BYD SEAL U review | the best plug-in hybrid SUV?
Wait, I thought BYD made electric cars. Yes, they do. But this is a plug-in hybrid. It’s called the BYD CLU DMI. No, that’s not that cable that you plug into the back of your TV. That’s the name of this car. Now, that stands for utility dual mode intelligent. Now, we’ll go on tour later, but for now, let’s talk about this premium hybrid family SUV that isn’t even that expensive. Now, over the weekend, I asked my family how much they think a car like this costs. And just by looking at it, they were guessing like £60,000. and they were shocked to find out it’s almost half that. It manages to undercut the Kia Sportage plug-in hybrid and Nissan Qashqai e- power, which are both very reliable cars. But you might be wondering, are you getting a lower quality car for less money? Well, no, because BYD has been making plug-in hybrids longer than anyone else. They actually made the first plug-in hybrid way back in 2008. After selling 4.3 million cars in 2024, I’m pretty sure they know a thing or two about how to make a good hybrid. Now, let’s be honest, a plug-in hybrid system isn’t going to be for everyone. If you haven’t got a charger at home, or you’re not planning on getting a charger at home, this probably isn’t the car for you. In which case, you should check out the Nissan Qashqai E- Power. Now, the main benefit of a plug-in hybrid is how cheap it is to run. If you tend to do lots of short journeys or urban trips through towns and cities, you can just use the electric range only. Now, the second benefit of a plug-in hybrid is a bit of a biggie, especially if you live out in the sticks or you happen to be filming near sheep like I am today. If you’ve got a plug-in hybrid and the battery happens to die, you’ve still got that petrol engine that can help you get home. Now, this car has two flaps, which is quite common for a plug-in hybrid. So, pay attention to this bit if you plan on buying a BYD CLU. So, this is the side of the car you fill it up with petrol. So, remember that when you drive into petrol station and if you come around to this side, it’s got the electric flap at the back where you can just plug it in at home or plug it in at your local charging station. Now, when it comes to comparing running costs, features, MPG, and so on, it can be a bit of a minefield, but thankfully, there’s a free built-in comparison tool right in the Cinch app. Simply download it, add two cars, and compare all the facts and stats. If you’re a tech nerd like me, it can be quite a bit of fun, and it might even help you find your next car. Now, the topsp spec car we’re driving today gets a naugh to 62 time of 5.9 seconds. That’s thanks to it all-wheel drive system, which none of the other cars get. Now, there’s three trims in total. This obviously being the top one with a 43 mile range, but if you go for the midspec one, you can unlock a 78 mile range, which I would personally go for. That’s the car I’d pick because you get almost double the range. Now, this wouldn’t be a BYD if it didn’t have a large rotating central screen. This measures 15.6 in and can be rotated at the touch of a button. Cool, right? And the system itself runs really smoothly. It’s just like using a smartphone, so when you swipe around, it just it works really nicely. But if you’ve got Android Auto or Apple CarPlay, you’re going to want to keep it in landscape mode because it doesn’t allow portrait. So, if you use that regularly, that’s something to keep an eye out for. Now, below that, you have two wireless phone chargers. They’re not ventilated, so your phone probably will get quite hot, but there’s two USBC chargers down there, so you can simply plug your phone in, and it’s just more efficient charging. Now, here you got a big central unit inside. Plenty of space for my cinch flask that I can also put in the cup holders there very easily. And then it’s also got extra storage down there. Don’t really know what that would be for, but bottles, scarves, sweets, that sort of thing. It’s perfect. Now, the steering wheel, I like how it feels in the hand. It feels really nice to use. I do have a small gripe in the interior, however, and it’s a really minor thing. On a cold winter’s morning, these bits of steering wheel can feel a little bit cold to the touch if you’re a wimp like me. But overall, it’s not too bad. And the heated steering wheel itself is really hard to find. It’s like three different steps in the infotainment screen instead of just being a button on the wheel. I’m not the biggest fan, but I am a fan of this massive panoramic sunroof that’s got these touch capacitive buttons. Really easy to use and yeah, it lets lots of light into the cabin, especially on a wintry day like today. And even with that sunroof in the back, I’ve still got loads of space, especially headroom. So, I’m 6′ 3. That’s my driving position in front of me. When I sit in here, I’ve got loads of space for my legs, for my head, which is quite rare for me in the back of a car. So, rear seat passengers are really taken care of. They also get two USBC chargers down there. A little bit of storage, generous storage in these back seats. Lovely central armrest here. You’ve got two cup holders. And what I really like is this side bit here. You can rest your arm, which is really nice. And the seats themselves, really comfortable. Now, another really nice feature is the completely flat floor, which is quite rare in a petrol car, but because BYD make electric cars, they know what people want. So, if you’re a middle seat passenger, you can easily sit in the middle. Your feet can tuck in nicely, and you got plenty of headroom as well. Now, boot space is pretty decent in the BYD Sealu with 425 L, growing up to 1,440 L when you fold down the rear seats. There’s a low loading lip, which helps when loading suitcases in, despite the fact this is SUV height. Now, a big gripe for me is the fact there’s no storage underneath the boot. It’s all battery tech and all that nonsense. So, the two cables that come with the car just lie on top. You have to sort of find space for them. But pets, small dogs will probably be fine. But if you’ve got a big dog like Chester here, you might struggle on longer journeys. You might just need to get a bigger car. Now, one of the big benefits of driving a hybrid car is how quiet it is on the road. If you listen, it’s very quiet. Admittedly, when the battery does run out, that 1.5 L 4 cylinder engine does kick in. So, it gets a little bit groy. So, yes, the engine is never going to be quite as refined as a wellestablished German brand who have been making these for decades. But overall, at this price point, it’s still one of the best picks. And if this is BYD’s first attempt at a plug-in hybrid SUV for Britain, imagine what the next one will look like. Now, BYD being electric car manufacturer knows a thing or two about which tires are best for its cars. Now, this car is fitted with EVP specific tires. So, these Continental tires, which are really quiet on the road. When you go on a motorway, they’re also really quiet, but you do get a little bit of wind noise that I’ve noticed. I think it comes from the door mirrors. So, if you haven’t got your music loud enough, you’re going to notice a little bit of extra noise. I think when you get onto a country road like we’re on today, you notice how soft the car suspension is. I don’t want to say wallowy, but you know, you go over a few bumps, it soaks them up really nicely. But if you get car sick, you might start to feel like you’re being thrown around a little bit. When you’re stationary, the screen looks really good, but then when you get up on the road, it can be quite a pain to navigate while driving because you’ve got to reach all the way across the screen to try and navigate all the controls. This normally wouldn’t be a problem in a car, but like this it might be. But you can just swivel the screen, rotate it round and then you can maybe access those things as long as it’s not Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. Just remember that. It’s also worth touching on the fact that Android Auto and Apple CarPlay is wireless. So, hence the wireless phone chargers, but also means you haven’t got to have your phone charging all the time, which could be a bit annoying, especially on the longer drives on the motorway. Now, over the weekend, I did a long stint up north, which means mostly motorway miles. There’s eight at the motorway, no problem. Now, on visibility, the CLU is high up being an SUV, and the rear window is quite small, as is the trend with many other SUVs at the moment, to give you that sleek swooping shape. But thankfully, there’s a brilliant 360 degree camera to help you with parking so you don’t curb those fancy 19in alloy wheels. Now, part of that noise I mentioned earlier is the CVT gearbox. So, when you overtake on a motorway, it really makes quite a lot of noise, strains almost, but that’s just the nature of a CVT. It’s great for fuel economy, but not so good if you want a really quiet drive. I was able to get 44.6 MPG out of this topsp spec allwheel drive car, which is way more than what BYD estimates. And I was even after I’d used up its entire 43 mile EVon range. So when compared to something like the Kiaage and Nissan Qashqai, the BYD CLU punches well above its weight in terms of tech and comfort. In fact, it’s even close to something like the Audi Q5. And if you still want loads of EV only range, but don’t want to spend 33 grand, why not check out something like the MGHS, which is a little bit cheaper? And if you want to find out more, check out our full video
The BYD SEAL U DM-i is the Chinese brand’s answer to cars like the Nissan Qashqai and MG HS, but is it as good?
Join Ben Welham as he reviews the plug-in hybrid SUV, discusses the trim levels, range, practicality and what it’s like to drive.
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Presenter: @bnwelham
Videographer: @jamil.jafri
Editor: @montymakesmovies
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0:00 BYD SEAL U DM-i review
0:10 What does DM-i stand for?
0:19 BYD SEAL U price
0:30 Rivals
0:41 BYD has a world-first?
0:55 Should you buy a PHEV?
1:30 Two flaps?!
2:06 BYD SEAL U trims
2:30 Interior and infotainment
3:53 Rear seats
4:41 Boot space
5:07 Big dog boot test
5:15 Driving and comfort
7:34 MPG and efficiency
7:47 Should you buy one?
#cinch #carreview #byd #sealu #suv #familysuv #phev #pluginhybrid
