[roadmaster]

I have been driving the amazing BYD Seal in Gurgaon for exactly 3 months and 21 days. I must say, for all my fears when buying it, it has been a delightful experience. While I have owned very good vehicles over the years! after a long time, I think have come across a vehicle that made me want to stretch my budget, makes me want to skip things and grab a ride! (sometimes important ones too! ), needless to say, I love it!

Driving a vehicle with a 145mm low ground clearance needed a much tamer version of me, more so when my last vehicle was the indomitable 'Harrier'. It was a learning curve!, and I think I can safely add a big learning curve here. It was thanks to a very interesting conversation in a YouTube video by @Motorinc (BYD Seal 2024 First Impressions | S02E19 at 29:40s Bumps and Broken Roads) that shortened the learning curve for me. I had chanced upon it while researching the BYD Seal after I had bought it. Through that video, I got a great tip on handling the Seal in India, especially on speed bumps. Potholes are not a problem, simply crabwalk the speed bumps and don't, just don't let the suspension come into play while navigating them. My problems of the underbody touching or grazing the speed bumps went down by over 90% as a result of that tip. In the last 3 months and 21 days , I think would have just grazed the underbody lightly just about 3-4 times.

This brings me to the dilemma and the purpose of this post! I have just come to know from the dealership that an aluminium alloy underbody battery protection shield is now available as an accessory. Upon further research I realised that the protection available through this shield is only for the battery, not the motor and other parts and it is not cheap, costs approx INR 30K.

Keeping in mind that I drive in Gurgaon where Beamers fly through unknown and unmarked speed breakers and where most of the time the 'homemade' speed breakers are not designed to the correct technical specifications as laid down by the concerned authorities and the fact that I do manage to graze the vehicle maybe once a month, even after a great driving tip, should I go in for the purchase and have the shield installed. I know I will be driving the vehicle for a minimum of 4-5 years, Logic tells me to go for it but my dilemma can be summed up in the following questions:

1. Is it worth it? Keeping in mind that I have insurance in which the battery is protected against such accidents.
2. If I do get it installed, will it probably lower the ground clearance a wee bit more? Has anybody anywhere installed it?
3. How strong will it be and what protection can I expect?

Any advice or suggestions will be valuable. Thanks!

[GoBabyGo]

Originally Posted by roadmaster

I have been driving the amazing BYD Seal in Gurgaon for exactly 3 months and 21 days. I must say, for all my fears when buying it, it has been a delightful experience. While I have owned very good vehicles over the years! after a long time, I think have come across a vehicle that made me want to stretch my budget, makes me want to skip things and grab a ride! (sometimes important ones too! ), needless to say, I love it!

Driving a vehicle with a 145mm low ground clearance needed a much tamer version of me, more so when my last vehicle was the indomitable 'Harrier'. It was a learning curve!, and I think I can safely add a big learning curve here. It was thanks to a very interesting conversation in a YouTube video by @Motorinc (BYD Seal 2024 First Impressions | S02E19 at 29:40s Bumps and Broken Roads) that shortened the learning curve for me. I had chanced upon it while researching the BYD Seal after I had bought it. Through that video, I got a great tip on handling the Seal in India, especially on speed bumps. Potholes are not a problem, simply crabwalk the speed bumps and don't, just don't let the suspension come into play while navigating them. My problems of the underbody touching or grazing the speed bumps went down by over 90% as a result of that tip. In the last 3 months and 21 days , I think would have just grazed the underbody lightly just about 3-4 times.

This brings me to the delimma and the purpose of this post! I have just come to know from the dealership that an aluminium alloy underbody battery proection shield is now available as an accessory. Upon further research I realised that the protection available through this shield is only for the battery, not the motor and other parts and it is not cheap, costs approx INR 30K.

Keeping in mind that I drive in Gurgaon where Beamers fly through unknown and unmarked speed breakers and where most of the time the 'homemade' speed breakers are not designed to the correct technical specifications as laid down by the concerned authorities and the fact that I do manage to graze the vehicle maybe once a month, even after a great driving tip, should I go in for the purchase and have the shield installed. I know I will be driving the vehicle for a minimum of 4-5 years, Logic tells me to go for it but my dilemma can be summed up in the following questions:

1. Is it worth it? Keeping in mind that I have insurance in which the battery is protected against such accidents.
2. If I do get it installed, will it probably lower the ground clearance a wee bit more? Has anybody anywhere installed it?
3. How strong will it be and what protection can I expect?

Any advice or suggestions will be valuable. Thanks!

Hi, While I don't have answer to your question, however, as an owner of Honda City VMT 2018, which too has low ground clearance, I installed this directly from the company https://www.amazon.in/ROGER-Increasi...0D9QJ6FL2?th=1

They sent me courier and also address & contact details of some shops in Delhi where I can go & install free of cost. They have tie up with many shops in almost every tier I and tier II cities.

You can look for their Instagram page and contact them directly. I have never faced any issue with speed breakers and bad roads. I understand that after installing Rogerb, ground clearance will increase by 1 inches to 1.5 inches at least without impacting driving dynamics.

[roadmaster]

Thank you for your suggestion, had already seen this accessory and discussed it with the dealership, they advised against it as it would void warranty on many things.
Keeping in mind that it is an EV with 8 year brand warranty coverage including suspension (with the extended warranty pack purchased), I wouldnt want to tamper with that. It is a foreign brand in the country and with whatever I have noticed till now, parts are not cheap. It could turn out to be a costly mistake if I tamper with the warranty.

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by roadmaster

1. Is it worth it? Keeping in mind that I have insurance in which the battery is protected against such accidents.

If I were you - I'd see how much of a negotiation was possible at the dealer - and eventually buy it at whatever the price - after personally checking what kind of plate it is, and how is it going to actually get mounted (i.e. not by making some crude holes etc into the chassis).

Originally Posted by roadmaster

2. If I do get it installed, will it probably lower the ground clearance a wee bit more? Has anybody anywhere installed it?

The ground clearance number in mm may or may not change. But logically the breakover angle getting changed with the additional plate - is a possibility. So - it may so happen that on a bump on which your car went alright so far - the plate might end up scraping . All would come down to where they are mounting the plate, and how.

Originally Posted by roadmaster

3. How strong will it be and what protection can I expect?

Can't really be gauged unless one has a personal experience IMO. Too many variables at play. Its like wearing a helmet when riding a bike . There are no guarantees.

[govigov]

Originally Posted by roadmaster

Upon further research I realised that the protection available through this shield is only for the battery, not the motor and other parts and it is not cheap, costs approx INR 30K.

If you need peace of mind, just go for it. Compared to the insurance amount that ones pays for a car of this segment, this is miniscule. Less than .5% of the cost of the vehicle. I think it is closer to the price of 1 tire, and you get it for the life time of your vehicle. Eventhough, officially it is just for the battery, it can help with other parts like you said, but not officially certified.

[Doge]

Why does BYD feel that they need to sell an aftermarket battery cover? I thought all electric car batteries come with an extremely tough protection, to the tune of supporting the cars weight multiple times without getting a puncture. I find the existence of an underbody protection quite bizzare in all honesty. Despite the terrible roads of Gurgaon outside the golf course area, I don't see how puncturing the batteries would be an issue, the real danger is water logging in the rains!

[sunikkat]

The fact that BYD is selling this as an accessory says that there is a risk of battery getting damaged. My suggestion is go for it as 30k protection for battery worth lakhs is okay. You wouldn’t want to get in to a situation where later you feel should have gone for it. Fingers crossed.

My honest suggestion don’t go Rogerab or any other suspension buffers. They mess up the handling.

[psb300r]

Originally Posted by roadmaster

1. Is it worth it? Keeping in mind that I have insurance in which the battery is protected against such accidents.
Any advice or suggestions will be valuable. Thanks!

Even though you have insurance for the battery, if anything unfortunate occurs to it do you want to go through the hassle of changing it? Considering the seals availability of spare parts.