• Fun infotainment system
• Busy digital gauge cluster
• Good material quality

How’s the quality and the layout?

It’s a bit of departure from what we’re used to seeing from BYD. In fact, we think this the Seal U is the most sensible car the company has built so far. The Atto 3 SUV, Seal saloon and Dolphin hatchback all have elaborate and rather funky interiors, but this car trims a lot of that novelty for something more ordinary and user-friendly.

So, you don’t get the Atto 3’s odd airplane throttle gear selector or guitar string door pockets. But that’s not such a bad thing in a car that’s primarily designed to haul your family around in comfort.

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We think material quality is good for this class of car, too. There are soft touch materials on the centre console, dashboard and door cards, which make the Seal U’s interior feel a little more premium than the plastic-clad cabin of the Ford Kuga.

The vegan leather seats feel well upholstered and soft and, praise be, there are some physical switches in the centre console, flanking the slightly bejewelled drive shifter also seen in the Seal electric car.

Infotainment and tech

Like other BYD cars, the Seal U’s dashboard is dominated by a vast 15.6-inch infotainment system that can be rotated between portrait and landscape modes by either poking a button on the steering wheel or an icon on the screen. It’s an entertaining gimmick – and the screen itself is bright, clear and responsive.

The touchscreen is used to control almost every function on the car – including the heater controls, which we’re not huge fans of. Someone at BYD is obviously listening to our complaints, though, as you can adjust the temperature by swiping up or down on the screen with three fingers, while the same action left and right alters the fan speed. It’s wonderfully intuitive. You don’t even need to look at the screen to do it.

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However, if you want to adjust the driver assist settings, your best bet is to pull over. It’s a very busy, very menu-heavy system, and lots of the controls feel like they’ve been put in the wrong place. It’s the same story with the 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster. There’s far too much info on it and countless numbers of menus to cycle through using the tumbler on the steering wheel.

Comfort

This is another area of the Seal U DM-i that’s perfectly fine. The seats are comfortable enough and there’s a reasonable amount of adjustment in them, although our tallest testers were craving for the ability to sit lower than the driver’s seat allows.

But, because the Seal U’s PHEV system prioritises using electric power, the car’s cabin is remarkably refined. Engine noise is virtually non-existent unless you’re flat to the firewall and road noise is well controlled.

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