The BYD Seal 5 DM-i Dynamic is the right car at the right time – Drive Feature
BYD Philippines is easily the rising start of the local automotive industry, there’s just no denying that when ACMobility took over the distribution rights of the brand, it has since skyrocketed to relevance and continues to do so.
2024 was a big year for the brand, launching new models almost every month, and 2025 seems like it’ll be more of the same. To kick things off I was invited to a media drive of what will soon be a cornerstone model for the brand locally, the Seal 5 DM-i sedan.
On paper, the Seal 5 DM-i shocks as a sedan with bigger proportions, all the bells and whistles, plus a plug-in hybrid powertrain that offers up more than 1,000 kilometers of range in one full tank, all for the starting price of just PHP 948,000USD 16,154INR 1,398,110EUR 15,519CNY 117,647.
Yep, you can say they had my attention, and I finally got to experience this possible ‘game changer’.
BYD Seal 5 DM-i northern media drive
The last time I went on a long drive with BYD was with the Sealion 6, which took us to Ilocos and Manila on one full tank, that experience left a mark so I’m sure BYD had something just as good for the Seal 5, and it was epic, taking us from Manila-Zambales-Subic-Bataan-Manila on just one tank. For reference, we departed Manila with 1,125 Km of range plus 80% filled-up EV battery.
We left Seda Manila Bay at 7:30 a.m. and were immediately greeted by horrendous rush hour skyway traffic that was almost at a standstill for 30-40 minutes. As we crawled through it gave me a chance to get to know the Seal 5 better and in this entry-level Dynamic trim, it felt more substantial than what we’re used to seeing as a ‘base model’.
The interior was covered in mostly soft-touch materials with just a few smatterings of hard plastics, and the plastics felt above average. There were also almost no signs of the dreaded covered or blacked out buttons of features you know the top-of-the-line variant gets that the base doesn’t, not to mention it still had a very big rotating infotainment screen that has wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
As an entry-level package, the Seal 5 DM-i is much much more than that based on what you get features-wise and build quality-wise.
DM-I goodness
As we finally got into the open road, I was reminded again of just how state-of-the-art the BYD DM-i technology is. BYD makes the Plug-in hybrid very desirable because it’ll never allow you to fully deplete the battery, this ensures that the powertrain will remain efficient and hybrid-like for optimal range as compared to old PHEVS that would consume a lot of fuel once the battery drains.
It’s not just about efficiency though, the Seal 5 Dynamic model has a combined output of 179 PS and a class-leading 316 Nm of torque. Those are very healthy numbers which demonstrate how dynamic (pun intended) this model is, in terms of being an eco-mobile but can be lively to drive as well.
As we made our way through the highways and eventually exited TPLEX to head towards Pangasinan, this is where the Seal 5 became something else, it was surreal to experience a vehicle in this price range that had the level of comfort the BYD Seal 5 has, it was truly one of the most comfortable vehicles I’ve been in recently, and for some magical reason the ride isn’t wallowy soft, it manages to be firm enough to incite confidence around the bends and on the sometimes postmarked country roads it didn’t jar us inside or bottom out despite our full load.
We’re so used to bigger SUVs and crossovers nowadays and we get spoiled by the space and the height, but my full-sized adult occupants were all able to relax on our epic road trip, it wasn’t cramped or noisy, and our cabin was filled with music and snoring which are the signs of an epic road trip.
We ended our 1st day in a wonderful new resort in Zambales, and while it may seem like we didn’t go that far, we took the long way to get there, totaling an 8-hour drive and 300-plus km traveled. The car said we had 700 km left in the tank, which is only 47 liters by the way, that is incredible, and had we done the same journey in cars of this price range we would’ve had to fill up already or at least we’d be close to consuming all the fuel.
Day 2 saw us drive from Zambales to Subic and then around the Bataan loop through Mariveles, needless to say, it was a long day of driving in mixed highway and country road conditions and the BYD Seal 5 really continued to perform and outperform expectations. I took the driving stint for most of the twisties of the Bataan loop route, and I was genuinely elated at how decently this hybrid economy sedan handled. It was stable, brisk, and agile, things a true sports sedan does the BYD Seal 5 could at least replicate properly despite its true nature of efficiency above all else.
On the 3rd day, we traversed back to Manila, and as I expected we made it back without having to refuel, to think we drove normally without the need to hyper mile, we arrived back in Manila having traveled 816 km, with 114 km of fuel left proves that it can do 1,000 plus easily without breaking a sweat.
The right car at the right time
At the end of it, I fully came to terms with just how good a proposition the BYD Seal 5 DM-i is. As motoring journalists our job is to obviously be as objective as possible, to try to cut through the marketing jargon and fancy features and toys to get at the meat of just how good a car is. We need to play devil’s advocate all the time, and for once in my professional life as a motoring journalist, I’m out of excuses.
How can one ignore the BYD Seal 5 DM-i Dynamic, it’s spacious, well-equipped, extremely efficient, a hoot to drive, built to above-par standards, and costs less than PHP 1USD 0.02INR 1EUR 0.02CNY 0.12 Million pesos. Tell me any other car that can offer all of that in this class and price point, I don’t think there are any, the Seal 5 raises the bar so much higher as a vehicle that Filipinos deserve from brands.
