- 17 hours ago
A new contender from China is here! In today's review, Marek Drives takes a close look at the BYD Seal U DM-i, one of the newest plug-in hybrid SUVs from the Chinese giant, BYD. This mid-sized SUV, featuring BYD's advanced DM-i technology, is aiming to compete with popular models like the Toyota RAV4, Hyundai Tucson, and KIA Sportage.
Could the BYD Seal U really shake up the European market? How does its sophisticated PHEV system perform? In this detailed test drive and review, we check if the BYD Seal U DM-i is a real and compelling alternative to its established Japanese and Korean rivals.
Get ready for our in-depth analysis of:
The design and dimensions of the new BYD Seal U,
The practicality of the trunk and interior space,
The driving impressions, comfort, and performance,
The modern technology and infotainment systems.
BYD Seal U DM-i – Key Information and Specs:
↔ BYD Seal U DM-i dimensions:
✔ length: 4775 mm
✔ width: 1890 mm
✔ height: 1670 mm
✔ wheelbase: 2765 mm
✔ boot/trunk: 425-1440 L
💲 BYD Seal U DM-i starting price: 39 990 euro
💲 BYD Seal U DM-i price as tested: 47 090 euro
🎯 Do you like my channel? Subscribe here: https://bit.ly/SubMarekDrivesENG
💥 F
Could the BYD Seal U really shake up the European market? How does its sophisticated PHEV system perform? In this detailed test drive and review, we check if the BYD Seal U DM-i is a real and compelling alternative to its established Japanese and Korean rivals.
Get ready for our in-depth analysis of:
The design and dimensions of the new BYD Seal U,
The practicality of the trunk and interior space,
The driving impressions, comfort, and performance,
The modern technology and infotainment systems.
BYD Seal U DM-i – Key Information and Specs:
↔ BYD Seal U DM-i dimensions:
✔ length: 4775 mm
✔ width: 1890 mm
✔ height: 1670 mm
✔ wheelbase: 2765 mm
✔ boot/trunk: 425-1440 L
💲 BYD Seal U DM-i starting price: 39 990 euro
💲 BYD Seal U DM-i price as tested: 47 090 euro
🎯 Do you like my channel? Subscribe here: https://bit.ly/SubMarekDrivesENG
💥 F
Category
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MotorTranscript
00:00this is the byd seal udmi a chinese plug-in hybrid suv it's cheaper than the non- chinese brands
00:09we
00:09all know and better finished than most of them regardless of the price but there must be a catch
00:15right what is it let's find out i compared the byd seal udmi against the lexus rx 450h plus
00:28long names anyway channel members can watch this comparison early and without ads
01:21byd is one of those brands whose products you've probably used but didn't know about
01:25it for example as part of my in-house sustainability efforts i upcycled my 10 year old gopro to a
01:32colleague he asked for battery model because he wanted to see if replacements were available just
01:37in case if he needed one guess who was the oem battery supplier for gopro hero 4. a byd battery
01:44probably also powered one of your smartphones or tablets but the company's founder wang chuanfu
01:50had much bigger ambitions and that's how byd auto was born among other brands which today is the best
01:58selling car brand in china and successfully competes globally with tesla in europe byd offers mainly
02:06electric models the seal u model can be chosen with an electric or a plug-in hybrid drivetrain
02:12this type of drivetrain is also called dmi at byd dm stands for dual mode and yes there's also a
02:21seal
02:22without u which is an electric sedan and the seal 5 dmi which is a plug-in hybrid sedan
02:29byd is just one of byd auto's brands together with denza it has the dullest most generic design
02:35design it's like asking ai to draw a crossover models from fang chengbao and yang wang are much
02:44more interesting but we'll have to settle for this black blotch which designers tried to salvage
02:50with dots around the headlights and on the stripe running across the boot lid other than that the byd
02:56cou looks like whatever the 425 liter boot is an example of chinese thinking about cars it's different
03:07from what we're used to here in europe for example a car is a tool for a family with children
03:12so we need
03:12more space in the front for the adults less space in the back for the kids but we want a
03:17large boot to
03:18accommodate all our stuff when we take the car for a holiday in china rear seat space is important as
03:27being transported in the back seat is a sign of prestige this results in several things including
03:33less space in the front and in the boot the boot of this size would be manageable if at least
03:38it had
03:39a regular shape however here it gets tight between the wheel arches the underfloor storage compartment is
03:46just a styrofoam insert it's secured with clips to prevent removal so i immediately removed it and
03:53discovered some hybrid powertrain related components as well as additional layer of soundproofing byd has
03:59done a decent job of soundproofing the seal in some places at least more on that in a moment you
04:06can
04:07lower the floor a few centimeters and even store the cargo cover underneath it i don't think it was
04:12intentional but as long as it works i'm happy to report on it there is no opening or closing of
04:18the
04:18tailgate with gesture however there are buttons to close the tailgate and a separate one to close it
04:23and lock the car
04:27there is plenty of leg room in the rear but the headroom isn't quite as generous you can recline the
04:36backrests but that comes at the expense of boot space besides not everyone likes to travel reclined
04:43this much the floor in the middle is flat there are door pockets air conditioning vents usbc ports
04:50there are cup holders in the armrest but there is no ski hatch isofix anchor points are on the side
04:58seats in the rear and on the front passenger seat as well doors cover the sills and even go lower
05:06which
05:06is why they collect road debris but they shut very elegantly like in a german limousine back in the day
05:14when germans still made good cars
05:27the seals cockpit is impressive if someone just visited say a vw showroom where they checked out a
05:34tiguan and now they got into the byd the salesperson's main task will be not to ruin the first impression
05:43i know salespeople can ruin just about anything but if they try hard enough they might just push
05:49the customer out the door in a seal u dmi before they discover any major flaws now the build quality
05:57is impeccable there is plastic leather everywhere worthy of an audi or bmw these days soft materials
06:05a bit of fake aluminum a bit of piano black it makes the tiguan look like a dacia
06:11and then you press a button on the steering wheel and the screen rotates 90 degrees i don't know why
06:18but it does that maybe there is a chinese app somewhere that better works in portrait rather than
06:25landscape mode unfortunately android auto and apple carplay don't work in vertical mode so the display
06:31will probably remain horizontal and this is also because navigation on the test car
06:37doesn't seem to work now it's a new car probably someone forgot to activate it
06:44what did i say about ruining first impressions the driver's display is like i remember it from byd
06:51dolphin i reviewed several months ago data selected doesn't necessarily stay on the screen this isn't a
06:57deal breaker but a minor inconvenience that i'm noticing the physical buttons in the steering wheel are
07:02a plus they're easy to use for cruise control camera view and multimedia under the central display is a
07:09wireless charger capable of charging two phones at the same time unfortunately it doesn't seem to have
07:14any cooling but if necessary you can direct airflow from the vents to your phone to prevent coal air
07:20from blowing into your hand that's if the air is actually cold at any given moment with what seems to
07:29constant temperature outside the byd can't make up its mind whether it's time to heat or cool the interior
07:35so i end up consistently readjusting the temperature settings the infotainment system isn't bad which
07:42doesn't mean it couldn't be better some shortcuts are in the unlabeled pull down menu which you can
07:48customize i suggest adding something called slw to this menu that's isa or the not so intelligent speed
07:55assist which you want to disable every time you start the car if not through the shortcut it's a lot
08:00of
08:00clicking through the menu next we have the drive selector and around it a random array of switches
08:07from the right clockwise there's the automatic air conditioning mode the fan switch the windshield
08:13defroster a volume roller which i only found looking at the interior shots after i filmed them
08:18the drive mode selector the park button the electric hybrid drive mode the start button the automatic
08:26parking brake and the blind spot monitoring off switch and finally the hazard lights some of these
08:32buttons are hidden under smooth plastic and are difficult to find in an emergency for example the
08:38hazard lights this panel and the cup holders are too far back in relation to the seat the driver would
08:45have
08:45to be much taller and further back but the seat doesn't go back much further because the priority is
08:51space for the rear passengers there are also door pockets a cubby under the console with two usbc ports
08:59and a 12 volt outlet a deep storage compartment under the armrest and a small glove box there is no
09:08lumber support adjustment and the seat settings are saved via the screen the seats are too soft in my
09:14opinion and i sink into them but that's probably because this car is designed with comfort in mind
09:20more on that in a moment let's hit the road
09:38the byd seal udmi is comfortable it's not just the plush seats but also the soft suspension and the
09:45steering which is so unresponsive that the first impulse is to call an ambulance you can turn the
09:51steering wheel a few degrees left or right and the car will still go straight now you can put the
09:57steering in sport mode and then it's less unresponsive the suspension may be soft but it's unsettled by
10:06larger bumps as if there were some loose parts in it and this is a brand new car high speed
10:12cornering
10:12gives me the chills rather than the thrills i feel like if it weren't for esp if things went sideways
10:19i would not be able to regain control of the seal this car was clearly designed for sitting in beijing
10:26rush hour traffic not for speeding on winding roads the underbody sound insulation is excellent however
10:33at higher speeds on expressways wind noise from the upper part of the vehicle becomes noticeable
10:40the driver's assistance systems work well enough okay the adaptive cruise control starts slowing down a
10:45bit too early and a bit too abruptly but that can be said about some of byd's non-chinese competitors
10:55visibility is poor the chinese have yet to learn how to mount the wing mirrors a bit further from the
11:01body so they do not make the a pillar blind spot bigger when approaching a pedestrian crossing or junctions
11:07you really have to move your head around because there could be people or even vehicles hiding there
11:13rear visibility is also bad the rear window is small high and at an angle as a result you can
11:19be
11:19oblivious to a car following you and not just an mx5 which can drive under your average crossover these
11:24days but even a regular hatchback
11:30and what about the plug-in hybrid business well it's made up of a 1.5 liter petrol engine and
11:36an electric
11:36motor depending on the version the total output is 215 or 320 horsepower byd offers the seal udmi in
11:45three variants there's the entry level boost the mid-range comfort and the top of the line design
11:50boost and comfort are front wheel drive while the design is all-wheel drive boost and design have
11:56smaller 18.3 kilowatt hour batteries while the comfort has 26.6 kilowatt hour battery which gives it
12:03the longest zero emissions range of 125 kilometers boost and design have a range of 80 and 70 kilometers
12:10respectively this is the 320 horsepower design variant claimed zero to 100 kilometers per hour time
12:20is 5.9 seconds which is almost what i got in sport mode the road was slightly damp so perhaps
12:27it would be
12:29possible to shave the missing fraction of a second under ideal conditions while testing acceleration
12:34i also found out the brakes aren't up to scratch but as i mentioned earlier byd seal udmi was probably
12:40designed to crawl in traffic like in most ph evs impressive acceleration numbers are a byproduct of
12:47combined power of the two power trains
12:55the 70 kilometers electric range is achievable especially in city driving now it may seem like
13:01an average result for a ph ev of this size however the front wheel drive comfort variant has a claimed
13:07electric range similar to that offered by vw in the current generation tiguan e hybrid
13:14pressing the accelerator pedal harder or depleting the traction battery means the car goes into
13:20regular hybrid mode in this case the cu udmi consumes approximately six seven liters of petrol per
13:27100 kilometers the lfp traction battery can be charged with ac power at up to 11 kilowatts but
13:33since there is an electric only version of this car the manufacturer also included a ccs port which
13:39can be used to charge the battery using dc power from 30 to 80 percent in 35 minutes at 18
13:44kilowatts
13:45similar to ph evs offered for example by mitsubishi the internal combustion engine also serves as an
13:50energy generator and does not directly drive the wheels theoretically this means greater efficiency but
13:56from the driver's perspective the engine sometimes winds more sometimes less and it doesn't correspond
14:03with speed or acceleration
14:13and last but not least my diagonal approach test i stop halfway up the incline with the wheels on the
14:19diagonal with limited traction and then i try to get going again it's dry but the soil under the rear
14:25right wheel is loose in normal mode the byd seal handled it without a problem
14:32with esp off getting halfway up proved problematic but once the car settled it went smoothly from there
15:04in snow mode there's a momentary stronger wheel spin but the system quickly detects wheels
15:09wheels with limited traction
15:17the same in sand mode
15:28and finally mud mode here too the initial climb is problematic with the most wheel spin probably
15:36to clear tires of the mud but in the end the car manages to get up
15:46prices of the byd seal udmi started 39 990 euro for the boost variant the only difference between the
15:54three variants is the traction battery or whether the car is only front wheel drive or all-wheel drive
15:59the only option is paint which costs 1100 euro gray is standard this test car is the design trim
16:07and with black paint it costs a total of 47 000 and 90 euro this is more or less what
16:13the cheapest
16:14ph ev tiguan costs and you'd have to add 10 grand worth of options to match seals level of kit
16:22byd seal udmi is yet another chinese vehicle which makes a very good first impression and will probably
16:30satisfy 80 percent of the prospective buyers but the devil is in the details assuming i have zero
16:36expectations as far as handling is concerned i'd risk leasing one for a couple of years with zero down
16:41payment and low installments and how about you do you care about handling let me know in the comment
16:47section below if you like my sarcastic down-to-earth and possibly mildly amusing car reviews join me
16:56every friday at 3 pm central european time and don't forget to subscribe and like this video
17:02as it helps me with the youtube algorithm thanks for watching and i will see you in the next one
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