BYD Seal vs MG4 EV Urban

The BYD Seal costs £22,235 more than the MG MG4 EV Urban. For that premium it adds 152 miles more WLTP range, 68 kW faster peak rapid charging and 120 kW more power. The MG MG4 EV Urban is not just cheaper - it also offers 177 litres more boot space. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the MG MG4 EV Urban comes out ahead overall.

The MG MG4 EV Urban is £22,235 cheaper to buy. Running costs are almost identical - about £168 a year either way, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the MG MG4 EV Urban comes out roughly £22,315 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 244 miles for the BYD Seal and 140 miles for the MG MG4 EV Urban - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The BYD Seal goes roughly 104 miles further between charging stops. A rapid charge to 80% takes around 37 minutes in the BYD Seal and 28 in the MG MG4 EV Urban, so the MG MG4 EV Urban loses less time at each stop. So the BYD Seal stops less often while the MG MG4 EV Urban stops for less time - pick on which you would rather do.

The MG MG4 EV Urban is the easier car for tight UK car parks: it is 33 mm narrower than the BYD Seal. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 558 mm of total clearance for the MG MG4 EV Urban and about 525 mm of total clearance for the BYD Seal. The MG MG4 EV Urban also turns in a 0.7 m tighter circle, which helps with U-turns and multi-storey ramps.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 90% battery health for the BYD Seal and 90% for the MG MG4 EV Urban. That is close enough that capacity loss should not decide between them. Both use LFP-type cells, which are happy charged to 100% every day. Both batteries carry a 8-year manufacturer warranty.