BYD Seal 6 DM-i saloon (2025 – ) review

Setting aside the limitations of the saloon configuration the Seal 6 DM-i looks cracking value for money, both in terms of purchase and running costs. All versions are priced under the ‘expensive car’ rate for VED (aka ‘road tax’), which is a helpful chunk off your monthly costs whether you’re running it on finance or as part of your leasing package and the clever hybrid system means it can go over 800 miles without needing to plug it in or fill it up with fuel. No, we’re not quite sure how it manages that either but it’ll help with your costs, especially if you’re one of the high-mileage company drivers still pounding the motorways in a traditional mid-size saloon of this sort. If that’s you the low Benefit In Kind costs will also be attractive, even if they can’t quite match those of the fully electric Seal with which this car shares its name but (confusingly) absolutely nothing else.

BYD might be a new kid on the block here but the Seal U SUV powered by the same hybrid technology is well-proven in other markets. A six-year warranty is, meanwhile, welcome reassurance for buyers likely taking their first punt with BYD, and will also outlast most first ownerships, finance terms or leases.

Once again, we’re conflicted by the range of safety technology … and concerns about whether it’s help or hindrance. On the plus side there are sensors and gizmos to stop you crashing into things, drifting out of lane, falling asleep or spending too much time looking at the screen. Which is worthy. But constant bongs and alerts are useless if you don’t know what they’re warning you about, and the ongoing cacophony is infuriating. You can at least turn the worst of them off via an easy swipe-down shortcut menu. But there are still some concerns, like the fact manual control of the headlights is buried in a touch-screen menu, and taking your eyes off the road to operate them scores you yet another scolding from the alarms. And don’t you DARE yawn…

Like the Touring version the Seal 6 saloon benefits from being closer to the ground than an SUV, though remains somewhat wallowy and soft in its responses. Better to just sit back and chill, and once out of town the ride and refinement are actually pretty decent, helped by the fact it defaults to smooth and silent electric power most of the time. Practically speaking top-spec Comfort models like the ones we drove get power adjustment, heating and ventilation for the driver and passenger, though if there was lumbar adjustment we couldn’t find it, which might be an issue on long journeys given how long the Seal can go between fills. Legroom in the back is generous, the flat floor meaning Piggy-in-the-middle gets somewhere to put their feet as well. Headroom in the back the saloon is limited compared with the Touring, though, and access to the boot is also significantly restricted by the narrow, slot-like opening. Honestly, we struggle to find a good reason you’d pick it over the estate when all’s said and done.

With design about as snazzy as an early-2000s Kia and the pervading waft of cheap plastics the Seal 6’s cabin makes the Skoda Octavia you might also be considering feel like a Rolls-Royce in comparison. You don’t even get the signature rotating screen seen on other BYDs. Kit is still decent, though, even the entry-level Boost getting all the safety gizmos (including the genuinely useful stuff like blind spot alerts) and ‘vehicle to load’ where you can plug a domestic socket into the charge port and run a hoover, hedge clippers, air frier or whatever you fancy. For the bigger battery, extra electric range and additional goodies like wireless device charging, ambient lighting and more the Comfort versions look a no-brainer, the top model getting an even bigger central screen. Which makes the tiny fonts and fiddly menus even more frustrating, the squint required to use them likely scoring you another round of angry bonging from the face-scanning driver distraction warning system. On the plus side you can at least connect your phone and run your apps via CarPlay or Android Auto for a more familiar and user-friendly interface.

The hybrid system powering the Seal 6 DM-i is technically baffling but, thankfully, much easier to live with. Just select ‘D’ from the steering column gear selector and go, the Seal basically driving like an electric car that just happens to have an onboard petrol generator for charging the battery when needed. Meaning it can go a claimed 800 miles or so before you need to fill it up or plug it in. Acceleration is smooth and quiet, unless you really stamp on the throttle and wake the petrol engine up. The disconnect between the noise it makes and forward progress is a bit weird but, for the most part, it’s quiet enough for you not to notice when it’s humming away. There are two versions available, the cheaper Boost with a smaller battery with slightly less power while the Comfort models go the distance with nearly double the electric range (a smidge over 60 miles, best case) and a little more to play with under your right foot. Neither is exactly fast but the performance is plenty for a car of this type and delivered smoothly, quietly and with the minimum of fuss. Most of the time.