How much does it really cost to run this popular Chinese electric saloon?

This Chinese electric saloon has been on sale in the UK since 2023. It pairs a stylish cabin with a battery range of up to 354 miles, while also being comfortable to drive and generously equipped.

So, if you’re seriously considering buying a Seal – which, by the way, we think is the best car BYD currently offers – it’s worth looking beyond the upfront cost. Once you factor in charging, tax and depreciation, the overall cost of ownership can add up quickly.

To find out what it really costs, we ran the numbers on a new BYD Seal over a typical three-year ownership period and 30,000 miles to calculate its total cost of ownership (TCO) – and see whether leasing might actually be the smarter financial choice.

If you just want the headline figures, click below. Otherwise, read on for the full breakdown.

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Remember, you can buy a brand new or used car right here on Carwow. And you can sell your car, too. We’re here to help you through every step of your car-changing journey.

Starting price

First, let’s look at the starting price based on buying a BYD Seal outright. You’re more likely to finance your car through a loan or PCP agreement, so the total cost will usually include interest and additional fees. These costs can vary depending on the type of deal, when you buy, and current interest rates.

To keep things simple, we used the recommended retail price (RRP) of a brand-new base model BYD Seal, priced at £45,730. That’s before you decide to add on any extras to your car.

Road tax

Next up, you need to factor in road tax.

As the BYD Seal is an electric car, you’ll pay a £10 first-year rate, followed by the standard £200 annual rate from the second year onwards.

There’s also an extra charge to be aware of for more expensive cars.

If your electric car has a list price of £50,000 or more when new, you’ll pay the Expensive Car Supplement. This adds £440 a year from the second to the sixth year of the car’s life. After that, you simply revert to the standard £200 annual rate.

Fortunately, the example we’re using has a list price below £50,000, so this extra charge doesn’t apply. However, if you opt for a higher trim level or add enough optional extras to push the list price above the threshold, you’ll have to pay the supplement.

With that in mind, using the base model as our example, you’ll pay a total of £410 in road tax over the first three years.

Charging costs

Now costs get a bit more complicated, as prices vary wildly depending on where you plug in, so we used three separate rates to better reflect differences depending on how you charge. Here are the average charging rates used in our analysis to calculate costs, as of the time of writing:

• Home charging: 8p/kWh (E.ON Next)
• Public slow charging (AC): 54p/kWh (Zapmap)
• Public fast charging (DC): 79p/kWh (Zapmap)

BYD claims the Seal can achieve 3.7 miles per kWh, but our senior reviews writer, Mario Christou, averaged 3.1 miles per kWh during his real-world test. To give a more realistic estimate of charging costs, we’re using this figure in our calculations.

We also considered that many people use a mix of home and public charging in their day-to-day driving, so we carried out a quick calculation based on this. The figures are based on the total electricity consumption (kWh) over 30,000 miles, assuming that charging is split between 70% at home, 20% using slow AC public chargers, and 10% using rapid chargers.

With all this in mind, here’s a breakdown of how much it could cost you to charge up a BYD Seal with home charging, public slow charging, and rapid charging over three years and driving 10,000 miles per year:

Home charging	£774.19
Public slow charging	£5,225.81
Public fast charging	£7,645.16
Mixture of charging	£2,352

Depreciation

When you buy a car, you also have to consider its depreciation. This is the car’s loss in value over time, and this average loss can vary from model to model.

In the first year, a car may typically lose around 15-35% of its value. After this initial drop, depreciation usually slows, with vehicles losing around 10-15% of their value in the second year.

You’ll lose around £18,950 on the BYD Seal over three years and 30,000 miles, based on valuation data from Cap HPI, a motoring body which monitors depreciation, assuming you trade your vehicle in at a dealership in good condition.

How much will it cost you overall?

When we add up the road tax, fuel and depreciation, here’s how much it could cost you to own a BYD Seal over three years:

Road tax	£410
Home charging	£774.19
Public slow charging	£5,225.81
Public fast charging	£7,645.16
Depreciation	£18,950
Total cost using home charging	£20,134.19
Total cost using public slow charging	£24,585.81
Total cost using public fast charging	£27,005.16
Total cost using mixed charging	£21,712

As the numbers show, buying an electric car makes the most financial sense if you have home charging. But is buying outright actually the cheapest option? Let’s take a look at leasing costs to find out.

Is it cheaper to lease a BYD Seal?

Leasing can be a good option if you like driving a new car every few years and want fixed, often lower monthly payments without the long-term commitment of ownership.

We calculated whether leasing a BYD Seal works out cheaper than buying. We used the same charging costs and same model as in our buying analysis to keep the comparison consistent. Leasing costs are based on relevant Carwow deals at the time of writing, assuming a three-year term and 10,000 miles per year.

Here’s a breakdown of costs for a deal I’ve found on Carwow:

Monthly payments	£321.16
Initial payment	£4,093.87
Total cost of lease	£15,334.33
Total cost using home charging	£16,108.52
Total cost using public slow charging	£20,560.14
Total cost using public fast charging	£22,979.49
Total cost using mixed charging	£17,686.33

When you add charging costs to the lease, our calculations show you’ll save around £4,000 over three years compared with buying and owning a BYD Seal, no matter how you charge it. If you were to do a mixture of home and public charging, it’ll cost you roughly £2,352 over the course of three years.

Remember that road tax is often included in monthly lease payments, so you don’t need to factor it into your running costs. You also don’t have to worry about depreciation, as you won’t own the car at the end of the lease.

Taken together, these factors make leasing a particularly appealing option, and our analysis suggests it offers the best overall value.

Car change? Carwow!

Looking for a new set of wheels? With Carwow you can sell your car quickly and for a fair price – as well as find great offers on your next one. Whether you’re looking to buy a car brand new, are after something used or you want to explore car leasing options, Carwow is your one stop shop for new car deals.

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