BYD Sealion review

This is broadly a success, and certainly feels worth the money. It doesn't look too much like everyone else's cabin, and the slightly naïve flourishes of the Atto3 are toned down for this more grown-up car. Still, you'll notice the wave-like door pulls (Ocean design see?), rather pretty Spirograph-type backlighting on the dash panel and the ornate seat contours and upholstery. It's jewelled by metal switches and even a glass central drive selector, like the thing Volvo has just sadly abandoned.

Four seats are electrically heated. The deeply contoured front ones are vented too, and electrically adjusted. They're plush and supportive. There's heaps of leg- and foot-space out back even for the one in the middle, and the rear backrest reclines too.

BYD's signature rotating centre screen is present and correct. It's running a new processor and software, and really does act snappy – for instance there's a 3D model of the car which you can spin around and it moves as fast as your finger can propel it. Touch bits of the car on this representation and they do their thing – touch a window and it opens, f'rinstance.

Now, several rivals would have used this graphic device as a sneaky excuse to remove the cost of actual window switches. But BYD wisely retains them, and others for mirrors, demist, drive mode, and a few other things. Other climate functions reside permanently on the base of the screen.

That central screen has decent inbuilt navigation, and its split-screen mode is more useful than in past BYDs but you still can't show both navigation and the tune that's playing off your phone. Still, you can, and likely will, surrender most of the screen area to CarPlay or Android Auto. Those climate buttons, and a shortcut to the car menu – where you deal with ADAS and so on – are still visible along the bottom.

The driver's screen is slightly messy in its graphics and the speedo's stupidly small, a common fault in digital-first cars which plainly assume we'll be letting them take control of speed. Sorry, car, that's our job. Of course there's another speedo in the head-up display, but you get one of those only in the top trim. The driver's screen also has useful trip computer readouts.

All the equipment mentioned, bar the HUD and leather, is present even on the base model by the way. That includes an excellent Dynaudio hi-fi.

Storage? An EV-typical big open bin lies below the centre phone charging plates, and there's a deep armrest bin, and multiple pockets in the back of the seats for rear passengers' devices and snacks. The boot itself is decent rather than huge, at 520 litres, plus a handy 58 litres of froot under the bonnet. Or frunk under the hood, if you must.