BYD Seal Design vs MG IM5 100 Long Range: UK charging and quotes

The useful comparison is the UK Seal Design with rear-wheel drive and the IM5 100 Long Range in MG's September 2026 UK brochure. These are the versions behind the figures below. A brochure publication date does not establish the build date or contractual model year of a car offered by a retailer. Ask each seller to identify the version and the vehicle or order allocation in writing.

Sources were checked on 21 October 2026 UTC. BYD's current UK page contains retail order terms running from 7 October to 31 December 2026. Those are finance terms, rather than an unconditional Design cash quotation. MG's current official UK product route links the September brochure, but we have not established a current cash OTR price or a delivery promise for this selected IM5. Treat both cars as current marketed choices that still need an individual purchasing offer.

The IM5 has the stronger published long-distance specification in this pairing. Both range figures are labelled WLTP combined, so they provide a relevant laboratory comparison. They do not establish how far either car will travel on a cold motorway with passengers, heating and luggage. Use your usual journey and an arrival reserve to decide whether the extra published range would remove a stop or simply increase the margin.

Keep the battery labels intact. BYD calls the Design pack 82.5 kWh without specifying a gross or usable basis in this leaflet. MG separately gives 100 kWh nominal and 96.5 kWh usable for the selected NCM pack. Dividing those labels into a purchase price or treating all of them as usable energy would give a misleading result. For a buyer, the range label and the charging window are more useful starting points than a comparison built from mismatched capacity definitions.

The two 10-80% figures describe the same percentage window, with different stated charging conditions. BYD's MY26 leaflet specifies a CCS2 charger with output higher than 150 kW and voltage higher than 650 V, at an ambient temperature of 25°C for maximum charging speed. MG's brochure gives its 17-minute result using a 350 kW DC public charger. A 396 kW vehicle peak is a maximum rating, not a promise that a charger supplies that output throughout a session.

For a regular long-distance driver, the IM5 is worth investigating first when suitable chargers already sit at useful stops on the route. Check the actual connector and charger specifications, then ask for evidence of the selected car's charging behaviour in comparable conditions. Starting charge, battery temperature and the session's changing power all matter to the stop. We have not measured a charging curve or either car on a UK journey, so a universal 20-minute saving at every stop would go beyond the evidence.

If most journeys end at home and public charging is occasional, give the charging headline less weight. Both selected cars list up to 11 kW AC charging; the power available at the property, the installation and the car's settings still determine an overnight session. Compare an installer quotation and your actual tariff if home charging costs will decide the purchase. No installation price or electricity bill has been calculated here.

The current IM5 matrix gives the 100 Long Range heated and ventilated front seats, heated outer rear seats, a heat pump and rear-wheel steering. The driver has 12-way adjustment plus four-way lumbar support and memory; the passenger gets six-way electric adjustment. These are useful reasons to bring the people who will regularly travel in the car to a demonstration. A list of functions cannot tell us whether the seat base or driving position suits a particular person.

BYD's MY26 equipment pages list functions, but their Design/Excellence availability markers are blank in the rendered leaflet we could inspect. We therefore cannot use those cells to declare a Design seat function, heat pump, HUD or driver-assistance feature either standard or absent. Ask the retailer for a legible, version-specific equipment schedule, then check the supplied vehicle. The IM5's documented equipment is a concrete shortlist reason, while the incomplete Design comparison remains a purchasing question.

BYD lists a 485-litre rear boot and 72-litre front compartment; MG lists 457 litres at the rear and 18 litres at the front, with 1,290 litres reported when the rear seats are folded. The measurement protocols have not been matched. Keep the compartments separate and take your luggage, pushchair or mobility equipment to both cars. Check the loading opening and the space left with the seats in the positions you use. We have not verified the IM5 opening mechanism and do not infer practicality from a generic saloon or hatchback label.

Parking figures also need their labels. BYD publishes a minimum turning radius of 5.7 metres, while MG publishes a turning circle of 9.98 metres. Those are different definitions and cannot be ranked directly. The IM5 brochure gives a body width of 1,960 mm and 2,077 mm including mirrors; measure your own entrance and try the manoeuvre with a demonstrator before deciding that rear-wheel steering solves a particular parking problem.

Neither a monthly instalment nor an expired promotion supplies the missing cash comparison. Ask both retailers for an unconditional OTR total with the selected paint, registration, delivery and any dealer charges itemised. Keep a part-exchange valuation and any finance quotation separate. If you want finance, compare the deposit, term, mileage allowance, optional final payment, total payable and eligibility conditions on the actual agreements.

MG's cached 0% / £45,495 offer required registration between 1 July and 30 September 2026 and has expired. It is not a current price for this comparison. BYD's current order-period finance wording similarly does not establish a Design cash price. Until complete quotations arrive, we cannot call either car cheaper or put a value on upgrading between them.

Insurance can change an otherwise acceptable purchase. Obtain quotations using the exact versions before committing; a matched insurance-group comparison has not been established here. For salary sacrifice or a company car, obtain the current P11D figure and employer terms rather than repurposing a cash advert. We have not calculated company-car tax, depreciation or payback. Those costs need the buyer's circumstances and verified financial inputs.