BYD Seal 6 2026 review | Not quite there yet

What is the BYD Seal 6 DM-i?

The BYD Seal 6 DM-i is a plug-in hybrid saloon and estate (the latter known as the BYD Seal 6 DM-i Touring) positioned to compete in the mainstream family car segment. Direct competitors include the Skoda Superb, Volkswagen Passat and Cupra Leon, all of which offer plug-in hybrid powertrains in similar body styles.

The Seal 6 DM-i is available in two trim levels: Boost and Comfort. Both use a 1.5-litre petrol engine paired with BYD's blade battery technology in two capacities. The entry-level Boost features a 10.1kWh battery delivering up to 34 miles of electric range, while the Comfort model receives an 18.3kWh battery, extending range to 65 miles. The Comfort trim also benefits from additional power, reducing the 0-62mph time from 8.9 seconds to 8.5 seconds.

Pricing starts at under £35,000 for the Boost saloon, with the Comfort model commanding a premium of £3,000 for its extra battery capacity, power, and equipment. Whatever way you cut it, these figures position the Seal 6 DM-i significantly below its European rivals.

All Seal 6 DM-i models come exclusively with front-wheel drive and an automatic gearbox. No all-wheel-drive option is available.

How practical is it?

Boot capacity measures 500 litres in the Seal 6 Touring estate (when measured to the height of the parcel shelf), which is a decent amount of space, if still a long way off what you'll find in a Skoda Superb (the Skoda gets 690 litres). As an estate, the Seal 6's boot benefits from a low loading lip, plus BYD fits a powered tailgate as standard. There is some underfloor storage, although not enough to house the charging cable bags, which is a shame.

As a saloon, the Seal 6 offers 491 litres of boot space, although misses out on the powered tailgate.

There's generous space for rear-seat passengers, with enough legroom even for tall adults, although headroom falls slightly short of a Skoda Superb or VW Passat. The centre rear armrest and split-folding seats with through-loading capability add useful flexibility when loading and carrying longer items.

Front seat occupants are treated to electrically adjustable seats across the range, as well as a good amount steering wheel adjustment. Some drivers might wish the seat would drop a bit lower, but it's not a dealbreaker.

As you'd expect, there's a good number of storage spaces throughout the cabin that includes the typical array of cupholders and a tray to stow your phone (in Comfort models this includes a wireless charging pad).

What's it like to drive?

On paper, the performance figures for the Seal 6 look perfectly fine. In the 181bhp Boost model, getting from 0-62mph takes 8.9 seconds, while in the 209bhp Comfort it's 8.5 seconds on account of its extra power. And if you take things gently and make the most of the electric motor, the Seal 6 will move you around agreeably enough. However, if you put your foot to the floor, it takes an age for anything to happen in response. It's as if the petrol engine, the gearbox and the electric motor have called a meeting to discuss whether they all want to try their hardest at the same time.

The ride quality also disappoints. Despite wearing small 17-inch wheels, the Seal 6's suspension never settles. Regardless of what speed you're travelling at, the ride is fidgety, lumpy, and overall just quite cumbersome. To make matters worse, the body control is also poor, so the car lurches around as you change direction.

The steering offers adequate but uninspiring feedback, pointing the car accurately without providing much of a feeling of connection to the road surface. The front-wheel-drive layout gives predictable enough handling for family car duties, though.

Various drive modes and hybrid settings allow some customisation of the powertrain behaviour, but it's never anything better than OK.

Really rounding off the underwhelming driving experience are an overly sensitive driver attention warning system that berates you even when you're looking at the road, and a digital dial setup that looks more like a tablet than something that's been designed to be readable when travelling at 70mph.

Much of this seems like stuff that can be rectified as part of a midlife facelift, but it's hard to think that the Seal 6 wouldn't be quite irritating to live with in its current form.

Technology, equipment & infotainment

In its entry-level Boost trim, the Seal 6 DM-i includes parking sensors, a reversing camera, adaptive cruise control, a 12.3-inch touchscreen, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, vegan leather upholstery, and 17-inch alloy wheels. It's a generous list, although the lack of heated seats seems like a strange omission. In the Boost, charging is limited to 3.3kW, although the small 10.1kWh battery still charges fully in approximately 3 hours.

Comfort adds a panoramic sunroof, a larger 15.6-inch touchscreen, extended electric range (65 miles vs 34 miles), additional power, upgraded 6.6kW AC charging for a full charge in around 2.5 hours despite the larger 18.3kWh battery, and DC rapid charging capability up to 26kW for an 80% charge in approximately 30 minutes.

For us, the £3,000 price difference between trims seems like a price worth paying, because the Comfort's extra features are things that you'll benefit from on a regular basis.

The infotainment system features attractive graphics and responds adequately to inputs. However, it is far too complex to use anything but the most basic functions on the move, and many of the icons are frustratingly small, even for things like setting the climate control.

Build quality and the interior materials feel appropriate for the price point. It's not as nice inside as a Passat or a Superb, but nor does it feel cheap. Our test car had a rather strange smell coming from the ventilation system, but we're prepared to accept that was probably a one-off, and isn't something we've noticed in any other BYD test vehicles.

As we've noted with other BYD models (and it's not alone here, either), the process of deactivating the often overly sensitive driver assistance features like lane-keep assist and speed limit warnings is far too convoluted, requiring multiple presses through menus. Again, it's something that could easily be addressed as part of a facelift or software update.

BYD Seal 6 DM-i running costs

Real-world electric range expectations sit at around 25 miles for the Boost model and approximately 50 miles for the Comfort trim, so if you can make the most of cheap charging, then the Seal 6 can be very affordable to run.

Fuel economy will depend heavily on how often you charge. Drivers managing mostly electric running will achieve excellent results, but if that's not you then you can expect to be working the 1.5-litre petrol engine pretty hard. Fuel economy of around 40mpg isn't unrealistic.

Here's the point though: while rivals like the Skoda Superb PHEV might have longer EV ranges, they also cost considerably more to buy than the the Seal 6 DM-i. To the point where, if you're buying on price alone, the Seal 6 is impossible to ignore.

BYD Seal 6 DM-i reliability

The Seal 6 DM-i is too new for meaningful reliability data to be available. Equally, BYD as a brand remains relatively unproven in the UK market despite its rapid expansion, although the company's extensive experience manufacturing batteries and electric powertrains in China is encouraging.

As is the fact that BYD provides a six-year/93,750-mile new-vehicle warranty, which is a long way ahead of the standard three-year/60,000-mile coverage offered by Skoda and VW. As with most brands, the battery warranty extends to eight years for additional peace of mind.

The rapid expansion of BYD's UK dealer network should also be a source of encouragement for buyers.