00:00this is the byd seal udmi a chinese plug-in hybrid suv it's cheaper than the non- chinese brands
00:09we
00:09all know and better finished than most of them regardless of the price but there must be a catch
00:15right what is it let's find out i compared the byd seal udmi against the lexus rx 450h plus
00:28long names anyway channel members can watch this comparison early and without ads
01:21byd is one of those brands whose products you've probably used but didn't know about
01:25it for example as part of my in-house sustainability efforts i upcycled my 10 year old gopro to a
01:32colleague he asked for battery model because he wanted to see if replacements were available just
01:37in case if he needed one guess who was the oem battery supplier for gopro hero 4. a byd battery
01:44probably also powered one of your smartphones or tablets but the company's founder wang chuanfu
01:50had much bigger ambitions and that's how byd auto was born among other brands which today is the best
01:58selling car brand in china and successfully competes globally with tesla in europe byd offers mainly
02:06electric models the seal u model can be chosen with an electric or a plug-in hybrid drivetrain
02:12this type of drivetrain is also called dmi at byd dm stands for dual mode and yes there's also a
02:21seal
02:22without u which is an electric sedan and the seal 5 dmi which is a plug-in hybrid sedan
02:29byd is just one of byd auto's brands together with denza it has the dullest most generic design
02:35design it's like asking ai to draw a crossover models from fang chengbao and yang wang are much
02:44more interesting but we'll have to settle for this black blotch which designers tried to salvage
02:50with dots around the headlights and on the stripe running across the boot lid other than that the byd
02:56cou looks like whatever the 425 liter boot is an example of chinese thinking about cars it's different
03:07from what we're used to here in europe for example a car is a tool for a family with children
03:12so we need
03:12more space in the front for the adults less space in the back for the kids but we want a
03:17large boot to
03:18accommodate all our stuff when we take the car for a holiday in china rear seat space is important as
03:27being transported in the back seat is a sign of prestige this results in several things including
03:33less space in the front and in the boot the boot of this size would be manageable if at least
03:38it had
03:39a regular shape however here it gets tight between the wheel arches the underfloor storage compartment is
03:46just a styrofoam insert it's secured with clips to prevent removal so i immediately removed it and
03:53discovered some hybrid powertrain related components as well as additional layer of soundproofing byd has
03:59done a decent job of soundproofing the seal in some places at least more on that in a moment you
04:06can
04:07lower the floor a few centimeters and even store the cargo cover underneath it i don't think it was
04:12intentional but as long as it works i'm happy to report on it there is no opening or closing of
04:18the
04:18tailgate with gesture however there are buttons to close the tailgate and a separate one to close it
04:23and lock the car
04:27there is plenty of leg room in the rear but the headroom isn't quite as generous you can recline the
04:36backrests but that comes at the expense of boot space besides not everyone likes to travel reclined
04:43this much the floor in the middle is flat there are door pockets air conditioning vents usbc ports
04:50there are cup holders in the armrest but there is no ski hatch isofix anchor points are on the side
04:58seats in the rear and on the front passenger seat as well doors cover the sills and even go lower
05:06which
05:06is why they collect road debris but they shut very elegantly like in a german limousine back in the day
05:14when germans still made good cars
05:27the seals cockpit is impressive if someone just visited say a vw showroom where they checked out a
05:34tiguan and now they got into the byd the salesperson's main task will be not to ruin the first impression
05:43i know salespeople can ruin just about anything but if they try hard enough they might just push
05:49the customer out the door in a seal u dmi before they discover any major flaws now the build quality
05:57is impeccable there is plastic leather everywhere worthy of an audi or bmw these days soft materials
06:05a bit of fake aluminum a bit of piano black it makes the tiguan look like a dacia
06:11and then you press a button on the steering wheel and the screen rotates 90 degrees i don't know why
06:18but it does that maybe there is a chinese app somewhere that better works in portrait rather than
06:25landscape mode unfortunately android auto and apple carplay don't work in vertical mode so the display
06:31will probably remain horizontal and this is also because navigation on the test car
06:37doesn't seem to work now it's a new car probably someone forgot to activate it
06:44what did i say about ruining first impressions the driver's display is like i remember it from byd
06:51dolphin i reviewed several months ago data selected doesn't necessarily stay on the screen this isn't a
06:57deal breaker but a minor inconvenience that i'm noticing the physical buttons in the steering wheel are
07:02a plus they're easy to use for cruise control camera view and multimedia under the central display is a
07:09wireless charger capable of charging two phones at the same time unfortunately it doesn't seem to have
07:14any cooling but if necessary you can direct airflow from the vents to your phone to prevent coal air
07:20from blowing into your hand that's if the air is actually cold at any given moment with what seems to
07:29constant temperature outside the byd can't make up its mind whether it's time to heat or cool the interior
07:35so i end up consistently readjusting the temperature settings the infotainment system isn't bad which
07:42doesn't mean it couldn't be better some shortcuts are in the unlabeled pull down menu which you can
07:48customize i suggest adding something called slw to this menu that's isa or the not so intelligent speed
07:55assist which you want to disable every time you start the car if not through the shortcut it's a lot
08:00of
08:00clicking through the menu next we have the drive selector and around it a random array of switches
08:07from the right clockwise there's the automatic air conditioning mode the fan switch the windshield
08:13defroster a volume roller which i only found looking at the interior shots after i filmed them
08:18the drive mode selector the park button the electric hybrid drive mode the start button the automatic
08:26parking brake and the blind spot monitoring off switch and finally the hazard lights some of these
08:32buttons are hidden under smooth plastic and are difficult to find in an emergency for example the
08:38hazard lights this panel and the cup holders are too far back in relation to the seat the driver would
08:45have
08:45to be much taller and further back but the seat doesn't go back much further because the priority is
08:51space for the rear passengers there are also door pockets a cubby under the console with two usbc ports
08:59and a 12 volt outlet a deep storage compartment under the armrest and a small glove box there is no
09:08lumber support adjustment and the seat settings are saved via the screen the seats are too soft in my
09:14opinion and i sink into them but that's probably because this car is designed with comfort in mind
09:20more on that in a moment let's hit the road
09:38the byd seal udmi is comfortable it's not just the plush seats but also the soft suspension and the
09:45steering which is so unresponsive that the first impulse is to call an ambulance you can turn the
09:51steering wheel a few degrees left or right and the car will still go straight now you can put the
09:57steering in sport mode and then it's less unresponsive the suspension may be soft but it's unsettled by
10:06larger bumps as if there were some loose parts in it and this is a brand new car high speed
10:12cornering
10:12gives me the chills rather than the thrills i feel like if it weren't for esp if things went sideways
10:19i would not be able to regain control of the seal this car was clearly designed for sitting in beijing
10:26rush hour traffic not for speeding on winding roads the underbody sound insulation is excellent however
10:33at higher speeds on expressways wind noise from the upper part of the vehicle becomes noticeable
10:40the driver's assistance systems work well enough okay the adaptive cruise control starts slowing down a
10:45bit too early and a bit too abruptly but that can be said about some of byd's non-chinese competitors
10:55visibility is poor the chinese have yet to learn how to mount the wing mirrors a bit further from the
11:01body so they do not make the a pillar blind spot bigger when approaching a pedestrian crossing or junctions
11:07you really have to move your head around because there could be people or even vehicles hiding there
11:13rear visibility is also bad the rear window is small high and at an angle as a result you can
11:19be
11:19oblivious to a car following you and not just an mx5 which can drive under your average crossover these
11:24days but even a regular hatchback
11:30and what about the plug-in hybrid business well it's made up of a 1.5 liter petrol engine and
11:36an electric
11:36motor depending on the version the total output is 215 or 320 horsepower byd offers the seal udmi in
11:45three variants there's the entry level boost the mid-range comfort and the top of the line design
11:50boost and comfort are front wheel drive while the design is all-wheel drive boost and design have
11:56smaller 18.3 kilowatt hour batteries while the comfort has 26.6 kilowatt hour battery which gives it
12:03the longest zero emissions range of 125 kilometers boost and design have a range of 80 and 70 kilometers
12:10respectively this is the 320 horsepower design variant claimed zero to 100 kilometers per hour time
12:20is 5.9 seconds which is almost what i got in sport mode the road was slightly damp so perhaps
12:27it would be
12:29possible to shave the missing fraction of a second under ideal conditions while testing acceleration
12:34i also found out the brakes aren't up to scratch but as i mentioned earlier byd seal udmi was probably
12:40designed to crawl in traffic like in most ph evs impressive acceleration numbers are a byproduct of
12:47combined power of the two power trains
12:55the 70 kilometers electric range is achievable especially in city driving now it may seem like
13:01an average result for a ph ev of this size however the front wheel drive comfort variant has a claimed
13:07electric range similar to that offered by vw in the current generation tiguan e hybrid
13:14pressing the accelerator pedal harder or depleting the traction battery means the car goes into
13:20regular hybrid mode in this case the cu udmi consumes approximately six seven liters of petrol per
13:27100 kilometers the lfp traction battery can be charged with ac power at up to 11 kilowatts but
13:33since there is an electric only version of this car the manufacturer also included a ccs port which
13:39can be used to charge the battery using dc power from 30 to 80 percent in 35 minutes at 18
13:44kilowatts
13:45similar to ph evs offered for example by mitsubishi the internal combustion engine also serves as an
13:50energy generator and does not directly drive the wheels theoretically this means greater efficiency but
13:56from the driver's perspective the engine sometimes winds more sometimes less and it doesn't correspond
14:03with speed or acceleration
14:13and last but not least my diagonal approach test i stop halfway up the incline with the wheels on the
14:19diagonal with limited traction and then i try to get going again it's dry but the soil under the rear
14:25right wheel is loose in normal mode the byd seal handled it without a problem
14:32with esp off getting halfway up proved problematic but once the car settled it went smoothly from there
15:04in snow mode there's a momentary stronger wheel spin but the system quickly detects wheels
15:09wheels with limited traction
15:17the same in sand mode
15:28and finally mud mode here too the initial climb is problematic with the most wheel spin probably
15:36to clear tires of the mud but in the end the car manages to get up
15:46prices of the byd seal udmi started 39 990 euro for the boost variant the only difference between the
15:54three variants is the traction battery or whether the car is only front wheel drive or all-wheel drive
15:59the only option is paint which costs 1100 euro gray is standard this test car is the design trim
16:07and with black paint it costs a total of 47 000 and 90 euro this is more or less what
16:13the cheapest
16:14ph ev tiguan costs and you'd have to add 10 grand worth of options to match seals level of kit
16:22byd seal udmi is yet another chinese vehicle which makes a very good first impression and will probably
16:30satisfy 80 percent of the prospective buyers but the devil is in the details assuming i have zero
16:36expectations as far as handling is concerned i'd risk leasing one for a couple of years with zero down
16:41payment and low installments and how about you do you care about handling let me know in the comment
16:47section below if you like my sarcastic down-to-earth and possibly mildly amusing car reviews join me
16:56every friday at 3 pm central european time and don't forget to subscribe and like this video
17:02as it helps me with the youtube algorithm thanks for watching and i will see you in the next one
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