BYD Seal Performance 2024 Review

The 2024 BYD Seal Performance sits atop the range at a still-very-reasonable $68,748 plus on-road costs – a price that had a $50 haircut just hours after launch in order to take advantage of some state rebates.

When you consider the performance on offer it’s an unprecedented bargain, more than competitive with not just electric rivals like the Hyundai IONIQ 6, Kia EV6 and Tesla Model 3, but premium ICE models like the Alfa Romeo Giulia, Audi A4, BMW 3 Series and Genesis G70.

And again, none of those vehicles offer anything like the 390kW/670Nm outputs of the dual-motor/AWD Seal Performance.

The Seal line-up also includes two single-motor/rear-drive models – the Dynamic Standard Range (150kW/310Nm, 61.44kWh), starting at $49,888 plus ORCs, and the Premium Extended Range (230kW/360Nm, 82.56kWh) for $58,798 plus ORCs.

All 2024 BYD Seal models come pretty comprehensively stuffed with equipment, so Performance-specific inclusions are limited to intelligent torque adaption control, an electronic child lock, a heated steering wheel and frequency-selective dampers.

This is in addition to (deep breath) 19-inch wheels, ventilated and drilled front brake discs, Continental tyres, a full-length glass roof, LED lighting front and rear, rear privacy glass, an electric boot and keyless entry/start.

Hop inside and you’ll find quilted leather upholstery, heated and ventilated power-adjustable front seats – driver eight-way with memory, passenger six-way – dual-zone climate control, auto lights/wipers and vehicle-to-load (V2L) functionality. BYD also includes charging cables as standard.

Five colours are available, none of which add extra cost, the only option being the $1500 Ocean Blue interior.

A six-year/150,000km warranty sounds good, but BYD is unique in varying the cover depending on various vehicle componentry. The battery and drive units are covered for eight years/150,000km, but the lights and suspension are only covered for four years/100,000km and items like the multimedia system, shock absorbers, wheel bearings, charge port assembly and more are just three years/60,000km.

Servicing is required every 12 months or 20,000km and works out at an average of $299 per visit over the first eight years.

ANCAP delivered a five-star rating for the BYD Seal in October 2023, with impressive scores of 89 per cent for adult occupant protection, 87 per cent for children, 82 per cent for pedestrian protection and 75 per cent for safety assists.

There’s nine airbags and a full suite of active safety equipment fitted to all 2024 BYD Seal EVs, however, as is so often the case in the real-world, the calibration of a lot of these systems could use further refining.

The emergency lane keeping is the main culprit, savagely wrenching the wheel of our Seal Performance test car if it senses something it doesn’t like, even if all is in hand.

The Seal certainly isn’t alone in this respect and the systems are at least fairly easily turned off, though of course that defeats the whole purpose of having them.

A 360-degree camera with front and rear parking sensors are also standard.

The party trick of the 2024 BYD Seal – as with the BYD Atto 3 SUV – is the giant infotainment display that can rotate between portrait and landscape orientations and includes FM/DAB radio, Android Auto (wireless) and Apple CarPlay (wired), satellite navigation, voice assistant and Bluetooth.

It all plays through a 12-speaker Dynaudio stereo.

Spotify is also embedded in the system, though unlike the Polestar 2, for instance, you can’t sign in via QR code so you’ll have to remember your login details – which I certainly couldn’t. No problem if you own the car, presumably, as you’ll do it once and it’s done.

The screen is reasonably intuitive to operate, which is just as well as you’ll be doing a lot of operating. With everything sandwiched into the screen, including infotainment, vehicle, assistance and climate controls, you interact with it very frequently.

Driving on a bright, sunny day, I struggled with legibility on certain parts of the screen, in particular the light blue-coloured climate information at the bottom, but switching the screen to ‘dark mode’ made this a non-issue.

Unlike Tesla, the BYD gives you not only a small instrument display for the driver but a large and clear head-up display which works very well.

For device charging there is a pair of wireless pads up front and a USB-A and USB-C port in the front and rear.

The 230kW/360Nm rear electric motor on the mid-series Seal Premium model is bolstered by another 160kW/310Nm motor at the front for the 2024 BYD Seal Performance, producing combined outputs of 390kW/670Nm.

This also gives all-wheel drive capability, and thus despite a hefty 2185kg kerb weight 0-100km/h is dispensed with in just 3.8sec.

The 2024 BYD Seal Premium and Performance models use a larger 84kWh battery (82.56kWh useable) and thus the latter has an impressive WLTP range of 520km.

While our experience was brief, on collection with 100 per cent battery the car’s estimated range was 533km, and despite regular use of its full acceleration potential, a 170km drive loop used just over half the battery, suggesting the quoted maximum range is definitely achievable in the right circumstances.

Faster charging of up to 150kW is also possible with the larger battery pack. At the maximum AC charge rate of 7kW you’ll need around 12 hours to fill from 0-100 per cent, while a 0-80 per cent fill at 150kW will take around 30 minutes.

There are two sides to assessing the 2024 BYD Seal Performance’s driving experience. As a conventional electric sedan, it works quite well.

Prodigious performance is available at all times, it’s quiet and refined and, occasional active safety interruptions aside, easy and relaxing to drive, though the inclusion of one-pedal driving would be of benefit.

The frequency-selective dampers – they are passive but can respond to changes in road surface in a quasi-adaptive way – are certainly on the firmer side, but it seems a reasonable compromise if the Seal is to provide the handling appropriate to its badge and its vast power.

Trouble is, it doesn’t. The Seal can certainly move at a decent pace across country but doesn’t have much enthusiasm for the process, quickly moving beyond its comfort zone.

Despite the reactive everyday ride it’s too soft and uncontrolled on your typical country road – not untoward, just running out of answers for the questions asked. You can feel the weight, the front and rear react at different rates and it’s a similar story when you get to a corner.

A foray into Sport mode didn’t last long. The steering offers gloopy resistance to any input, and while the throttle and brake response are altered, Normal worked just as well.

Grip levels are okay and there feels to be decent balance up to a point, but the very watchful stability control (there is no ESC Sport or ‘relaxed’ mode) usually steps in to keep things pointed in the right direction.

I say usually as while the system is relatively subtle (if cautious) in its intervention, a couple of times the Seal exhibited significant roll oversteer that required correction before the electronics stepped in.

You may be reading this thinking “I don’t care, I have no intention of driving quickly” and that’s perfectly valid, in which case read the conclusion to this review for more information.

Given the outlay, the interior is arguably the 2024 BYD Seal Performance’s strongest selling point.

It’s a well-integrated design, the vast majority of surfaces are trimmed in contrast-stitched leather with a nice strip of suede across the doors and dash.

The leather doesn’t necessarily feel of the highest quality (but hey, it’s $70K, not a Bentley) but there are nice little luxo touches like the quilted pattern on the seats, and footwells being bathed in ambient lighting.

There’s ample storage thanks to a large centre bin and floating centre console, the rear can accommodate adults no problem as long as they aren’t overly tall – and there’s ISOFIX points on the outboard seats for kids if required – and the 400-litre boot should be enough for most needs.

There’s a strong case for buying a 2024 BYD Seal but the case for the Performance variant is a lot shakier.

We have not yet driven the Dynamic or Premium models on Australian roads so there is a degree of conjecture here, but the latter feels like the pick, especially if the regular suspension offers more compliance.

The Performance is undoubtedly fast in a straight line but its dynamic shortcomings mean it doesn’t lend itself to enthusiastic driving – a base Kia EV6 or even MG4 is far more resolved and enjoyable, if not as fast.

Opting for the Premium over the Performance sacrifices some speed – though at 5.9sec for 0-100km/h, it’s no slouch – but provides another 50km of range for truly impressive flexibility. Again, assuming the ride is better, you have a quiet, comfortable and incredibly good value package.

The BYD Seal Performance offers an incredible amount of power for the money, but it’s not the budget super-sedan its spec sheet suggests.

2024 BYD Seal Performance at a glance:
Price: $68,748 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Powertrain: Induction asynchronous motor (front); permanent magnet synchronous motor (rear)
Output: 390kW/670Nm
Transmission: Single-speed reduction gear
Battery: 82.56kWh lithium-iron phosphate
Range: 520km (WLTP)
Energy consumption: 16.8kWh/100km (WLTP)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2023)