Should you buy one?

Yes. The BYD Seal 6 DM-i is an interesting addition to the plug-in hybrid estate market. Its material quality and driving experience can’t match up to its European rivals, but its bargain price tag, generous standard equipment and cavernous passenger space compensate for those shortcomings admirably.

I also rather like BYD’s hybrid system. I found it refreshing to drive a PHEV that didn’t feel compromised after the first 40 miles. The fact it consumes its battery power gradually rather than in one hit makes far greater sense to me – and I’d wager the Seal 6 gets higher real-world average fuel economy figures than its rivals as a result. I’m looking forward to conducting a proper fuel economy test when it reaches UK shores later this year.

The biggest issue I have with the car is the way it rides. The Seal 6 a little too stiff for my liking – and I can see it being a chore to drive down rutted British B-roads as a result. It also isn’t that fun to drive quickly, but that’s a fault shared amongst most of the cars in its class. The 3-Series estate is about the only car in this segment that doesn’t feel sterile.

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Ultimately, deciding whether the Seal 6 Touring is right for you will hinge on how often you need to carry things. Rivals like the Passat and Octavia are far more spacious, but you pay a lot more for the extra hundred-odd litres of boot capacity they provide.

If you spend your weekends carting bulky furniture home from your local antiques dealer, you’ll find the Seal 6’s rivals easier to live with. But if all you need is a bit of extra space for the annual family holiday, you’ll get on perfectly well with this BYD – and you’ll be saving a load of money in the process. European brands have good reason to be worried.

What’s new?

BYD has only been in Europe for a few years, but it’s quickly launched an expansive line-up of affordable, generously equipped family EVs. In fact, it already has most major vehicle segments covered with cars such as the Atto 3 SUV, Dolphin hatchback and Seal saloon.

That rapid assault has paid dividends. BYD was the fastest-growing car manufacturer in the UK in 2024, increasing its market share from almost nothing to just under one percent in only 12 months. That’s impressive. But the brand wants more.

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BYD has been watching trends closely enough to understand that electric cars aren’t for everyone. So, at a time when its rivals are stepping away from combustion power, it took the bold decision to expand into the PHEV market. This strategy started with the Seal U in 2024 and is now being developed with this – the new Seal 6 DM-i Touring.

The car is targeting the same audience as the BMW 330e Touring and Volkswagen Passat PHEV, just at a fraction of the cost. When the Seal 6 estate reaches UK showrooms later this year, it’ll cost between £34,000 and £35,000, making it around £10,000 cheaper than either of those rivals.

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That’s a significant saving. But is the car good enough to convince 330e and Passat buyers to take a gamble on? Scroll down to find out. Alternatively, if you’d like to learn more about how we reached our verdict on the Seal 6, check out our how we test cars explainer page.

What’s it like inside?

BYD has changed tack with the Seal 6 DM-i’s interior. In a first for any of its European cars, its infotainment system is fixed in place rather than mounted on a revolving stand.

That means this BYD has lost one of the company’s unique selling points, although I reckon this new infotainment setup makes better sense. It’s one less thing to break in the cabin and it’s more convenient to use more of the time as BYD’s revolving screens aren’t compatible with Apple CarPlay or Android Auto when they’re in portrait mode.

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If you’re a technophile that’s disappointed by the new infotainment screen, don’t fret. BYD has compensated for the loss elsewhere. Take the Seal 6’s wireless charger. It has a built-in cooling vent that helps stop your phone from boiling over when charging – and it works well. I left my phone on it all day and it didn’t overheat once.

Rear legroom is incredible for a C-segment car. Even with a tall driver ahead, I had a good four inches of space between my knees and the front seat back. Plus, foot space is equally generous as BYD packaged the Seal’s platform well enough to not need an exhaust hump in the centre of the cabin. You normally need to buy an EV for this luxury.

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You can’t have it all, though. This generous rear passenger space comes at the expense of luggage capacity. There are 500 litres with the rear seats in place which, while that’s not terrible, is a whopping 140 litres less than the Skoda Octavia estate and 190 litres less than the Volkswagen Passat.

BYD hasn’t quite dialled in its driver assistance technology, either. The Seal 6’s lane assist system will protest if you so much as breathe on the white lines (tricky on a twisty B-road), while its traffic sign recognition system chimes every time the limit changes. That makes it quite an annoying car to drive through town.

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But the Seal 6’s driver monitoring system is the worst part of the experience. There’s a camera on the A-pillar that tracks your eyes to make sure you’re paying attention to the road – and it scorned me no less than five times in my first kilometre for offences such as checking my mirrors, reading navigation instructions off the touchscreen and scratching my head. Further calibration is certainly needed here.

BYD Seal 6 DM-i engines

The Seal 6 DM-i is powered by BYD’s ‘Super Hybrid’ system. It blends the brand’s own 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with a pair of electric motors. It’s available with two different battery packs and two different power outputs, depending on the specification.

The entry-level Boost model has a 10kWh battery pack, an electric-only driving range of 34 miles and a combined output of 184hp. More expensive Comfort Lite and Comfort models have larger 19kWh batteries, longer 65-mile EV driving ranges and outputs of 212hp. So far, I’ve only sampled the punchier powertrain.

On paper, the Seal 6’s stats look decidedly average for a PHEV. The plug-in hybrid versions of the Skoda Superb and Volkswagen Passat both have official electric ranges of 82 miles, for example. However, BYD insists its powertrain has an edge over its rivals on long journeys because it uses its electric power more frugally.

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Rather than blowing all its battery power in one go at the start of your drive, the Seal 6 rations out its electric power throughout your journey. That means the motors spend more time supporting the petrol engine and you spend less time dragging around the dead weight of an empty hybrid system.

That results in good average fuel economy. Without really trying, I achieved more than 50mpg on a mixture of French A and B-roads, making the Seal 6 quite a tempting option for diesel drivers who are being forced to adopt electrification. In theory, the Seal 6’s 65-litre tank and 65-mile EV range should provide a total driving range of almost 800 miles.

What’s it like to drive?

It drives quite well, but BYD has made a few oversights that could push potential buyers back towards time-honoured European manufacturers. My biggest issue with the Seal 6 is that its ride is ever-so slightly too firm.

It isn’t firm enough to be painful, but it’s certainly enough to be irritating. It simply doesn’t breathe with the road as easily as a Skoda Octavia, bobbling over bumps rather than smoothing them out. That makes it quite tiring to drive on a country lane as the suspension is constantly jogging you around in your seat.

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The trade-off for this firmness is that the Seal 6’s body stays quite flat when you hurl it at a corner. The trouble is, I never found myself wanting to do that. Its steering system is too numb to encourage you to explore the car’s cornering performance.

Mercifully, the Seal 6 settles down into a refined cruise once you steer off the B-roads and onto a motorway. Providing the road surface is reasonably well maintained, it offers an easy means of covering frankly ridiculous distances.

The cabin is remarkably quiet for a combustion-powered car. Road and wind noise are stifled admirably and, because the Seal 6’s electric motors are powerful enough to move the car around on their own at motorway speeds, the engine spends most of its time barely ticking over in the background.

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Plus, the efficiency of the hybrid system means you won’t be constantly turning off the motorway to hunt for cheap petrol on longer drives. In fact, you should be able to get from London to Edinburgh and most of way back before needing to stop for fuel.

The powertrain isn’t perfect, though. When you do need a burst of performance, it takes forever to switch from electric to hybrid mode. It almost feels like old school turbo lag. Mash your right foot into the carpet and you’re met with a two second delay before engine meshes with the motors and the car lurches forwards. But, by that point, the gap you were trying to exploit has normally closed.

What models and trims are available?

The BYD Seal 6 DM-i Touring is available in three specifications, called Boost, Comfort Lite and Comfort – and all of them are well equipped.

The cheapest Boost model will only set you back around £34,000, but it comes as standard with 17-inch alloys, LED headlights, a 12.8-inch infotainment system, rear parking sensors, electrically adjustable front seats and even vehicle-to-load, meaning you can use the battery to power external appliances.

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The top-spec Comfort variant will cost around £38,000 – and it’s here where I think the Seal 6 makes the most sense. Standard kit includes a 15.6-inch touchscreen, a panoramic sunroof, a punchy 50W wireless phone charger, an automatic tailgate and loads of driver assistance technology, for £6,000 less than the cheapest Passat. That’s incredible value.

You can also have the Seal 6 DM-i as a saloon, which I’ll cover in a separate review.

Now click through to our verdict page to consult our star ratings and read a breakdown of the Seal 6 DM-i Touring’s key strengths and weaknesses.