BYD (Build Your Dreams), China’s EV-only brand, is planning to showcase its new Sealed sedan for the first time in India at the Auto Expo. The BYD Sealed is the brand’s answer to the popular Tesla Model 3 in markets like Europe and China, and it’s a born electric sedan.
The Sealed is 4,800mm long, 1875mm wide and 1460mm tall, making it 106mm longer, 58mm narrower and 17mm taller than the Model 3. The Tesla’s wheelbase measures 2875mm, which is 45mm shorter than the Seal’s 2,920mm.
In terms of design, the SEAL takes cues from the Ocean X concept from 2021 and follows BYD’s ‘Ocean Aesthetics’ design language. It also continues the ocean-themed nomenclature across BYD’s EV range, like the dolphin. The Sealed gets radical details like a coupe-like all-glass roof, flush-fitting door handles, four boomerang-shaped LED daytime running lights, split headlamp design and a full-width LED light bar at the rear.
Like the Atto 3 and e6, the BYD Seal gets a rotating, 15.6-inch infotainment display in the center console, with the driver getting a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster and head-up display. The floating touchscreen is flanked by central AC vents with a drive selector and scroll wheel at the bottom to select different drive modes. The center console also houses basic controls for functions such as the heated windscreen and volume controls for the audio system, as well as two wireless charging pads.
The Sealed uses BYD’s Blade battery technology, which will be seen in EVs in India and abroad. The Sealed is based on BYD’s e-Platform 3.0 and comes with two battery packs – a 61.4kWh unit and an 82.5kWh unit. The former has a range of 550 km on the China Light-Duty Vehicle Test Cycle (CLTC-Cycle), while the latter has a range of 700 km on the same. The smaller battery can be charged at rates of up to 110kW, while the latter is capable of speeds of up to 150kW.
The sedan also gets a choice of single-motor and dual-motor powertrains, and while the single motor can be paired to either battery, the latter can only be mated to the larger battery. The rear-wheel drive, single-motor equipped Seal produces 204hp, and with the smaller battery it’s capable of a 0-100kph time of 5.7sec (claimed). The set-up along with the bigger battery produces 312hp and is capable of a 0-100kph time of 5.9sec (claimed).
The dual-motor variant gets an all-wheel drive set-up, where the front-mounted motor produces 218hp and the rear produces 312hp. Combined, they produce 530hp and are capable of a claimed 0-100kph time of 3.8sec. With this set-up the 82.5kWh battery is capable of a range of 650km (CLTC-cycle).