BYD Seal brings structural battery, pre-orders start - here are the prices and specs

Ivan, 26 May 2022

BYD's Seal is now up for pre-order in China. The Tesla 3-competitor comes in four configurations, three of which are rear-wheel-drive, and the range-topping one an all-wheel-drive.

Here's a quick breakdown of the prices, after government subsidies are deducted. For comparison's sake, the Tesla Model 3's RWD starts at CNY 279,900.

	Price (post-subsidy)	Power	CLTC range
Standard Range, RWD Elite	CNY 212,800 (€29,500, converted)	150 kW (200 hp)	550 km (342 miles)
Standard Range, RWD Premium	CNY 225,800 (€31,300, converted)	150 kW (200 hp)	550 km (342 miles)
Long Range, RDW	CNY 262,800 (€36,450, converted)	230 kW (308 hp)	700 km (435 miles)
Long Range AWD Performance	CNY 289,800 (€40,200, converted)	390 kW (522 hp)	650 km (404 miles)

We've already seen the BYD Seal. It's undoubtedly an attractive car. It measures 4,980 mm (196") long, 1,910 mm (75.1") wide, and 1,495 mm (58.8") tall. Its wheelbase is 2,920 mm (114.9"), making it bigger than the Model 3 in all directions.

BYD Seal

BYD has reportedly received some 22 thousand pre-orders in just 7 hours after starting the campaign. Deliveries are expected to begin within several months.

The Seal premiers BYD's CTB (cell-to-body) tech. It embeds the battery into the car's frame, making for better structural safety, and increased torsional stiffness (BYD claims over 40,000 nm). The carmaker says that placing the battery in the frame allows for better pack volume utilization by 66%. BYD put its money where its mouth is in this crash test video.