BYD Seal U DM-i review

What is striking about the BYD Seal U DM-i Boost (2024)?

Well, that’s quite a mouthful. We’ll explain the name point by point.

• BYD is the Chinese car manufacturer and stands for Build Your Dreams. ‘Car manufacturer’ is a bit of a stretch, the company also makes consumer electronics such as phones, solar panels and monorails. It employs over 900,000 people worldwide. BYD Auto is in ninth place in the top 10 of car brands with a market share of 3.6 percent, just behind Honda.

• ‘Seal’ is English for seal, but BYD uses that name without an addition for its Tesla Model 3-rival. The design of that electric Seal WORLD sedan is inspired by the ocean, which is why BYD did not choose ‘dog’ or ‘cow’.

• We’ll stick with English, because the capital U stands for Utility. You can more or less translate that as ‘practical’. The Seal U is the practical SUV version of the Seal, at least in name. Under the skin, the cars are quite different from each other.

• The addition DM-i is new. DM stands for Dual Motor. Where the BYD Seal U only has an electric motor, the BYD Seal U DM-i is also equipped with a 1.5-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine. The lower case i does not stand for injection, but for intelligence/intelligent.

• Hang in there, we’re almost there. Boost stands for the execution. It is the entry-level model with front-wheel drive that delivers 217 hp. There is also a Design with turbo technology and 324 hp. This has an extra electric motor at the back and therefore four-wheel drive. In both cases, the capacity of the in-house developed (blade) battery is 18.3 kWh.

We drive the Boost. There is something special about the drivetrain. While other brands make a plug-in hybrid car by adding an electric motor and battery to a car with a combustion engine, BYD does it exactly the other way around. It took the electric Seal U and added a petrol engine to it. The electric range is a theoretical 80 kilometres. The total range is 1080 kilometres.

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The combustion engine is basically only intended to supply the electric motor with energy. It works mainly as a generator for the battery pack and you notice that as soon as you drive away. Just like with an EV, the maximum torque is immediately available and the Seal U DM-i accelerates smoothly. Although this is not as fast as we expected based on the power. But the car also weighs almost two tons.

The battery never runs out. As soon as the capacity is at 25 percent, it is recharged. The combustion engine can also provide the drive, but only if you press the accelerator pedal hard. Then you hear the four-cylinder humming, although this is not disturbing. But the BYD Seal U DM-i is not as quiet as an EV, even though the combustion engine does not initially drive the wheels.

What’s good about the BYD Seal U DM-i?

The chassis is tuned for comfort. Anyone who has ever visited the Louwman Museum in The Hague knows that the last few meters to the parking garage are on those nasty cobblestones. A disaster if you are driving a Mini (like the test editor on duty), because the car is shaken up vigorously. But a piece of cake for the BYD Seal U DM-i, which was presented to the media in the car museum.

The SUV took the bumpy road surface unperturbed and we hardly noticed that we were driving on cobblestones. Very neat. Moreover, nothing rattled, which is a good indicator of how the car is put together. Neat.

The front seats are excellent and provide sufficient support. The space on the back seat is exemplary, with enough room for the head and your legs/knees. The interior materials look good, although hard plastic has been used here and there.

For a basically electric car, the Seal U DM-i has a surprising number of buttons. That’s great, because you won’t get lost in the central screen to operate the windows and the wing mirrors. You can operate the air conditioning via the large display, but fortunately with shortcuts. You have to like the amount of chrome in the interior, but it’s not boring.

What could be improved about the BYD Seal U plug-in hybrid?

Anyone looking for a car that handles tightly and is like a block on the road should give the BYD Seal U DM-i a wide berth. The road behaviour is a bit boggy and the steering is numb, especially around the centre position. It all feels a bit distant, although it improves somewhat in sport mode.

This is all fine for those who want to get from A to B in comfort, but those who want to be more involved in the driving will get out a bit disappointed. As mentioned, it gets better in the most sporty driving mode, but even then there is still a lot of movement in the body. The Chinese apparently like this, because in China the car has been on sale for a long time and it sells well.

Furthermore, we don’t have much to complain about. Although the seating position on the back seat could be better. Those who are a bit taller would like their thighs to be supported a bit better. Furthermore, the steering wheel of our test model was a bit crooked, but we let that slide, because this was not the case in another car.

A tip for those who set the air conditioning to 21 degrees and think that this will give them a pleasant temperature: take a hot water bottle, put on an extra coat and put on a fur hat, because in China 21 degrees is apparently the same as -10 in Europe. We don’t want to think about what happens if you set the temperature to 16 degrees; you’ll probably have icicles hanging from your nose.

Okay, last point of criticism: you can’t fold down the backrest of the rear seat from the luggage compartment. Moreover, you have to do this with a loop, there are nicer solutions for this. The fact that the backrest has different positions is handy.

Then the price of the BYD Seal U DM-i (2024) …

BYD is asking for a minimum of 39,490 euros for the Seal U DM-i (Boost). That’s all it is, because the options list is almost empty, the equipment is that complete. Of course, you have to do something, as a Chinese newcomer on the European market. You actually only have to choose a colour, but that won’t cost you any extra money. Not that there is much choice, because there are only five body colours available, of which Tian Qing Blue is the most exciting.

The price is okay, but not particularly competitive. A Be Niro PHEV is in the same price range (but has less power), just like the Toyota C-HR plug-in hybride. De MG EHS has 258 hp and is available from over 37 grand. But those cars are all much smaller.

What do I think of the BYD Seal U DM-i?

I’m not a big fan of SUVs, but the BYD Seal U DM-i doesn’t need to know that. I would be put off by the driving characteristics. They are too distant for me. And I find the design a bit anonymous, no matter how many oceans BYD brings in. Although I have to say that the Seal U is a neat car to look at.

However, if you are looking for an SUV with a ridiculously complete equipment and attach less importance to the driving characteristics, you can easily fall in love. If only because of the generous interior space. And don’t get me wrong: the Seal U drives fine in itself, but if you are looking for driving pleasure, you should shop next door. The pleasure comes from its interior space, rich equipment and great price.