BYD Seal 6 Touring is a smart family wagon that’s cracking value… how far it will go on a tank of fuel is astonishing

HERE’S a smart family wagon that will genuinely do 800 miles – and more – on a tank of fuel.

I repeat, EIGHT HUNDRED MILES.

London to Liverpool and back, twice.

Just charge it, brim it, stick it in HEV mode and let the system manage itself.

It’s a mega bit of kit.

In fact, I’ll go further.

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I reckon it is the most intelligent petrol/electric plug-in hybrid system on the road today.

Other plug-in hybrids burn through the stored electrons immediately.

This BYD system is more drip-feed.

The e-motor drives the front wheels 95 per cent of the time, backed up by the 1.5-litre petrol engine when you hurry it.

Pop it in EV mode for the school run or Friday big shop and you won’t wake up the petrol engine at all.

Now I need to explain why BYD has the jump on everyone else.

The billionaire founder Wang Chuanfu is a trained chemical engineer who started out 30 years ago, with a loan from his cousin, selling phone batteries to firms like Nokia and Motorola.

Then, in 2003, he bought a car company with the vision of making transport cleaner and more sustainable.

He’s doing OK.

BYD is now the world’s largest battery phone maker and the world’s largest plug-in electric vehicle maker.

So if anyone knows how to maximise a slab of batteries in a car it is Mr Wang.

BYD has already showcased a 1,000kW “flash charge” that can juice up an EV as quickly as it takes to fill a petrol car.

OVER ENTHUSIASTIC

Right, let’s talk Seal 6 Touring.

This is a car that’s been specifically made for British and German tastes and is the antidote to the never-ending flood of lookalike Chinese electro-SUVs.

The boot can swallow 500 litres of stuff. Flip down the rear seats and you’ve got a van.

Body control is better than a Seal U. They listened. Steering is nicely weighted.

The engine’s not too noisy. It’s a car that’s easy to live with.

As for the cabin, the gear shifter is high up on the steering column, freeing space between the front seats for all your bits and bobs.

That big central screen talks to your phone and doubles as a 360-degree reversing camera.

I do have a grumble, though.

Some of the driver-assistance kit, like drowsiness alert, can be a leeeetle over enthusiastic.

But it is easily switched off.

Now we come to price.

Seal 6 Touring starts at £35k.

Cracking value when you consider a similar-spec Skoda Superb estate starts with a four.

Finance from £389 a month.

BYD is putting its magic plug-in hybrid tech in the upcoming Atto 2 crossover and Sealion 5, a Qashqai-sized SUV, plus plusher Denza models.

They’ll be proper marathon runners too.