BYD India has announced that its Seal e-sedan, which launched on March 5, has received over 1,000 bookings; two-and-a-half months after bookings commenced. BYD said it had received 200 bookings for the Seal EV within a week of bookings opening on February 28, and the first 500 had come within 15 days of launch.
- Seal's demand is on the higher side for a CBU EV
- Seal waiting periods stretch to two months
Prices for the BYD Seal start at Rs 41 lakh for the entry-level Dynamic variant, and go up to Rs 53 lakh for the top-spec Performance AWD variant. The Seal is the Chinese carmaker’s third model in India after the e6 MPV and Atto 3 SUV, and is brought in as a full import.
The 1,000 bookings mark is an important milestone considering that BYD has a small footprint in India and the fact that the Seal is a CBU. For reference, two-and-a-half months after the Ioniq 5 bookings had opened in December 2022, Hyundai received 650 orders for the EV, which was then priced at Rs 44.95 lakh.
The Seal is available with two battery options – 61.44kWh and 82.56kWh – with BYD's patented blade technology. The entry-level Dynamic variant has the smaller battery pack that powers a single 204hp, 310Nm motor on the rear axle, which has a claimed range of 510km (NEDC cycle).
Premium and Performance variants get the larger 82.5kWh battery, but the former gets a rear axle-mounted 312hp, 360Nm motor with a claimed range of 650km. The Performance variant, on the other hand, gets a 530hp, 670Nm dual-motor AWD setup with 580km claimed range. In top-spec Performance guise, BYD claims a 0-100kph sprint time of just 3.8 seconds for the Seal.
BYD dealers say that regardless of the variant and battery option selected, customers who book their Seal today will receive delivery in two months' time.
The Seal is capable of charging at speeds of up to 150kW with 10-80 percent charge taking 37 minutes; a regular 11kW AC charger takes 8.6 hours to charge from 0-100 percent. The Seal is capable of Vehicle to Load (V2L) charging, which BYD says could be used for camping and outdoor activities.
BYD is providing an 8-year/1,60,000 km warranty on the battery and 8-year/1,50,000 warranty on the motor and motor controller. In FY2024, with retail sales of 1,770 units, BYD was ranked fifth amongst Indian electric car and SUV manufacturers. BYD India currently has 24 showrooms across 21 cities.
Sanjay Gopalakrishnan, senior vice-president of Electric Passenger Vehicle Business, BYD India, said: “The phenomenal response to the BYD Seal, surpassing 1,000 bookings in just over two months, is a testament to the growing appetite for high performance and stylish electric vehicles in the Indian market.”
All prices, ex-showroom, India
Uday Singh
Suraj Viswanathan
Lenny D'sa
Dipan Sur
Glenn Noronha
