car itself comes with a generous 6-year cover now as impressive as some of that stuff is one of the things that’s a standout feature for me is the design of the byd inside and out and it’s clear to see it’s an area which byd have spent a lot

Of time and effort into creating the interior is a very very premium place to be the materials are lovely the steering wheel for example tactile buttons even along here the leather is very soft you really have to go all the way down to where your feet is to be able to feel

Anything that resembles anything cheap and plasticky we are learning more and more about byd in their build quality and how good they really are not just in terms of quality but presentation I much prefer the instrument cluster in the seal than I did in the ATO 3 I felt that

One was a bit too small whereas in this its proportions are much more suited for this class of car if you work in an office environment where you’re staring at one or more screens like I used to you may feel that the interior in the seal is an office away from the office

Now true as that may be more and more cars are offering this kind of layout so I personally have made my piece with it I would still like to see more physical dials but this isn’t as guilty as Tesla is in this department what I mean is in

The Tesla you’ve got the main event which is the screen in the middle and really not much else whereas in this a lot of thought has gone into the cabin you’ve got this storage down here with various different USB slots this floating space here with two Wireless

Charge pads the control here which I’ll go into a little bit more later the dashboard it’s really well built there’s no creeks and nasty vibrations in here the door cards the door handles Everything feels very upm Market things that you would expect in a Mercedes or a BMW to see how this would

Hold up in the court of public opinion we took it to a nearby town we placed this seal in a town center on a Saturday afternoon and I covered all the byd badges around the car that I could find to throw people off Des scent a cunning plan I’ve

Already had someone think was an Audi so let’s see if people recognize what it is or what they think it is oh I love this roof P it’s amazing hello hello is there someone else in the back there two people in the back here wow I don’t really know what it is it’s

Not the sh the RS and you usually have them on that quite a few you know what it is well this is Buffett’s SP this company they’re going to eat Tesla for breakfast very very nice very nice oh glow like sort of Tesla looking don’t drive off in it it’s

Awesome wow pretty nice inside that that’s pretty cool so a bu is it not what is Itting do you know what it is this is actually quite a nice car is this and that was all the time we had for guesta car bingo take from that what you will this video is sponsored by stratstone who are the official launch partners for byd in the UK although they

Have learned me this vehicle I have complete Freedom as to what I say or do with the car they have fre sites around the UK Birmingham Milton Kings and of course mayet if you are interested in finding out more about the models or arranging a test drive I’ll leave their

Details in the description box down below quick update on our road trip we’ve just crossed the 100 mile Mark and my range has dropped down to to 175 so when we got in the car it was about 300 302 so we’ve done 100 miles but we’ve lost

125 miles worth of range and this is essentially what prompted me to do this road test because you have the claimed figures from the manufacturers and then you have what the car tells you and then there’s the actual miles that the car is achieving now if you’re new to EVS

Batteries behave very differently depending on outside conditions since it’s January and currently minus one it has an adverse effect on the battery Therefore your range so the Chan of me actually achieving the claimed range would have been near enough impossible spoiler alert in the summer warmer climats it’s a different story

Altogether however this is a real world review and cold and United Kingdom go hand in hand which dovetails nicely to my next Point current EVS all suffer the same same fate with external conditions thanks to introduction of the heat pump that’s slowly becoming a thing of the past the heat pump can withstand

Temperatures from -30° all the way up to 60 to keep the battery in Optimum condition now I don’t know what remote a place you’re planning on going with this seal but you can consequently in this car when I switch my air con off with a simple button down here which I very

Much approve of my range only goes up by two miles and although the heat pump helps reduce the impact the weather has on the battery I’d still be very interested to see how well the car does in warmer conditions now let’s talk about some of the alternative cars that

You might be considering most notably Tesla Model 3 and the Hyundai ionic 6 or Hyundai they’re all semi x-shaped super slippery saloons with very similar Dimensions similar battery sizes therefore similar range between 320 to 350 M offerings but we need to also look at the likes of the Mercedes eqe and the

BMW I5 because there is a huge step up in price and the equivalent closest thing in terms of power and options to this would be like an eqe premium plus and those are around £87,000 and this is an area where the seal really comes into its own at

$48,700 it’s best part of 35 40,00 cheaper than the eqe now I might be wrong to compare the cars however having featured the eqe on the channel a number of months ago I’m struggling to think of ways in which the eqe is £40,000 better than the seal the ride might be a Nats

Whisker more Supple than the seal other than that folding mirrors 360 camera automatic LED headlights panoramic glass sunroof even the range the ranges there thereabout with the seal so I’m struggling to find ways in which it’s a 0,000 more car and again same story with

The BMW if you want a similar spec car you’re looking at well into the 90,000 speaking of some of the options at sub 50,000 you get heads up display 360 camera two wireless chargers a huge panoramic glass sunroof anti-glare rear viiew mirror adaptive LED headlights blind spot assist in the mirrors with

Electric defrost adaptive cruise control electric boot keyless go to name a few oh and of course can’t figet about this little feature both variants of the seal get a 400 L Boot and a 53 L frankk and plenty of room for all the passengers so I think I’m well within my rights to

Compare it to the best or nothing mob right what do you guys think fair comparison let me know in the comments section although it wasn’t quite the 160 Mi we anticip ipated after 3 hours and 144 mil later we finally arrived at our first destination all right we have

Arrived at Don Nook which is a nature reserve where you can spot seals here in the UK however the peak season to be able to spot the pups and the seals is around November December it’ be early January the chances of us finding any taking pictures videos is Slim to further slim

Still however more importantly I’ve only got up less than 120 Mi of range left in the seal and our journey back home is about 145 miles so my M doesn’t know that one person having range anxiety on a road trip is more than enough so going to cheat a

Little bit we’re not going to head back to Mayfair we’re going to head back home to hartfordshire I know that the car is not going to achieve the range that the manufacturer puts on their brochures no car gets the mpg that the brocher says however we’re about 20 30 Mi short of

What we need from the car so we may need to top the charge up a little bit but for the time being we’re going to take the little man for a little walk and then I’ll catch you guys back in the car the seal didn’t put a foot wrong however

The weather the hilly roads the constant slowing and speeding up when we left the motorway chewed away at the miles so after a brisk walk some fresh air we decided to follow in the footsteps of the seals and head home I was so committed to getting home on the charge

We’ had so I explored every small option right just entered the post code 3 hours 28 minutes 148 M journey and 111 mile range inside one of the menus there’s something called range display mode and it you can switch it between Dynamic and standard now when I flick it

To standard I get an extra 20 odd miles so I’m 128 mil so we’re still about 20 mi short but I’m about to embark on the most boring driving style of my life life now that I have a few hundred miles under my belt with a byy seal I think

That puts me in good stead to talk to you a little bit about some of the stuff that I like and some of the things which I don’t first thing is the interior design I mentioned it earlier in the video and it is a very nice place to be

And it’s a lovely combination of touchcreen and physical buttons every single button on the steering wheel is a physical button and it’s incredibly intuitive on the left hand side I’ve got all the controls for for the intelligent cruise control and on the right I can control the menu up here as well as

Answer phone calls but what I really like on this side is that you can even control the air conditioning and it’s really really simple you just press the menu you flick over to the air conditioning and using the dial you can literally just change it 27 26 25 you

Can adjust the degrees and then if you go one more you can even adjust the speed of the fan watch this you’re going to hear the fan speed of the airon and I’m I’m not going to take my hands off to already useful and of course you can ask

Byd to do it as well hi byd adjust temperature to 23° all right the temperature is set to 23° and unlike the ATO 3 you can get the seal with just black interior trim there is a lighter color option as well but in terms of of practicality I much prefer

The the black the darker leather over the I think it’s like a beigy gray color the heads up display is really crisp and sharp got lovely heated steering wheel and the overall refinement the practicality and E of use real good stuff the tech is very thorough too there are plenty to keep

You busy in the way of customization and setup enough to really give you a bespoke ownership feel once everything is set up just how you like you need them fiddle with them again if it does get a bit overwhelming as mentioned before some of the features include ambient lighting the brightness the

Areas you can even get it to rhyme with music same with the heads up display you can adjust the height the brightness and even has a snow mode the navigation has worked perfectly well for our little trip tells you where all the nearest charge points side tells you how far you

Can go with the current state of charge and everything else has been pretty easy to use it’s very responsive very sharp with regards to anything that I don’t like or wish was different there’s two variants of the seal available in the UK currently I think it’d be really good to

Have like a entry level car sub £40,000 and nothing that would be incredible value for money for business users benefiting contacts all the good stuff the standard stuff reversing camera Parkinson as airon leave that stuff in here but just give like a really entry level option secondly I don’t know if

It’s specific to this car to this particular press car I don’t know if this was once destined for maybe the Australian Market but the indicator stalk is on the right hand side of the steering wheel so I’m having to unlearn a 20-year-old habit cuz every single car

That I’ve ever driven has always been on the left hand side nope oh I’m hoping that the UK Market will get its indicator stalks on the left hand side as the miles piled up the reality of the situation started to set in the gingerly approach to driving wasn’t cutting it the miles were

Tumbling down and I was running out of range the satinav was telling me we were only good till about stevenage and with my partner and baby in the car I simply couldn’t take any chances so we pulled over for a healthy dinner and well sadly failed this attempt too with more than

50 Mi still to go and less than 25 M range left I had to pull over and top up the electricity without the charging intervention the seal was poised to achieve about 265 Mi as it already been a long day I don’t bother try and

Preserve the energy with a top up I was eager to get home 3 and 1/ half hours and best part of 150 Mi later we arrived home however it wasn’t all bad news although we failed to make it in time to see the seals and although we failed to

Make it back home on a single charge to judge the seal on its ability or in this case his inability to achieve the claimed range would have been the wrong yard stick in which to measure the success if you like of the seal as it’s a characteristic with almost every EV

And to a degree even combustion engin cars because they very very rarely if not at all achieve the mpg figures that the manufacturers claim now the good news is that this wouldn’t have been possible just a few years ago the range that the cars are able to actually achieve has significantly increased over

The last few years and the infrastructure has gotten better as well although it’s not perfect it’s getting better fast charges weren’t as widely available as they are today but most importantly the unplanned charging session wasn’t a hindrance we literally just pulled up so we just charged it

While we at and it just goes to show that with an EV you can plan a impromptu trip without having to physically plan the journey and hand on my heart I didn’t I said to myself if we need to charge it I’ll worry about it then I’ll

Put it on my phone I’ll put in the saav we’ll find the charge point and we’ll just charge it maybe 2 years ago there’s no way I would have done that based on the style of driving that we done byd claimed that this should have got about

320 Mi as we established it was going to be closer to about 265 which represents a shortfall of about 20% Which to me is is acceptable given the parameters how cold it’s been it never really got warmer than about 2° we had two adults in the car a baby a

Car seat and a buggy with a load of bag so it was almost at full capacity the seal weighs just under 2.2 tons and to be fair it does really well at trying to disguise all that weight there is definitely a bias towards luxury it’s

Much more of a luxury Saloon than it is a sportier dynamic Saloon and the acceleration well ready yeah I don’t think byd have just made a good EV they’ve built a good car so what is my final verdict with the byd seal now it’s not revolutionary it isn’t going to

Wow you if you have driven EV cars before it’s suffers the same fate as all EV cars it does feel like any other EV car in terms of its driving feel and experience but where I feel the byd seal really comes into its owner value for money by today’s standards especially at

Sub 50,000 you get all the luxury all the refinement all the niceties that like I said you would expect in a Mercedes or a BMW so if byd continue in this vein I really don’t think it’s going to take very long for the UK Market to embrace byd so I hope you

Enjoyed this video subscribe if you haven’t already give it a thumbs up if you’ve enjoyed this video and if you have any questions please drop them down in the comment section and I’ll be happy to answer them see you in the next One