BMW iX3 vs BYD Seal

The BMW iX3 costs £7,520 more than the BYD Seal. For that premium it adds 40 miles more WLTP range, 150 kW faster peak rapid charging and 120 litres more boot space. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the BMW iX3 comes out ahead overall.

The BYD Seal is £7,520 cheaper to buy. Running costs are almost identical - about £160 a year either way, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the BYD Seal comes out roughly £7,400 cheaper overall. These figures cover list price and home charging only - insurance, servicing, tyres and depreciation will move the real total.

EVcarsguide estimates a real-world motorway range of about 293 miles for the BMW iX3 and 244 miles for the BYD Seal - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The BMW iX3 goes roughly 48 miles further between charging stops. A rapid charge to 80% takes around 21 minutes in the BMW iX3 and 37 in the BYD Seal, so the BMW iX3 loses less time at each stop. That makes the BMW iX3 the stronger long-distance car.

The two are within 20 mm on width, so neither is meaningfully easier to thread into a tight space. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 525 mm of total clearance for the BYD Seal and about 505 mm of total clearance for the BMW iX3. The BYD Seal also turns in a 0.9 m tighter circle, which helps with U-turns and multi-storey ramps.