2026 Tesla Model 3 v BYD Seal v MG IM5 comparison review: Performance EVs tested

A decade ago, the default choice for customers in the market for a fast sedan under $80,000 was a four-door Holden or Ford – or, perhaps, HSV or FPV – with a big V8 under the bonnet.

These days, the only new cars fitting that description are electric.

In particular, it’s these three: the Tesla Model 3 Performance, BYD Seal Performance, and MG IM5 Performance.

All have ‘performance’ in their names, are built in China, and are priced between $60,000 and $80,000 before on-road costs – but they go about delivering speed, comfort, handling, space, and technology in different ways, for better and worse.

Which is the best, and the most deserving of its name? We pointed them at suburban streets, highways, and twisty country roads to find out.

There is a surprising price disparity between these cars that could make the decision-making process easy for some.

The BYD stands as the most affordable, which starts from $61,990 plus on-road costs or, with the $1500 Cosmos Black premium paint of our test car, an indicated $67,599 drive-away in NSW.

The MG is next, at $77,990 plus on-road costs – or $82,040 drive-away as tested in NSW, with Raphael Beige premium paint – while the Tesla is the most expensive, at $80,900 plus on-roads, or $88,854 drive-away as-tested in NSW with blue paint.

Whether the Tesla and MG are worth the massive price premium is something we’ll explore in this comparison.

It’s worth noting that Tesla has updated the Model 3 since the car in these photos was tested, adding a slightly bigger battery with a longer range (571km vs 528km), black badges, an indicator stalk, a front bumper camera, and a new Marine Blue paint finish replacing Deep Blue Metallic shown here.

None of these are major upgrades, and regardless, all three cars are richly equipped.

Standard in all three cars are LED headlights, alloy wheels (19-inch on the BYD, 20-inch on the Tesla and MG), a panoramic glass roof, heated and ventilated power-adjustable front seats, a heated steering wheel, power boot lids, and dual-zone climate control.

For the tech heads, the brakes measure 355mm front/335mm rear on the Tesla, 344mm front/317mm rear on the BYD, and 356mm front/365mm rear on the MG, all with calipers painted in a contrasting colour, but only the Tesla boasts performance-focused pads.

The Model 3 lacks a dedicated instrument cluster or head-up display, but it includes adaptive suspension, an 8.0-inch rear touchscreen, heated rear seats, front sports seats, synthetic leather upholstery, a 17-speaker sound system, dual wireless phone chargers, and a 15.4-inch touchscreen with navigation and music streaming.

The Seal mirrors the Tesla with adaptive dampers, but offers a 12-speaker Dynaudio stereo, genuine leather seats, dual wireless phone chargers, a sunshade for the glass roof, a 10.25-inch instrument display, and a 15.6-inch touchscreen that, like the MG, but unlike the Tesla, includes wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto.

The IM5’s screens are the largest – 26.3 inches up high, and 10.5 inches down low – plus adaptive air suspension, rear-wheel steering, leather-look upholstery, a single wireless phone charger, and a 20-speaker unbranded sound system.

The BYD is the only car with manual steering column adjustment and traditional interior door handles – rather than power adjustment and electronic releases – as well as a gear selector in the centre console, rather than on-screen (Tesla) or through a stalk (MG).

Minimalism is the name of the game inside the Tesla, with a single 15.4-inch touchscreen hosting most vehicle functions – and little in the way of conventional switchgear, beyond the buttons on the sides of the seats, and the window switches.

It is a steep learning curve – everything from the climate control and multimedia to the speed display runs through the screen – but Tesla’s software is the best in the business, with smartphone-like responsiveness, and fewer convoluted menus to navigate than the other cars.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are absent, but there are in-built music (Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal), and podcast services in their place – albeit no Waze – as well as FM/digital radio, Bluetooth, and Google Maps-powered navigation with class-leading route planning around charging stations on long drives.

The 15-speaker in-house sound system is also the best of the bunch, with excellent clarity and punch rivalled by few other sub-$100,000 new cars, electric or otherwise.

Where the Performance sets itself apart from other Model 3s is with its snug but super-supportive sports seats, with 14-way power adjustment, firm but comfortable bolstering for all but the most broad frames, and both heating and ventilation.

Much like the other cars, the driving position is not as low as a conventional sports sedan, but a roomy pedal box, a small steering wheel – with heating, customisable shortcuts, and power-operated tilt/reach adjustment – mean there’s no shortage of space.

It applies to small-item storage, too, with two deep centre-console compartments, roomy flock-lined door pockets, and two cupholders, though the glovebox is small, and can only be opened through the touchscreen.

Carbon-fibre-look accents are used on the dashboard to distinguish the Performance, joining Model 3 touchpoints such as soft leather-like wrapping on the centre console and door panels, and premium-looking ambient cabin lighting.

New builds bring back the indicator stalk – rather than the fiddly steering wheel buttons of the vehicle pictured – though the gear selector is always on the touchscreen. A controversial choice made easier by clever Auto Shift software that studies the car’s surroundings and anticipates your next move in three-point turns and when pulling out of parking spots.

Dual phone chargers, dual-zone climate control with a HEPA filter, and keyless entry through Tesla’s excellent phone app are among the features, though there is only one, hard-to-spot USB-C port under the front-centre armrest, and the glass roof lacks a sunshade.

Space in the rear is competitive with the BYD, with decent knee room but compromised toe room for 190cm-plus passengers, as well as a view forward compromised by broad-backed front sports seats. You also sit up straighter in the Tesla.

Those front seats also lack map pockets, but the Tesla’s trump card in the rear is an 8.0-inch touchscreen with music controls, video streaming, climate functions, and games to entertain the kids.

There are also deep bottle holders in the doors, two USB-C ports, a fold-down centre armrest with cupholders, outboard ISOFIX and three top-tether anchors, and heated outboard rear seats. The floor is flat, like its rivals, but Tesla has done the best job of carving out space in the footwell for the middle passenger.

Boot space is the most generous on paper – at 594 litres – and feels it in reality, with a generous (power) opening by sedan standards, room in the boot for two big suitcases, and a cavernous under-floor area large enough for a carry-on case.

The rear seats can be folded for more space, like the other cars, and there’s a further 88L under the bonnet – with the lightest opening of the three – but Tesla makes buyers pay extra for charging cables and a tyre repair kit.

Let’s cut to the chase: if you’re a car enthusiast who values performance, handling, and driver engagement, the Model 3 is the pick of these three.

In a straight line, it’s a monster. It’s hard to get an accurate gauge of the Model 3’s true power output. Tesla claims 343kW, and Australian government documents quote 461kW (the theoretical combined power of both motors), but it’s believed the battery pack can supply about 400kW in 2025 examples, and 425kW in 2026 models.

Zero to 100km/h takes a claimed 3.1 seconds, though it uses the drag-racing method of discounting the first foot (30cm) of movement before starting the timer.

In reality, it’s a 3.5-second car, which is still brutally quick, pinning you into the seat in its flagship Insane mode. Even the detuned Standard mode is more than quick enough to trouble your licence and passengers’ stomachs, and the accelerator pedal is well calibrated.

The suspension – coil springs with adjustable dampers, like the BYD – has a sporty edge in Standard and Sport modes. It is taut, compared to the wafty MG, but our testers found it compliant enough to live with in day-to-day driving, without feeling jiggly or brittle.

The steering is the quickest of the three – just over two turns from lock to lock – and all of its three modes dial in a fair bit of weight, so it takes some getting used to.

Once you’re settled, though, it lends the car agility, without feeling too artificial like the IM5 – but the broad turning circle is hard to miss on tight city streets.

One-pedal driving – where the car will come to a full stop when lifting off the accelerator pedal without touching the brakes – is the only choice, but the way the regenerative braking rolls on as you release the right-hand pedal is the smoothest of the three.

The Model 3 is the clear leader on a country road. The suspension soaks up cambers and tricky bumps without upsetting the car’s balance, grip from the Pirelli P Zero tyres is immense, and the steering, while short on road feel, is suitably quick and direct.

It is not a playful performance car – the traction control is quick to shut down wheelspin, though it nips at wheels in a natural manner, rather than shutting most of the car’s power down like the BYD – but it is stable, composed, agile, and inspires confidence.

Weight helps with that. The Model 3 is about 350kg lighter than the BYD, and down 450kg on the MG, so it has less heft for the motors to move, less for the tyres to turn into corners, and less for the brakes to slow into tight bends.

Speaking of the brakes, the pedal is very firm – jarringly so, on first impression – but the pads resist fade well on a fast road drive. Racetrack performance can be a different story, though we didn’t assess these cars in that environment.

The Model 3 is the most engaging of these three, so it’s the one we’d love to see fitted with simulated gear shifts and engine sounds, as in a Hyundai Ioniq 5 or Ioniq 6 N, which make for an even more connected driving experience.

Tyre roar is also the loudest of the three, and the second-worst for rear visibility – only the MG is worse – though wind noise is modest.

The BYD Seal may be $20,000 cheaper than the Tesla on paper, but it does not feel bargain-basement inside.

Leather-like materials are used on most touchpoints – the armrests, door panels, and even the centre-console kneepads – plus supple suede-like door accents, and good perceived build quality without squeaks or rattles.

Soft also describes the front seats, which are comfortable, supportive enough in most driving scenarios, and trimmed in supple genuine leather upholstery. Heating, ventilation and power adjustment (eight-way driver/four-way passenger, plus lumbar) are standard.

The heated leather steering wheel is not too big nor too small, with ample tilt and reach adjustment to allow tall drivers to get comfortable, though we wished the seat went a bit lower.

Details such as the shapely centre console, glass-like gear shifter, and contrasting metal accents add some flair to the cabin, and there are physical controls where they’re needed, such as a volume roller and shortcuts for parking sensors and air on/off.

The rest of the climate controls are packed into the touchscreen, like the other cars, but handy shortcuts such as vertical and horizontal three-finger swipes for fan speed and temperature, and a row of icons pinned to the screen’s bottom edge, make life easier.

Traditional door handles, rather than electronic releases, are a big plus, as is the manual steering wheel adjustment lever, and mirror controls on the doors not through the touchscreen.

The 15.6-inch touchscreen is big and bright, with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, FM and digital DAB radio, satellite navigation, over-the-air software updates, and voice recognition with a ‘Hey BYD’ voice prompt.

The menu structure is not as straightforward as the Tesla's, but it’s much easier to use than the MG’s displays, with large icons, quick responses, reliable smartphone mirroring technology, and BYD’s signature rotating display function (though CarPlay and Android Auto only work in landscape).

The 10.25-inch instrument display is busy, but there’s a choice of two layouts, a customisable middle section, and it’s aided by a crisp head-up display on the windscreen. It even allows the air conditioning to be controlled through it and the steering wheel buttons.

Amenities include a power-operated sunshade for the glass roof, a good 12-speaker Dynaudio stereo, dual wireless phone chargers, ambient lighting, keyless entry and start with card and phone-key access, and dual-zone climate control.

Storage is respectable – with a small glovebox but deep centre console, and modest room under the shifter – plus two USB ports (one A, one C) and a 12-volt socket up front.

Rear-seat space is decent – my 186cm (6ft 1in) tall frame fits behind my driving position with ample knee room, but toe room is tight, and my hair is close to brushing the roof lining – not helped by compromised under-thigh support.

There are ample amenities in the rear – one USB-A and one USB-C port, two seatback map pockets, air vents, door bottle holders, and a fold-down centre armrest with two cupholders – with the typical three top-tethers and two ISOFIX anchors for child seats.

The 400-litre boot is the smallest of the three on paper, with a narrow aperture and chunky struts that get in the way of loading items. The small under-floor area, net, and light are handy, though, as are the power boot lid and extra 53-litre under-bonnet area.

It may be the slowest car in this group – zero to 100km/h in a claimed 3.8 seconds (or 4.0sec as tested) – but you’d be hard-pressed to call the Seal Performance slow.

It pins you into the back of the seat, as you’d expect, but there’s an unnerving delay of a few tenths of a second in the accelerator pedal when pressed – and, when lifting off, the Seal will hold power for an equally unnatural split-second after your foot comes off the pedal, before the regenerative braking kicks in.

The Seal is an easy car to drive around town. The steering is easy to twirl, the brake pedal is easy to modulate in Comfort mode – though it lacks a ‘one-pedal’ mode – and it has the best visibility of the bunch, without much wind or tyre noise either.

Adaptive suspension was added for Model Year 2025, and in Comfort mode it smothers speed bumps and all other road imperfections at city speeds like they’re not there. Sport mode is taut but acceptable around town.

It’s outside of the city – and, despite its name, in a performance environment – where the Seal Performance struggles.

Sport mode may be fine in traffic, but on country roads it is too choppy, bobbling over every bump in the road and never feeling settled or composed in the same manner as the other cars.

Switch it to Comfort, and the dampers are slackened off so much that the Seal feels floaty and bouncy, like a boat in rough seas. On particularly sharp freeway expansion joints, it lifts so much weight off the wheels that the regenerative braking can kick in, unsettling the car.

On winding roads, the easy steering around town does not tell the driver about what the front wheels are doing with the consistency of the others, and the brake pedal is either not responsive enough in Comfort, or too grabby and sensitive to use smoothly in Sport.

Driven quickly, the traction control tends to sap most of the car’s power at the first hint of wheelspin, and waits an eternity before giving it all back in one hit, by which time the car is halfway out of the corner.

There is a brake-based torque-vectoring system (called ITAC, or Intelligent Torque Adaption Control Technology), which helps somewhat, but it still struggles to put its power down, not helped by eco-focused Continental tyres with relatively modest grip limits.

The brakes and tyres are better than expected in an emergency scenario – my GPS timing gear testing suggests the Seal will pull up from 100km/h in a similar distance to the Model 3, even if it doesn’t feel like it.

It’s worth noting none of the drive modes are linked, so changing between Eco, Normal and Sport on the centre console only swaps the electric motor response. Comfort/Sport settings for the steering, brakes, and suspension all need to be controlled separately through the screen.

It’s clear, then, that the Seal is best thought of as a daily driver to floor on the occasional motorway on-ramp, rather than a true performance car befitting of its badge.

The IM5 is like no other MG sedan before it, and it makes quite the impression on the inside.

There is rarely a straight line to be seen, with an abundance of curves and wavy shapes, supple leather-like materials everywhere you can touch, and a few metallic trim elements to contrast the grey leather-look upholstery in this test car.

The front seats feel like oversized pillows, with moderate but not outstanding support, the same leather-look trim, and 12-way driver/six-way passenger power adjustment, heating and ventilation.

Screens dominate the experience. What would normally be two screens for instruments and infotainment are merged into one massive 26.3-inch unit, with an additional 10.5-inch touch display lower down on the dashboard for further functions.

The graphics on both screens are crisp, and response times are quick, but the learning curve is even steeper than in the Tesla, even for some of our younger, TikTok-savvy testers.

The sheer number of menus to find and figure out is bewildering, there is duplication of functions between the screens – apps that can be opened with the upper screen can also be activated below – and there are multiple sets of shortcut menus to activate more settings menus. Physical controls? Aside from two rollers on the steering wheel, there are none.

If you thought the Tesla was too reliant on its screen, the MG will send your brain into a tailspin – especially on the road, when basic functions are multiple taps away on the lower display that’s well out of your line of sight. The IM5’s technology is a bridge too far.

I found the sweet spot, upon climbing into the car, to be disabling intrusive advanced safety aids, setting climate control to automatic – they’re on the screen too, all via the lower display – starting wireless Apple CarPlay (or Android Auto), and leaving it there.

Navigation, digital radio, and plenty of in-built apps – even TikTok, presumably for use while charging – are standard on the IM5’s screens.

Other features include an expansive glass roof (without a sunshade), dual-zone climate control (with vents adjusted through the screen), keyless entry/start, a single 50-watt ventilated wireless phone charger, ambient lighting, and a 20-speaker in-house sound system offering plenty of punch.

Less impressive are the electronic door releases, which are smaller – mounted lower down on the door – than the Tesla, so they’re even more difficult for first-timers to locate.

Storage space is respectable, with a cavity behind the lower screen for big purses and wallets, a slot for keys beside the phone charger, two cupholders, door pockets, and under-armrest storage that is cooled and houses the two USB-C ports.

Recline the seatbacks and space in the rear is generous, but leg room was not that much more generous than the other cars – despite the IM5’s much larger footprint – head room was getting tight for my 186cm (6ft 1in) frame, and there’s very little toe room.

The seat bases are soft and supple – though under-thigh support is not great – and amenities are acceptable, with air vents, map pockets, and a fold-down armrest with cupholders, but a single USB-C port, and no way to control the heated outboard seats from the rear.

Boot space is also not that generous for a vehicle of this size. Lift the power-operated tailgate and you’ll find a narrow and shallow load area due to large wheel-arch intrusions and a high floor that will limit what you can fit under the sloping glass.

The size of that rear glass looks decent from the outside, but rear visibility from the driver’s seat is, frankly, woeful – even worse than in the Tesla – to the point where not having a rear window at all wouldn’t be much of a burden.

There’s a 12-volt socket and light in the boot, plus a further 18L under the bonnet, and a tyre repair kit that you don’t need to pay extra for.

On paper, the IM5 might not look like an agile and dynamic car to drive, at 2.3 tonnes in weight, more than 4.9 metres nose to tail, and a wheelbase longer than that of a Toyota LandCruiser.

MG’s counter to the laws of physics is chassis technology: air springs, adaptive damping, rear-wheel steering, quality Pirelli P Zero tyres, torque vectoring, and upgraded brakes.

Don’t forget power. The IM5 Performance’s electric motors produce 200kW/302Nm up front and 372kW/500Nm at the rear for an astonishing combined output of 553kW, good for zero to 100km/h in a claimed 3.2 seconds.

Flooring the accelerator pedal tilts the nose in the air and slams you into the back of the seat, and while we didn’t fix a stopwatch to it, the IM5 feels every bit as fast as the claim. Drive the car sedately, and the pedal is progressive and easy to manage.

Around town, air suspension delivers the most luxury-car-like ride of the three, smothering speed bumps and rough tarmac, and allowing only sharp bumps – big expansion joints or potholes – to crash through into the cabin.

A turning circle tighter than a Toyota Corolla – thanks to rear-wheel steering – and a light steering feel aid manoeuvrability, but its width is hard to hide on narrow streets and in car parks.

Out of city limits, there’s good composure in the suspension at high speeds, irrespective of modes. The Pirelli P Zero tyres serve up plenty of grip, the brakes pull the car up reasonably well, and rear steering lends the car surprising agility into corners.

But push a little harder than the car would like, and it quickly feels like a fish out of water, with relatively slow steering – the number of wheel turns from lock to lock, not how quickly it turns into the bend – and the 2.3-tonne mass, as well as its size, are evident under brakes.

It can get around a corner at a similar speed to the Tesla, but it feels a little artificial doing so, and doesn’t encourage the driver to go faster next time, like a good performance car should.

There is a selection of regenerative braking modes to choose from, and the way they blend with acceleration is well calibrated.

There’s not much tyre or wind noise to speak of. The only noise you’ll hear is some faint motor whine under acceleration.

The IM5 is a great grand tourer – a refined, supple luxury car that packs a punch – and it’s more capable in the corners than the BYD, but it’s too big and heavy to excite keen drivers.

All three vehicles are covered by five-star ANCAP safety ratings tested under the same 2023 to 2025 criteria – which have just been superseded by tougher standards.

Standard in all three is autonomous emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, lane-keep assist, lane-centring assist, blind-spot alerts and cameras, rear cross-traffic alert, front and rear park distance warnings, a rear-view camera, and tyre pressure monitors.

All but the Tesla have a top-down 360-degree camera – rather than just a visualisation on the screen of the car’s surroundings – plus parking alerts that use ultrasonic sensors, not cameras, to judge distances, so tend to be more reliable in heavy rain.

The MG’s driver aids are the most intrusive of the bunch. The driver attention monitor is overzealous and beeps at the driver for brief glances away from the road, and the speed sign recognition will chime when the car exceeds the speed limit it has detected, even if it has misread the sign.

The IM5 is capable of changing lanes on motorways with a flick of the indicator stalk, but it’s not particularly quick at doing so.

The lane-centring assist can wander between the lines, and any attempt to correct its course will immediately deactivate the feature and hand back control – requiring a double-pull of the right-hand stalk to reactivate. It is needlessly annoying, in my view.

Next on the intrusiveness scale is the BYD. The brand has come a long way in tuning its crash-avoidance features to work with the driver, not against them, but we still have a few gripes.

Lane-keep assist is generally well behaved but can be a bit too intrusive at times for my liking, the lane-centring can also drift between the lines at times, the speed sign recognition also includes an overspeed warning, and the process of adjusting the adaptive cruise control in 1km/h increments is fiddly.

However, the driver attention warning is not invasive, and none of the above systems are irritating enough to be deal-breakers, in our view.

The Tesla is the best of the bunch, with lane-keeping and driver attention warnings that do not annoy, traffic sign recognition that can be permanently set to a visual alert only, and quality parking cameras (like the others).

The lane-centring assist can’t be corrected with steering input once it’s on, like the MG, but it is accurate in placing the car – and is available with a feature the other two cannot match.

Paying $149 per month unlocks Full Self-Driving Supervised, which allows the Model 3 to drive itself with human supervision, but little human input, in most driving scenarios, from city and suburban streets to country roads and motorways.

It is not perfect – it is prone to mistakes, it often sits 5km/h under the speed limit on freeways, and it is cautious in its decision-making – but it’s better than many of the human drivers on our roads, and it is an exceptionally capable system no rival can match.

Should you not want to use the full FSD system, the package includes a less advanced Navigate on Autopilot feature that allows for the same assisted lane changes as the MG. It also includes automatic parking, like the BYD and MG.

At the top of their respective ranges, all three sedans are closely matched on driving range, but the amount of energy they need to do so varies.

The IM5 has the longest claimed WLTP driving range of the bunch, at 575km, but its highest quoted efficiency (19.7kWh per 100 kilometres) means it needs a 96.5kWh battery to do it.

It’s difficult to get a precise indicator of the Tesla’s battery capacity, but online data we’re inclined to trust points to about 82kWh for the latest MY26 Model 3 Performance, up from 78–79kWh for the MY25 version.

It means MY26 versions claim 571km of range, thanks to energy efficiency of 16.5kWh/100km, while older builds list 528km from 16.7kWh/100km.

Bringing up the rear – just – is the Seal Performance, which claims 520km from a battery pack with a gross capacity of 82.56kWh (about 80kWh of which is thought to be usable), and energy use in WLTP testing of 18.2kWh/100km.

In around-town testing, we saw consumption in the region of 17kWh/100km for the BYD and Tesla, and closer to 19 or 20kWh/100km for the MG.

Of course, how much energy each car uses depends on how you drive them. On one loop, we got the BYD down to 15.5kWh/100km, while the Tesla displayed 19kWh/100km, and the MG indicated a thirsty 20.5kWh/100km.

Greater differences appear when it comes to recharge.

AC charging is capped at the segment-standard 11kW in the MG and Tesla, but limited to a less impressive 7kW in the BYD, for empty to full recharges in an estimated nine hours and 30 minutes, eight hours, and 12 hours, respectively.

DC charging is also the slowest in the BYD, claiming a peak of 150kW – and requiring an 800-volt charger to achieve it, as the car’s electrical systems run at about 550 volts, and most chargers rated at 150kW run at 400 volts.

In the real world, Drive has tested the related Sealion 7 Performance SUV with the same battery and motors as charging from 10 to 80 per cent in 35 minutes and 35 seconds, hitting a peak of 148kW.

The Tesla is quicker, though not by much, needing 33 minutes to go from 10 to 80 per cent in Model Year 2025 examples, or 32 minutes and 40 seconds in MY26 builds, based on earlier testing of Model 3s and Model Ys with these batteries.

Both new and old models do hit a peak of 250kW – for a split second upon first plugging in, a figure we’ve passed in testing when connecting at 8 per cent charge to give the car a running start – but the new battery holds its charging power for longer.

Fastest of the group is the MG, which boosted from 10 to 80 per cent in an astonishing 17 minutes and five seconds as tested, thanks to a claimed 396kW peak charging power – though we only saw 376kW in the car on a 400kW plug, the best in the country, likely due to charging losses.

Vehicle-to-load technology, capable of powering external electrical devices from the car’s battery pack, is offered in the MG and BYD, but not the Tesla.

There are plenty of similarities in how to maintain these cars after driving out of the showroom, but also plenty of differences.

Tesla stepped up to a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty from January 1, 2026 – up from four years/80,000km, when we tested these cars – matching the MG’s standard coverage for private buyers.

Exclusively service the IM5 at MG dealers and the warranty can be extended to seven years and unlimited kilometres – beating the BYD’s six years or 150,000km, whichever comes first.

BYD has stamped exemptions and shorter coverage periods for parts such as the infotainment screen and shock absorbers out of its warranty.

MG, however, has not: the air suspension and four-wheel steering, some of the most complex systems in the vehicle, are only covered for three years/160,000km.

Other components such as brake pads, wiper blades, and cabin filters, have warranties as short as three months, though this is not uncommon in new cars.

Battery warranties for all three sit at eight years, with varying kilometre limits of 160,000km for the MG and BYD, and 192,000km for the Tesla.

There are no traditional time- or distance-based service intervals for the Model 3. Instead, the car uses its sensors to notify its owner when it detects a problem that needs fixing, in what’s known as “condition-based” maintenance.

There are a series of recommended service items listed on the Tesla website, however:

• Every 10,000km, or if tread depth difference is 1.5mm or more: Rotate the tyres
• Every two years: Replace cabin filter (a new one costs $35)
• Every three years: Replace the HEPA and carbon filters
• Every four years: Check brake fluid health, and replace if needed

Service intervals of 12 months or 20,000km, whichever comes first, are listed for the BYD and MG, with maintenance over five dealer visits priced at $2143 and $1904, respectively.

Each of these cars will appeal to a different buyer – and different budget – but after inspecting their cabins and taking them for a drive, the finishing order was clear.

The BYD Seal Performance is incredible value for money. It’s the cheapest car here by a significant margin, but it’s still spacious inside, well equipped, loaded with technology, and easy to live with day-to-day.

As a car with ‘Performance’ in its name, however, it falls short.

It may be quick in a straight line, but the steering, brakes, tyres, and electronic systems do not deliver the precision, stability, and driver confidence a 390kW car deserves, the ride is either too soft or too firm, and its charging performance is behind the times.

If your budget is tighter, and you’re after a well-appointed daily driver to blast up a motorway on-ramp once in a while, it’s a great choice.

The MG IM5 leans even further into luxury grand tourer territory, with a lavishly appointed cabin and loads of high-tech tricks, backed up by immense acceleration, capable roadholding, and fast-charging performance that blows its rivals away.

However, if there’s an argument that a car can have ‘too much technology', the IM5 is Exhibit A, with similar touchscreen reliance to the Tesla but more confusing software, intrusive safety aids, and a more artificial feel to the country-road driving experience.

It leaves the Tesla Model 3 Performance as the winner of this comparison.

It is the most expensive car of the bunch, and lacks a few features from the others – Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, chief among them – but it feels like the finished article.

It’s well packaged inside to offer ample passenger space, the biggest boot, and lots of small-item storage, the technology is the most intuitive, and it’s the best to drive, with a controlled ride, confident handling, and the best driver-assistance features.

In this instance, you get what you pay for.

Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner

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