Easter road trip to Brisvegas

I took a road trip to Brisbane over the Easter holidays. It was a good chance to try out my new BYD Seal Premium.

I drove from the Mid North Coast to North Boambee Valley (near Coffs Harbour) and charged at the Chargefox there behind the Gloria Jeans shop.

It took a couple of goes to squeeze next to another car which was already charging and finding the best way to park so that the charge cable could reach my car, but I got there in the end (after 5-6 mins). I had to scan my Chargefox card about 6 times as it kept saying “Invalid card” and it got me to unplug the charger. I plugged it in again and scanned my card again and this time it worked! It started charging at about 122kWh which was acceptable. While it charged I grabbed a coffee and sat for a bit at the shop. When I got back to the car after about 25 mins there was a guy (Phil?) who had just pulled in with his BYD Atto car. There were no charging spots left so I had a quick chat with him and let him know I was just about done charging. He said he was doing the same as me. He had left Port Macquarie and stopped at Coffs to charge, then was going to charge at Byron Bay Wildlife Sanctuary which was also my next stop. Not that I had to charge there but I was taking a nice, easy drive and trying things out. I said goodbye and hit the road again.

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Steam Deck-ing across the universe!

Suddenly, a new toy appears!

The Steam Deck 1Tb OLED edition.

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Balatro!

A new game recently came out based on Poker hands called BALATRO.

It’s a card-builder game which is also a rogue-lite.

You are dealt 8 cards to make Poker hands from, but you can also power-up the cards and suits, etc using Jokers, Celestial cards, Planet cards, Tarot cards and more!

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BYD Seal FAQ

  • When you lock the car, the AC may seem to stay on while it vents heat from the battery.
  • If the Infotainment unit goes haywire or something isn’t working right, hold down the scrollwheel next to the gearstick until the unit reboots.
  • If the AC isn’t strong enough, enable Comfort setting. Some cars may need to be regassed. Owners recommend using the app to turn the AC on 15-20 minutes before driving the car.
  • Your email account should be activated in the BYD iPhone/Android app after up to 2 weeks.
  • Apple Carplay only works via a USB cable. Android Auto can work via a USB cable or wirelessly. If you wish to use Apple Carplay wirelessly you can purchase: https://carlinkitcarplay.com/
  • If you wish to use Android Auto while charging, it’s best to use a cable. If you use the QI wireless charging it may not charge the battery as fast as usage drains it.
  • The BYD Seal only has one reversing light. This is normal.
  • If the audio doesn’t sound great, enable Dynamic mode.
  • Badges can be removed with fishing line and a light scrub. YouTube has videos on how to do it.
  • You can download the Owner’s Manual: https://bydautomotive.com.au/seal
  • The car stores the Service Book information. You can access this from the Infotainment unit.
  • You can use the NFC card to lock and unlock the car by tapping on the driver’s side mirror. You can turn on the car after resting the NFC card on the marked section of the centre console lid.
  • The iPhone and Android apps will only work if both the car and your phone have good cell network coverage. If you are in an underground car park or other location where one or the other has low signal you will not be able to unlock or drive your vehicle. In Australia, the SIM is on the Telstra network.
  • To quickly access the AC controls, slide your finger up the Infotainment screen from the bottom and you should see AC controls. You can also press the HOME button and then AC, or press the gearstick scrollwheel once. This should turn the Infotainment screen to a lock-screen style view with the AC controls at the bottom. Press the scrollwheel again to turn the Infotainment unit back on.
  • You can also use three fingers to swipe left to right to set the fan speed and up/down for temperature.
  • You can swipe down from the top of the Infotainment unit screen to see customisable shortcuts, including a shortcut to open the AC control screen.
  • You can only charge with a single-phase wiring on your home charger up to 7kW (11kW in other countries). If you connect a three-phase charger only one will be used.
  • Use the Plugshare app to see if you can use individual Tesla charging stations. Not all are usable by non-Tesla vehicles.
  • As of March 2024 all cars are compatible with the Tesla v3 & v4 chargers. You can book a service to have older cars upgraded. It takes about 45 minutes to upgrade but they may book you in for 4 hours.
  • It’s recommended to always carry a Type 2 charging cable in your vehicle as some charging stations do not have a cable.
  • Some countries — including Australia — have enabled adding the NFC card to smart phones. Definite devices include iPhones, Google Pixels and Samsungs. You can tap your phone on the driver’s side mirror NFC spot.
  • To power a 3rd party dashcam, open the coinslot and there’s a fusebox inside. You can use the red cable on the footwell light fuse for power. It’s highly recommended to get a trained professional to do this.
  • You can unlock the doors using buttons on the driver’s side door armrest. You will need to do this to pop out the handle so passengers can open the doors.
  • Tyres should have 36PSI in the front and rear should be 42PSI.
  • The BYD Seal does not come with a dashcam. You can buy one from Ali-Express and install it yourself easily. There’s YouTube videos with instructions. The cable to plug into it and the mounting bracket exist in every vehicle.
  • The BYD Seal can be charged to 100% any time. It’s not limited to mostly 80% SOC as most EV cars. It’s recommended to let it drain to about 10-15% every few months to help calibrate the system.
  • To open the bonnet, pull the lever under the dash TWICE.
  • If you are sitting in the passenger seat of the car with it turned off and hear an alarm sounding the car thinks you have a child left in it. You can disable the alarm in the Infotainment unit settings.
  • If the front sensors do not warn you of getting close to an object while parking, place the car in reverse then back to drive.
  • If you’re having issues with the car SIM connection, try removing the SIM and putting it back in then rebooting the Infotainment unit.
  • The mobile SIM is located in a little slot under a flap in the centre console between the front seats.
  • If you are using the V2L (Vehicle to Load) to power home appliances, plug in a small lamp to keep the power on. If your appliance (eg fridge) turns off temporarily the V2L may switch off. The lamp will keep a small drain. The V2L will also be disabled if the car’s SOC drops below 15%.
  • Some charging stations will split the charge between two vehicles if they are plugged into the same charger. One may get 2x the charge of the other.
  • A Chinese developer is working on a side-loaded Sentry App (DiPlus App), coming soon to Seal. Features: 360 recording while the car is OFF – Recording triggered by motion.
  • BYD has a Smartwatch with digital car key built-in.
  • If your car accidentally gets stuck in “Transport Mode” press outside driver door button for 5 seconds – which gets the electrics going and you can start the car. Click on the Transport Mode button again and enter the pin (1111) to disable it. Otherwise, drive around until you have traveled 60km… and it will disappear altogether.
  • Charging a BYD Seal SR from 10% to 80% at a fast/rapid DC charging station can be done in as little as 34 minutes, providing 319km of range.
  • Charging a BYD Seal Extended Range / Performance from 10% to 80% at a fast/rapid DC charging station can be done in as little as 37 minutes, providing 401km of range.

BYD vehicles are shipped from China to Australia on the Don Juan ship: https://www.vesselfinder.com/vessels/details/9082934

Check out the BYD Seal Charging Guide.

Important things to do when you take possession of the vehicle.

  • Make sure Transport mode is disabled.
  • It is recommended to leave the car in ECO mode for the first 2,000km. Not necessary.
  • In Australia it is mandatory to have triangle EV tags installed on your licence plate.
  • Included accessories: V2L cable, ‘granny’ charging cable and roof sunshade. A repair kit should also be in the boot.
  • Test Apple Carplay/Android Auto.
  • When you get the vehicle it may take 2-4 weeks for the SIM to be activated.
  • In Australia, when your SIM is activated you get 500Mb of data for the first month and 2Gb per month for the next 2 years complimentary. You can then pay for this SIM or install your own. The SIM is used to connect to your APP to control your Seal remotely. You can get OTA updates via WiFi.
  • Check paint for scratches/swirls. Check charging door is painted correctly.

Charging times. These will depend on which model BYD Seal you have:

Home charger: Time (0->490 km)     9 hours – Charge Speed = 56 km/h

Fast charging: Time (49->32 km)  38 min – Fastcharge Speed = 540 km/h

You can charge your BYD SEAL in just 26 mins with DC capacity of 150kW (from SOC 30% to 80%). Tesla v4 chargers can do this.

The BYD SEAL has a maximum DC charging speed of 150kW on the Premium and Performance range, while the Dynamic has a DC charge of 110kW.

If you wish to link to this page you can use this shortlink: https://bit.ly/bydsealfaq

BYD Seal Premium

I have purchased an Arctic Blue BYD Seal Premium EV car. Example below:

Some BYD Seal Premium features:

  • Driving Range: 570km WLTP
  • Acceleration: 5.9-second 0-100km/h
  • Power: max power to 230kW and the max torque to 360Nm
  • Charging: 150kW DC CCS2 port
  • Dimensions: 1460mm height, 4800mm length and 1875mm width
  • Battery: 82.56kWh capacity
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