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Thanks Maniprakash!

Few points I would like to discuss here as a fellow owner.

1]Charging

Quote:

Originally Posted by ManiPrakash (Post 5831156)

Charging:

- Home Charging: I’ve been primarily using a slow home charger installed in my parking slot. Although my society didn’t allow a fast charger, the slow charger adding 3 kWh/hour has been sufficient. I usually plug in the car as soon as I get home, so the slower pace hasn’t been an issue.

- Commercial Chargers: When I’ve needed a quick charge, commercial chargers have been a game-changer. Gurgaon’s Cyber City area is well-equipped with 120 kW chargers, fully charging the vehicle from 10/20% to 100% in about 30-40 minutes.

Kudos for your patience with handling a 3kw charger for that massive 82.5 kwh battery!clap:

Is there a regular charging frequency you follow and until what SOC do you you charge? I generally follow a 40% to 60% during everyday city driving(i.e charge when battery level hits 40% until 60% SOC).Atleast Im using the 7kw charger provided by the dealer, which works well so far.

Also IMO, regular fast charging isn't good for the Battery longevity, although BYD says their batteries can handle it.Feel free to correct me if Im wrong.I would use it only during the long hauls when I need to recharge to that 100% quick or gain some extra range at a pitstop. In the cities with providers like Statiq and Rebolt, standard 7 kw chargers are available at multiple locations around all big metros and even free at Ikea, so take advantage of that if possible. Just my suggestion but whatever works best for you end of the day.



2]Gadgetry and features

Quote:

Originally Posted by ManiPrakash (Post 5831156)

Gadgetry and Features:

- Continuous Improvement: With each update, the car keeps getting better. The latest update introduced gesture controls for the AC, which means no more fiddling with the touchscreen—just swipe three fingers to adjust the fan speed and the temperature.

You mentioned about various updates. So I had asked this question earlier and was told by few other members here to take it to the service centre to get the update. So just want to cross check, have you been doing that or is the OTA update possible? BTW are you done with the first 3 month service already? Mine is due shortly.



3]Range

Quote:

Originally Posted by ManiPrakash (Post 5831156)

Range:

- City Driving: Range is, of course, a major concern with EVs, and the Seal doesn’t disappoint. While BYD claims 650 km on a full charge, my real-world experience has been between 590 km and 694 km, especially in city driving where regenerative braking boosts the range. This makes the Seal an excellent choice for daily commutes.

- Highway Driving: On the highway, the range naturally drops. On my Gurgaon to Jaipur trip, I managed 510 km on a full charge. I used a mix of driving modes—85% in Standard, 5% in Sports, and 10% in Eco Mode when the battery dipped below 10%. I started with a full charge and returned home with 3% left after covering 536 km, including a quick 5% top-up during a break. Thus using 102% battery (100%-3%+5%) i.e. 84.15 KwH.

This highlights the importance of planning for highway trips, as the real-world range is lower than the claimed figures due to less braking and regenerative opportunities. I cruised at 115 KMPH, with car being driven without braking for 50+ kms on most stretches.


It's brilliant that you are able to churn out ~590 - 694 kms range in the city out of that battery:thumbs up. My city range has averaged from ~458.33 - 550 kms so far. I generally set it to Eco mode and "High" Regen mode for city driving. Tell me if you you have configured any specific settings for such economical driving. Im sure there are other factors that could be leading to this significant variation in our ranges, such as different traffic, road, topography and weather conditions in 2 different cities (Gurgaon vs Bangalore).Our Individual driving styles might differ as well.

Surprisingly my highway efficiency is higher, although I haven't done a long haul trip like you yet on the seal( max ~100 km one way trip), the efficiency is generally ~550 to 660 kms.I was able to get 660 kms by keeping my speed within the 90kmph coasting at a constant speed in eco mode.So its strange your highway range dropped so much compared to your city driving.I would assume higher speeds could be the culprit.

This is somewhere we need a reconciliation. Also curious if you estimated the actual range by driving the car in single charge from 100% to almost 0 SOC?
I have based my estimate on the average efficiency for the last 50 kms, displayed on the instrument cluster (eg:16kwh/100 km) and then extrapolating it. Hence, simply dividing the 82.5 kwh(battery size) by the average efficiency and multiplied by 100 gives us the range [Range = battery size/average kwh consumed per 100 km * 100]

Guess to make a better comparison of the efficiency this avg efficiency metric would be more useful.

So my average efficiency metrics are as follows

Best - 12.5 kwh/100 kms (efficient highway coasting at reasonable speeds and ECO mode with controlled acceleration)
Average - ~15 to 16.5 kwh/100 kms ( High speed driving and frequent acceleration on highways in sport mode and regular city driving)
Worst - ~18 to 20 kwh/100 kms (City driving in Standard Regen & sport mode and AC working in full power with erratic acceleration)

BYD Seal Review-seal_effeciency.jpg



Hope to get more thoughts from you on these points.Thanks in Advance!:)

Cheers!

Quote:

Originally Posted by MightyHorse1188 (Post 5831550)
Thanks Maniprakash!

Few points I would like to discuss here as a fellow owner.

Hi MightyHorse,

Charging: Yes 3KwH charger is very slow and needs a lot of patience. But since I don't juice it up from 0 to 100 and use periodic charging, it hasn't been a problem to far.

I usually follow 70 to 100 Charging cycle. I put the car on charge when it drops below 70%, put it on overnight charging and the car is at 100% till the time i have to leave for office in the morning.

I try to avoid DC chargers as much, so i prefer charging at home or relatively slow AC public chargers. But be rest assured, the battery tech offered by BYD is best in class and wont pose any issue irrespective of the way you charge.

Gadgetry:

The BYD guys updated the software when i visited the showroom to get my HSRP fixed. haven't tried it myself.
My 3 months service is still due. I am still 4 days away from completing exact 3 months.

Range: I mostly drive on ECO and Regen set to High. The traffic in Gurgaon isnt stuck at a place for long unlike Bangalore (I have lived in BLR for 3 yrs), its crawling, so probably regen is more active in this case, hence the range.

Regarding calculation of range or consumption using the last 50Kms method shown on your screen, it's irrelevant. I have read across several other threads and through user reviews from other countries, it's the most irrelevant info shown on the instrument cluster. You may ignore it.

Follow the Full to SOC left and determine the range using KMs driven using SOC consumed.

Hope I answered your queries.
Cheers!

Quote:

Originally Posted by ManiPrakash (Post 5831893)
Hi MightyHorse,

Charging: Yes 3KwH charger is very slow and needs a lot of patience. But since I don't juice it up from 0 to 100 and use periodic charging, it hasn't been a problem to far.

I usually follow 70 to 100 Charging cycle. I put the car on charge when it drops below 70%, put it on overnight charging and the car is at 100% till the time i have to leave for office in the morning.

I try to avoid DC chargers as much, so i prefer charging at home or relatively slow AC public chargers. But be rest assured, the battery tech offered by BYD is best in class and wont pose any issue irrespective of the way you charge.

Gadgetry:

The BYD guys updated the software when i visited the showroom to get my HSRP fixed. haven't tried it myself.
My 3 months service is still due. I am still 4 days away from completing exact 3 months.

Range: I mostly drive on ECO and Regen set to High. The traffic in Gurgaon isnt stuck at a place for long unlike Bangalore (I have lived in BLR for 3 yrs), its crawling, so probably regen is more active in this case, hence the range.

Regarding calculation of range or consumption using the last 50Kms method shown on your screen, it's irrelevant. I have read across several other threads and through user reviews from other countries, it's the most irrelevant info shown on the instrument cluster. You may ignore it.

Follow the Full to SOC left and determine the range using KMs driven using SOC consumed.

Hope I answered your queries.
Cheers!


Thanks for answering to some of my queries, and glad that you're enjoying the seal!

Just wanted to clarify the point about range you brought about. The irrelevant info on the instrument cluster pointed out on most user reviews is the dial on the left side that provides instantaneous consumption info, somewhat similar to the RPM tachometer in ICE cars lol:. I have circled that part in red in the photo below, and I was only referring to the information at the centre highlighted with a green square.

BYD Seal Review-seal_effeciency.jpg

The average kwh consumption is not noise and is very relevant metric for knowing the efficiency of the vehicle. A lot of car reviewers today while comparing different EVs don't compare them with range to test efficiency rather this metric or even Kms per Kwh consumed.This helps us in making apples to apple comparison since the battery sizes are different across models and even in the same model like ours', the battery conditions might vary and not truly be the claimed 82.5 kwh as they age.

It is basically similar to the fuel economy metric we are familiar with in ICE cars (Kmpl or litres/100 km).So instead of litres of fuel, it is replaced by units of electricity.

Well, I agree that we cannot be fully certain about the accuracy of the information generated by the car's trip computer on the average kwh consumption. Even modern day ICE cars provide info on the average fuel efficiency that we are familiar with and rely on. However, the old school way of dividing the total kms covered with the actual fuel consumed- measured based on the fuel filled full tank to full tank, is the best way to estimate the fuel economy.

Similarly it would be ideal to charge the car to 100% and drive to almost 0 SOC to estimate the range or even efficiency.Given that it practically doesn't make sense to follow that charging cycle, I would say the 50 km AEC info displayed in the centre is a fair approximation.

Hope that makes sense, kindly excuse me for making this post a little too technical but just felt the detailed explanation would help to understand where Im coming from.

Cheers

Quote:

Originally Posted by MightyHorse1188 (Post 5831550)

Is there a regular charging frequency you follow and until what SOC do you you charge? I generally follow a 40% to 60% during everyday city driving(i.e charge when battery level hits 40% until 60% SOC).Atleast Im using the 7kw charger provided by the dealer, which works well so far.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ManiPrakash (Post 5831893)
Hi MightyHorse,

Charging: Yes 3KwH charger is very slow and needs a lot of patience. But since I don't juice it up from 0 to 100 and use periodic charging, it hasn't been a problem to far.

I usually follow 70 to 100 Charging cycle. I put the car on charge when it drops below 70%, put it on overnight charging and the car is at 100% till the time i have to leave for office in the morning.

Here is what the BYD Seal manual recommends with respect to charging:

"During daily use, please fully charge the vehicle on a regular basis (at least once a week), and fully charge it from a low battery level (<10% SOC) once every three to six months."

On LFP batteries, SoC estimation is a hard problem, that's why all OEMs recommend charging to 100% frequently. Given how durable LFP batteries are, the degradation due to this is negligible.

At the same time, there are some studies that have come out suggesting that top charging of LFP batteries i.e charging when battery is already above 70-80% does degrade battery more than expected.

Based on this, it's best to simply charge when you want and charge to 100% rather than sticking to different patterns like charging from 40%-60% to improve battery longevity.

Simply enjoy your car and don't worry too much about battery degradation.

Suppose you go on a drive for 80kms, you drove rash for first 30 kms (where in SOC consumption would be much higher) and efficiently in last 50, the Instrument cluster will give you Efficiency figure of last 50 kms only (when you drove efficiently).

so the overall consumption of 80kms cant be estimated based on the figures that u get in the instrument panel. Hence it's irrelevant.

Thats strictly my opinion. you are free to disagree.
I follow 100 to SOC consumed (thats what i used to do with my ICE) just to be aware of fuel economics.

Hope that helps.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MightyHorse1188 (Post 5832047)
Thanks for answering to some of my queries, and glad that you're enjoying the seal!

Just wanted to clarify the point about range you brought about. The irrelevant info on the instrument cluster pointed out on most user reviews is the dial on the left side that provides instantaneous consumption info, somewhat similar to the RPM tachometer in ICE cars lol:. I have circled that part in red in the photo below, and I was only referring to the information at the centre highlighted with a green square.

Attachment 2648030

The average kwh consumption is not noise and is very relevant metric for knowing the efficiency of the vehicle. A lot of car reviewers today while comparing different EVs don't compare them with range to test efficiency rather this metric or even Kms per Kwh consumed.This helps us in making apples to apple comparison since the battery sizes are different across models and even in the same model like ours', the battery conditions might vary and not truly be the claimed 82.5 kwh as they age.

It is basically similar to the fuel economy metric we are familiar with in ICE cars (Kmpl or litres/100 km).So instead of litres of fuel, it is replaced by units of electricity.

Well, I agree that we cannot be fully certain about the accuracy of the information generated by the car's trip computer on the average kwh consumption. Even modern day ICE cars provide info on the average fuel efficiency that we are familiar with and rely on. However, the old school way of dividing the total kms covered with the actual fuel consumed- measured based on the fuel filled full tank to full tank, is the best way to estimate the fuel economy.

Similarly it would be ideal to charge the car to 100% and drive to almost 0 SOC to estimate the range or even efficiency.Given that it practically doesn't make sense to follow that charging cycle, I would say the 50 km AEC info displayed in the centre is a fair approximation.

Hope that makes sense, kindly excuse me for making this post a little too technical but just felt the detailed explanation would help to understand where Im coming from.

Cheers


Quote:

Originally Posted by ManiPrakash (Post 5832970)
Suppose you go on a drive for 80kms, you drove rash for first 30 kms (where in SOC consumption would be much higher) and efficiently in last 50, the Instrument cluster will give you Efficiency figure of last 50 kms only (when you drove efficiently).

so the overall consumption of 80kms cant be estimated based on the figures that u get in the instrument panel. Hence it's irrelevant.

Thats strictly my opinion. you are free to disagree.
I follow 100 to SOC consumed (thats what i used to do with my ICE) just to be aware of fuel economics.

Hope that helps.

You are right ManiPrakash, and I had also mentioned earlier that the numbers are different for different scenarios where my driving profile would be different(re-quoted my earlier message below).Considering your above example, I would generally glance at the trip meter after driving in a certain way, and not really after 80kms.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MightyHorse1188 (Post 5831550)

So my average efficiency metrics are as follows

Best - 12.5 kwh/100 kms (efficient highway coasting at reasonable speeds and ECO mode with controlled acceleration)
Average - ~15 to 16.5 kwh/100 kms ( High speed driving and frequent acceleration on highways in sport mode and regular city driving)
Worst - ~18 to 20 kwh/100 kms (City driving in Standard Regen & sport mode and AC working in full power with erratic acceleration)

As I mentioned earlier, which possibly even you would agree (since you charge your car from 70% to 100% regularly) it is practically not feasible to check the range by driving from full charge until it goes dead, and going with your logic I would maybe not drive the entire range in a particular manner or a particular road condition.

Actually the whole point of me bringing up this AEC in the first place, was I was just hoping you would share similar metrics as I have in the earlier message re-quoted above.The idea was we could attempt to reconcile how your car is able to return higher range during city driving and significantly lesser on highways, while my car being the same premium model behaves quite the opposite. lol:

The range is an important factor mainly on highways when you plan those long haul trips and try minimising charging stops, and not really a big concern for daily driving in cities, in fact bigger battery more the headache if its pure city driving.:Frustrati The main concern there is efficiency, and that is something Im interested in understanding my car better by comparing it with other peers.

Just want to reiterate Im not trying to prove any point here, my whole intent is to just exchange information in a constructive manner. Hope this didn't lead to any misinterpretations.

Cheers!

Quote:

Originally Posted by shyampsunder (Post 5832906)
Here is what the BYD Seal manual recommends with respect to charging:

"During daily use, please fully charge the vehicle on a regular basis (at least once a week), and fully charge it from a low battery level (<10% SOC) once every three to six months."

On LFP batteries, SoC estimation is a hard problem, that's why all OEMs recommend charging to 100% frequently. Given how durable LFP batteries are, the degradation due to this is negligible.

At the same time, there are some studies that have come out suggesting that top charging of LFP batteries i.e charging when battery is already above 70-80% does degrade battery more than expected.

Based on this, it's best to simply charge when you want and charge to 100% rather than sticking to different patterns like charging from 40%-60% to improve battery longevity.

Simply enjoy your car and don't worry too much about battery degradation.


Hey ShyamPSundar,

I do end up charging to 100 ahead of a planned long distance trip, or when I know it's more convenient that way once in a while. Also There have been instances I have breached the 40 barrier and driven until like ~15%.lol:

So not a gospel rule Im following with 40-60.However this car is generally my daily driver mainly driven in the city, so wouldn't want to take the pain of charging all the way to 100 every time, and also keep some frequency in charging rather than something like once in 10 days.

So that 40-60 method doesn't really make much difference or put a dent on my battery health, since I do end up fully charging/ discharging occasionally.

Thanks though

Quote:

Originally Posted by MightyHorse1188 (Post 5830148)
Hey RR,

Sorry for the late response. My dashcam is working perfect and no problems so far. I followed the DIY approach as well after watching a couple of Youtube videos. Once the physical installation was done and upon reboot( twice, happens automatically without your intervention) the driving recorder app appeared in the main menu.I just had to insert a microSD card later in the slot below next to the USB ports. One could suspect multiple possibilities for it not working in your case - Which site did you buy the dashcam from? Also you might wanna recheck that there is no loose contact with the cable port.

No harm in just letting a person at BYD service centre inspect it once. If you do give that a shot let me know what happens, Im wondering if the guys here have received a comprehensive training/understanding of these cars.

Cheers!

Hey, MightyHorse thanks worked! Just removed and reinsert the cable, and everything started working perfectly! Thanks! I bought it from Top BYD btw. Am also impressed with the quality of all the accessories I bought on Top BYD. Regards

Quote:

Originally Posted by zandot (Post 5827675)
Managed to slice open one of my tyres on a pothole on the highway after only 1800km. Have managed to patch it for now - but a new Pirelli is on the way from tyremarket for those that might need tyres, they have ready stock. Haven't managed to find a supplier for the Conti Ecocontact 6 in the 235/45 R19 XL but if someone does manage to get one - pls do share.


Have been very badly let down by tyremarket. Despite paying for the order and following up for 2 weeks they went silent. Finally managed to get a response after posting on X only to be informed the tyre is not available and they can get me the same tyre for a higher price if I am willing to pay the difference of almost 7k. Have asked for a refund.

Sadly yesterday I managed to damage another tyre as a piece of metal pierced the side wall - so now need to replace 2 tyres. The tyre guy was complaining the tyre is extremely soft while patching it and I should look at another brand immediately. Not sure how much to buy into that but it seems lack of availability of the Continentals might be the main reason to switch to another brand.

Have reached out to Pirelli as well as Michelin directly, hopefully one of them have this size in stock. Tyre hunt continues.

Quote:

Originally Posted by zandot (Post 5836268)
Have been very badly let down by tyremarket.

Have reached out to Pirelli as well as Michelin directly, hopefully one of them have this size in stock. Tyre hunt continues.

It just shows poor aftersales of BYD, and you are forced to deal with this yourself in the unorganised tyre market. I am concerned about handling a similar situation if it has to happen to me.

How much is the expected toll on your wallet for the 2 tires?:Frustrati

Quote:

Originally Posted by MightyHorse1188 (Post 5836359)
It just shows poor aftersales of BYD, and you are forced to deal with this yourself in the unorganised tyre market. I am concerned about handling a similar situation if it has to happen to me.

How much is the expected toll on your wallet for the 2 tires?:Frustrati

After hearing this I just spoke to the service manager of BYD here in Bangalore and enquired about this. He did say that the stock continental tyres fitted from the plant in China will not be available. So similar to your case he suggested that they generally order Goodyear tyres.

Indeed looks like it's a Pan India problem! :thumbsdown

Quote:

Originally Posted by MightyHorse1188 (Post 5836368)
After hearing this I just spoke to the service manager of BYD here in Bangalore and enquired about this. He did say that the stock continental tyres fitted from the plant in China will not be available. So similar to your case he suggested that they generally order Goodyear tyres.

Indeed looks like it's a Pan India problem! :thumbsdown

Yep, to be honest I didn't expect BYD to have the Continental tyres but did expect the service center to have sourced perhaps another brand from a local vendor to offer it to customers. That is a bit of a let down.

For the Pirelli or Michelin it's going to be about a 30k each or a 60k hit :eek: I travel this route where this is happening regularly and have done for the past 5 years in EV's of various sizes and tyre widths and this is the only one that seems to be a magnet for objects or just seem to have really bad luck.

Vehicle will be going in for the 1st 5000km service post Ganpati Holidays, will keep everyone updated how that goes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by zandot (Post 5836268)
Have been very badly let down by tyremarket. Despite paying for the order and following up for 2 weeks they went silent. Finally managed to get a response after posting on X only to be informed the tyre is not available and they can get me the same tyre for a higher price if I am willing to pay the difference of almost 7k. Have asked for a refund.

Sadly yesterday I managed to damage another tyre as a piece of metal pierced the side wall - so now need to replace 2 tyres. The tyre guy was complaining the tyre is extremely soft while patching it and I should look at another brand immediately. Not sure how much to buy into that but it seems lack of availability of the Continentals might be the main reason to switch to another brand.

Have reached out to Pirelli as well as Michelin directly, hopefully one of them have this size in stock. Tyre hunt continues.

How was it patched and how is the first holding up?

Quote:

Originally Posted by zandot (Post 5836376)
Yep, to be honest I didn't expect BYD to have the Continental tyres but did expect the service center to have sourced perhaps another brand from a local vendor to offer it to customers. That is a bit of a let down.

Please do share your service and after sales experience once the first service is done.

Has anyone here bought the Performance variant?

Yes, taking performance variants delivery tomorrow.


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