mReview: BYD Seal 6 Premium – Signed, Seal-ed, Delivered, Could Be Yours

The BYD Seal 6 is their latest electric sedan, complementing the existing Seal instead of outright replacing it, though it has plenty to set it apart in its own right.

This is getting out of hand, now there are two of them! Indeed, there are now two BYDs that are both named Seal. While on paper, they might seem very similar, in reality, they are rather distinct from each other.

For starters, the Seal 6 looks nothing like the Seal. The Seal 6 is newer and has a more modern design, using a similar design language to what we saw on the ATTO 2. It has sharper, cleaner lines as opposed to the more flowing, curvy look of the Seal. 

Gone is the crystal-look gear lever, it's been replaced by a Mercedes-style solution on the right stalk.

In my opinion, the best angle of the Seal 6 is its rear, and not just because I like a nice derrière. From here, you can see its tapering roof line as well as its taillight cluster, which was inspired by the Möbius strip, so designed to signify never-ending fortune and prosperity for the owner. I’ll have me some of that, please.

The sloped roof doesn’t affect the rear headroom at all, though. It’s plenty spacious and airy on the inside, with a flat floor and a glass roof providing lots of room from top to toe. The front seats are ventilated and electrically adjustable, though they do use synthetic leather instead of genuine leather in the upholstery.

One thing I was very pleasantly surprised by was actually the driving position in the Seal 6. I felt it was spot on and provided loads of comfort and visibility with the steering wheel able to be adjusted to a prime position, something that doesn’t happen too often when you’re all arms and legs like I am. 

And the excellent driving position isn’t let down at all by the actual driving dynamics. The steering is light and direct, and the car is eager to be directed at your fancy, unless you fancy hitting a tree, in which case the Seal 6’s automatic emergency braking system will stop the car and give you a stern talking to. 

Commonly used functions like the air-con temperature are permanently located on the bottom of the screen for easy access.

While the Seal 6 comes standard with nearly every form of driver assistance and safety system you could fit to a car, one it doesn’t have, oddly enough, is blind spot monitoring. While it’s not the biggest issue unless you have a stiffy (neck, of course), it is a bit of a miss.

A 460-litre boot and 65-litre frunk give this sleek sedan lots of storage space.

Thankfully, you’ll have plenty of time to look around you as you merge onto the expressway because the Seal 6 isn’t exactly fast. That’s because for peak affordability, the Seal 6 is a Cat A COE-friendly car, meaning it puts out just 95kW (127hp) and 220Nm of torque from its single rear-mounted electric motor. 

That’s just enough juice to get the car from 0 to 100km/h in a leisurely 10.9 seconds. It’s still zippy enough from around 15-45km/h, which makes city driving easy, but perhaps not as suited for North-South Highway cruising.

On the upside, there’s plenty to keep you entertained in the Seal 6 on your drives. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are offered as standard and can be accessed through the 12.8-inch infotainment screen mounted on the dashboard. There’s also multi-colour ambient lighting for you to ooh and ahh at, which is always a nice-to-have.

The Seal 6 might not be the flashiest car on the market, but it’s not meant to be that. This is a mass market mobility machine that seeks to bring the EV lifestyle to the public, something BYD as a whole is aiming towards, and a goal that the Seal 6 has accomplished successfully. 

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