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BYD Seal Excellence - Strange Throttle Response / Lag

Complex-Pattern1249 | 2026-02-18 19:30 | 8 views

I just collected a brand new BYD seal excellence (UK) and I am struggling to understand/ get used to the throttle response. Under normal driving conditions and with plenty of charge, when I want a short burst of acceleration there is a significant lag between when I put my foot down and when the car actually responds- almost a second or more and is very noticable, which is surprising given that almost all car journalists go on about how EVs have instant torque. My previous petrol car had a far more 'instant' throttle response than the Seal does even when in the sport mode. What ends up happening(all within the timeframe of a couple seconds or so): Because it doesn't react quickly enough to pedal input I end up naturally giving it more throttle until I feel it accelerating how I would expect/need, but then after the lag period of around a second it goes compeltely nuts as if I floored it so I then take my foot off the pedal as its too much, but it keeps on accelerating for a short but noticeable amount of time even though my foot is at that point no longer on the throttle. I find it quite dangerous and difficult to get used to it as it feels very unnatural. It does this in all modes and at all speeds. most noticable in eco. In sport mode the throttle is the most responsive so the lag on pressing the accelerator is not as bad, however it is still very slow to respond 'for an EV' (is supposed to be "instant")?? I guess I can get used to the slow throttle response, its not really a sports car (despite 530HP), but then the delay on coming off the power is concerning... Anyone else experiencing the same thing? Im wondering if this is just how the BYD throttle mapping is? Or maybe there an issue with my particular car?? Does anyone know if the battery needs a run in period like an ICE car so maybe the software is protecting it? thanks in advance

Comments (12)
Speeder172 2026-02-18 19:37

530hp and on a 2T car, don't forget this. But otherwise, I don't see what you are talking about, I have no issue regarding this. I find the car very responsive to my input. Even more in Sport mode.

Complex-Pattern1249 2026-02-18 19:48

Thanks for confirming. Maybe there is an issue with my particular car then. I will take it in to get it checked

iNjecteds 2026-02-18 20:04

BYD is taking a more relaxed approach to throttle response in eco and normal mode. Even in sport mode it is not instant torque (but does ramp up much quicker). I gotta say this approach feels much nicer than Tesla's crazy punch. Yeah it feels "cool", but for me it was almost uncomfortable, especially as a passenger.

hedgeddown 2026-02-18 20:38

There’s definitely a deliberate response curve for BYDs. Took me a while to get used to, but find it much better than the jerky response of some petrol engines which need practice to feather, and in practice I now find even in eco mode I get enough timely power delivery for any scenario, it just means I might put my foot flat to the floor in eco mode more often.

r0bbiebubbles 2026-02-18 21:17

Apparently BYD opted for this to allow a smoother transition from ICE cars to EV. Don't know if there's any truth to that, but I've heard it repeated a few times now.

Pale_Emergency_537 2026-02-19 00:27

There's definitely a difference in the Seal and your average EV. It's not a second though, at least not in my one.  Even my 62kWh Leaf had harder initial acceleration than the AWD Seal.  One thing to note is that when you change modes you have to leave off the accelerator and then reapply for the new mode to take affect.

planetf1a 2026-02-19 02:16

I test drove the seal excellence last year when I was thinking of switching from my four year old Tesla. This was one of the guest things I noticed, along with no opd. Otherwise I really liked the car. I didn’t think it was terrible, but it was a little lag. Preferred the Tesla set up as super responsive

Fatoy 2026-02-19 16:02

It's deliberate, or at least it's the way the car is set up. I also have a UK Seal Excellence, and the power gets put down much more progressively than it did in my old Polestar 2, or than it does in my partner's AWD Model Y. I tend to leave the Seal in sport mode all the time, since it has the best-feeling steering as well as improving the throttle response, but generally speaking this isn't a "snap your neck" kind of car. It *does* achieve its 3.8s 0-60 time, but the power band is very different along the way to what you might expect coming from a petrol performance car or another EV. I don't think it's necessarily *worse* this way. I actually quite like the feeling where it just keeps building and building and building, but if you're planning to film YouTube reaction videos of you giving your friend in the passenger seat whiplash then this isn't the car for you. Generally, Chinese EVs seem to be set up to mimick petrol cars in a way that Western EVs usually aren't. It takes some getting used to/ **EDIT: Actually, reading your post, something DOES sound suspicious if it's continuing to accelerate after you've let up on the throttle. That's not expected behaviour at all, and sounds very dangerous. If that's really what's happening then you should 100% get that checked out. No car should accelerate when you're not actively pressing the "gas'.**

[deleted] 2026-02-19 18:11

In SPORT mode it should be fine, it accelerates practically without lag, maybe set also other settings to Sport so it helps? And you can also set Regenerative Braking to HIGH, then you shouldn't have no acceleration lag. However when i drive in SPORT mode i usually use my summer soft shoes - it's so responsive, and i got the 313 hp version.

Fictitious-Fighter75 2026-02-19 22:06

yes, throttle lag is standard, even in the AWD “Performance” model, on Sports mode. quite disappointing

MulberryForward7361 2026-02-20 00:10

To be fair, you don’t want to be sitting in traffic in auto hold, glancing off the pedal and flying out with that acceleration. You’ll get used to it and realise it’s for the best

Early_Cartographer14 2026-02-20 08:55

I actually talked to someone from BYD about this „problem“ and he claimed it to be a safety feature, apparently all BYD‘s have this🤷‍♂️.

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