@cerdicw9998 a new VW Golf nowadays costs £40k without interest rate or expensive maintenance and fuel costs. These new Chinese EVs offer amazing value.
@@methanoid BYD are still building their dealer network (cost of that added to every vehicle), plus import, tax, shipping, etc... and can't blame them for grabbing a bit of extra profit too, given how much more expensive / overpriced every other vehicle is :p
If it's anywhere near 20k they won't sell any, probably get reduced to 15k over time and sell a few but it's a no go for me. Much rather have a used e208 for 10k less or an mg4 for similar price
@@coachpotato7353 no it doesn't. Watch it again, it gets to 50km/h in under 5 seconds! That's 5 seconds to get to 30mph which is closer to HGV territory than something usable outside of only city centres.
@@roi354either way its plenty fast for its intended use. Maybe its not enough for muricans in their silly "suburbs", but nothing is ever enough for them anyway. It does not fit my use case, but I know a lot of people who unnecessarily own a SUV to get kids to school five minutes away and then go to work ten minutes away. Its for those people.
Yeah, but they had safety ratings, These don't even have crumple zones. You don't get out alive and just about any crash renders the car a write off! So, you family is expendable????
This might just be the car that marks the beginning of my appreciation of chinese manufacturers. Not an SUV, not big, little tech and low weight. Like this, China. Do more like this.
Good review, thanks. BYD sold 40,092 of these in September and sales keep jumping every month from the prior month (34,841 in August). I suspect that this will do very well globally, not just in China.
EXACTLY! There are plenty of smallish cars with less interior space than this model. Bigger and wider cars requiring larger tyres might be good for the industry, but not necessarily what they should be supplying.
❤️agreeing. Put interior size aside, which is spacious enough, just by putting two and two together one could easily deduce that the company whose technology can run electric buses efficiently should be more than capable of making small cars. Value for money.
I love these coming to the market but I am very upset that nothing even close to this EVER comes to the USA. I hate that our huge cars/suvs/trucks have brainwashed us to never wanting these things. I would buy one of these things in a split second but alas we will never get anything like this here
@@marks-0-0 I think this week theyre still making them. And theyre about twice as expensive as this, although the rebate brings it back down to about 1.5x. But Bolt is a lot more car as well so I think better value. More range, better survivability, faster charging, more toys, service/parts more available.
Swap the pink for Red and sell it in the UK as long as it is not a stupid price it will sell like mad. Top tip BYD get rid of the dealerships and sell them directly.
Even if they price it £15 to £20K it is a steel. We need this type of EV. Other manufactures are going bigger & bigger. Small is where most people will be looking for.
At £15 - £20K the price would be way too high because they would be butting heads with the established brands at that kind of price point. As a newcomer to the UK market BYD need to under-cut the competition if they are going to make any inroads into getting a decent market share, at least in the short to medium term.
I thought it was made from plastics, composites and aluminium?? At 15-20K it will be far too expensive and require ppl to have 2 cars - so not very green after all.
@@tren133 I think they will use the Thailand factory (start production in 2024) to '''flood'' South-East-Asia with Dolphins and Seagulls, also probably move all the production for right-hand drive variants there.
@@Argoon1981 I'm sure you're right, but I think another large part is just that they want massive profit margins on cars and until one manufacturer starts making cheap models, people who want a new car just don't have a choice but to pay for a huge, upscale model. It's cartel behavior.
If they can sell this for 17k in the uk.... I think it’ll be the best selling car in the uk.... if it edges any closer to mg4 or 5 money.... then it’s doomed
It can't come to the UK for almost the same price as in china This is so stupid to give u.k viewers a Chinese price Which is currently the cheapest market in the world by quite a lot
@eden5260 It's not China's fault and it's not BYD's fault . The car has multiple airbags and seatbelts . If the UK want more things , price will go up .
In Germany, we have lots of agencies that employ nurses that help elderly people in their homes. they zip around the city in the cheapest car possible and at the moment, they are in crisis, because the cheapest cars are really too expensive. this would fix that big time. alas, the price will probably double before it shows up on Germany.
That's excellent. The battery/range is more than I ever drive in a day at home so it can slow charge over night and would be fine for long trips if it can fast-ish charge over a lunch break.
The BYD Seagull is exactly what the Mitsubishi i-Miev should have matured in to. I still struggle to get my head around the logic of the Japanese manufacturers when it comes to EVs: They took the world by storm in the '80s with their economical mass-appeal cars and made good progress with hybrids but any lead they built has been entirely squandered. Now the Chinese manufacturers are repeating the exact same game plan and if the Seagull comes to Europe for 15k or under it's going to own the new low-price EV market and send shockwaves through the 2nd hand EV market too!
If it came to the UK at £9k then I would agree with you about it being cheap but we know that, like other cars / bikes, it will probably double in price by the time it arrives.
In my experience, having a car that is sporty/fun to drive isn't always ideal. This is most likely going to be a commuter car for most of the customers and then practiality and comfort is much more important than peppy, dynamic driving performance. Commuting with a sportier car is just frustrating, because you can never really drive sporty in rush-hour trafic anyway. I think BYD made the right decision here. Over all, I like it a lot - just would not pick a white with a pink interior...
I bought my last car --- a Honda Jazz --- for several reasons, one of them being that it was boring. It was so boring that _Gardener's World_ allegedly recommended it, for the absurd amount of storage. It was a box with wheels that carried stuff from point A to point B, and it did that very well. Economical, small, held more than should really be possible, cheap to repair. Surprisingly pleasant to drive, too, even though I didn't really care. I really liked how boring it was.
Yes and no. While I understand everyone wishing for a small commuter car, I would prefer people not to commute with a car at all. And the daily commute is what this car excels in.
Right down my alley, I travel 32km a day for work, I don't need an SUV for that distance, my speed is limited to 60kmh on that journey. Do I want this, you bet I do, but BYD Australia has said they are not bringing them here. Thanks for the review Elliott 😊
Biggest issue in the USA is infrastructure. Not enough charging stations. The few we have are usually empty because people refuse to buy EV's because of their price and not enough charging stations. So it is like they are holding each other up. The people who have installed charging stations say we do not want to construct them because they rarely get used. And car companies say we do not want to build EV's because they do not sell. So, we go nowhere.
Love it! We desperately need small, cheap EVs. Also agree that autonomous features should not be a focus. We don’t need self-driving cars, we need to stop burning stuff. Immediately. The rear visibility does look pretty crap though
These prices always seem to double when they come to Europe. Elliot says in the BYD Dolphin review it costs RMB 94K, which should be equivalent to €14.5K. The Dolphin now is for sale in the Netherlands and starts at €30K. So if this works the same for the Seagull, it will be about €20K, which makes it a competitor for the Citroën ë-C3, but not a price breakthrough.
@@MrDunclThe E-Up only has 37kW "fast" charge. That makes it a nonstarter for those without a home/work charger. So, probably most folks in apartments, who should be its prime market.
@@MrDuncl Problem with that is it's Volkswagen EV, with all the negatives towards the engineering that implies. Such as choosing between a non-existant range or buying a LOT extra. And I aint Barby, so a Fiat 500 isn't an option either, aside from the fact that I physically don't fit in there and can't fit anyone or anything in there.
You guys are getting a bit doctor who with these video titles: "the cheapest, most gamechanging car the doctor had ever faced... until next week". But it's s cool there's a lot of new stuff coming all the time
Took you all long enough! Elliot, where were you for the past few months? Your videos were my favourite! I remember the last one you did was on the Nissan Kei EV.
I love the design of this thing. Looks great inside and out. While I don't know that I'd love it on the interstate in the US. This would still be a great car for city use and if it got her sub $16k for the high end model I wouldn't hesitate. That would be my family's second car in a heartbeat.
It does look nice, look the looks and it reminds me a bit of the Aygo. For the price your not going to expect something fancy but it looks like it pulls it off.
Love this. Small, city streets car. You don’t need to be super zippy. In fact I LOVE this for younger drivers. Affordable and all some need. Now if we can only dodge the insane markup outside China.
I must say, New Elliott is stupendous! But I liked old Elliott just fine too. Elliott has actually been my favorite car reviewer from day one. I appreciate the good - and important - content and the interesting presentations.
9:50 55kw motor is great in that size car! I rented a Pacifica (plugin) Hybrid, which has a 50kw motor. I made all sorts of aggressive maneuvers in traffic without kicking on the engine. It was easy to trigger the engine, but possible to have lots of fun inside of 50kw/72hp. In a fat minivan, no less. 50kw is among the more powerful options for ICE-to-EV conversion motors. 50kw is great for this car. I'm glad they didn't slot in anything less powerful, but they could have gotten away with it.
@@_pehash its normal that it has more space inside because this is dedicated ev architecture while the spring is a modified ice car... but i think the boot is smaller for the seagull
Nice car. Wish they had physical HVAC controls and made it cheaper and had the screen horizontally or vertically only to save even more cost. Nice video. Keep up the good work.
@@StartledPancake I'm sure they'll stop selling batteries to customers any minute now. It's not like they make any money doing that, and obviously everyone will let them be a total monopoly in car sales.
The future is self driving (robotaxi), it makes much more sense than owning a car that is driven only one hour per day on average. BYD has till now nothing to offer on that part and Tesla is clearly leading there. They are just different and while they are competing in certain segments, the real competition will take place between ICE car manufacturers and successful 100% EV manufacturers.
They don’t even compete on the same level, Tesla only makes ev, while byd make mostly hybrid. The Chinese plan is to focusing on developing hybrid cars, which is a category that European and American car companies have mostly abandoned, instead of competing with European & American evs, If something in the future happens that leads to ev industry taking a hit, there is a big chance that small hybrid Chinese cars along with companies like Toyota/ kia will take a large chunk of the western market.
Modern equivalent of the original Austin Mini, just what is required to get mass adoption of EVs. Given how popular small cars are e.g. aygo, C1, 107 etc it should do well if priced right and can get a four star safety rating.
I'm not a driver, but I actually like the look of that. I could see the modding scene doing some cool stuff to those and could be a good contender for becoming a popular first car, although Wayne or Darren will probably struggle with running their 5k sound systems in the boot! :p
If that were to be on sale in the UK in the £9-12k bracket it would sell really well, decent range for the price too. I could see it dominating the second car market for families who buy new
If you assume £1k for shipping, then add the 10% import tax and 20% VAT and you're higher than that already, even before you take any extra costs to meet our safety rules and extra margin because UK. Still, I hope it is cheap as I'd certainly consider one! Edit: If you look at the BYD Seal, it starts at £27k equivalent in China and £45k here, so maybe £15k if we're lucky? Probably a bit more given the shipping costs are fixed not proportional, but I'm slight hopeful it'd be in the ballpark of £16-17k rather than £20k plus
The cost of products are also decided on by local market pricing. Basically how much they think they can sell a product for not by how much profit margin they need.
I like this, I feel like the interior (blush pink aside) lines up with the exterior better than the Atto and Dolphin does with their bizarre organic shapes. This feels like it would fit as a single persons first car or a family’s second commuter car, so back seat amenities and trunk size wouldn’t really be an issue either.
Seems like a great little car, in the same mould as the C1 / 107 / Aygo. I wouldn't worry too much about the driving dynamics not being all that; these will get sold on looks and price. Having spent a long time being happy with my Mk1 Citroen C1, this would suit me down to the ground. Amazing (published!) range for such a tiny cheap car.
Currently in Mexico £15,000 for the standard version and £16,600 for the larger battery version. I see more and more of them every week, this car will crush the old school brands.
Great review thank you - I have no want for iPad screens in a car, I work with them all day, simple instrumentation and a radio is perfect for me. Best possible range and low price is a must - I don’t need a brand or image to travel around in, just a car thanks.
@@petersimms4982 It's Taiwans Foxconn that owns much of the IP - or at least know how for iphones - and yes historically the Zhengzhou factory in China is a primary assembly hub - but Foxconn is slowly extracting out of China to India, Vietnam and Mexico as prime hubs. Why? Because China is tilting toward becoming a beligerent totalitarian state - and it is not good for business in the west (or Taiwan) to be reliant on a workshop state that is planning the west's and Taiwans' demise . Once the IP and the knowhow in many such applications move out of China they will not be able to provide so easily the goods you list. (or at least some of the more key ones). Battery tech and EVs is where China is becoming self reliant on. You might like the price and want Chinese with everything - but you may not be so happy in years ahead if they declare war on west and sanctions means no spares or diagnostic tools for your EV shoudl it go wrong. That's a better case scenario - assuming China doesn't of course disable overnight by over air update direct from Beijing.
@@petersimms4982I’ve been electrical contractor for 38 years, last 10 years we had a influx of Chinese electronics and they last a couple of years and give up.I for one would never buy a Chinese car they are cheap for a reason because the reliability after a few years will be rubbish you see !
Providing they release this thing with a full safety pack, a good battery and a reasonable price (less than £20000 / €22000) I think they will sell tonnes of them. But if BYD jacks the price up too much then it will probably wallow like the Atto 3 did in terms of sales.
@@adus123 costs money to import the car, higher spec, VAT, dealer margin, plus markup because they think Europeans will pay more. Look how much other Chinese cars have sold for in the EU/UK compared to over. I think though that BYD badly miscalculated with their first offering Atto 3. If they have sense they'll sell these as cheap as possible.
@@adus123 They must have a team to pay for each specific market. Different market different softwares, maps languages, regulations. Everything has to be tailored made.
And on the price it has to come here in right hand drive, which is a minimal cost (and opens up other markets) but does exist. The real question is will it ever get here though. If they ship a few thousand, they'll sell. They have very little competition and what they do have is dragging their feet as well. I'll believe it when I see it on our streets in significant numbers. :(
@@drxym yes I get that there is a cost but not more than double. I think it's the dealers over here that are ripping us off. They need to start selling directly to public cut out the fat middle man.
They can't sell it for $10k in Western countries because of protectionism. Strange how the Chinese allowed VW and all the other foreign brands into China decades ago and are now starting to beat all of them, including Tesla which they allowed in without a joint venture requirement.
Don't hold your breath for getting this car around 10k. Uk and the EU are getting ready to impose massive tariffs on Chinese EVs. When you can't compete, the only thing left to do is to hamper the other party's progress
I would buy this BYD as my 2022 Kia Picanto GT line which cost me £16.300 new is expensive, it is even shorter 3600mm and thinners at 1600mm, as long as it is under £19,000. After driving a MG 4 for a few days I much prefer electric car but the MG is too big and smaller a car is preferred. Picked my new VW multivan in June so the BYD is perfect everyday car for my needs like the school run.😊
Adding in VAT, importing costs etc BYD will probably be closer to £12-14k, so basically the same as something like a Kia Picanto. As a city car, especially for those without kids (and the shopping that goes with them), there is a lot to like. Clearly it is not designed to do long distance motorway driving, I am guessing that range at a constant 75 mph is probably 180-200 miles (290-320 km) but that is still not bad. I would love a hot hatch/rally version of this car. Better brakes, more power and a bigger battery, happy to sacrifice passenger comfort for that. I could see it being a modern version of the original Mini Cooper rally car of the 1960s
There's no such thing as Kia Picanto EV that I can tell so I'm not sure how the price of one is relevant? The petrol one could be twice as expensive as this and it would still be beaten hands down by the Seagull because it's an EV and therefore cheaper. This is also far, far, far bigger than an original mini. Two and a bit feet as far as I can see.
Here in California our local bus service runs on electric and made by BYD. It's an absolute shocker coz up to now we haven't paid any fares even after COVID. I'm so shocked that finally we'll be paying 50 cents come January next year.
Reminds me of the 1970s and Japanese cars first arrived in Ireland. They were, wrongly, considered cheap tin cans. The UK car industry could not handle the competition from Japan, France and Germany. 50 years on with the arrival of Chinese EVS, the legacy German, French and Italy brands face an existential challenge.
I don't care about "fizz", I want to see what this looks and feels like when it gets to the UK and whether it's a viable replacement for my 10 year old original VW e-Up! which is similar in dimensions (actually slightly smaller!) but only does 130km range - and that's if you drive like a Trappist Monk. VW ought to be sweating as they are totally failing this segment at the moment - having been very lukewarm on the newer 2020 version of the e-Up! (260km range) with haphazard production runs before then scrapping the model completely without any sort of ID replacement model (ID1?) being made available.
I love how I'm not alone in wanting to remove the badges on Chinese cars. Their branding really doesn't translate well here. "Cyberster" is probably at the top of my list of wanting to rip badges off and not acknowledge real names.
I always like when we can confirm elliot is still alive. Not sure why he doesnt review the other dozens of evs in his neighborhood. Should be a video a week i would think.
Despite hating seagulls, I do like this. Well, I like the outside, not sure I could live with that interior, I hope they have other colours. It's good news that it is more analogue than digital, I don't trust Chinese data collection, and basically don't like any digital interfaces in cars. (I would also remove that 'Build Your Dreams' sign). A good contender, esp at that price.
My only issue with the interior is the centre air con vens they are way way too low. I like aircon blowing my fave and head as i often get bad heads when driving
Is this actually coming to Australia? There's an article about it not being likely. I hope it's wrong. There's always some marketing genius who decides why we won't get things like this and says 'Here, have this crap SUV thing instead'.
Man, I would definitely buy this car! I actually like the interior, and even though I'm not a pink color fan, I get the color scheme they had in this car.
Well it is that, but watch the EU scramble to impose new tariffs and taxes on it in order to keep EVs expensive and keep German and French car company shareholders rich.
The 'Seagull' dashboard might be whimsically marketed as a deliberate design cue & one that's meant to be a good thing, but I rather suspect that it has more to do with the need for compact packaging of the interior to enable inclusion of all of the necessities in a tenny weeny car. The shape does allow for easier placement of the steering column so that it doesn't impinge on space for the driver's legs for example.
If this does actually come out in the UK anywhere near the £10k price point, then it's going to be an absolute game changer.
Based on the difference between China price and UK price of other cars, I reckon this will be about £23000 when it gets here…
@@cerdicw9998yup... funny how that happens.. not just 20%VAT added
@cerdicw9998 a new VW Golf nowadays costs £40k without interest rate or expensive maintenance and fuel costs. These new Chinese EVs offer amazing value.
@@methanoid BYD are still building their dealer network (cost of that added to every vehicle), plus import, tax, shipping, etc... and can't blame them for grabbing a bit of extra profit too, given how much more expensive / overpriced every other vehicle is :p
If it's anywhere near 20k they won't sell any, probably get reduced to 15k over time and sell a few but it's a no go for me. Much rather have a used e208 for 10k less or an mg4 for similar price
If it starts and stops, is reliable and economical to run, it's pretty much all I want in a car.
Yes, me too, I can't understand all the excitement around cars. If BYD make a van, I'm gonna be all over that.
Sounds like the stopping bit isn't great, and the starting is slower than walking
@@roi354 it gets to 100 under 5 seconds, for comparison latest honda civic in sporty-ish trim takes 8...
@@coachpotato7353 no it doesn't. Watch it again, it gets to 50km/h in under 5 seconds! That's 5 seconds to get to 30mph which is closer to HGV territory than something usable outside of only city centres.
@@roi354either way its plenty fast for its intended use. Maybe its not enough for muricans in their silly "suburbs", but nothing is ever enough for them anyway. It does not fit my use case, but I know a lot of people who unnecessarily own a SUV to get kids to school five minutes away and then go to work ten minutes away. Its for those people.
Thank you, BYD, for making a car that is not filled with useless gadgets.
I just wish analogue instruments hadn't gone out of style. I want needles that move --- even if you faked them on the instrument screen.
Yeah, but they had safety ratings,
These don't even have crumple zones.
You don't get out alive and just about any crash renders the car a write off!
So, you family is expendable????
@@bewilderbeestie yes but they still kept the buttons and such
@@bewilderbeestie I'm sure they could if they ever add that option to their cars for buyers
@@bewilderbeestienah
This might just be the car that marks the beginning of my appreciation of chinese manufacturers. Not an SUV, not big, little tech and low weight. Like this, China. Do more like this.
Good review, thanks. BYD sold 40,092 of these in September and sales keep jumping every month from the prior month (34,841 in August). I suspect that this will do very well globally, not just in China.
9m 280000
How? I can't buy it?
Still bigger than my old Toyota Aygo (3405x1615mm), but definitely a sane, practical size compared to all these massive SUVs.
Still, him calling it "super, super mini". Car sizes have just gotten ridiculous. I drive a 15 year old fiesta that is shorter.
EXACTLY! There are plenty of smallish cars with less interior space than this model. Bigger and wider cars requiring larger tyres might be good for the industry, but not necessarily what they should be supplying.
@@4203105 2008 Fiesta here as well👊
❤️agreeing.
Put interior size aside, which is spacious enough, just by putting two and two together one could easily deduce that the company whose technology can run electric buses efficiently should be more than capable of making small cars. Value for money.
Have you seen how bad the new Aygo X is?😂
I love these coming to the market but I am very upset that nothing even close to this EVER comes to the USA. I hate that our huge cars/suvs/trucks have brainwashed us to never wanting these things. I would buy one of these things in a split second but alas we will never get anything like this here
The Bolt is your closest choice if GM still make it
AFAIK the Mitsubishi Mirage was the last small car sold in the US
Smart went there, and no one bought any.
Problem is a car that small would disappear in a collision with the average SUV. Its too much of a size decrease all at once.
@@marks-0-0 I think this week theyre still making them. And theyre about twice as expensive as this, although the rebate brings it back down to about 1.5x. But Bolt is a lot more car as well so I think better value. More range, better survivability, faster charging, more toys, service/parts more available.
Swap the pink for Red and sell it in the UK as long as it is not a stupid price it will sell like mad. Top tip BYD get rid of the dealerships and sell them directly.
Even if they price it £15 to £20K it is a steel. We need this type of EV. Other manufactures are going bigger & bigger. Small is where most people will be looking for.
At 20k it's really not a steal anymore. You have to consider that these ranges are pure fantasy. You have to subtract like 100km to get to WLTP.
@@4203105yes, expect somewhere around 250 km of range, most likely
At £15 - £20K the price would be way too high because they would be butting heads with the established brands at that kind of price point. As a newcomer to the UK market BYD need to under-cut the competition if they are going to make any inroads into getting a decent market share, at least in the short to medium term.
@@4203105a new Skoda fabia is £20000 although not a steel it's worth it ( just )
I thought it was made from plastics, composites and aluminium?? At 15-20K it will be far too expensive and require ppl to have 2 cars - so not very green after all.
Price aside, nice sized car with decent range. Most manufacturers are struggling to offer this at any price.
They are not "struggling" they just don't want to do it. They still have a huge amount of ICE and hybrid cars made that they want to get rid off.
Meanwhile the Seagull hasn't even been on the market for 6 months yet, and BYD has already ramped production to 40,000 units PER MONTH.
@@tren133 I think they will use the Thailand factory (start production in 2024) to '''flood'' South-East-Asia with Dolphins and Seagulls,
also probably move all the production for right-hand drive variants there.
This EV is beyond Toyota's ken. (No. Not that Ken!)
@@Argoon1981 I'm sure you're right, but I think another large part is just that they want massive profit margins on cars and until one manufacturer starts making cheap models, people who want a new car just don't have a choice but to pay for a huge, upscale model. It's cartel behavior.
With the 20% import VAT and 10% import tariff, it should still be able to come in at £12,000 but we all know it's not hitting the UK for under 20k.
If they can sell this for 17k in the uk.... I think it’ll be the best selling car in the uk.... if it edges any closer to mg4 or 5 money.... then it’s doomed
It's still Chinese. I wouldn't touch anything with wheels that's China made with a 10 foot pole....I don't even order a Chinese anymore!
@@burntcrumpets5616 good... at least you stay away from -Elon- Tesla cars.
@@burntcrumpets5616Why?
Because warmongering US tells you so?
@@burntcrumpets5616Not many cars you'll be able to buy, including Tesla and many US and European cars.
9 months later and now I have one here in Brazil ! Mine is white with a blue interior, very nice looking!
I have never purchased a new car in my life. If they release this at £10k i will purchase one. China has changed the game for us. I'm 100% in.
It can't come to the UK for almost the same price as in china
This is so stupid to give u.k viewers a Chinese price
Which is currently the cheapest market in the world by quite a lot
@eden5260
It's not China's fault and it's not BYD's fault . The car has multiple airbags and seatbelts . If the UK want more things , price will go up .
This is what 90% of the people need -- to go shopping, for short trips, and to go around town. We don't need 300 hp for 99% of the situations.
In Germany, we have lots of agencies that employ nurses that help elderly people in their homes. they zip around the city in the cheapest car possible and at the moment, they are in crisis, because the cheapest cars are really too expensive. this would fix that big time. alas, the price will probably double before it shows up on Germany.
Interesting. A local hospital has a large fleet of leased Ford Fiestas for exactly that task. I am waiting to see what they replace them with.
That's excellent. The battery/range is more than I ever drive in a day at home so it can slow charge over night and would be fine for long trips if it can fast-ish charge over a lunch break.
The BYD Seagull is exactly what the Mitsubishi i-Miev should have matured in to. I still struggle to get my head around the logic of the Japanese manufacturers when it comes to EVs: They took the world by storm in the '80s with their economical mass-appeal cars and made good progress with hybrids but any lead they built has been entirely squandered.
Now the Chinese manufacturers are repeating the exact same game plan and if the Seagull comes to Europe for 15k or under it's going to own the new low-price EV market and send shockwaves through the 2nd hand EV market too!
If it came to the UK at £9k then I would agree with you about it being cheap but we know that, like other cars / bikes, it will probably double in price by the time it arrives.
Which would STILL make it the cheapest brand new EV on the UK market by a good £7k
you could always buy th eHillman hunter tooling back from Iran and make the British Motor Industry great again.
VW ID.3 is €40k in Germany and €16k in China, VW manufacture both in Europe and in China. BYD is not, they ship to Europe, even more expensive.
An eHillman Imp; Now there is an idea !!!!@@prophetsnake
I reckon £22k for the basic model; £24k for the top range model @@WonkoTheSaneUK
i am driving an electric chinese car 3 years now. 700hp and 1000Nm. absolute love it. no problems whatsoever. 160k km now
glad to see it has been pretty reliable
@@justifiedmasagony3635 10 months ago i wrote this comment. still going strong. bought a new SU7 max just last months and waiting for delivery
What car
I love the consideration for the customer they've applied here. Buttons are important for some things.
Nice to see a car without an all glass roof 👍😁
In my experience, having a car that is sporty/fun to drive isn't always ideal. This is most likely going to be a commuter car for most of the customers and then practiality and comfort is much more important than peppy, dynamic driving performance. Commuting with a sportier car is just frustrating, because you can never really drive sporty in rush-hour trafic anyway. I think BYD made the right decision here. Over all, I like it a lot - just would not pick a white with a pink interior...
I bought my last car --- a Honda Jazz --- for several reasons, one of them being that it was boring. It was so boring that _Gardener's World_ allegedly recommended it, for the absurd amount of storage. It was a box with wheels that carried stuff from point A to point B, and it did that very well. Economical, small, held more than should really be possible, cheap to repair. Surprisingly pleasant to drive, too, even though I didn't really care. I really liked how boring it was.
The only criterion I have for a car of this price is that it gets me from A to B, in one piece.
That is two criteria. Range and saftey
Sorry, but it won't do that.
Ideally without catching fire!
and actual cost/km or mile, life span and of course: a roof not to get wet in the rain 🙂
It has 6 airbags to keep you in one piece...
I so wish we could have this in the US.
My daily driver is a royal Enfield motorcycle and i would buy this to be it's companion. 😊
You can if you vote in politicians who dont put stupidly high tariffs on car imports.
@@mason6300Good luck!
@@mason6300 Just think if your choices were Trump or Biden.
@@mason6300 apparently not possible as the US election has always been choosing the less evil...
This is the sort of electric car we need, especially if it's around £9-10,000.
Yes and no. While I understand everyone wishing for a small commuter car, I would prefer people not to commute with a car at all. And the daily commute is what this car excels in.
not going to come to uk at that price
@@SiqueScarface You wont stop people commuting, so this is the next best thing.
would have been before brexit, exchange rate is crap now
You're delusional. There's no way you will ever get a road legal EV for that price.
Right down my alley, I travel 32km a day for work, I don't need an SUV for that distance, my speed is limited to 60kmh on that journey. Do I want this, you bet I do, but BYD Australia has said they are not bringing them here. Thanks for the review Elliott 😊
Give it some time, maybe it will change. Or others to battle with it.
Nobody needs an SUV.
@@kristoffer3000 I don't but who are you to say for others. I will say nobody needs your thoughts.
I heard they do now? Did you get one?
Not released here yet😊
I just got back from CN and literally half the cars on the road are electric…I’ve been in many and they rock.
Till they burn.
Biggest issue in the USA is infrastructure. Not enough charging stations. The few we have are usually empty because people refuse to buy EV's because of their price and not enough charging stations. So it is like they are holding each other up. The people who have installed charging stations say we do not want to construct them because they rarely get used. And car companies say we do not want to build EV's because they do not sell. So, we go nowhere.
Love it! We desperately need small, cheap EVs. Also agree that autonomous features should not be a focus. We don’t need self-driving cars, we need to stop burning stuff. Immediately. The rear visibility does look pretty crap though
We don't need either
Hear hear
These prices always seem to double when they come to Europe. Elliot says in the BYD Dolphin review it costs RMB 94K, which should be equivalent to €14.5K. The Dolphin now is for sale in the Netherlands and starts at €30K. So if this works the same for the Seagull, it will be about €20K, which makes it a competitor for the Citroën ë-C3, but not a price breakthrough.
Brussels keeping the taxes and price higher
We need more EV options like this car. VW or Fiat have missed this one.
VW E-UP. Fiat 500E
My wife has one of the VW Ups cousins. For two people it has plenty of space.
@@MrDunclThe E-Up only has 37kW "fast" charge. That makes it a nonstarter for those without a home/work charger. So, probably most folks in apartments, who should be its prime market.
More options better for the consumers.
@@hanmeng4833 byd best
@@MrDuncl
Problem with that is it's Volkswagen EV, with all the negatives towards the engineering that implies. Such as choosing between a non-existant range or buying a LOT extra. And I aint Barby, so a Fiat 500 isn't an option either, aside from the fact that I physically don't fit in there and can't fit anyone or anything in there.
You guys are getting a bit doctor who with these video titles: "the cheapest, most gamechanging car the doctor had ever faced... until next week". But it's s cool there's a lot of new stuff coming all the time
You could also make a fair comparison to Tomorrows World, except their tech sometimes arrived here.
dunno what you mean seeing as this is a real car you can already buy lol@@jonevansauthor
Took you all long enough! Elliot, where were you for the past few months? Your videos were my favourite! I remember the last one you did was on the Nissan Kei EV.
Yeah it's super weird how few videos he's allowed to do.
I love the design of this thing. Looks great inside and out.
While I don't know that I'd love it on the interstate in the US. This would still be a great car for city use and if it got her sub $16k for the high end model I wouldn't hesitate. That would be my family's second car in a heartbeat.
It does look nice, look the looks and it reminds me a bit of the Aygo. For the price your not going to expect something fancy but it looks like it pulls it off.
for people who don’t know Tesla , Toyota, kia , Mercedes Benz is using BYD blade battery
no they don't
@@andrewevans2453yes they do, although not all models but one that is made in china like Tesla model Y from giga berlin, toyota bz3 and kia EV5
I have been driving this car for a month, really like it
Love this. Small, city streets car. You don’t need to be super zippy. In fact I LOVE this for younger drivers. Affordable and all some need. Now if we can only dodge the insane markup outside China.
Great video, Elliott. Special mention for the creative use of graphics & double screen. 👏👏
I must say, New Elliott is stupendous! But I liked old Elliott just fine too.
Elliott has actually been my favorite car reviewer from day one. I appreciate the good - and important - content and the interesting presentations.
4:03 CLTC, not CATL 😂
Also BYD makes it's own batteries and not buying from the competition 😊
9:50 55kw motor is great in that size car! I rented a Pacifica (plugin) Hybrid, which has a 50kw motor. I made all sorts of aggressive maneuvers in traffic without kicking on the engine. It was easy to trigger the engine, but possible to have lots of fun inside of 50kw/72hp. In a fat minivan, no less. 50kw is among the more powerful options for ICE-to-EV conversion motors. 50kw is great for this car. I'm glad they didn't slot in anything less powerful, but they could have gotten away with it.
In europe it will compete against the dacia spring... its very slightly bigger than it
And it will have import tariffs soon too
Are you sure this will come to Europe? I highly doubt it.
Dacia Spring or Renault K-ZE is made by Dongfang in Hubei. This one from BYD seems to have almost double the range and quite a bit more space inside.
@@_pehash its normal that it has more space inside because this is dedicated ev architecture while the spring is a modified ice car... but i think the boot is smaller for the seagull
@@n56ssd i mean thats what elliott said
Nice car. Wish they had physical HVAC controls and made it cheaper and had the screen horizontally or vertically only to save even more cost. Nice video. Keep up the good work.
Remember when Elon Musk laughed at BYD? Now they're Tesla's biggest threat.
No no no, BYD is Tesla's best partner. BYD provides Tesla with blade batteries.
@@makesirich-ps6zw For now. Tesla needs BYD far more than BYD needs Tesla.
@@StartledPancake I'm sure they'll stop selling batteries to customers any minute now. It's not like they make any money doing that, and obviously everyone will let them be a total monopoly in car sales.
The future is self driving (robotaxi), it makes much more sense than owning a car that is driven only one hour per day on average. BYD has till now nothing to offer on that part and Tesla is clearly leading there. They are just different and while they are competing in certain segments, the real competition will take place between ICE car manufacturers and successful 100% EV manufacturers.
They don’t even compete on the same level, Tesla only makes ev, while byd make mostly hybrid. The Chinese plan is to focusing on developing hybrid cars, which is a category that European and American car companies have mostly abandoned, instead of competing with European & American evs, If something in the future happens that leads to ev industry taking a hit, there is a big chance that small hybrid Chinese cars along with companies like Toyota/ kia will take a large chunk of the western market.
Modern equivalent of the original Austin Mini, just what is required to get mass adoption of EVs. Given how popular small cars are e.g. aygo, C1, 107 etc it should do well if priced right and can get a four star safety rating.
except it isnt at all, its slow, not at all nimble, and really poorly laid out, all frufru and no useful
Just need to ad the holes in the floor to let water in and outdated engines, but it's exactly what most people need if they're honest with themselves.
No matter what ev cars about still no where near anough chargers about will ev die off in the future many people hanging on to their old cars still
@@raymondvaughan6262 LOL
@@mycosys source ?
You say it is not sporty, but you only run in eco mode, so what is it like in sport mode ????
Elliot! Love your reviews! Thank You and keep up your fantastic work!
I have a bad feeling it will be a year or two before we can buy this car in Australia... maybe never. 😭
Never is a safe bet. Otherwise we would already be over run by Suzuki Altos and MG3s
I hope you’re wrong.
@@MrHSIE Yeah, me too.
just saw an article, no plans to bring it to Australia yet, apparently one of the factors is that it couldn't get a 5 star ancap safety rating.
I'm not a driver, but I actually like the look of that. I could see the modding scene doing some cool stuff to those and could be a good contender for becoming a popular first car, although Wayne or Darren will probably struggle with running their 5k sound systems in the boot! :p
Am I the only one who looks at this and sees Kryten's head?
If that were to be on sale in the UK in the £9-12k bracket it would sell really well, decent range for the price too. I could see it dominating the second car market for families who buy new
yes ... but it won't be in that price range. They might manage high teens though.
If you assume £1k for shipping, then add the 10% import tax and 20% VAT and you're higher than that already, even before you take any extra costs to meet our safety rules and extra margin because UK. Still, I hope it is cheap as I'd certainly consider one!
Edit: If you look at the BYD Seal, it starts at £27k equivalent in China and £45k here, so maybe £15k if we're lucky? Probably a bit more given the shipping costs are fixed not proportional, but I'm slight hopeful it'd be in the ballpark of £16-17k rather than £20k plus
The cost of products are also decided on by local market pricing. Basically how much they think they can sell a product for not by how much profit margin they need.
@@marks-0-0 yep absolutely, was meaning that in the "because UK" but but should have written it better.
£ 15k in Australia and Japan
I like this, I feel like the interior (blush pink aside) lines up with the exterior better than the Atto and Dolphin does with their bizarre organic shapes. This feels like it would fit as a single persons first car or a family’s second commuter car, so back seat amenities and trunk size wouldn’t really be an issue either.
内饰不止这一种颜色😂
Well, I'll definitely be looking at one when they hit the UK.
thank you for making a sensibly powered car. no one needs 1000hp plaid in london.
Seems like a great little car, in the same mould as the C1 / 107 / Aygo. I wouldn't worry too much about the driving dynamics not being all that; these will get sold on looks and price. Having spent a long time being happy with my Mk1 Citroen C1, this would suit me down to the ground. Amazing (published!) range for such a tiny cheap car.
Currently in Mexico £15,000 for the standard version and £16,600 for the larger battery version. I see more and more of them every week, this car will crush the old school brands.
That's great price for new car 😢
Great review. I am totally sold. Where do I send the check for £9K and have of those birds delivered to Islington, London?
Great review thank you - I have no want for iPad screens in a car, I work with them all day, simple instrumentation and a radio is perfect for me. Best possible range and low price is a must - I don’t need a brand or image to travel around in, just a car thanks.
Sounds a genuine contender for EV of the people!
Absolutely agree! BYD are electric geniuses 😊
But Chinese
@@bbbf09 just like my iPhone, vacuum cleaner, stereo, earphones,microwave,iron,glasses,TV 😃👍
@@petersimms4982 It's Taiwans Foxconn that owns much of the IP - or at least know how for iphones - and yes historically the Zhengzhou factory in China is a primary assembly hub - but Foxconn is slowly extracting out of China to India, Vietnam and Mexico as prime hubs. Why? Because China is tilting toward becoming a beligerent totalitarian state - and it is not good for business in the west (or Taiwan) to be reliant on a workshop state that is planning the west's and Taiwans' demise . Once the IP and the knowhow in many such applications move out of China they will not be able to provide so easily the goods you list. (or at least some of the more key ones).
Battery tech and EVs is where China is becoming self reliant on. You might like the price and want Chinese with everything - but you may not be so happy in years ahead if they declare war on west and sanctions means no spares or diagnostic tools for your EV shoudl it go wrong. That's a better case scenario - assuming China doesn't of course disable overnight by over air update direct from Beijing.
@@petersimms4982I’ve been electrical contractor for 38 years, last 10 years we had a influx of Chinese electronics and they last a couple of years and give up.I for one would never buy a Chinese car they are cheap for a reason because the reliability after a few years will be rubbish you see !
@@bbbf09 and ?
If it doesn’t pinch your chips while you’re not looking, should do well 🤪😂😂
😂😆
Another great report from Elliott, oh dear Volkswagen!
Like it a lot! Wish it had a bit bigger of a boot, feels like there's a bit of a wasted space there, but otherways great.
Providing they release this thing with a full safety pack, a good battery and a reasonable price (less than £20000 / €22000) I think they will sell tonnes of them. But if BYD jacks the price up too much then it will probably wallow like the Atto 3 did in terms of sales.
£22000? it says less than £9,000 on the video £22000 will be a rip-off
@@adus123 costs money to import the car, higher spec, VAT, dealer margin, plus markup because they think Europeans will pay more. Look how much other Chinese cars have sold for in the EU/UK compared to over. I think though that BYD badly miscalculated with their first offering Atto 3. If they have sense they'll sell these as cheap as possible.
@@adus123 They must have a team to pay for each specific market. Different market different softwares, maps languages, regulations. Everything has to be tailored made.
And on the price it has to come here in right hand drive, which is a minimal cost (and opens up other markets) but does exist. The real question is will it ever get here though. If they ship a few thousand, they'll sell. They have very little competition and what they do have is dragging their feet as well. I'll believe it when I see it on our streets in significant numbers. :(
@@drxym yes I get that there is a cost but not more than double. I think it's the dealers over here that are ripping us off. They need to start selling directly to public cut out the fat middle man.
This £10k electric car is about to shock the world when it's released for £30k.
I wish any of these cheap EVs would make it to US.
连tiktok都差点进不了美国，电动车更难😂
make your wish to Blinken
You are right……..Australians will love it and this one already does but we’ve been told it wont be coming to Australia 😢
Lovely little car, can't wait to see how they justify the likely £30k price tag when it lands in the UK.
That's the thing I can't understand, cheap over there but expensive when it enters uk
@@Asad-2166you know tariffs right?
@@MDF4072tariffs are currently not at 200%
@@MDF4072 you know how high tariffs actually are, right?
They can't sell it for $10k in Western countries because of protectionism. Strange how the Chinese allowed VW and all the other foreign brands into China decades ago and are now starting to beat all of them, including Tesla which they allowed in without a joint venture requirement.
Something above the cute but impractical quadricycle level and still incredibly - for 2023+ - cheap is needed.
Don't hold your breath for getting this car around 10k. Uk and the EU are getting ready to impose massive tariffs on Chinese EVs. When you can't compete, the only thing left to do is to hamper the other party's progress
Seagull is the ultimate recyclable energy vehicle - powered by droppings
We can always hope for a reasonable price round about 25 k£. But believe it will be hiked prices and quite expensive, as the existing BYD cars in EU.
I would buy this BYD as my 2022 Kia Picanto GT line which cost me £16.300 new is expensive, it is even shorter 3600mm and thinners at 1600mm, as long as it is under £19,000. After driving a MG 4 for a few days I much prefer electric car but the MG is too big and smaller a car is preferred. Picked my new VW multivan in June so the BYD is perfect everyday car for my needs like the school run.😊
Adding in VAT, importing costs etc BYD will probably be closer to £12-14k, so basically the same as something like a Kia Picanto. As a city car, especially for those without kids (and the shopping that goes with them), there is a lot to like. Clearly it is not designed to do long distance motorway driving, I am guessing that range at a constant 75 mph is probably 180-200 miles (290-320 km) but that is still not bad.
I would love a hot hatch/rally version of this car. Better brakes, more power and a bigger battery, happy to sacrifice passenger comfort for that. I could see it being a modern version of the original Mini Cooper rally car of the 1960s
It'll be more
A lot more... £12k would be dreaming
If it gets here, launch spec will be £22k. They'll promise an entry level 'soon', 24 of those will be sold for £20k 2 years later.
It might sneak in under £20,000 ... If it's less than £18000 I'll eat my hat ... and your hat too. Mark my words.
There's no such thing as Kia Picanto EV that I can tell so I'm not sure how the price of one is relevant? The petrol one could be twice as expensive as this and it would still be beaten hands down by the Seagull because it's an EV and therefore cheaper. This is also far, far, far bigger than an original mini. Two and a bit feet as far as I can see.
Here in California our local bus service runs on electric and made by BYD. It's an absolute shocker coz up to now we haven't paid any fares even after COVID. I'm so shocked that finally we'll be paying 50 cents come January next year.
Will it force Renault to reconsider the price point for the 4 or 5? 🤔
🤞
"aside from the motor and the brakes and the interior, I have no complaints" :)
BYD Dolphin predicted UK price (using exchange rates in one of these videos): £10.6k.
Actual UK price: £30k.
Why not! They will sell at that price as long as they are still cheaper than what the legacy car makers can produce.
Reminds me of the 1970s and Japanese cars first arrived in Ireland. They were, wrongly, considered cheap tin cans. The UK car industry could not handle the competition from Japan, France and Germany. 50 years on with the arrival of Chinese EVS, the legacy German, French and Italy brands face an existential challenge.
I don't care about "fizz", I want to see what this looks and feels like when it gets to the UK and whether it's a viable replacement for my 10 year old original VW e-Up! which is similar in dimensions (actually slightly smaller!) but only does 130km range - and that's if you drive like a Trappist Monk. VW ought to be sweating as they are totally failing this segment at the moment - having been very lukewarm on the newer 2020 version of the e-Up! (260km range) with haphazard production runs before then scrapping the model completely without any sort of ID replacement model (ID1?) being made available.
I love how I'm not alone in wanting to remove the badges on Chinese cars. Their branding really doesn't translate well here. "Cyberster" is probably at the top of my list of wanting to rip badges off and not acknowledge real names.
Smart Hashtag 1 is infinitely worse and that's German.
Zeekr. Geely (pronounced Jeelee), Chery (not pronounced Cherry), BAIC (No. Not "flew in from Miami Beach, BOAC...)
Vs the VW e-up and Dacia Spring.... I am sure this will be competitive. As long as they can keep the price low.
It really does look like a vehicle that would work in the UK.
For $10K it has an incredible interior. I live in Los Angeles. I’m going to mexico to buy one
Bet it won't be ultra cheap here though...that is the issue
I’m loving that “economisations” word ! 😁
I always like when we can confirm elliot is still alive. Not sure why he doesnt review the other dozens of evs in his neighborhood. Should be a video a week i would think.
Err, he's got to another job and fit in being dad as well😂
Nice work Elliot!
I think it looks great, if they can do close to 15000 it is a good buy.
Ya, my first thought is that this puts the Spark back in play. We had a spark, and the rebate basically covered the car cost.
CATL range?? Did you mean the Chinese CLTC range standard?
outside of charging speed, i fucking love this little nugget
Despite hating seagulls, I do like this. Well, I like the outside, not sure I could live with that interior, I hope they have other colours. It's good news that it is more analogue than digital, I don't trust Chinese data collection, and basically don't like any digital interfaces in cars. (I would also remove that 'Build Your Dreams' sign). A good contender, esp at that price.
I did wonder about that. Maybe in China seagulls are seen less as flying rats, and more as noble birds?
My only issue with the interior is the centre air con vens they are way way too low. I like aircon blowing my fave and head as i often get bad heads when driving
Is this actually coming to Australia? There's an article about it not being likely. I hope it's wrong. There's always some marketing genius who decides why we won't get things like this and says 'Here, have this crap SUV thing instead'.
It’s not coming to Oz. This is so insanely compromised for anything but urban roads where the speed limit is less than 80km/h
@@theairstig9164 Do you actually know that, or are you putting forward opinion as fact?
We had the VW Beatle in the 1960s now we have the BYD Seagull in the 2020s. These are going to be very popular.
Oh, right, the new BYD RatsWithWings!, will it set the world on fire?
Lol. Yeah I would change the name.
Man, I would definitely buy this car! I actually like the interior, and even though I'm not a pink color fan, I get the color scheme they had in this car.
Unfortunatly once we can buy this car in Europe it will be at least double the price...
Thanks Elliot!
Well it is that, but watch the EU scramble to impose new tariffs and taxes on it in order to keep EVs expensive and keep German and French car company shareholders rich.
the US just did
The 'Seagull' dashboard might be whimsically marketed as a deliberate design cue & one that's meant to be a good thing, but I rather suspect that it has more to do with the need for compact packaging of the interior to enable inclusion of all of the necessities in a tenny weeny car. The shape does allow for easier placement of the steering column so that it doesn't impinge on space for the driver's legs for example.
It looks awesome inside.