Market launch of the all-new and all-electric BYD Seal is just around the corner (customer deliveries are expected to begin this month), so let's take a look at this interesting model.
Wheelsboy recently had an opportunity to check out the BYD Seal's exterior and interior at a stationary display and compare it to the Tesla Model 3 and XPeng P7. Unfortunately, test drives are not yet available for media.
The Seal belongs to BYD's Ocean series, which has its own design clues. It's a pretty attractive sedan, priced below the Tesla Model 3, which already attracted over 60,000 customers.
As we can see in the video, the trunk opening is conventional for a sedan (no hatchback or liftback). There is also a frunk (front trunk), although it's rather small - maybe for charging cables and a few additional small things.
Inside, BYD installed two screens - a 10.25" for the instrument cluster (a thing that the Model 3 does not have), and a 15.6" touchscreen for the infotainment system. This setup appears to be borrowed from other BYD models. According to the initial overview, there is also decent space inside, including in the rear.
The introduction of the BYD Seal should give us the answer to whether China is ready to compete with Tesla. High volume sales - comparable to the Tesla Model 3 - would be an indication that BYD did its homework well. Chinese customers will be judges in this race as China is expected to be the major market for the Seal.
The BYD Seal will be available also outside of China, potentially under a different name: Atto 4. The market launch of the Seal has been already confirmed in Japan.
We must remember that the BYD Seal brings also some very important upgrades to the BYD e-platform 3.0 platform, as it is the first model from BYD with CTB (cell-to-body) structural battery system. The battery cells are, of course, BYD's in-house Blade Battery (long form factor, LFP chemistry).
Here is another look at the Seal at a parking lot:
And details:
