BYD Ireland has launched its third model for the Irish market, the sleek all-electric Seal saloon.
Prices start from €44,036 (including all grants) for the entry-level Design version and rise to €49,836 for the Excellence version. BYD admitted that there is also the potential for a more affordable base model, which could be priced from as little as €40,000, but that is not yet fully confirmed.
Rear-drive Design version
The Design version gets a single rear-mounted, rear-wheel drive electric motor with 312hp and 360Nm of torque. It can accelerate from 0-100km/h in 5.9 seconds and has an 82.5kWh lithium-iron-phosphate battery (LFP), providing a maximum claimed range of 570km. You can charge the Seal at up to 150kW from a high-speed public DC charging point, or at 11kW on AC power.
Long-lived battery
That LFP battery is reckoned to be more robust than a conventional lithium-ion battery, and BYD has claimed that it can go through as many as 5,000 full charge and discharge cycles. As well as a six-year, 150,000km vehicle warranty, BYD offers an eight-year, 200,000km battery warranty.
High-performance Excellence model
Standard specification for the Design version includes 19-inch alloy wheels, a panoramic glass roof, 'vegan leather' upholstery, adaptive cruise control, a 360-degree parking camera, a 15.6-inch central touchscreen (which can be rotated as you please from portrait to landscape layouts and back again), a separate driver's instrument display, and a 12-speaker Dynaudio sound system.
Upgrading to the Exellence model gets you an extra electric motor, four-wheel drive, 530hp, 670Nm of torque and blistering 3.8 seconds 0-100km/h acceleration. Using the same battery, the Excellence gets slightly less range, topping out at 520km. Extra equipment includes a head-up display projected onto the windscreen, variable frequency suspension dampers, and a clever traction control system - called iTAC - which is said to respond in as little as 10 milliseconds, which is significantly faster than many rival setups.
BYD currently has five dealers in Ireland - Dublin North, Dublin South, Cork, Wexford, and Waterford.