This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Kevin Bond, a retired director of mental health services from Devon, UK, about swapping his Tesla Model 3 for a BYD Seal. It has been edited for length and clarity.
I’ve lived in Devon for three years. I’m retired now, but I was a director of mental health services and the chief executive of a not-for-profit health and social care company.
I bought the Tesla Model 3 in 2020 when I retired, with the lump sum you get with your occupational pension, for my wife.
We sold it around three months ago. It just felt really uncomfortable that a single penny of our money would go anywhere near Elon Musk.
I’ve always been a bit uncomfortable with Musk, but as time went on, my wife and I became increasingly uneasy.
I think that there’s a point where it’s beyond just unpleasant, and you believe this guy is actively creating hate and division between people.
When the [Southport] riots happened, it felt like he was fanning the flames. I’m not at all comfortable with that, and I don’t want to be associated with it.
I think he stepped over a line. His support for far-right parties in Germany and his spreading of misinformation is just disgraceful.
Model 3 woes
If I’m honest, I never really liked the Model 3 that much.
There was no denying that when you first got in, it was exciting. You put your foot down, and it goes very fast. But for me, it was not very comfortable.
The seats weren’t well made, and the interior was cheap and nasty. Many of the important settings were adjusted via the display screen, so your eyes were off the road when they should have been on the road.
The doors weren’t fitted that well, so you got quite a bit of cabin noise, and after a couple of years, the suspension started squeaking heavily.
It just felt cheap. Personally, I didn’t think it was very well put together.
Initially, the service was OK, but after a few years, the response was awful. It’s probably the worst service I’ve ever had from any car dealer.
When we sold the Tesla, it had the worst depreciation of any car I’ve ever owned. We sold it for just over £10,000 [$13,500] after buying it for nearly £50,000.
[Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.]
Buying a BYD
When we started looking for a new car, I thought that we would have to compromise.
What we found was that there are quite a lot of cars that have caught up and overtaken Tesla, both in terms of quality, but also on range and price.
We got the BYD Seal around the same time we sold the Tesla. We bought an ex-demonstrator vehicle that was a year old.
It’s quicker than the Tesla — it accelerates from 0 to 100km/h in 3.8 seconds — and it has a longer range. You can also charge it to 100% without damaging the battery.
It’s just a beautifully built car, and very comfortable. If you shut the doors, they go thunk, as they should, and there’s no wind noise in the cabin.
It’s got ambient lighting, vented seats, and head-up displays, all the things that you might expect in a car that you pay a lot of money for.
It’s hard to find things to fault with it. The media system is a bit clunky and glitchy, and it’s a tiny bit slower to charge. However, we do most of our charging at home, and with the Seal having more range, the slower charge time isn’t really an issue.
It drives beautifully on the road. You would put it through a corner in a way that I wouldn’t drive in the Tesla. It feels safe and it feels solid.
If I could give scores, I’d give the BYD nine out of ten and probably one out of ten for the Tesla.
Have you swapped your Tesla for a BYD or bought a Chinese EV? Contact this reporter at tcarter@businessinsider.com.
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