2024 BYD Seal Price and Specs: Tesla Model 3 Competitor Launches Down Under

The sporty BYD electric sedan is offered in three variants differentiated by battery size and powertrains.

All variants adopt the Shenzhen carmaker’s thin lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) Blade Battery cells, which are claimed to be safer, more durable and longer lasting.

Dynamic (Standard Range)

BYD Seal Dynamic kicks the range off with a 61.44kWh LFP Blade battery, which sends power to a 150kW/310Nm single rear mounted electric motor. Official acceleration figures are 7.5s to 100KM/H. NEDC range is 510KM, giving this car a consumption figure of 12.04kWh/100KM on the extremely lenient NEDC cycle.

Seal Dynamic charges at 7kW AC (single phase) or 110kW DC via a CCS 2 connector.

18-inch alloys are standard alongside most features available to the Seal. You'll need to step up to the Premium or Performance grades to access luxury features like driver seat profile/memory, digital head up display, extra seat adjustments and genuine leather interior.

Premium (Extended Range)

Stepping up to Seal Premium, the battery capacited is upsized to a 82.5kWh LFP Blade battery. Power is still sent to a single rear mounted motor, but outputs have been increased to 230kW/360Nm. This slashes the sprint to 100KM/H down to just 5.9 seconds. Range is bumped up to 650KM on the lenient NEDC cycle. Consumption is rated at 12.69kWh/100KM.

Moving up to the Seal Premium unlocks all but two features available to the Seal. This includes 19-inch alloys with 235/45/R19 tyres, faster DC charging at 150kW although AC charging remains at a relatively low 7kW. Other features include the aforementioned head up display, driver seat profile/memory, extra seat adjustments, genuine leather and upgraded brake discs.

Performance (AWD)

The firebreathing Seal Performance is the ultimate BYD sports sedan. It uses the same 82.5kWh battery pack found in the Seal Premium, but BYD have fitted another motor powering the front wheels, which brings power figures up to a combined 390kW/670Nm. This translates to an acceleration figure of just 3.8 seconds, which is helpfully denoted by a "3.8s" badge on the boot lid. With the additional power on tap, travel range has reduced to 580KM (NEDC). Average consumption is rated at 14.22kWh/100KM.

On top of Seal Premium, Seal Performance adds additional performance hardware to accomodate the extra power. Fitted to this car is BYD's iTAC system, which stands for Intelligent Torque Adaption Control, which is basically a fancy torque vectoring system. Additionally there are adapters shock absorbers front and rear.

Weirdly enough BYD has decided to reserve electronic child lock and heated steering wheel behind this grade of Seal.

For full details on BYD Seal, scroll down to the price, models and features section.

View the full EV database

BYD Seal measures 4,800mm in length, 1,875mm in width and 1,460mm in height with a wheelbase of 2,920mm. Compared to its rivals, it is 80mm and 194mm longer than a Tesla Model 3 and Polestar 2 respectively.

The BYD Seal is about the same length as BMW 3-Series and Mercedes-Benz C-class sedans but has a longer wheel base (and more interior space) due to being built on a dedicated EV platform.

Despite the size of the Seal, it has a relatively tight turning circle of 11.40m.

Thanks to the e-Platform 3.0 (EMP3) bespoke EV architecture, Seal packs a relatively large boot of 400L, with a 50L frunk.

Kerb weight sits between 1,922KG with the base model Dynamic, all the way up to around 2,185KG for the Performance dual motor model.

BYD Seal Dynamic price: $49,888 before on-road costs

The BYD Seal starts from $49,888 before on-road costs for the Dynamic model. Key features include a 15.6-inch Android 10 based rotating touchscreen, capable of receiving over-the-air (OTA) software updates, CarPlay is available but no mention of wireless capabilities. An energy efficient heat pump, PM2.5 air filter, and all active safety assistance systems are standard on BYD Seal, as is a plethora of rather premium features.

Dynamic features:

• Battery, motor, range, acceleration and charging
  • 61.44kWh (usable) LFP Blade battery
  • 150kW/310Nm single rear mounted motor
  • 460KM WLTP range
  • 0 - 100 KM/H in 7.5s
  • 7kW single phase AC charging
  • 110kW DC charging (CCS)
• Exterior
  • 18-inch alloy rims 225/50/R18
  • LED daytime running light
  • LED headlight (low/high beams and front indicator)
  • LED tail light
  • LED sequential rear indicators
  • LED rear fog light
  • Rain sensing wipers
  • Exterior vehicle to load (V2L) adapter
  • Front parking sensors (2)
  • Rear parking sensors (4)
  • 360 degree camera with transparency mode
  • Double wishbone front suspension
  • Multi-link independent rear suspension
  • Ventilated front and rear disc brakes
  • Floating front brake caliper
  • Panoramic glass roof (fixed) with electronically adjustable sun shade
  • Electronic hidden door handles
  • Electroncially opening boot lid
  • Heated and electronically adjustable wing mirrors
  • Sound absorbing double glazed glass for windscreen and front doors
  • Privacy glass for rear door, rear quarter and rear glass
• Interior
  • 15.6-inch rotating central screen
  • 10.25-inch instrument cluster
  • 12-speaker DYNAUDIO sound system
  • FM radio
  • Apple CarPlay/Bluetooth connectivity
  • Fake leather steering wheel with mounted controls
  • Fake leather seats with 8-way electric adjustment for driver and 6-way adjustment for passenger
  • Heated and ventilated front seats
  • Wireless phone charging pad (2)
  • Automatic dual zone air-conditioning with heat pump
  • Dual front cup holders
  • PM2.5 filtration system
  • Negative ion air purifier
  • Vanity mirror for both driver and passenger with LED lighting
  • LED front reading lights
  • LED rear reading lights
  • LED luggage compartment light
  • Rear central armrest with cupholders
  • Metal door sill protectors
  • RGB ambient lighting with music rhythm function
• Safety
  • Front airbags - driver and front passenger
  • Side airbags - driver and front passenger
  • Side curtain airbags - front and rear
  • Far side airbags - driver
  • Dual stage pretensioner on front seat belts
  • Pretensioner on rear seat belts
  • Seat belt reminder
  • ISOFIX child seat restraint anchorage points
  • Electronic child lock
  • Intelligent power brake system (ABS)
  • Electronic power steering (EPS)
  • Hydraulic brake boost (HBB)
  • Hydraulic brake assist (HBA)
  • Traction control system (TCS)
  • Auto vehicle hold (AVH)
  • Automatic emergeny braking front and rear (AEB) with cross traffic detection
  • Lane departure warning (LDW)
  • Traffic sign recognition (TSR)
  • Forward collision warning (FCW)
  • Adaptive cruise control (ACC)
  • Intelligent cruie control (ICC)
  • Rear collision warning (RCW)
  • Intelligent speed limit information (ISLI)
  • Intelligent speed limit control (ISLC)
  • Lane departure prevention (LDP)
  • Emergency lane keep assist (ELK)
  • Adaptive front light (AFL)
  • Blind spot detection (BSD)
  • Front and rear cross traffic alert (FCTA/RCTA)
  • Door opening warning (DOW)
  • Driver monitoring system (DMS)

BYD Seal Premium price: $58,798 before on-road costs

Additionally, for $8,910 more, the Premium models gains a significantly larger battery, slightly more power, slightly faster charging speeds and some new shoes. There's also upgraded interior features that make this more in line with luxury offerings that are far more expensive.

Premium model adds (in addition to Dynamic):

• Battery, motor, range, acceleration and charging:
  • 82.56kWh (usable) LFP Blade battery
  • 230kW/360Nm single rear mounted motor
  • 570KM WLTP range
  • 0 - 100 KM/H in 5.9s
  • 7kW single phase AC charging (unchanged)
  • 150kW DC Charging (CCS)
• Exterior:
  • 19-inch alloy rims 235/45/R19 tyres
  • Ventilated and driled front disc brakes (rear brakes remain unchanged)
  • Fixed front brake caliper
  • Door mirror auto-tilt when reversing
  • Door mirror position with memory function
• Interior:
  • Head up display (HUD)
  • Genuine leather wrapped steering wheel
  • Genuine leather wrapped seats
  • Electronically adjustable driver seat with 12-way power adjustment
  • Driver seat memory function (seats, wing mirrors) and courtesy seating (easier ingress/egress)

BYD Seal Performance price: $68,748 before on-road costs

For another $10,000 on top the Premium, you can go for the Performance model. This fire breathing 3.8s to one hundred machine packs almost 400kW of power with AWD and intelligent torque vectoring to help put down all that power. You lose some range but that's a trade off I'm sure many are willing to look past.

Performance model adds (in addition to Premium):

• Battery, motor, range and charging:
  • 82.5kWh usable LFP Blade battery (unchanged)
  • 230kW/360Nm single rear motor + 160kW/310Nm single front motor making a combined 390kW of power and 670Nm of torque
  • 520KM WLTP range
  • 0 - 100 KM/H in 3.8s
  • 7kW single phase AC charging (unchanged)
  • 150kW DC charging (CCS) (unchanged)
• Exterior:
  • Front and rear frequency selective damping (FSD) shock absorbers
  • Electronic child lock
  • Intelligent torque adaption control (iTAC, torque vectoring)
  • Exclusive Shark Grey paintwork
• Interior:
  • Heated steering wheel
• Safety:
  • N/A

BYD Seal colour options:

Dynamic/Premium/Performance exterior paint:

• Aurora White (Standard)
• Arctic Blue ($1,500)
• Atlantis Gray ($1,500)
• Cosmos Black ($1,500)

Performance exclusive exterior paint:

• Shark Grey ($2,000)

Interior colour:

• Thaumas Black (Standard)
• Ocean Blue ($1,500)

The BYD Seal is covered by a six-year/150,000km vehicle warranty and an eight-year/160,000km battery warranty.

However, shorter specific warranties will likely apply to individual, such as the touchscreen system, suspension, and air-conditioning filters.

Servicing every 12 months/20,000km, with a free three-month/5000km initial service also needed. Unlike the Atto 3 small SUV, a "short mileage" servicing schedule is not available for owners who drive less than the 20,000KM/year requirement. This may change as more information is released.

Roadside assistance is included for 12 months only.

BYD Australia recommends servicing their electric cars can be serviced at certified service centres run by Eagers Automotive or select Mycar Tyre and Auto mechanics locations (listed here).

2023 BYD Seal servicing costs:

The direct competiton includes Hyundai Ioniq 6, Tesla Model 3 Highland and the refreshed Polestar 2. Unreleased competitors include the GWM Ora Sport, which GWM said would launch before the end of 2023.

Seal Dynamic Standard Range

Coming in at under $50K, it makes sense that BYD Seal Dynamic starts off with a 60kWh battery and 150kW motor. Even though it comes in with the least amount of power, the battery specs are still competitive with Model 3 RWD. Both the Ioniq 6 and Polestar 2 have larger batteries, more powerful motors, and of course, more money. BYD Seal Dynamic also has the slowest DC fast charging speed of them all, with a peak of just 110kW, compared to the 350kW in IONIQ 6 DYNAMIQ, 135kW in Polestar 2 and 170kW in Model 3 RWD.

BYD Seal also has the slowest AC charging speed at just 7kW compared to the competition which are all 11kW.

Seal Premium Extended Range

Moving up to the BYD Seal Premium adds a much larger - but still LFP, Blade battery. At 82.5kWh, it is now packing the most capacity, compared to the others. IONIQ 6 comes with a 74kWh pack across the board, while the Polestar and Tesla move up to 79kWh and 75kWh respectively.

DC fast charging is now slightly more competitive at 150kW, but still behind the competition. IONIQ 6 retains the lead at 350kW, but Polestar 2 and Model 3 Long Range see increases up to 205kW and 250kW respectively. LFP battery packs typically charge slower, so this is expected behaviour. Learn more about NMC vs LFP here.

IONIQ 6 and Model 3 both move to all wheel drive, leaving only the Polestar 2 and Seal Premium with single motors. Outputs are 239kW, 340kW, 220kW and 230kW respectively. However, Seal Premium is significantly down when it comes to torque, with just 360Nm compared to the IONIQ 6 (605Nm), Polestar 2 Single Motor Long Range (490Nm) and Model 3 Long Range (493Nm).

Despite the bad numbers, BYD Seal Premium is actually quicker than the Polestar 2 Single Motor Long Range, with a sprint to 100KM/H of just under six seconds, whereas the Polestar 2 takes just over six seconds!

Both the IONIQ 6 TECHNIQ AWD and Model 3 Long Range are much quicker though, at 5.1s and 4.4s respectively.

Seal AWD Performance

At the performance end of each offering, BYD turns up the notch with the Seal Performance, packing two motors which make a combined output of 390kW and 670Nm. 0 to 100KM/H sprint takes just under four seconds.

IONIQ 6 EPIQ AWD battery and motor specs remain unchanged from TECHNIQ AWD variant, which sits at 239kW and 605Nm. The sprint to 100KM/H takes a hair over five seconds and makes this the "slowest" performance car.

Polestar 2 Dual Motor Long Range keeps the same battery pack as the SMLR, but adds another motor powering the front wheels. Combined outputs are 310kW and a whopping 740Nm of torque, which is the largest among this group. The sprint to 100KM/H takes 4.5 seconds.

Model 3 Performance, like the P2 DMLR, retains the same battery pack as the long ranger, but simply ups the power, bringing 420kW and 660Nm to the table. Despite the numbers, it is the quickest straight line sprinter taking only 3.3 seconds to reach 100KM/H.

Hyundai wants you to pony up for the EPIQ AWD if you want a heat pump and battery preconditioning functions, as well as the cool new digital camera wing mirrors which replace traditional mirrors. More info here.

Polestar is no better, with some key EV and convenience features locked behind a six grand "Plus Pack". Things like a panoramic glass roof, heat pump, hands free tailgate, heated steering wheel, heated rear seats and "CleanZone" mode with air quality app are all locked away - for every grade. More info here.

Tesla and BYD both offer their respective sedans with all available features starting from the mid spec long ranger model. Tesla Model 3 (Highland) specs can be found here.