The recent arrival of the BYD SEAL U Super Hybrid PHEV marked the Chinese company’s entry into the highly competitive hybrid segment here, unlike the brand's previous all electric models. This is a stylish medium-large five-seater that looks elegant and aerodynamic from all sides. The 19-inch wheels enhance its aesthetics while also reducing drag.
The beautifully finished interior features a panoramic sliding roof, a floating centre console touchscreen that swivels for either portrait or landscape style and is a central control hub for connectivity and infotainment, with 4G connectivity. It includes Navigation, Spotify and Radio selections on the home screen. I used the Intelligent Voice Assistance ‘Hi BYD’ to turn on, or off, some of the car’s features including the Lane Departure Assist.
The customisable large driving instrument cluster shows where the power is coming from, your current speed etc, while the head-up display projects critical data onto the windscreen in line of sight.
The review car's comfortable seats were in a dark leather upholstery and came with ventilation and heating. Integrated headrests are high. My seat had power adjustments and memory function. Front seat heating controls are on a permanent lower part of the dash along with the dual zone climate control, easy to adjust while on the move.
People in the rear enjoy excellent head and legroom and a flat floor. The centre rear seat lowers as an arm rest with two cupholders and there are two USBs on the rear central console. The high opening tailgate is power operated. Boot capacity of 425 litres isn’t as much as might have been expected but can be expanded to 1,440 litres with rear seats down.
An excellent reversing camera allowed me view all around my car on the central screen and large side mirrors had blind spot monitors. Drive modes are Normal, Sport and Snowfield as this was an AWD car. BYD’s 'dual mode' PHEV technology is proprietary to the company and comprises a 1.5 hybrid engine and large capacity 'Blade' battery as its main power source, only using the petrol engine when needed. With the battery fully charged the car becomes pure-electric and when the battery is low, the system seamlessly transforms into a hybrid vehicle. You can drive in pure EV mode in the city, hybrid EV mode when battery power falls and the engine automatically switches in to range extension, or HEV parallel mode where the wheels are driven by both the electric motor and the petrol engine for responsive acceleration.
BYD manufacture their cobalt-free Blade battery themselves. The 18.3kWh unit provides a pure-electric range of up to 80km, this battery comes with DC fast charging capability. To benefit from their PHEV, owners should recharge their vehicles overnight at home.
This PHEV delivers a combined range of up to 1,080km and a claimed petrol consumption of 6.4 litres per 100km. My fuel return was a bit more at 7.5 L/100kms. The system works a treat and the car seamlessly changes from electric to petrol when the charge is depleted. Acceleration from 0-100km/h is 5.9 seconds.
Standard safety features include, Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Change Assist, and Rear Cross Traffic Alert.
The car had really excellent night driving lights - powerfully lighting up both sides of country roads and ditches and the road in front for a huge distance. I felt reassured and safe when driving at night. The drive was very quiet on the road with little noise from the engine.
This car has received a five-star safety rating from Euro NCAP.
There are six main BYD dealers; two in Dublin and one in Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Wexford.
Entry level prices are from €42,150.
