BYD Seal 6 DM-i review

Seal family grows with a plug-in hybrid estate

Volvo may be wavering, but BMW, Audi, Peugeot and a bunch of others still believe estate cars are worth doing, even if it’s only the European market that’s really interested. Now BYD is joining the fold with the Skoda Superb-sized Seal 6 DM-i.

As ever, BYD’s naming isn’t the most straightforward. The Seal 6 doesn’t share anything with the BYD Seal saloon that we know already. Whereas that is a natively rear-driven EV, the Seal 6 is always a front-driven plug-in hybrid. As such, it’s much more closely related to the BYD Seal U DM-i SUV.

Still following? DM-i stands for Dual Mode Intelligent, because BYD’s PHEV system is quite different to the one in the Superb. Whereas that is fundamentally a petrol car with a massive battery and an electric motor in the gearbox, BYD PHEVs are closer in concept to a range-extender EV.

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DESIGN & STYLING

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The drive battery in the floor (BYD’s own ‘Blade’ unit with lithium-iron-phosphate chemistry) is a similar size to the one in the Superb, at 19kWh, but the balance between motor and engine is the other way around.

With 194bhp, the main electric motor is clearly the dominant driving force, with the 97bhp 1.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine mainly there to drive a generator to top up the battery. It is able to contribute directly through a single-speed transmission but only bumps the system output to 209bhp. In that sense, it's quite similar to Honda's hybrid system. 

The Seal 6's size is deceptive. Even after driving it, I would have put it as a rival for the estate versions of the Skoda Octavia (4698mm length), but at 4840mm it's closer to the Skoda Superb (4902mm).
Illya Verpraet
Road Tester

Those ‘dual modes’, then, refer to the fact that it primarily operates as a series hybrid (aka a range-extender) but is able to switch to parallel hybrid operation.

Compare that with the Volkswagen Group's PHEV system, which uses six gears to get similar performance out of a much weaker electric motor and petrol engine that's only slightly more powerful. 

At 4840mm long in both estate and saloon form, the Seal 6 is also comparable with the Volkswagen Passat and a size up from the Peugeot 308 or Seat Leon.

Lacking even the electric Seal's big-wheeled stance, the Seal 6’s exterior design is like most BYDs in that it’s wholly inoffensive but also bland and forgettable.

INTERIOR

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Much the same applies to the interior. BYD used to offer zany colours, but in the Seal 6 it’s a sea of very synthetic-feeling faux black leather. There are a few neat touches, like the ridged rubber material on the dash trim, and mercifully there is next to no gloss black plastic, but none of it is very memorable.

BYD has a strange philosophy when it comes to buttons. There are a few sensibly chosen ones in the centre console and a bunch more on the steering wheel, but you still have to dive deep into the touchscreen for certain essential functions, like the lights and the heated seats. The steering wheel has two user-configurable buttons, which sounds great, but you can’t actually set them to do anything useful.

The only difference between Comfort Lite and Comfort trims is the touchscreen size: 12.8in versus 15.6in. I drove the Comfort Lite and thought the screen was big enough without being too overbearing. It's likely that we'll only get Comfort in the UK, though.
Illya Verpraet
Road Tester

At least the centre touchscreen works better than in the last BYDs I drove. It’s the first one that can’t rotate – a gimmick that I can’t imagine many people will miss. When you use Apple CarPlay, the main shortcut bars remain, and there’s a configurable pull-down menu that gives you quick access to certain settings and lets you quickly disable the worst of the ADAS.

While the Seal 6 is almost as big on the outside as the Superb, it’s nowhere near as accommodating inside. The front seats sorely lack lumbar and thigh support and there’s significantly less head and knee room in the back.

The boot is quite competitive, however, at 500 litres (compared with 510 in the Superb PHEV), and it has both a flat floor and a pair of handles to fold down the rear seats.

ENGINES & PERFORMANCE

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The powertrain is the Seal 6’s greatest asset because it works so smoothly. Unlike most plug-in hybrids, it really does feel like an EV in EV mode, because it has such a powerful motor and therefore doesn't feel underpowered. At full throttle, the engine will kick it, but even then, it's remarkably muted.

In hybrid mode, it feels largely the same, just with the engine humming almost imperceptibly in the background to stop the charge from running out too soon. Even when the battery is flat, you don’t lose much performance, and the engine doesn’t get excessively noisy.

BYD calls its 1.5-litre petrol engine the Xiaoyun and claims it has a thermal efficiency of 43%, which is very good if true.
Illya Verpraet
Road Tester

Deceleration is well managed too. Although the regenerative braking is very mild when you lift off the accelerator, the brake pedal is progressive and offers up to 50kW of regen, if the instrument cluster is to be believed.

RIDE & HANDLING

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The Seal 6 rides and handles like a slightly disinterested modern FWD car, with easy and smooth but characterless steering and a safe understeer balance at the limit.

In the wet, the Continental EcoContact tyres lack some grip, and the traction control isn’t the most alert, allowing flares of wheelspin when you boot it out of a junction.

As on other BYDs, the ride is weird. The Seal 6 isn’t as soft and wallowy as some of its stablemates, yet some looseness remains. At the same time, it’s quite wooden around town and fidgety at higher speeds. It isn’t offensive, but neither is it good at anything. Clearly, the 308 and Volkswagen Golf are on another level, never mind the Skoda Superb or any of the premium stuff.

The lane keep assistance and speed limit warning on the Seal 6 aren’t the worst I’ve tried and are relatively easy to disable, but the driver attention monitor is typically overzealous and irritating. I didn’t have the opportunity to thoroughly test the adaptive cruise control.

MPG & RUNNING COSTS

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BYD will offer the Seal 6 in three trims: Boost, Comfort Lite and Comfort.

The Boost has a smaller, 10.1kWh battery and just 181bhp. That gives it just 31 miles of electric range and the resulting 60g/km of CO2 output means it doesn’t qualify for particularly cheap company car tax.

The version with the large battery can charge at 6.6kW on AC power, whereas many rivals support 11kW. It can DC charge at 26kW, though.
Illya Verpraet
Road Tester

I drove the Comfort Lite, which gets the bigger, 19.0kWh battery and extra power. That gives it 62 miles of electric range, so it should attract just 9% company car tax. The Superb PHEV gets 10 miles more out of a similarly sized battery, though.

I'd need to spend more time in it to get an accurate idea of real-world range and electric efficiency. With the battery depleted, around 50mpg seems realistic, which is very good.

The Comfort is the same as the Comfort Lite except that it gets a bigger, 15.6in touchscreen.

UK prices haven’t been confirmed yet, since first deliveries aren’t until January, but the saloon range should start at £33,000 and top out at £35,000, with a £2000-3000 premium for the estate.

Since it sounds like the versions with the big battery won’t be much more expensive than the entry-level car, you might as well go for the top trims.

VERDICT

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Quite simply, the Seal 6 is nowhere near as good as the Superb, but it’s also nowhere near as expensive. Once you’ve specced the Skoda to a similar level of equipment, it’s easily £10,000 more.

The Seal 6 is even cheaper than a PHEV Golf, Leon or 308, despite being a much bigger car. At that sort of money, you can cut it a lot of slack.

If you don’t need the space, a Golf is still the nicer car, because it has much more mature ride, handling and ADAS, is easier to use and has a better infotainment system. The Seal 6 isn’t miles off, though, the smoothness of the powertrain is genuinely impressive and its vital PHEV stats are competitive enough.

An option worth considering.

Illya Verpraet

Illya Verpraet Road Tester Autocar
Title: Road Tester

As a road tester, Illya drives everything from superminis to supercars, and writes reviews and comparison tests, while also managing the magazine’s Drives section. Much of his time is spent wrangling the data logger and wielding the tape measure to gather the data for Autocar’s in-depth instrumented road tests.

He loves cars that are fun and usable on the road – whether piston-powered or electric – or just cars that are very fit for purpose. When not in test cars, he drives an R53-generation Mini Cooper S.