ANCAP Tested: BYD Seal scores a 5-star crash rating

Yet another BYD vehicle has been crash-tested and has passed with flying colors. Aside from the BYD Dolphin, which also got a 5-star rating, the BYD Seal was tested and received a similarly high score.

They were both tested by the Australian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP), which follows closely in the testing systems of the European NCAP. Both BYD electric vehicles (EVs) were also tested under the newest protocols. 

Like other NCAP tests, the ANCAP consists of four categories: adult occupant protection, child occupant protection, vulnerable road users, and safety assists. Each category comes with corresponding points, which equals a total score of 170.

Testing results

Like its BYD Dolphin sibling, the BYD Seal had high points in the adult occupant protection category, as the EV got 35.78 out of 40 (89 percent). It's still within the same percentage range as its Dolphin sibling, but it's slightly lower in terms of raw scoring.

Moving on to the child protection category, the electric sedan got 43 out of 49 (87 percent), slightly higher than its sibling. However, the Seal couldn’t get a perfect score for this category because of the absence of ISOFIX anchor points, top tether anchorage, and a missing airbag disabling feature for the front passenger. 

For the vulnerable road user protection category, the EV scored 51.68 out of 63 (82 percent), which is better than its Dolphin sibling. However, it had some drawbacks, including marginal performance in the cyclist dooring scenarios and marginal and poor results for protecting pedestrians from hitting its windshield pillars. 

Lastly, for the safety assist category, the sedan did well as it got a score of 13.56 out of 18 (75 percent), which isn’t bad. We have to note that it had marginal performance results in the AEB Head-on crash test, which shows more room for improvement. 

The BYD Seal scored 144.02 out of 170, qualifying it for a 5-star ANCAP safety rating.