Louth Motoring: Disruptive Electric Gamechanger - the BYD Seal

Driving the BYD Seal this week had me thinking a lot about the RTE programme Reeling in the Years. I’m of a vintage that I have lived through a lot of the events they select to show you and it gets me everytime that looking back now I didn’t appreciate how tumultuous the events were.

Not all of course but a sizable amount that had me going “Oh yeah, remember that”. So what has that got to do with the Seal? Well, in 1972 the first Toyota was sold in Ireland. A new whippersnapper going up against the likes of the Triumphs, Hillmans, Daimlers, Wolseleys and Rovers.

Who in their right mind would buy one? Turns out a lot of people were charmed and persuaded by the sheer reliability of the new turks from Japan.

Their reputation grew and once the early rust issue was sorted they have gone from strength to strength. Where are the other brands?

All fell by the wayside, mothballed by famous brands who still retain ownership of the names that they might, I repeat might, use again.

Although the aforementioned names don't fill us immediately with nostalgia, remembering as we do, the constant maintenance that was needed just to keep them running everyday.

No one misses points and carburettor adjustments I’m sure so the names might evoke negative images if they tried to relaunch them.

BYD launched in Ireland in the middle of last year and arrived as the biggest maker of electric vehicles in the world.

Their first offering was the ATTO3, followed by the jaw droppingly affordable Dolphin and now the Seal.

Gone are the days when you had to build your brand over the years. BYD after two months this year are the 18th best selling brand in Ireland, 3rd in overall EV sales and the Seal is the 4th best selling electric car (295) outselling its two fiercest competitors, the Ionic6 and the Tesla Model 3. Why?

There are just two models, the Design and the Excellence both with an 82.5kW/h blade technology battery with range claims of 570kms and 520kms respectively.

The blade technology is easier on the environment by not using precious resources like nickel and cobalt. My real world driving figures to and from Cavan, without exceeding the speed limit and not going over 110km/h gave me a range for my driving of 367 kms with the heating on.

Range claims and realities are always at odds when it comes to electric cars.

In defence I went to Blacklion and back without having to charge. The Excellence is AWD with the Design RWD only.

That's the only difference, nice and simple just the way the Japanese made it when they arrived here back in 1972. The Design model costs €44,036 and is a spectacular bargain, the one I’d opt for as I dont think I’d need or would use AWD.

To get into a Tesla Model 3 will cost you €42,490 and you’ll need to start ticking a lot of boxes to get anywhere near the same level of specification in the Seal. €45,395 will get you a Hyundai Ionic6 but that's the smaller battery version.

I fully expect to see some price slashing soon because the price point of the Seal is just so keen and tempting. The Seal comes with a 6 year warranty, the battery gets 8 years and the service pack includes tyres if needed.

Speaking of which and the whole issue of costs of running an EV, a like-for-like Continental tyre replacement will cost you about €215 plus fitting. The boot is 400 litres with a 53 litre frunk.

The BYD has the look and appeal of a Model 3 with design cues that have you rubbing your chin hmmming “does that look like a Porsche”? It is a strikingly appealing car.

It goes against the trend of being higher up but on a trip around the back roads of Cavan it was a joy guiding it around the bends.

The seats are very comfortable and supportive and will have you hmmming again as to where you saw them before - think BMW.

But, for me the all electric seats on the lowest setting needed to go a little bit lower. I got a smidgen of that sitting on rather than sitting in feeling.

All around the cabin the materials feel excellent to the touch and again you keep thinking how do they deliver this at such a price point?

I used the Teslaesque intelligent cruise control feature on the motorway where it worked fine but I still get nervous when you approach slip roads and the line to your left breaks. I’m scared it’ll get confused and drive straight especially where the slip road is on a bend on the motorway.

The cockpit follows the theme of the Model 3 with no buttons and a huge central touchscreen. The driver also gets one which has good and bad points.

It has a wonderful feature where you can set the temperature and fan speed which with Mrs W in the passenger seats is always a challenge. The Lord truly practises the opposites attract rule in matching partners - I prefer warm but, you’ve guessed, my wife prefers chill. Strangely, through the myriad of options I could not get the factory sat nav to show directions on the drivers or heads-up display.

Before the Seal arrived if you asked me what electric car to buy I’d instantly say the Ionic6. Now, fickle as I am, I’d say the BYD Seal because it's that good despite the 4 faults in my book of it being a booted car.

In future “Reeling in the Years” I am sure we are going to see cars that will have us going “Remember them?” My wager is that there will be brands that we are so familiar with today that won't be around in the future because BYD and other manufacturers are not here to take part, but to take over. Time will tell.