BYD Seal – Simply Overpriced!
BYD do one of the cheapest EVs you can buy. And this is kind of a a premium sort of model. Not many brands can do premium and cheap and budget and fast and sports car. You know, it’s almost like they’re spreading themselves a bit too thin. So, uh, let’s see if this is just an other car or whether or not it’s actually one worth looking at over the competition. There is something in these lights that says Model S to me to use the Tesla analogy for a second. And I quite like the swoop. It’s got creases. It’s got a bit of interest in terms of its looks, but it is kind of It reminds me a bit of the older Hyundai as well. A Pstar 2, I think, would probably beat this in terms of looks, but I could live with it. However, when we’re looking into luxury car tax bracket and above, I’m not sure if it fits. You can probably tell on camera how long this car is. It’s uh yeah, it’s a decent length. And my favorite thing about it so far, actual door handles. I don’t mind them being flush, but look, normal door handles rather than the flappy rubbish ones that some manufacturers, should we say, stick with. The trouble is when you look at a Chinese car because of the cliche they copy other people, you can’t help but look at and see other cars in this design. And that might be unfair because a lot of cars look like each other. It’s just the Chinese get the short end of the stick, I guess, because they came last. There’s nothing much to point out. You know that this isn’t bad, but I’m really really struggling to say this is a highlight in terms of aesthetics, but not everybody is bothered about that. And at the end of the day, if you like the look of it, you like the look of it. Everybody’s different. Now, if I unlock it for a second, it’s got big rear doors, so a good rear entry. In its fastest form, this has in and around 500 brake horsepower. It’s got eco tires. Stick some Michelin sports on that one. I would say crossclimate three sports. It would transform the handling. Now you have this big bar across the side. BYD seal with the 3.8s to make people think you’ve got 3.8 sle car. I think that’s 3.8 seconds to 60. So this is quick. It just look it’s very American. I’m not sure what the diffuser is doing. It looks a bit out of place because that screams performance. But if you look at the front and the side, there’s nothing that matches it. Now, the boot, it’s a saloon. Not everybody gets on with saloons. It’s uh it’s all right. It’s not quite as usable as oh, sorry, the Model 3 again because it’s not very tall. Goes quite far back and there is this bit of space underneath here, but ultimately there are better in the class. Right. So, we are in an interior here which is should we say higher end compared to other BYDs as you’d expect given the price and I do like this. It’s like an Alcantara effect that not so much. This again feels okay. It’s a bit pleather but it’s not too bad. Same sort of leather going on here as well. It is a little bit let down with these kind of glossy black switches. turn the car on by pressing the start button there and you got the two screens that you’re familiar with uh if you are familiar anywhere with BYDs. This again it’s a bit bigger than the other models and it’s quite easy to read. It is a little bit I don’t know the design I think needs to come on software-wise and it is all software. All the uh climate control and everything’s done on here. Missing a knob. Yeah, it needs a few knobs. It’s only got two knobs in this car, isn’t it? And they’re both sight and seats. Hey, I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s quick and you can use uh Android Auto and all that Apple, which I think you’ll find yourself doing. You will do. You will do. Yeah, because this is quite cool. Harry, I have to give it top notch top. Uh this is something to show off to your mates in it. You can rotate the screen. So, it’s a pan portrait or landscape. Oh, the mother less. No one does. Uh and it leads to the rest of this dash, which again is this kind of pleather. We’ll call it acceptable. Acceptable. And I do like this material. That’s nice. We should have more of that. Go on. Come on. What is it? Oh, it’s crumbs. Crumbs in. Oh, you get crumbs, too. And look, you got loads of space. Two wireless charging pads. Uh, you do have this. It’s like I mean, it’s matte. At least it’s not gloss. Although the picture the buttons are gloss. This kind of ruins it a little bit for me. As well as the buttons on the steering wheel. There’s better materials, isn’t there? Like a brushed aluminium sort of look. Look at that. Lovely. There. If they just cover a bit of this here. Yeah, this nice. I do like a wide nice armrest. That’s good. And you have some storage. Look at that. That’s nice and uh high-end, I would say. A bit more premium. The seats um again, we’re in a pretty top spec, but they all pretty much come with nice seats. I mean, they look they look a lot nicer than probably what they feel. It feels a little bit They’re not uncomfortable. Uh they’re even vaguely sporty, but I do get the sense of kind of Americanized. It does come across that, doesn’t it? Got the MG sort of suffered a little bit with this feather. And you get this standard, which is great. I love a panoramic roof now. That’s one of my favorite modern features of cars. Oh, can’t even. Yeah, it should all come with that. It does brighten the cabin up an awful lot. I almost feel like it’s somebody’s been shown like a Bentley interior and then gone, I want that, but a fraction of the cost. It’s not a bad place to be, actually. I think the uh panoramic roof does really help. It feels quite spacey and airy and leg room sufficient as well. Um, I guess if you’re over 6 foot, it may become an issue. A couple of cup holders there. You have, by the look of it, a little bit down here for you got a USB A and C. Do you know what? They’re both going to do a good job of carting people around. The Model 3 has got a bigger Well, it’s got more storage, hasn’t it? The fruit is bigger in the Model 3 as well. They do feel very different, even though they are very similar. Uh, this one feels like it’s trying to go more premium, but I think the simplicity of the Tesla sometimes wins. They haven’t gone for going ultra premium and they just deliver on something that’s nice and simple. So, let’s go straight into sports mode. Yeah, absolutely. I do like the fact that I’ve got something to like I do like that. Yeah. Yeah. The little buttons that you get on cars these days to go put into drive or whatnot that kind of annoy me. That’s just nice, isn’t it? And it’s is it glass or Yeah, it’s got it’s glass, isn’t it? To be honest, I’ll give it due. It’s quiet. It is. That’s good. Uh it’s I would say more Americanized in terms of it’s rated for comfort over handling. Um, so the eco tires don’t do it any favors. As I said, get some PS5s, Michelam P PS5s or crossclimate sports, which might not be a lot better. My go-to kind of tire now. 500 brake horsepower shouldn’t have eco tires. No. Um, it’s just you don’t put eco tires on Lamborghini. No. I mean, it handles bumps all right, but you’d expect that. I mean, what what does it start at in terms of list list price? Well, do you know what? It surprised me because I thought it would be priced under a Model 3 because I look at this and I go, “This is a direct competition. It it looks similar. It it you would think that they would go under, you know, they’d have to, wouldn’t they, to be able to compete in my mind?” I think so. Yeah. It’s a funny old price. 45705. So, what 46,000ish Tesla Model 3 standard range is just under 40. Yeah. And saves you the luxury car. luxury car tax 400 odd quid a year. So what you getting extra in this for six grand? You get the bigger battery, right? So it’s a range. So it’s so this is long range comparable. Are you getting the luxury that this is trying to offer in terms of the seats? There’s a couple of bits, but then you look down and see this and think no. We really like the be the Dolphin Surf because it was so cheap. No one could argue with the fact it was a it was a really good car for the price. It was a cheese toasty. Cheese and ham toast. Cheese and ham toast. And this for me is gone the other way. They’re trying to be premium but without backing it up. It’s almost like other car manufacturers split the range, don’t they? So you’ve got Genesis doing the high-end stuff for Hyundai group. It’s the exact same reason why the brilliant Volkswagen Feton never worked. Yeah. Because who would buy that when you get a Bentley? It was a Volkswagen. Yeah. Yeah. That’s why. Not because of the car, because of the badge. And granted, you have to do this, I guess, to get your badge at higher level. So, it might be for that reason, but this for me could have been fixed with no extra cost. Or do the Tesla trick of just not having it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And then there’s nothing bad to see. Seeing bad is worse than seeing nothing sometimes, isn’t it? I like it, but it’s too expensive. If this was 35 to 40 grand, maybe with a give me a smaller battery or less motors. Yeah. Yeah. you know, rear wheel drive only, for example, then I would be like, okay, I’m paying less than other brands than like Genesis. And that’s where the value is. That’s where the expectations. I’m going, right, well, it’s all right. I I think I think if I’d have spent 4546,000 on one of these, I’d always be looking at a Tesla and going, I could have got one of them for less. Or just I mean, we’ve not mentioned the billion other brands now in the 40 odd grand bracket, and there’s tons of them. Would you go for an EV6 over this? Um, I’d probably go for the EV6. Ionic 5 quite different. Definitely. Yeah, definitely. Yes. Long range Tesla Model 3 or this similar price list. Long range Tesla Model 3. Yeah. And the short range or the standard range Model 3, you can get away with that because of the network. Yeah, you can. So, you don’t need as big a battery whereas this does because it uses the public charging network. But what surprised me the most is if you go for a uh a pre-registered design. So, you’re paying 33 pre-registered. So, that’s pretty much new. That’s nearly 13 less than listed. So if this was from new, priced at 33 to 35 for the entry level one, I’d be going, well, I’m not paying the luxury car tax. It’s cheaper than a Tesla and a lot of the other competitors. It offers many of the things that, you know, a Tesla has in, you know, the interior space, all that sort of stuff, but I’m paying less money for it. A lot less. Yeah. I’m Yeah. I’ve got I’ve got a long range Model 3 for the price of a Kia EV3. Exactly. Exactly. And I think that’s what they’ve missed with this. Yeah. Overpriced it. They’ve overpriced it. Yeah. And they haven’t now they’re having to uh discount it. Discount and sell them. It is a 35 grand car. It is. Uh in the same way that you could argue a lot of other cars that we’ve just talked about are too expensive. But like you say, that extra five grand above 40 adds another what was it? Two two and a half grand tax. So you’re paying all that extra if this was advertised as the topsp spec version for instead of 48 $39.99. Yeah. Take my real take my all-wheel drive out. You know, save money somewhere. I think that would be a lot. We’d be then going, you know what I mean? The badge and the fit and finish doesn’t justify the cost. And given the fact you can get pre-registered one with a what 15 grand discount. Yeah. Backs that up. Yeah, I think so. Yeah. Yeah. Doesn’t it? This is a 35 to40,000 car. Um, and again, if you want to save money, BYD, then take some stuff off me then that I don’t think so. You know, some tech or what? I don’t know what’s expensive in here. I guess the motor big one 150 kW charging whereas I’m sorry using Tesla for everything here, but 250 in the long range. Yeah. With a battery size like this, that’s noticeable. It’s Yeah. And that’s the little details that you see the difference with. They haven’t got the technology yet. They will do very soon. Yeah, they haven’t got the interior quality yet. It’s like a house in an area. There’s a ceiling price in it usually if houses like it don’t matter if you put a cine still on that street and that’s that’s the worst thing that this has to contend with itself. Yeah, the badge isn’t there yet. It might get there and this might be their plan. I don’t know. It’s 40 odd grand premium now. Quite normal. Yeah, it’s almost premium familyesque, isn’t it? But I reckon they could sell this for 40 grand if they took the top spec one off. Oh, easily. Yeah. Yeah. Again, the pre-registered is backing that assumption up. So therefore, everyone will be going, “This is really good.” Yeah. Well, if you got this at 33. Jesus, you would be like, “Even 400 brake, let alone five, you got what size battery is it?” Uh, I forgotten. 82.5 kow battery. It’s a big battery. Yeah. So, the range, what’s the range going to be on one of these? Well, this we’ve got 82% left and it reckons 266. Wow. And it’s doing past 50 miles we’ve done 32.7 kilowatt hours per 100 miles. It’s the list price again. I never understand why manufacturers always have a list price here and yet never sell one close that price. You Ford Vau, they all do it. Why? You ready? Go. That’s 50 60 m an hour. I mean, that’s quick. Yeah. I mean, it should be for nearly 500 brake horsepower, but again, the tires, they did scuff quite a bit, didn’t eco tires for it. This review might look like we’re panning it. I I I do like it. It’s an it’s a it’s a change. It’s an alternative to to uh you know, Tesla, but when it costs more than one, and it’s not necessarily that much better. Yeah. The brakes are a bit grabby. Yeah. Um, you know, when I stop it, uh, it’s like, and when you set off, it’s kind of Yeah. Yeah. There’s there’s not quite that finesse yet. That was a bit of a jerk. So, I take my foot off the accelerator just once. Whoa, that’s a bit It kind of has a little hesitation and then breaks and then That’s a bit much, is that, isn’t it? For me, that’s all software based. What food is it? Oh, something that’s overpriced. Overpriced, but if it was cheaper would be brilliant. It’s a steak that you get in a restaurant. There’s a100 pounds you can get from Aldi for 15. Oh, I’ve got another analogy which not food. Oh, what is it? You when you go on holiday and you go in an airport. Yeah. And then you they want you to pay like 20 quid if for Fastpass which basically gets you in the same queue as everyone else. Yeah. It’s that I’ve got I’ve got an even better analogy. It’s like when you go on holiday and you’re at the airport and you go to Burger King. It’s twice as expensive as the Burger King on the other side of the So, you don’t enjoy it as much. No, you don’t. Cuz you you’re going I could have got this, you know, for what? Eight price. Half the price. And now you’re spending twice as much money to eat the same bad badly cooked burger. So it’s it’s an airport meal. It’s an airport meal. Yeah. Yeah. There we go. Nothing wrong with it. No, I’m just paying more than I should be. Yep. The one thing that would make this screen better. Yeah. If I turned on Spotify and listened to the Driving Home podcast. It would do. And it would be on there, wouldn’t it? Yeah. And it would sound fantastic through this dino dino audio speaker system. System. Yeah. Yeah. So, and and it’s free to listen to, can you believe? And it’s Who would do that sort of thing? Who would who would, you know, spend hours of their life doing this for free? For free. Yeah. We’re not selling this. We’re giving it away. It’s worth something we couldn’t sell. It’s not priceless. It’s We can’t put a price on it. Literally, no one will pay. No one would put a price on this. I actually ask you, would you go for a Mustang Macki or this? Same sort of price. I’d go I’d go for this. It’s harder to do the would you rather now in it because we’ve got 50 cars on a void ID4. I’d have this over 94. It’s not at the bottom, is it? It’s not at the bottom. No. No. It’s not not a bad car. No. It’s just in my mind, it’s pitched against a certain world. It’s It’s pitched against the wrong thing. Yeah. It’s like trying It’s like taking Rolls-Royce on and pricing it more expensive than the Rolls-Royce. Yeah. Even if you put all the kit on that that’s got, it’s still not the Yeah. So, right. Bye, mate. Cheers. Bye.
The BYD Seal is priced at a point where it simply cannot compete. Change that, then it could be a great option!
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