2024 BYD Seal vs 2023 Kia EV6

What's the difference?

Those big auto executives have good reason to be worried, because the Seal is yet another impressive offering from China’s most formidable EV player.

It’s not perfect. In some ways it’s trying too hard to be a luxury car, and I think the software in particular could use a little work, but the Seal just does so much right I think it will be hard to be disappointed with one, particularly given its keen entry price.

In fact, if we had to pick one from the range, it would probably be this mid-spec Premium. The range and power on offer are stellar, and all for less money than an entry-level Model 3 or Polestar 2.

A hundred thousand dollars used to be big money. And for a family SUV, it still is. But don’t make the mistake of confusing the Kia badge with pedestrian motoring. The EV6 GT is proof that Kia can make high performance cars that work, and make the most of modern EV tech in the process.

We’re a bit disappointed in the real-world range of the car, and there’s no doubt the vast majority of drivers neither need nor want a car as focussed as this one. But as an example of how a modern, digital electric car can feel more like an old-school analogue performance car, the GT is Exhibit A. And for those of us for whom it’s about the journey, not the destination, this is indeed good news as EVs continue to take over the world.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with meals provided.

The Seal looks great. It’s about as modern a take on the traditional three-box sedan as you can get. It’s low-slung with curvy lines and a sporty overall feel.

The design touches, like the headlight and DRL surrounds, side skirts, and wheels are maximalist compared to the minimalist vibes of the Model 3 and the Polestar 2. But I don’t necessarily think that's a bad thing as it offers buyers a genuine alternative.

I also like the way the brand has executed the LED lights and particularly the tail-light fittings. There’s also an admirable restraint when it comes to badging compared to a lot of this car’s Chinese rivals. It doesn’t give off the vibe of a cut-price product at all.

Inside there are elements which are appealing, and some things which fall short. First up, I do think the Seal wears its influences throughout the industry on its sleeve a bit.

The digital dash cluster theme, for example, seems to (poorly) emulate the Mercedes-Benz software, the little plastic crystal shifter piece on the inside seems to have been overtly influenced by a similar (actual crystal) piece available in Volvos, while the centre screen and dual wireless phone chargers are pretty obviously BYD’s take on the similar bits available in the Model 3.

Maybe in this sense, it’s trying a little too hard to be a luxury car and a tech-heavy electric vehicle, with items which aren’t quite up to the same quality (particularly the software). But then, it all works well enough, and can you complain at the price?

One thing I think BYD gets right though is the level of comfort on offer in the cabin and the clever little styling bits which remind you of its namesake.

The door handle pieces and integrated speaker bits are shaped like a Seal flipper. As are the dash-mounted air vents, and if you look closely even the plastic garnish on the steering wheel looks a bit like a top-down cross section of the animal.

I like it because its subtle rather than in-your-face as some of the Atto 3's design elements are.

The quality is also up to muster, big time. There wasn’t a creak, groan, or rattle from this car’s interior in my entire time with it, including on some of Sydney's worst roads. And the seats, which are designed like absolute thrones, are clad in lovely soft leather. You sink into them. Even the two-tone Alcantara finish through the doors and centre console is thoughtfully placed.

Perhaps the most poignant element of the GT’s design is that Kia has lavished lots of Australian input into the final product.

Like Kias before it, the EV6 GT benefits from plenty of Nth-degree local suspension tuning which, given the way some imports buck and crash on Aussie roads, is commendable and clever.

It’s also interesting that Kia has remained committed to this approach, especially since the new GT features the brand’s 'Electronically Controlled Suspension' (ECS) the first for an all-electric Kia.

By looking at real-time road speed, cornering forces, braking and acceleration forces and the actual road surface, the ECS can tailor the dampers’ behaviour to maximise dynamics, grip and ride quality. For some carmakers that would be enough, so full marks to Kia for taking the next step with local calibration input.

Perhaps the other design element of note is the fact that Kia sees the GT as not just a high performance family car, but also a vehicle that it is happy to describe as 'track worthy'.

And even with the straight-line speed involved, that’s a big statement for any car weighing north of 2.1 tonnes. Testing at the infamous Nurburgring in German underlines Kia’s determination to give the GT the smarts to handle a track day.

The use of high-performance Michelin tyres backs this up when a conventional EV tyre would improve range but at the expense of grip in corners.

To further underline how serious Kia is about that claim, the GT features a completely different steering set-up to lesser EV6 models.

The GT gets a variable ratio steering rack with a faster ratio than the other EV6s and variable levels of power assistance to improve feel. There’s even additional bracing on the GT to stiffen the body and make full use of that sportiness.

Another big part of any track-day car revolves around the braking system, and to that end Kia has fitted the GT with huge brakes.

The knock-on effect, of course, has been the requirement to fit 21-inch wheels for rotor clearance as well as a new front suspension system that features a double ball-joint design to complete the clearance for the 380mm front discs. Four-piston front calipers are also part of the GT braking package, identifiable by the bright green hardware.

In specific detail terms, other design standouts include the sequential LED indicators, flush-folding door handles, solar glass, intelligent headlight system and 64-colour ambient interior lighting.

If there’s a design disappointment it’s that the GT looks pretty much like any other EV6.

Yes, the 21-inch wheels and tyres are pretty easy to spot, but from the front, only a slightly different grille, lower bumper and matrix headlights give the game away.

That doesn’t make it an unattractive car (by any means) but it doesn’t automatically mean onlookers will know you’ve spent the extra gold for the extra performance.

And over in the Swing-and-a-Miss column is the synthetic soundtrack Kia has chosen for the GT. There are three different, selectable background noises linked to motor speed, but, to us, they simply sound like three different stages of wheel-bearing failure.

The Seal has a huge cabin, and in a lot of ways it feels like the large sedans of old. You can sit nice and low in the cabin, and there’s heaps of knee and headroom thanks to its width.

Soft-clad materials for resting your knees and elbows on go a long way towards keeping this car comfortable on longer journeys, and the presence of a digital dash and a holographic head-up display is nice to have compared to the bare-bones dash of the Tesla Model 3.

The wacky rotating central touchscreen feature makes an appearance from other BYDs, but again, it’s a bit silly and I’m not sure how much use you’ll get out of it. Even Apple CarPlay only works in landscape mode, so I didn’t find it useful.

Practicality features are abundant, with a large bottle holder in the doors, and two more in the centre console. One even has a floating floor, so you can push it down to accommodate large bottles if need be.

Dual wireless chargers are always a nice touch, and the bridge-style console has a large pass-through storage area underneath, which also hides the USB-C, USB-A, and 12V outlets. The armrest console box is nice and deep, too.

The back seat is enormous. Possibly one of the largest spaces in this segment. It comes at a cost to boot capacity, but your rear passengers won’t want for space no matter how tall they are.

At 182cm tall I had leagues of airspace behind my own driving position, and the wide cabin, accommodating seats, and flat floor mean the centre position is even useful for a full-sized adult.

Storage comes in the form of three pockets on the back of each front seat, a large bottle holder in the doors, two cupholders in the drop-down armrests, a small tray on the back of the centre console, and a small flip-out cover which reveals a USB-C and USB-A charging port for rear passengers. The rear seat even gets dual adjustable air vents, but no third climate zone.

The massive fixed glass roof looks the business and keeps the cabin airy, just like in the Model 3 and Polestar 2, but I find these big glass fittings tend to cook interiors in the Australian sun.

BYD tells us the tint is so heavy it has a ‘solar transmittance’ of just 16 per cent, but 16 per cent is still a lot in Australian summer. Thankfully, unlike its two rivals, BYD ships the Seal with a fold-out cover screen as standard.

Remember how I said the massive rear seat comes at a cost to boot space? At 400 litres the Seal’s boot is a bit compact, made worse by the fact it’s a sedan and not a liftback, so the access area is a bit narrow.

It could only fit the largest CarsGuide luggage case alongside the smallest one, but not all three including the medium case. This could be a blow to family buyers who need to fit a pram alongside other things.

Under the floor there’s an extra space great for the storage of your V2L adapter and AC charging cable, but there’s also only a tyre repair kit and no spare.

Perhaps the biggest practicality hurdle is the car’s range. At an optimum 424km, it’s okay but not stellar. And if those kilometres are highway ones, you can forget about 424km; it’ll be a fair bit less than that.

Meantime, the long wheelbase of the basic EV6 platform means there’s lots of legroom in the rear, making the car a comfy four-seater (the rear-centre seating position is decidedly last place) with enough knee space for adults in the rear.

The cabin is dotted with USB and charging points and there’s wireless charging in the double-layer centre console. There’s a also a bottle-holder in each door, map pockets in the front seat-backs, a luggage net and retractable cargo cover.

Kia’s insistence that the GT be capable of track-day work means the headrests on the front seats allow for a helmet to be worn, while the lack of power adjustment for the front seats mean they can be mounted closer to the floor.

Even so, the sunroof gobbles up precious headroom, and the cabin is a bit tight in that direction even without a helmet.

The digital dash and head-up display is clear and legible and the menu system contained within the touchscreen has a positive action and is logically laid out. Only the gear selector makes us wonder with its dim indicator lights that are hard to discern in some ambient light conditions.

The silver steering wheel buttons are also a bit hard to fathom when light reflects off them. The starter button is also not where you instinctively look for it.

The elephant in the room, of course, is that price-tag which is just a posh meal for two shy of the magic $100K, at $99,590, before on-road costs. Of course, EVs aren’t cheap to purchase in the first place, but then neither are cars with supercar performance. And the Kia is arguably both those things.

And let’s not forget that it’s also possible to spend a lot more than $100,000 and not go anywhere near as fast as the Kia does. At which point, the whole car falls into place.

This is also a car that is very well equipped, making that price-tag a little easier to swallow. You get techy gear like LED matrix headlights, acoustic and solar glass (laminated in the front doors) no less than seven USB charge ports, digital radio, twin 12.3-inch screens, a head-up display (with augmented reality function) Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, heated front and rear seats, and Kia’s 'Sounds of Nature' ambient noise generator.

What’s missing? Cars with this much performance often have carbon-ceramic brakes. But to be honest, the savage regeneration potential of the GT means it doesn’t really need them.

Power front seats would seem to be AWOL as well, but as we’ll explain later, the manual seats are there to save weight and free up headroom. The lack of an electrically adjustable steering column is a bit harder to explain away.

Six figures is a bit of a sticker-shock when you first encounter it, but when you dig deeper, like all EVs, the picture changes the more you know.

Each Seal variant gets its own drivetrain outputs, and the mid-spec Premium drives the rear wheels with a 230kW/360Nm electric motor via a reduction gear.

On paper, it’s slightly more powerful than the Model 3 RWD, with more power and less torque than the Polestar 2 Standard Range.

A purely electric car, the EV6 GT is all-wheel-drive courtesy of having one electric motor across the front axle, and a second motor driving the rear wheels.

Add it all up and at maximum power, you have 430kW/740Nm at your disposal.

It’s worth remembering those numbers are precisely the same power and torque as that produced by the last of the locally made muscle-cars, HSV’s final, 6.2-litre, supercharged V8 F-Series line-up back in 2015.

Compared with the non-GT versions of the EV6, that output is almost double the 239kW of the EV6 AWD Dual Motor.

There’s no multi-ratio transmission (just a single-speed arrangement) but there is an electronically operated rear differential to make the most of the 270kW contributed by the rear electric motor.

There’s also a Drift mode built into the car which, as well as courting controversy from the authorities, manages to shift 100 per cent of torque to the rear wheels at small steering inputs to allow the car to be driven sideways.

As the car exits the turn in question, some torque is shuffled forwards to the front wheels to pull the vehicle straight.

A set of paddle shifters control not the gearbox ratios (there are none) but instead the rate of regeneration on deceleration, and turned up to its maximum, can make the Kia a one-pedal car once you get the hang of it.

The GT also features drive models, which tailor the car’s behaviour in terms of steering feel and aggressiveness, suspension firmness, throttle sensitivity and even the stability control’s intervention threshold.

There’s also a steering-wheel mounted GT button which ramps all those settings up to DEFCON 3, placing them at their most dynamic calibrations in the interests of an exciting drive.

In fact, the GT button is the only way to get the full 430kW of power, too.

In the other drive modes, the spare Kilowatts are stored away for you, just waiting for that GT button to be pressed.

Providing power is a sizable 82.56kWh lithium-ion battery pack, using BYD’s signature weight and space-saving ‘Blade’ form-factor, and the more affordable LFP (lithium iron ferrophosphate) chemistry.

On the charging front, the Seal Premium can top up at 150kW on a DC unit (using a Type 2 CCS connector) for a 10-80 per cent charge in roughly 40 minutes, while on AC its a disappointing 7.0kW.

The 7.0kW inverter means it’s hardly worth plugging the Seal in at a slow public charger when you visit the shops, as you’ll only get about 50km of range an hour. It’s for this reason most cars with batteries this size have 11kW inverters.

Unlike the Model 3 or Polestar 2, though, the Seal features a V2L system, allowing you to power household appliances from its Type 2 charging port.

Claimed energy consumption for the Seal is 14.6kWh/100km which is low, and about what we were seeing on test. It’s a little hard to tell because the trip computer only offers total consumption over the entire life of the vehicle, or for the last 50km, but not for a set trip interval. Weird.

Like the other electric Kias on sale now, the EV6 GT has a Lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 77.4 kWh. Located under the floor, the battery-pack accounts for no less than 479 of the GT’s 2185kg.

The on-board charger can handle 10.5kW and takes about seven-and-half hours to go from 10 per cent to 100 per cent charge.

Using a 50kW fast charger, you’re looking at 73 minutes to go from 10 to 80 per cent charge and if you can find a 350kW fast charger, that time drops to just 18 minutes.

On a full charge, Kia claims a combined range of 424km which is okay, but not exactly stellar. That range will also fall pretty quickly if you start to use the awesome stomp on offer.

And let’s not forget that, in running-cost terms, the GT is front-loaded. That is, the car itself costs more, but it’ll be cheaper to run over the years.

Meantime, as oil-based fuels cost more and renewable electricity becomes more prevalent, the financial and environmental running cost of an EV starts to fall.

Okay, so the jury is still out in terms of the environmental impacts of a 77-plus kWh battery, and if the power you’re using is not the green variety, things change again. It’s a moving target, to be sure.

Either way, Kia claims energy consumption of 20.6kWh per 100km which is higher than many EV rivals but reflects the dual motors and even elements like the 21-inch performance tyres (Pirelli Pilot Sports) rather than the lower-resistance EV-specific tyres of most others.

The GT is also a bit of a hero when it comes to regeneration during braking. The car is capable of producing 0.6G from regeneration alone, and as much as 320kWh of regenerated energy during full braking.

I wasn’t expecting the Seal to impress me particularly. After all, it’s in this segment against tough competition, amongst recently updated versions of the Model 3 and Polestar 2, and while the previous BYDs I’ve driven have been a cut above their Chinese contemporaries, they also haven’t done a lot to stand out from the crowd.

Clearly, though, BYD has something to prove with its sporting sedan and the Seal is immediately impressive. The cabin is quiet and refined, the seating position is great it's smooth from take-off.

The steering has an artificial tinge to it removing a bit of feedback from the road, but proves at least quick and accurate at speed, and the handling is superb.

I kept pushing the Seal in my test drive, expecting gnarly characteristics to surface but they didn’t. This sedan grabs onto the road with excellent control and traction at the rear, spurred along by its long wheelbase, and improved tyre choice (Continental rather than the sub-par Chinese rubber worn by the Atto 3 and Dolphin).

While on paper it appears to have at least comparable motor output figures to the Polestar 2 and Model 3 - the Seal Premium doesn’t quite feel as rapid, its electric motor having a more relaxed vibe and responsiveness when you stomp on the go pedal.

This can be tweaked a little by dialling it up to Sport mode, and while it still doesn’t feel quite as breakneck fast as the Model 3, in particular, it’s plenty to be going on with.

The most impressive part of the Seal drive experience, though, is its ride. Ride is a constant problem for EVs as manufacturers go to lengths to tame the additional weight of batteries, but the Seal is the most impressive in its cohort, and by quite a margin.

It’s firm enough to be controlled, but has a lovely soft edge to it, so larger bumps, frequent corrugations, or sharper road imperfections don’t ruin your day.

The Model 3 and Polestar 2, even in their improved forms, are not this good. In a lot of ways the Seal’s suspension tune reminds me of the Mustang Mach-e. It has a soft edge, offset by a bit of secondary jiggle as the car settles, which is its only real blemish.

The Seal has no right being this good. It’s now not just matching its far more established rivals but doing some things significantly better.

Let’s cut to the – literal – chase: Acceleration. Any car with a nought to 100km/h time of 3.5 seconds is a serious performer, but even then, the first time you launch the GT, the sheer ferocity of the car’s response will surprise you.

It’s more like being shot out of a cannon than leaving the start-line, thanks to that instant torque, but the Kia also does it incredibly easily and fuss-free.

Where a lot of truly powerful cars struggle with grip, scrabbling and fighting against the traction control as they battle to get moving, the Kia simply takes off for the horizon.

There’s little squat, no loss of grip and just a seamless supply of Newton-metres. Your grandmother could launch this car as hard and fast as Lewis Hamilton could.

But where a lot of electric cars offer similar levels of traction and acceleration, the EV6 GT adds a whole new dimension.

Where much of the competition becomes a victim of its own kerb mass and the weight shift that comes with it, the Kia is an altogether more dynamic contraption, putting to the sword the theory that EVs are for straight-line stuff only.

The big, sticky Michelin tyres and the beautifully considered damper calibrations (the local experts’ work) combined with the quick steering rack and better-than-average steering feel and feedback, means the GT can not only be driven quickly around corners, it can also maintain its composure (and pace) even on a patchy, lumpy surface.

Where its velocity and steering angle suggests it should start sliding, it doesn’t. Where a corner-exit bump and lots of throttle would make other cars lift a front wheel, the Kia almost senses the road before it and tailors its damper responses.

In fact, that ability to predict the road surface is closer to reality than you might think. While the GT’s adjustable suspension remains passive (or reactive) rather than truly active (seeing into the future) the algorithms that control the dampers are smart enough to look at steering angle, speed, throttle position as well as examine the road surface in ultra-quick real time and adopt a posture that irons out the worst and keeps the wheels on the road.

Talking to the engineers who achieved this feat reveals a lot about what goes into making a two-tonne, high-horsepower car behave itself. As in, hundreds of passes over the same piece of road with full instrumentation on board and the brain power to interpret that data.

But if a car with so much roll stiffness can also offer the ride composure that this one does on 21-inch tyres, then those hundreds of passes have been well worth the effort.

As per Kia’s claim of track-readiness, we also got the chance to drive the EV6 GT at the tight, twisting, narrow Haunted Hills hillclimb circuit in Victoria’s Gippsland.

Frankly, the Kia simply has too much power for this track and we reckon it’s better left in Sport rather than GT mode where the power is a little softer and the car is not as fervent in chasing torque from the front axle to the rear and back again to dial out sliding.

It would be a different matter on a faster, flowing circuit like Phillip Island, but at Haunted Hills, driving the GT was a bit like trying to land a four metre shark in a three metre tinny.

Either way, however, the car’s on-road encouragement and dynamic poise is enough to convince us that this is one of the first EVs to actually speaks the same language as the enthusiast driver. And you can pretty much thank the Aussie suspension engineers for that.

As a high-tech product of a forward looking company, it’s no surprise to learn that the EV6 GT is loaded with the latest safety tech, including driver aids.

Those include autonomous emergency braking (with identification function), blind-spot dentification, lane-keeping assist, multi-collision braking, active speed-limit assist, on-board tyre pressure monitoring, and front and rear parking sensors.

Seven air-bags are fitted, including full-length side bags and a centre-side air-bag to prevent head clashes between passengers in a side-impact.

There’s also a 3D surround camera system, active cruise-control and an indicator-triggered monitor to provide a display of whatever is lurking in the traditional blind-spot over the driver’s shoulder.

Even the car’s headlights have been designed with safety in mind, with a bright LED light source for the driver, but also an intelligent high-beam system that is aimed at reducing the risk of dazzling oncoming vehicles.

Essentially, the front-mounted camera on the GT can spot approaching vehicles and modify the output of individual LEDs within the high-beam cluster to manipulate the shape and spread of the lights’ beam, avoiding blinding the oncoming driver while still providing maximum illumination everywhere else.

The electronically operated rear differential is also being touted by Kia as a safety measure by being able to improve high-speed stability as well as reduce wheelspin on super slippery surfaces.

While the rest of the EV6 range was ANCAP tested last year and scored the full five stars, that rating doesn’t apply to the GT variant thanks to the specific front seats.

The long-term ownership aspect for a BYD product is still a bit of a mystery as the current crop of cars have only just landed in Australia in the last year or two, but if it offers you any peace of mind, the Seal is covered by a six-year/150,000km warranty with a separate eight-year/160,000km warranty for the battery pack.

In order to avoid having to have a traditional dealer network, BYD has partnered with MyCar to fulfil servicing. Visits to one of these locations is required once every 12 months or 20,000km whichever comes first, and pricing is fixed for the first eight years, working out to an annual average of $299.

Like all modern EVs, the Kia should be cheaper to maintain than conventional cars purely because there are fewer moving parts.

Energy costs will come down to where you charge from and whether you have access to home solar panels.

The warranty is typically Kia-good, though, with seven years and unlimited kilometres on the basic car and seven years and 150,000km on all high-voltage components.

Kia offers a three-year, five-year and seven-year servicing plan at $733, $1371 and $2013, respectively.

Service intervals are every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever comes first.