BYD’s new electric sedan has arrived in Singapore, with prices starting at S$242,888 for the base ‘Dynamic’ model and going up to S$284,888 for the 530 horsepower Performance variant.

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Photos: Clifford Chow and Jay Tee

CHANGI EXHIBITION CENTRE, SINGAPORE

After its initial preview at the 2023 Singapore Motorshow, the BYD Seal has finally made landfall in Singapore. Launch prices for BYD’s suave new EV sedan start at S$242,888 and top out at S$284,888 for the 530 horsepower ‘Performance’ variant (Prices accurate at the time of writing). 

The Seal is the third vehicle to join BYD’s range in Singapore – after the Atto 3 EV and Dolphin EV, and it utilises the Chinese carmaker’s modular e-Platform 3.0 architecture like the other two BYD EVs on sale today. 

The platform incorporates BYD’s blade battery which is said to be safer (able to pass a nail penetration test without sitting smoke or fire), more power-dense and compact (reportedly increasing space utilisation by 50%) and increases the rigidity of the car’s structure. 

On the face of it, the BYD Seal adopts the same basic recipe of an electric compact sedan; three box design, batteries in the floor pan, a motor in the rear (and front for the AWD variant). The car’s clean, good looking design is both an aesthetic and functional trait, with unique DRL and tail lamp signatures, minimal protrusions (and flush door handles) and a sleek silhouette that gives the car an impressive drag coefficient of just CD 0.219.

Inside, the cabin design follows that of BYD’s prior cars with a thick three-spoke steering wheel, a 15.6-inch rotating infotainment screen and a larger 10.25-inch instrument cluster. The base car makes do with vegan leather upholstery while the Premium and Performance variants are fitted with genuine leather as standard. 

There are three variants of the BYD Seal on sale: two of which are purely rear-wheel driven and one dual-motor AWD ‘Performance’ model. All three models in the range are eligible for EEAI and VES A1 rebates which will see buyers get a S$45,000 reduction in their ARF costs – before the EEAI and VES revisions come into play next year.

BYD Seal Dynamic – S$242,888

Starting with the cheapest model in the range, the Seal in the Dynamic trim is fitted with a 61.44kWh battery and a single motor in the rear which produces 203 horsepower and 310Nm of torque. 0-100km/h is dealt with in 7.5 seconds and it has a maximum range of 460km on the WLTP cycle.

It supports max charging speeds of 7kW under AC charging (identical to the other two variants) but has a lower DC max charge rate of 110kW – which should replenish the car’s batteries from 30-80% in just 32 minutes.

BYD Seal Premium – S$252,888

The ‘Premium’ variant sees numerous upgrades over the standard model that ought to make the S$10,000 cost difference more worthwhile. Under the floor pan resides a larger 86.52kWh battery pack that is good for 570km of range. 

Like the Dynamic variant, it also uses a single motor in the rear. But the Seal Premium has a peak output of 313hp/360Nm, which enables it to sprint from 0-100km/h in 5.9 seconds. It supports AC charging up to 7kW (which fully charges the car in 15.2 hours), but now sees a max DC charge rate of 150kW.

BYD Seal Performance – S$284,888

As the name suggests, the BYD Seal Performance is the most performance-oriented model of the lot. Its dual-motor AWD drivetrain puts out 530 horsepower and 670Nm of torque, giving it a 0-100km/h time of 3.8 seconds – as the model badge on the rear suggests. The Seal Performance has a quoted (WLTP) range of 520km, and it uses the same 82.56kWh battery (with the same 150kW DC fast charge rate) as the RWD Seal Premium. 

The Seal Performance also comes with adjustable dampers and an intelligent torque adaptation control (ITAC) that essentially operates as a torque vectoring system that enables more turn-in and rotation, or limits power when things go too sideways.

BYD Seal – Handling, slalom and acceleration/braking experience

The BYD Seal launch event at the Changi Exhibition Centre (CEC) enabled us to get in the (proverbial and literal) hot seat for some tyre-squealing action on a specially designed course. While the AWD Performance model proved to be as blisteringly quick as its on-paper figures suggest, the rear-wheel biased powertrain of the Seal Performance proved to be less agile than the lower-powered rear-wheel driven Premium and Dynamic models. 

However, all three variants were equally adept at navigating the handling circuit, slalom course and acceleration/braking routine. Of course, the Performance model was able to traverse all three “track experience” segments quicker than the rest.

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