“The Seal U doesn’t have a great towing capacity. In two-wheel drive form, it can only manage a braked trailer of 750kg, while the 4×4 is rated to pull up to 1,300kg. That’s not much for owners who want to pull a decent-sized trailer or caravan, so they’ll be better served by the Ford Kuga PHEV, as this manages up to 2,100kg.” – Shane Wilkinson, senior content editor.
A strong safety score and long warranty should help to give buyers peace of mind
Pros |
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Cons |
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While BYD is still a relative newcomer to the UK market, it’s been building cars in China for decades. The Seal U benefits from this experience, as well as sharing parts with other models in the firm’s current line-up.
Euro NCAP tested the Seal U in 2023, and the car earned a five-star safety rating. It had strong scores across the board, while standard equipment includes front and rear cross-traffic alert, blind-spot detection, lane-departure prevention, adaptive cruise control and three sets of Isofix child-seat mounts.
The Seal U was marked especially highly for its assistance systems, and better still, the firm’s engineers have tweaked some of these features to be easier to turn off and less intrusive than their applications in the other BYD models we’ve tested.
BYD has plenty of room for improvement in the Driver Power owner satisfaction survey, though, as it wound up in a disastrous 30th place out of 31 in brands in the best manufacturer rankings. The only carmaker to put on an even worse performance was MG.
| Euro NCAP safety ratings | |
| Euro NCAP safety rating | Five stars (2023) |
| Adult occupant protection | 90% |
| Child occupant protection | 86% |
| Vulnerable road user protection | 83% |
| Safety assist | 77% |
- Best buy: BYD Seal U DM-i Comfort
The mid-level Comfort trim is our pick of the bunch because it brings a larger battery and some useful additional kit for a modest outlay. It doesn’t have four-wheel drive, but this is difficult to justify in a vehicle intended for on-road use.
BYD Seal U alternatives
The BYD Seal U arrives in a market awash with SUVs of many shapes and sizes, and there are even many plug-in hybrid and hybrid SUVs to choose from for low running costs. However, with its mix of generous exterior dimensions and attractively low price, the Seal U attracts rivals from various classes.
For instance, in terms of interior space, the BYD is closely matched to established plug-in models such as the Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4 and Ford Kuga.
Yet consider the car’s pricing and the list of competitors is stretched to include the Hyundai Tucson and Kia Sportage, which both have plug-in options, as well as more traditionally-powered machines such as the Nissan Qashqai and Skoda Karoq.
Key updates of the BYD Seal U review
Frequently Asked Questions
BYD offers a generous six-year or 93,750-mile warranty on all of its cars. The battery pack has a separate policy of eight years or 125,000 miles, which guarantees that the battery will maintain above 70 per cent of its capacity over that period. The bodywork is warranted for 12 years against corrosion.
