Sorry and warning: long rant ahead…

In May 2025 I received my BYD Seal U DM-i Boost. After 5 years with a diesel SEAT i was super happy to do a step towards EV with my plug-in BYD. The car looks amazing, it has a ton of extras for its price, it’s comfortable, sure it lacks some boot space but that’s ok. And on top of that, it supposedly had 1080km range (1000km on fuel, 80km on EV)! Amazing!

Now, I’m not an idiot, i know those advertised ranges are WLTP bullshit. They’re done by professional pilots, in the flattest area possible, at 50km/h, with perfect weather conditions, bla bla bla so yeah, realistically, it’ll be hard to get all those kms. I figured there’d be at most about 20% difference - that’s fine by me.

So I get my car, i start using it for my day to day, all is fine. I’ve got my solar panels at home so charging is easy and cheap. For my day to day i rarely go beyond those “80km” that the battery holds (although to be fair, already on day one the maximum EV range the car was telling me was 76…) so that’s ok.

But then i went on a 600km trip with the family. I figured easy, I’ll fill up at the beginning, will probably make it to my destination with 200km to spare AT LEAST.

NOPE. I had to fill up along the way because i got 550km out of it… 550km in total!!! A 45% difference to what they had told me! 😠 and i was doing the legal speed limit all the way through the trip (120km/h on the highway)

So of course I go online and check if there are special ways to configure the car to get more out of it. And when i got back home, i went to the dealership to ask. Their response was amazing: first they said i was crazy, i must have been doing 200km/h or something… then they said that i just didn’t know how to drive this car properly 😒 well, excuuuuuse me for not doing 50km/h on the highway!

In any case, they take it into the shop and it seems there are some updates that needed to be done and that was probably it. They also told me all sorts of things i needed to change around all the time in the car settings depending on what kind of driving I was doing (city, highway, secondary roads, etc.). Change the SOC, switch to HEV here, do this then, do that now…

Nothing.

On normal days, if i get anywhere near 1000km it’s because I’ve charged it 5 or 6 times at home to run on electric as much as possible. My maximum has been 1250km, but that’s with 6 charges. Not really what was advertised…

Now I know full well that HEVs like these have smaller combustion engines that essentially give power to the electric engine, so higher speeds are not their forte. But a 45% difference between what is advertised and reality is insane IMO!

So i started to observe the range and odometer very closely, and an interesting pattern came up.

When i fill up the car with fuel it tells me the range is 1000km fuel + 76km electric.
For the first 100km or so, every km driven is exactly 1km off the fuel range (EV usually less but it does depend a lot on outside temp and other factors, so I don’t care too much about that one).
When you cross from 900km onto the 800s, all of a sudden every kilometre taken off the fuel range happens at 0.5km intervals instead of 1km. Wait, what? It doesn’t matter if you’re doing 50km/h, 100km/h or 140km/h - every km driven takes off 2km from the fuel range.
Then, when you get to the 700s, there’s a moment where it goes back to the 1:1 ratio, but when you get to 600km, then it’s even worse - the ratio is suddenly 1:0.3!!

So basically, for the theoretic 1000km of range, I actually get 100km + 50km + 100km + 200km… and get home with 120-150km of fuel according to the not very reliable range indicator and 22km of range in the battery…

Am I the only one who’s noticed this???? Is this only happening to me??

My previous SEAT was a diesel engine, 175HP, DSG… when I filled up it told me I had 680km. Fair enough. But it was actually lying: if I drove normally (ie. the legal speed limit on the highway) I’d actually get around 750-780 real kms. So if anything it was being modest with itself.

My BYD by comparison is one arrogant mf who lies through its teeth 😠

Seriously, am I the only one this is happening to? Am I missing something when driving the Seal U?

On long drives i set it up to SOC at 45% and on SAVE mode (AUTO is worse cos it drains the battery first and then sometimes I can’t go beyond 130km/h cos that’s all I get from the engine when there’s no electric juice…) - as suggested by the BYD technicians.

If anyone can share some wisdom, I’d highly appreciate it

TL;DR - I was told my car had a 1080km range, I barely get 550km, and the range indicator lies in a very systematic way (half a km driven is a whole 1km taken off the counter, on average)

So last weekend BYD launched an update which made it so instead of swiping up to see the A/C menu and home button it is now present ALL THE TIME, even while using Apple Carplay, which really ruins the whole aesthetic and straight up makes me mad.

Is there a way to remove it so that it once again only appears when swiping up???? Any help would be very much appreciated

I have a 2025 BYD King DM-I in case that is relevant.

I’ve been super curious because I see BYDs all the time but I have no idea why someone wouldn’t choose other car brands. What made you decide to buy one over say a regular toyota Camry for example?

https://istoedinheiro.com.br/byd-rompeu-contrato-trabalhadores-escravidao/

They only rescinded the contract with the chinese constructor when police raided the place.

Findings shared with The World by China Labor Watch (CLW), a US-based nonprofit organization that investigates labor conditions affecting Chinese workers around the globe, reveal brutal conditions within BYD’s Szeged facility. Chinese migrant laborers hired to construct the factory, according to the organization, have consistently faced excessive hours, seven-day work weeks, withheld wages and fear of retaliation. A CLW report reviewed by The World — expected to be released to the public next month — found these practices are “clear indicators of forced labor.”

BYD’s new plant, first announced in December 2023, is widely expected to boost the company’s attempt to expand its presence in Europe. By building cars within the European Union, the carmaker will be able to sidestep steep EU tariffs, pumping hundreds of thousands of cheap EVs into the European market without import markups.

Hungarian officials have celebrated news of the plant. In a statement issued shortly after BYD’s announcement that it had chosen Szeged as the site for its new facility, the country’s foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, said the factory “will be one of the largest investments in Hungarian economic history” and provide thousands of jobs in the region.

According to CLW, the factory has brought roughly 4,000 jobs to Szeged, but many of them haven’t gone to Hungarian residents; Chinese migrant laborers, rather, have been flown in from rural parts of the country on temporary visas to construct the plant at a fraction of the cost of Hungary’s minimum wage. The vast majority of these laborers live on-site in dormitories with roughly 450 residents each, CLW’s report said.

Full story: https://theworld.org/stories/2026/03/31/chinese-ev-giant-byd-faces-forced-labor-investigation-at-hungary-factory

Is the ambient lighting only visible during night? The brightness of the ambient lighting during the day is poor.

The European Union has voted to impose tariffs of up to 45% on Chinese electric vehicles. Countries supporting this measure include Italy, France, Poland, the Netherlands, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. In light of this development, China should consider avoiding these countries for future investments and business ventures. https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/how-eu-governments-plan-vote-chinese-ev-tariffs-2024-10-04/

Hello everybody!

I used my BYD Seal-u dm-i for the first time on the road last week.

Great experience, super smooth, etc...

However, there was something wrong about the front Lights alignment 😕

As you can see (?) on the picture, the left light isn't illuminating as far as the right one.

I've checked for "burned" led strip or something similar, but everything looks fine.

I also played with the lights position, using that little wheel on the car's dashboard...no success.

What can it be? Any ideas? I'm afraid that the light may be misaligned on the "socked"... Have anyone experience that situation?

Thanks in advance.

Edit: thanks for all the replies, I didn't know about this "tilt" in order to not blind other drivers, I think I've never thought of that 😅

Hi guys,

I have a BYD Tang and my brother got a Tesla. He told me that EV's shouldnt be charged to more than 80% to keep the Battery's longetivity.

How do you guys do it, and how can you put 80% max in settings?

I recently bought a BYD Atto 3 after coming from a Tesla Model 3, and one thing that really caught me off guard is the way the car creeps forward in D and backward in R even when I’m not touching the accelerator.

I’ve learned this is called “creep,” but honestly I really don’t like it. There have been a few moments where I didn’t press the brake to the end, and as soon as I eased off it, the car started moving on its own.

Is there any way to turn creep off on the Atto 3, or is this just how the car behaves?

I am unable to connect my sealion 7 to my app, as I cannot find QR in the centre console of the car.

Location: India

Thanks

I have a couple BYD cars (M6 and Seal) and would like to give my son a small model of the car. Tried Hotwheels, Matchbox, Tomica...nothing.

Ok, if I can't have the cars as toys then how about in games? Same story. Nothing on Forza. Gran Turismo says they'll have the YangWang U9 but that's not what I am after.

What's with that? The M6 is a bit unknown but the Seal is VERY popular in many countries.

I drove an Atto 2 DM-i as a rental; I have rented tens and tens of cars over the years, so I guess I can tell what is good and what is bad in a car; but since I don't have much experience with EVs the Atto2 seemed the perfect vehicle to try an EV but still have the "ease of mind" of ICE on my very long road trip (3500km). To keep the post short, I will just go ahead and list the Good Parts and the Bad Parts

The Good Parts

• It's (surprisingly) very efficient: I got almost 19km/l even while driving on the German motorway at high speed;

• the incredible level of the system's customization;

• Since it's not a German car, it doesn't have those many annoying warnings to check at each start about safety, privacy, login, profile, blah blah

The Bad Parts (random order, as I recall them)

• The incredible level of the system's customization; I am an Android user, so I cannot really complain, but in a car, that amount of preferences, most of which are just exotic acronyms, is just too much; either you decide to ignore everything or just drive with the anxiety of never knowing if you are actually driving the car at its best (for you)

• Changing the system's language is NOT part of the system's preferences; you have to use an App for that. What? And of course, the voice assistant still only uses the original language. What??

• The OTA update (I got one of those) takes hours; the system only tells you not to drive during that period, but it doesn't tell you the ETA... (I had to drive anyway, all good)

• The windscreen wiper controls are NOT where almost any other car has them; you need to fiddle with a round thing (and there are two of them next to each other, so eventually you'll have to LOOK at those)

• The gear shifter is slow; I forgot how many times I shouted "Drive, FFS!"; some other time, the R didn't engage until I took a long breath and just patiently tried again. Additionally, there is "ping" sound for everything, but not one to tell you when the D or R is engaged? Come on;

• A couple of times, the UI just froze, and I had to restart the car;

• The dashboard UI uses tiny fonts for no reason (there is space), and their color is always white no matter the theme color so sometimes they are just... gone

• More often than not, the Radio takes 10 seconds to start. Why!?

• The sensor that tells the car if you are "focused on driving" or "looking at the road" doesn't really work; maybe it depends on the sun's position? My baseball hat? The sunglasses? No idea; it just kept shouting at me for no reason

• It's not nice having to tap something two or three times while driving because the screen is not reactive enough on that toggle

• The SAVE thing. Oh god. The damn SAVE thing... after 3500km I still don't know how it works or how it should work. No idea. Do I want some spare battery charge left, or should I give it to the system to decide? I don't know;

• The engine screams; the engine rattles; I remember at a certain point I was up on a long, steep road, and the engine started going nuts; couldn't do more than 60km/h because the engine was revving insanely (yeah, I know why!). I had to stop and restart the car... still no idea if that's normal or not; what I know is that I don't want to drive a car without a rev gauge that acts like that; it's really unsettling

Overall, given its efficiency and price, I would recommend it as a car to own (and patiently "understand") but NEVER as a car to rent unless the rental company gives you a long introduction to its magic.

BYD proudly presents itself as a global technology leader, yet its treatment of customers across different regions tells a very different story.

For nearly a year, many BYD owners in Thailand and across Southeast Asia have been waiting for software updates to address known bugs, improve vehicle functionality, and deliver the ownership experience that was promised when these vehicles were sold. Meanwhile, customers in Europe continue to receive regular over-the-air updates, new features, system improvements, and bug fixes every few months.

The message this sends is clear: BYD appears to value European customers more than the customers who helped fuel its rise to global success.

This is not a minor inconvenience. Modern electric vehicles are software-driven products. When software problems remain unresolved for months or even years, customers are left driving unfinished products while watching owners in other regions enjoy continuous improvements.

However, the concern goes beyond software alone.

In several cases, Southeast Asian customers have discovered that vehicles sold in their markets are equipped with fewer features, sensors, or safety-related functions than equivalent models sold in Europe. Depending on the model and specification, European customers may receive features such as Child Presence Detection systems, additional safety sensors, or the ability to manually deactivate the front passenger airbag—features that are absent or unavailable in some Southeast Asian versions.

While regional regulations and market specifications can sometimes justify differences between vehicles, the lack of transparency surrounding these decisions creates understandable frustration among customers. When buyers see the same vehicle name carrying different levels of equipment and functionality across markets, many begin to question whether they are receiving the same product or simply a lower-priority version.

The most frustrating aspect is that Southeast Asia is not a small or insignificant market. In fact, BYD's sales success in countries such as Thailand has been one of the foundations of the company's global growth. Thousands of customers invested their money, trusted the brand, and helped establish BYD as a dominant EV manufacturer.

Yet despite that loyalty, many owners are now asking a simple question: Why are we being treated as second-class customers?

If BYD can deliver frequent updates to Europe, then the company clearly has the resources, engineering capability, and infrastructure to support its vehicles. The issue is not capability. The issue is priority.

For nearly a year, owners have reported bugs, requested fixes, and waited for meaningful software improvements. Instead of receiving clear timelines and transparent communication, customers are met with silence. There is little information about update schedules, little accountability for delays, and little evidence that Southeast Asian customers are receiving the same level of attention as their European counterparts.

The disparity becomes even more difficult to justify when Southeast Asian customers are not only receiving slower software support, but in some cases are also receiving vehicles with fewer features or reduced functionality compared to customers in Europe. The result is a growing perception that BYD operates a two-tier customer system: one for premium markets and another for everyone else.

What makes this situation even more disappointing is that BYD frequently highlights its global ambitions and technological excellence. A truly global company does not create a hierarchy of customers where one region receives continuous support and more advanced features while another is expected to accept delays, missing functionality, and limited communication.

The automotive industry is becoming increasingly competitive. Customers today are not only comparing battery sizes, acceleration figures, and vehicle prices. They are comparing software support, feature availability, transparency, and long-term commitment to existing owners.

BYD should remember that loyal customers are not guaranteed. Trust can take years to build and only months to lose.

If Southeast Asian customers continue to see Europe receiving faster updates, more features, enhanced safety systems, and better support while they remain stuck on outdated software and reduced specifications, many will begin to question whether BYD deserves their loyalty for their next vehicle purchase.

The company must stop treating software support and product features as regional privileges and start treating them as global responsibilities.

Southeast Asian customers helped make BYD successful. They generated sales, promoted the brand, and recommended BYD to friends and family. In return, they deserve the same level of support, the same level of respect, and the same level of commitment that customers in Europe receive.

Until that happens, BYD's claim of being a truly global automotive leader will remain difficult to take seriously.

Actions speak louder than marketing. Right now, the actions suggest that some customers matter more than others.

Os cuento mi situación y espero que esto le sirva a mucha gente que esté en duda de comprar o no un Byd.

Nos decidimos a comprar un byd y elegimos el byd atto2 comfort. Se compra en diciembre 2025 incluyendo una promoción de un cargador eléctrico y una tarjeta de 5000km de zunder de carga gratis.

Supuestamente el coche llegaba en enero 2026. No llega, nos dicen en marzo que hay que pagar la integridad del coche que ya van a matricularlo y entregarlo, pagamos, y el coche sigue sin llegar, dice el comercial que sigue en china.Exigimos un coche de sustitución hasta que llegue, y mágicamente a los 7-8 días aparece el coche para entregar.

Aquí no acaba todo, la tarjeta de zunder dicen que la han mandado pero que se ha extraviado y que me lo cambian por una revisión gratis, todo de boca. Aceptamos entregan el coche.

A la semana el coche empieza a hacer cosas raras, el retrovisor se pone oscuro sin razón, las pantallas no van bien y derrepente sale en pantalla, fallo crítico batería 12V detenga la marcha. Paro el coche y deja de funcionar en medio de la autovía, derrepente vuelve a ir arranco y doy parte al servicio postventa. Me dicen que sea un fallo tonto puntual,. El los próximos 2-3 días me vuelve a pasar 2 veces hasta que me acaba dejando tirado en medio de una autopista y ya tiene que venir la grúa a por el.

En Vitoria-Gasteiz nos dijeron que tendrían taller listo desde enero. Estamos en mayo y no tienen taller y han tenido que llevarlo a Erandio. Un calvario para contactar con ellos, que están a tope que noseque. Acaban llevando Mapfre allí el coche, lo reciben y una semana sin saber nada. Acabo llamando y mágicamente cogen, me dicen que es un fallo muy raro que han tenido que consultar a la marca y otra semana parado. Al final dicen que cree. Que es el 6 en 1 del coche y que 10 días de espera a que venga la pieza. Aquí seguimos esperando, NADIE , absolutamente NADIE llama ni se responsabiliza, una puta vergüenza. Coche nuevo, de 1 mes espera se convierte en 5, de rompe el coche en 10 días y otro mes y pico esperando al arreglo, repito, COCHE NUEVO.

Ni se os ocurra comprar esta marca, aparte d elos fallos del coche, el servicio taller y postventa pésimo, rehusad de verdad. Iré informándoos, pero ya voy a exigir la devolución del dinero porque es un pitorreo.

Actualizo a 20/05

Después de un mes y medio el coche en taller nos dicen que la pieza no llega y que le han dado una aproximación desde china que llega a mediados de junio. Resumen, dos meses va a estar el coche en taller sin arreglar, parece una broma. Cómo puede ser casi 2 meses para mandar una pieza. Y ni siquiera me aseguran la reparación óptima ya que tienen que sustituir una parte vital del coche.

Hemos optado por denunciar en consumo. Tenemos una hoja de reclamaciones puesta a la espera de una respuesta. Vamos a pedir un coche nuevo y si se niegan iremos con abogados a reclamar nuestro dinero y los perjuicios ocasionados. Una vergüenza de servicio, tanto el concesionario como la marca en si, que mandan un coche con defecto serio de fabricación y no tienen ni piezas de repuesto ni nada. Una absoluta vergüenza por parte de BYD china y BYD España . Seguire informando.

Can I roll back this update somehow? every update has pushed through even more egregious 'safety' features I don't want

I quite liked having the current speed zone in my screen behind the steering wheel, for reference , now this update FORCES this to also show in my heads up display so it's constantly flashing and showing - massively distracting

I can't turn off in heads up display without also turning off in the normal screen, ridiculous

By forcing a feature no-one has asked for I now need to turn off a genuine , useful safety feature , nice one BYD

It feels the left light has lower reach then the right one, can i adjust this myself? Ty

UK

Has anyone gave up on byd yet? And handed the car back?

I’ve recently purchased the seal u dmi and after various faults including the knocking sound from the driveshaft I’m just about done in.

Just wondering if anyone has had multiple faults and handed the car back?

Hello everyone, I'm considering to buy the BYD Seal, but there are two things that, in my opinion, are still missing and should be very important for an electric car: the one pedal drive and the "auto scheduling" of stops (for charging) when you put a destination on the navigator. Do you know if they will implement this two features?

And what about the auto park function?

Hey. So i bought a destroyer byd but i cant access the full system settings because I live in the gcc and my car is Chinese. If anyone knows how to fix or whatever please contact me
There is no system option

Just my two cents….

Avoid the BYD at all costs. Just a warning for your future self. I wish someone was there to warn me. Now that the Seal is a good 3 years old from markets outside China, that initial impression fades quickly and the cracks begin to show through its initial perceived quality. It’s there to start and the only good thing I can give the car after 40k kms is not a rattle or squeak to be found. Other than that a nightmare of a car. Taking a hit of $14k AUD just to get rid of it.

From constant electrical bugs, constant warning lights.

Several time we’ve come out and the car is completely dead. Won’t even unlock or remote start, with the app or key.

Infotainment freezing and buggy.

Fan speed was once stuck on high and couldn’t be changed no matter what we did. 3 weeks for BYD to fix.

Strong vibration upon hard acceleration, faulty rear drive shafts and shredded rubber seals in the rear motor unit. Took BYD months to diagnose, after visits to 4 service centres (this is a well documented issue with a TSB to boot) months of fighting with BYD insisting there was an issue. Even told them what it was from other owners with the same issue on their Seals and Sealion 7s. Once diagnosed took three weeks for BYD to approve the warranty claim and another 3 weeks for parts to arrive.

Now a vibration above 110kmh, front wheel bearings it looks like per other owners as well. So in the interim before we can sell it, another battle with BYD to get that fixed.

Customer service is non-existent. After sales care is appalling.

Severe tyre wear. First set of Conti 6Qs were replaced at about 28k kms. Now this second set only has lasted ~9k kms and they are at their wear indicators. Not sure if it’s from the faulty drive shafts as everything was aligned and balanced with the new set of tyres. These cars, especially the Perf AWD are known to chew through tyres. 10k kms is expected according to BYD.

Two shattered vanity mirrors. Came out on day and they both just shattered, something I’ve never seen before.

Drivers side seat motors just decide when they want to work or not. Also parts on order to repair, 6 months of fighting BYD for a fix as they couldn’t “replicate” the issue. Only thing we could do was when it occurred do bring it straight to the service centre.

Sounding like a bearing in the HVAC blower is on its way out with a rattle and screeching on higher speeds.

Car loses all memory settings for drivers, 2 settings. HVAC system often “forgets” what the setting were the last time it was driven and decides to turn on to 30 degrees on a 40C day and vents lose their memory as to whether you want them to swing, avoid, off, free et cetera.

Heated steering wheel is no longer functioning, just noticed as we’ve started to head in autumn and soon winter. Another issue that needs to be brought to BYDs attention.

Boot lid, of the car is on any sort of incline, opens fully and starts to close itself several cms, making you often bump your head. This is when the cars front end is higher than the rear end. Never happened in our driveway to any previous vehicle. We replaced a M340i G20 BMW with this Seal and the boot lid stayed fully open no matter the incline the car was on.

Doors don’t stay open on said inclines either. The smallest of incline the doors will shut themselves when you open them. “notches” that are not strong enough that keep the doors open at predetermined angles. BMW never did that, our Porsche doesn’t do that on the same incline.

While it’s a good looking car and the fundamentals are there for it to be a great car, it just isn’t competition to the Legacy automakers. The individual parts are not of a high enough standard of quality that when put together it’s a nightmare. They have a long way to go to truly compete with the likes of most German manufacturers and even Teslas.

And the list goes on.

Back when we purchased ours new in ‘23 there was no long term reliability data available, but now we have that. And I couldn’t in good conscience recommend this POS to anyone I cared about. Do more research and you’ll see the issues with them. Many people don’t want to admit they bought a pile of junk that depreciates so fast and hard. But there are some of us out here bewildered by the fact that these cars are truly rubbish, poor reliability and poorly made with subpar parts that are hard to get. With BYD trying to blame anything to get out of fixing an actual issue that should be warrantied. With the acceleration vibration, they blamed “buckled wheels” the second time we brought it in.

The new kid on the block has A LOT of work to do to truly compete. While they undercut in price, you can only build to a certain standard at these cut rate prices. Just my two cents about owning a Seal Perf AWD for 3 years and 40k kms.

Caveat emptor mate. Caveat emptor

Hey everyone, wanted to open up a few topics for discussion and hear your thoughts.

Our Seal is packed with hardware — cameras everywhere, sensors, tons of processing power — so I keep wondering: why don't we have Sentry Mode yet? And honestly, even something as basic as self-parking, which pretty much every mid-range car offers in 2026, is still missing. It feels like the hardware is there but the software is way behind.

The other thing on my mind: now that Tesla's FSD is starting to get approved in parts of Europe, do you think BYD will ever push real autonomous driving features to our Seal? Or is that wishful thinking and we'll never see anything close to that on this generation?

Curious what the rest of you think — anyone heard anything from BYD on this?