Meet The EV Giving Tesla A Run For Its Money

3 hours ago

Can a new EV from fledgling Chinese car-maker BYD win our seal of approval? Jeremy Taylor drives a stylish sports saloon, the BYD Seal Excellence with QC Technology

This post may contain affiliate links. Learn more

How did a 20-employee company making mobile phone batteries go on to de-throne Tesla as the world’s top-selling manufacturer of electric cars? Jeremy Taylor takes the BYD Seal Excellence with QC Technology out for a spin.

Review: The BYD Seal Excellence With QC Technology

Elon Musk laughed when a journalist once suggested Build Your Dreams (BYD) might one day be a threat. I imagine the billionaire Tesla boss is now anxiously watching the flood of electric vehicles from China in his rear-view mirror.

Well-established in the Far East, BYD is expanding aggressively overseas too. The company offers a trio of family-friendly EVs in the UK that undercut rivals and represent great value for money.

Seal is the latest – a genuinely smart-looking family saloon priced from £45,000. My top spec Excellence model costs a little more but boasts permanent all-wheel drive from two motors and a substantial boost in performance.

The four-door saloon does look remarkably similar to the Tesla Model 3 and is slightly pricier. However, much of that translates to superior build quality and a more user-friendly interior (although the chemical smell from some of the trim materials is quite a nose-full).

Odour aside, the cabin is high quality but the light blue leather will soon look grubby, so I’d choose the black option. An enormous, 15.6- inch touchscreen dominates the dashboard and controls many of the functions. The layout is overcomplicated though, and finding the right function can mean plenty of menu scrolling.

Shortcut features are available but compared to the class-leading Hyundai Ioniq 6, BYD tech feels dated. Seal does benefit from twin wireless charging pads for two mobile phones and that huge infotainment screen also rotates from portrait to landscape at the press of a button. I’m not sure if that’s a gimmick or genuinely useful.

Comfy and serene, the Seal is great around town or at speed on a motorway but the Excellence model’s driving dynamics come to life on a twisty A-road. Porsche-beating power and a clever suspension system turns the BYD into a proper performance car.

That extra power also eats into battery life and reduces range to around 280 miles in real-world driving conditions. If battery miles are an issue, opt for the two-wheel drive model that ups the distance to around 315 miles.

However, the main issue facing BYD is the name. The company quickly discovered that driving a car with ‘Build Your Dreams’ splashed across the boot wasn’t a strong selling point for motorists. Many took to their hairdryers to help peel the sticker of

BYD is better but the brand remains relatively unknown in the UK. Buyers are still over-cautious about making the switch to any electric vehicle – and spending tens of thousands on a car with no identity is an even tougher sell.

Ignore the name, and BYD early adopters can expect a lot of car for the money. The BYD Seal Excellence is backed up by an excellent six-year warranty and eight-year cover for the battery and electric motors too. Look out Elon.