Peter Lyon
June 3, 2024
The BYD Seal became an official offering when it was introduced to the Malaysian market in February of this year. It became available in two variants—Performance and Premium. The entry-level Premium model, which costs RM179,800 and competes with the likes of the GWM Ora 07 Long Range Ultra and the Tesla Model 3 RWD, is the brand’s top offering.
Employing BYD’s e-Platform 3.0 platform, the Seal boasts a 2,920 mm long wheelbase and has dimensions of 4,800 mm in length, 1,875 mm in width, and 1,460 mm in height—making it roughly the same size as a Model 3 and Ora 07.
The Seal Premium and the Performance variant essentially have the same external design. The absence of the “3.8s” emblem, which denotes the Performance variant’s 3.8-second 0-100 km/h sprint time, is the sole noticeable difference. Additionally, the Arctic Blue exterior colour option is limited to the top-spec model.
LED headlights, LED daytime running lights (DRLs), LED taillights, and a set of 19-inch alloy wheels are included as standard equipment on the Seal Premium in Malaysia.
In Malaysia, a single-motor rear-wheel drive system producing 313 horsepower and 360 Nm powers the Seal Premium allowing it to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 5.9 seconds.
The 82.5 kWh Blade LFP battery made by BYD powers this spec, delivering some 570 kilometres (WLTP) on a single charge. There are two ways to recharge it—you can use AC charging, which can charge at a maximum of 7 kW, or you can employ the more efficient DC charging which charges at a maximum of 150 kW. Whereas the latter can top off the battery from 10 to 80% in just 37 minutes, the former takes 15.2 hours.
Inside, there’s real leather upholstery as standard, a 10.25-inch digital instrument panel, and a 15.6-inch rotating touchscreen infotainment screen with compatibility for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. This also includes two Qi wireless chargers and a head-up display (HUD).
Additionally, there is a 6-way electrically adjustable front passenger seat and an 8-way driver seat with memory function while heating and ventilation are available in the front and a 12-speaker Dynaudio sound system is fitted for maximum enjoyment.
The advanced driver safety assistance systems (ADAS) suite is included as standard equipment on the Seal Premium in Malaysia—featuring Emergency Lane Keeping System (ELKA), Lane Detection Warning (LDW), Lane Departure Prevention System (LDP), Automatic emergency braking system (AEB), and adaptive cruise control (ACC).
The Seal Premium also features a 360-degree video system, traffic sign recognition (TSR), front crossing traffic alert (FCTA), rear collision warning system (RCW), predictive collision warning system (PCW), and rear collision warning system (RCW). The only safety features that the top-spec Performance outperforms the Premium variant in are the Intelligent Torque Adaption Control (ITAC), which is said to help decrease or even completely eliminate skidding, and Electronic Child Lock.
CARLIST THOUGHTS
The Seal offers not only some of the best design nuances to come out of China (ever, and we mean ever!!) but it also delivers on range, price, handling and interior features. So to answer the question—yes, the Seal will become one of the industry’s best Tesla Model 3 rivals when it lands in showrooms later this year.
