Ranked #3 car in the UK · Saloon (EV) · 45,571 units sold last year

BYD Seal

The BYD Seal is the value electric saloon - a sleekly-styled Tesla Model 3 rival from BYD, built on its Blade battery and a dedicated EV platform. Quick (especially in dual-motor form), well-equipped and keenly priced, with a genuinely premium-feeling cabin, it's one of the more convincing affordable electric saloons. Range and charging are competitive, and the strong warranty plus that durable battery chemistry make it an increasingly credible alternative to the established names.

How these figures are sourced the valuation is anchored to a researched used-market price for this model (AutoTrader median, 2023 at 30k miles). Reliability, mileage and variant data are real DVSA MOT records. Dimensions, tyre sizes and costs, servicing figures and the insurance group are segment-level estimates rather than sourced per car, and are being replaced model by model.

BYD Seal
Photo: User3204 via Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Body
Saloon (EV)
Years
2023–2026
Fuel
Electric
Efficiency
3.9 mi/kWh

typical

Insurance
Group 27

The short version

17/100

Forecourt score

Value 6 · Insurance 39 · catalogue percentiles

The BYD Seal loses value faster than most cars and is dearer to run than most. On three-year value retention it ranks better than 6% of models.

The Forecourt score blends how this car ranks against the catalogue on value retention, reliability and insurance cost (weighted 40/40/20) — the from-new ownership picture. Higher is better; running cost is not yet folded in.

Pick your version

Estimates are tuned to the version you choose.

Fuel

Electric

Power

313 ps

Drivetrain

RWD

Efficiency

3.9 mi/kWh

The volume Seal. 82.5 kWh Blade Battery LFP, 313 PS rear motor, RWD. 354mi WLTP. 150kW DC. Design — 19-inch wheels, leather, panoramic roof. The BYD challenger to Model 3.

Tell us about the one you're looking at

2023
20232026
25,755 mi
0Expected: 25,755180k
good
PoorFairGoodExcellent

Tidy and well looked-after for its age — the typical car.

Remembered as you browse other cars.

Optional — fills in the exact year and ULEZ status for your specific car. The registration isn’t stored.

Estimated market value

How we got this number — click for the breakdown, or to challenge it.

£19,700

Range £15,550£24,200

medium confidence

When new (2023)circa £45,000Age-based value£20,700Mileage adjustment+£0Condition & region+£15Market calibration+£285Forecourt price£21,000Private sale£18,400Part-exchange£16,150

The depreciation curve

How a 2023-registration BYD Seal loses value over time.

What it costs to own

Over

Based on the 2023 car with 25,755 miles you entered above — worth about £19,700 today — here is the cost of owning it for the next 5 years, at roughly 8,585 miles a year.

5-year total

£14,623

Per year

£2,925

All-in per mile

£0.34

Fuel per mile

7.7p

Depreciation£4,497
Fuel / energy£3,311
Servicing£1,765
Road tax£1,000
Insurance£4,050

Best age to buy — around 2 years

A 2-year-old example loses roughly £6,650 a year — 60% less than the £16,650 a one-year-old sheds. The steepest drop is behind it.

Uses current UK pump and home-charging prices (DESNZ weekly), typical-driver insurance and manufacturer service intervals. "Fuel per mile" is just the energy input — so an EV at ~9p and a diesel at ~22p make running-cost comparison direct. A guide; your own costs will vary.

How it compares

Where this car ranks against the 340 vehicles in our index — higher is better.

Holds its valuebetter than 6%
Cheap to insurebetter than 39%

Percentile rank across our full index. A measure is shown only where the data spreads meaningfully across the index.

Petrol, diesel, hybrid or EV?

How the available versions compare on price, running cost, and the headaches each tends to develop.

Design / Excellence

BYD's electric saloon. Excellence AWD at 530 PS undercuts Tesla Model 3 Performance significantly. Cross-shop Tesla Model 3, BMW i4 eDrive40, Hyundai Ioniq 6. Build quality of UK launch cars improving — Chinese mainstream EV manufacturers maturing fast.

New price
circa £47,000
Annual fuel / energy
£850
3-yr depreciation
50%

Watch for

  • ·Too new for clear patterns
  • ·Software/infotainment localisation issues early on
  • ·150kW DC slower than 800V Hyundai/Kia
  • ·Dealer network limited in UK

Fuel/energy costs based on this week’s UK averages (w/c 03/08/2026) · Petrol 159.9p/L, Diesel 179.2p/L, Electricity 27.0p/kWh · DESNZ

Estimated insurance

Group 27 of 50 (upper-mid — pricier to insure) · Comprehensive · 3 years NCB

Indicative annual comprehensive premiums for this car, by driver age band and risk profile. Pick the combination closest to your circumstances.

3 years
0 yearsBaseline: 3 years15+
Risk profile:

Estimated annual premium · typical, age 33-39

£810/ year

Roughly £68 per month

Typical

Average UK driver — 3 years NCB, average postcode, no recent claims.
Age bandLower riskTypicalHigher risk
Age 17-25£1,847£2,309£3,001
Age 26-32£964£1,134£1,383
Age 33-39Selected£713£810£956
Age 40-49£605£672£780
Age 50+£539£599£707

How we estimate this

Indicative annual comprehensive premium estimates. The 'Typical' figure represents an average UK driver in each age band; Lower and Higher risk show the realistic spread driven by factors UK insurers legitimately price on (postcode, occupation, claims history, NCB, voluntary excess, modifications). Based on 10,000 miles/yr, £250 voluntary excess, and the no-claims bonus selected above. Always get individual quotes before buying.

Expected annual costs

Adjust the annual mileage to match how you'll actually use the car. Insurance is what you selected above (age 33-39, typical risk, 3 yrs NCB).

8,585 mi/yr
2,000UK avg for this model: 8,58530,000

Routine service

£185

Annual main-dealer service

Major service

£210

Every 2 years, annualised

Road tax

£200

Standard rate, post year-one

Electricity

£594

3.9 mi/kWh, 27p blended

Insurance

£810

Age 33-39, group 27

Clean-air zones

ULEZ compliant
  • Electric variants are compliant with London ULEZ and all UK clean-air zones.

Based on London ULEZ standards — Birmingham, Bath, Bristol, Sheffield, Glasgow and other UK clean-air zones generally follow the same rules.

Total expected£1,999 / year

Excludes depreciation and unscheduled repairs (see next section).

Unexpected costs

What out-of-warranty repairs typically run, by mileage band. Your selected mileage is highlighted.

0-30k miles

£80

per year · low risk

30-60k miles

£240

per year · low risk

60-100k miles

£520

per year · medium risk

100k+ miles

£900

per year · high risk

Tyres

205/60 R16 · 225/50 R17 · 245/40 R18

What a full set of four will cost you (including fit and balance), and which brand each tier of buyer should pick. A typical set lasts about 24,000 miles.

Budget

£300

set of 4, fitted · £60 per tyre

Mid-range

£440

set of 4, fitted · £95 per tyre

Premium

£620

set of 4, fitted · £140 per tyre

What to fit

Optional extras worth paying for

Factory options ranked by how much of their original cost they recover at resale. Anything above 70% return tends to make money back; below 40% is paying for your own enjoyment.

OptionNew costAdded used valueReturn

Tow bar (factory-fit)

Niche, but the buyers who want one will pay for it.

£650£45069%

Parking sensors & reversing camera

Near-expected now — its absence costs more than its presence returns.

£500£30060%

Heat pump

Genuinely useful in winter; buyers increasingly look for it.

£1,000£45045%

Heated seats / cold-weather pack

£450£20044%

Faster on-board AC charger

£800£30038%

Metallic or premium paint

Almost universal — an unusual colour is the bigger resale risk.

£600£20033%

Panoramic / opening roof

£1,100£35032%

Larger alloy wheels

£700£20029%

Parts most likely to fail

Drawn from owner reports and warranty data. Filtered for relevance to 25,755 miles.

Watch now

Failure typically happens around your current mileage.

Upcoming

A known weak point — but you haven't reached its usual mileage yet.

Already due

Past its usual failure mileage. Either already fixed, or about to.

Tyres & wheelsUpcoming

Typical at 60k-100k milesCost £80-£500medium severityParts high

Recorded in 7.7% of MOT tests 60k-100k miles — from 56,049 DVSA MOT tests analysed.

BrakesWatch now

Typical at 30k-60k milesCost £150-£500medium severityParts high

Recorded in 0.8% of MOT tests 30k-60k miles — from 56,049 DVSA MOT tests analysed.

"Parts low/medium/high" indicates how easy the replacement part is to source — discontinued or specialist parts mean longer workshop time and bigger bills.

Safety rating

Euro NCAP's independent crash-test rating for the BYD Seal, from its 2023 assessment.

5/5
TEST YEAR2023
Current rating · valid to 2029

The passenger compartment of the SEAL remained stable in the frontal offset test.

Independent crash-test data from Euro NCAP. Star ratings reflect the test protocol of the year shown — newer protocols are stricter, so a 5-star from 2024 represents a higher bar than a 5-star from 2014. Euro NCAP ratings run for six years from publication; a lapsed rating means the protocol has moved on, not that the car performs any worse than it did on test.

Reliability

Not enough first-MOT data yet. This measure needs cars registered from 2020 that have reached their first MOT at three years old; too few have so far for a figure worth publishing.

Not enough first-MOT data yet — no score. A car needs 100 first MOTs from 2020 registrations onward before this can be measured.

MOT outlook

Insufficient MOT history at this car's reference age — too few tests to compute a reliable percentile.

Things owners say

  • 01The dual-motor version is seriously quick; the rear-drive is the efficiency and value pick.
  • 02The Blade LFP battery is robust and tolerates regular full charges - good for daily usability.
  • 03A genuine Model 3 rival on price and quality; BYD's dealer network is newer, so check local support.

Safety recalls

Manufacturers occasionally issue safety recalls to fix a fault free of charge. You can check whether the BYD Seal, or your exact vehicle, has any outstanding recalls on the official DVSA service.

Check on GOV.UK

Opens the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency recall checker. Choose the make, model and year of manufacture — no registration needed.

Theft risk

A general indicator from UK 2025 theft data and this car’s characteristics — not a prediction for any one vehicle.

Whole-car theft

Higher

Higher-value cars like this are relay-theft targets — keyless entry can be exploited from the driveway in under a minute.

Parts theft

Lower

As an electric car it has no catalytic converter, so the most common parts-theft vector doesn't apply.

Worth doing

  • Keep keys in a Faraday pouch and away from the front door to block relay attacks.
  • A visible steering lock is a cheap, strong deterrent on a frequently-targeted car.

Clean-air zones

Whether driving a BYD Seal into a UK clean-air zone will cost you anything. Rules use the same Euro standard across most zones — petrol from 2006 and diesel from 2015 onwards are exempt; pure electric is always exempt.

Charging zones for cars

CityAreaDaily chargeLikely outcome
LondonAll of Greater London (within the M25)£12.50
Likely exempt
Battery-electric — exempt everywhere.
BirminghamInside the A4540 Middleway£8.00
Likely exempt
Battery-electric — exempt everywhere.
BristolCity centre and part of the Portway£9.00
Likely exempt
Battery-electric — exempt everywhere.
GlasgowCity centre
Likely exempt
Battery-electric — exempt everywhere.
EdinburghCity centre
Likely exempt
Battery-electric — exempt everywhere.
AberdeenCity centre
Likely exempt
Battery-electric — exempt everywhere.
DundeeCity centre
Likely exempt
Battery-electric — exempt everywhere.

Zones that don't charge private cars

  • BathCity centre (Private cars and motorbikes are not charged).
  • BradfordOuter ring road and the Aire Valley (Private cars are not charged).
  • SheffieldInside the A61 inner ring road (Private cars are not charged).
  • Newcastle & GatesheadCity centres and the Tyne, Swing, High Level and Redheugh bridges (Private cars are not charged).
  • PortsmouthPart of the city centre (Applies to taxis, PHVs, buses, coaches and HGVs only).

Model-level guidance only. To check a specific registration, use the official gov.uk clean-air zone checker. Zone charges and boundaries are set by local councils and change over time.

EV reality check

64 kWh
Winter range
250 mi
Cold-weather realistic
DC charge 10–80%
37 min
Slower than rivals
Heat pump
Standard
Standard fit
Battery chemistry
LFP
Tolerates 100% charging, slower degradation, less cold-weather range
Cost to charge
~£17
full charge · ~£6.92/100mi

Winter range estimates assume ~5°C ambient with cabin heating; figures from manufacturer cold-weather testing where available, otherwise derived as a fraction of WLTP. DC times are manufacturer-claimed 10–80% on the headline charger; real-world sessions on UK rapids can be slower. Charging cost is a full battery at the home/blended electricity rate; public rapid charging costs more.

UK charging network

119,080 public chargers across the UK

As of 2026-04-01, the UK has 119,080 publicly available EV chargers, up 12.6% on the prior year (13,281 added in 2025). 23% of those are rapid (50 kW+) or ultra-rapid (150 kW+), so the network can support both home and on-route charging.

3-8 kW

50%

Standard

8-50 kW

27%

Standard plus

50-150 kW

12%

Rapid

150 kW+

11%

Ultra-rapid

Source: Department for Transport / Zapmap · Released 2026-05-21 · DfT statistics

Servicing & the dealer network

How well-supported BYD is across the UK — a practical read on how easy servicing, parts and warranty work will be to find.

Franchised UK dealers

~60

Limited network

New-entrant EV

Network size relative to the UK's largest (BYD is 1.3% of all franchised outlets)

A limited network — you may need to travel for main-dealer servicing, though independent specialists can often help.

For context, the UK has roughly 4,500 franchised car-dealer outlets in total, plus about 15,500 independent garages.

Approximate figures, curated from public UK industry sources (NFDA, Car Dealer Magazine). Franchised networks shrink year on year — these indicate network size, not an exact count.

Dimensions & weight

These are segment estimates, not manufacturer figures. 296 of 325 catalogued cars share one of 14 identical dimension sets, so they describe a class rather than this particular car. Sourced figures replace them model by model.

Length

4,700 mm

Width

1,840 mm

Height

1,450 mm

Kerb weight

1,900 kg

Boot

460–480 L

Battery

64 kWh

How many are still out there

How the UK BYD Seal fleet splits: taxed and on the road, parked off the road on a SORN, and gone from the register where that figure is available.

Currently registered

37,357

Currently taxed & on road

37,300

100% of all registered

SORN (off road)

57

0% of all registered

Scrapped or exported

n/a

not in this DfT extract

UK fleet trend — 2023 to 2025

+1252.9% vs 2024
4037,300

Source: DfT VEH0124 vehicle licensing statistics (year-end 2025) · Updated 29 Jul 2026

Same underpinnings

Built on the BYD e-Platform 3.0 platform

BYD's dedicated electric platform supporting Atto 3, Dolphin, Seal and Sealion. Different badges, often substantially different residuals, but broadly the same mechanicals and repair cost profile.

BYD e-Platform 3.0 · BYD

Common questions

BYD Seal, answered from the data

How much does a used BYD Seal cost?
A 2023 BYD Seal with around 25,755 miles is worth roughly £19,700 today (typical range £16,650–£22,700). Dealer forecourt prices sit higher and part-exchange offers lower; newer or lower-mileage examples cost more.
How quickly does the BYD Seal depreciate?
A new BYD Seal typically loses about 54% of its value over the first three years, then depreciates more slowly. Buying at three to five years old avoids the steepest part of the curve.
What insurance group is the BYD Seal?
The BYD Seal sits in insurance group 27 of 50 — the middle of the scale. Exact premiums depend on the trim (some versions sit a few groups higher or lower), your age, postcode and no-claims history.
What goes wrong on a used BYD Seal?
The most common age-related issues we track for the BYD Seal are: tyres & wheels (typically around 60k-100k miles, £80-£500 to put right); brakes (typically around 30k-60k miles, £150-£500 to put right). A full service history and a recent MOT with no advisories are the best protection.
What does the BYD Seal cost to run?
Expect around 3.9 miles per kWh on the Design RWD, £200 a year in road tax, about £185 for a standard annual service. The full cost-of-ownership table above breaks this down per year and per mile for the exact year and mileage you choose.
Is the BYD Seal ULEZ compliant?
The BYD Seal is pure-electric, so it is exempt from the London ULEZ charge and every other UK clean-air zone, whatever the registration year.
How many BYD Seals are on UK roads?
About 37,300 BYD Seals are currently taxed and on the road in the UK, from DfT vehicle-licensing data.

Answers are generated from this car's Forecourt data — DVSA MOT records, DfT licensing statistics and our valuation model — and update with the weekly data refresh.

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