Say hello to…
…the BYD Sealion 7 is the new Chinese brand’s answer to the Tesla Model Y. It’s a large family SUV with plenty of room for five adults and their luggage.
The Sealion 7 (there isn’t, as yet, a Sealion with another number so we’ll use the shorter version from hereon in) is available in three trim levels which also bring battery and motor changes. Entry level Comfort is rear-drive and uses an 82.5kWh battery to power a 308hp motor for an official 300 mile range. Design is all-wheel drive with the same 82.5kWh battery but a 523hp power output and a range of 283 miles. Top of the range is the Excellence which adds a 91.3kWh battery to the Design set-up which takes the range to 312 miles. Excellence also gains a faster max charging speed of 230kW against 150kW for the rest of the line-up.
Trim levels:
- Comfort
- Design
- Excellence
Standard equipment on the Comfort includes metallic paint, auto headlights, auto high beam, 19-inch alloys, powered folding door mirrors with memory, vegan leather upholstery, powered memory front seats, heated front and rear seats, dual-zone climate control, 10-inch digital driver’s display, 16-inch infotainment screen, in-car wifi, wireless phone charging, 4x USB ports, Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, satnav, front and rear parking sensors, 360-degree camera, adaptive cruise control, keyless entry and heatpump.
Design adds 20-inch alloys.
Excellence adds real leather upholstery and a head-up display.
Is The BYD Sealion Suitable For My Fleet
All the Sealion trim levels are amazingly well equipped and there’s also a surprisingly generous amount of interior space both for passengers and for luggage. The boot space is 520 litres, but there’s also a front boot with a useful and additional 58 litres of space.
All trim levels are quick with the Design and Excellence versions recording 0-60mph times of 4.5 seconds. Most drivers would be better off with the Comfort version which has a 0-60mph time of 6.7 seconds, but a better range; officially well over 300 miles.
Our Design version saw a real-world efficiency of 2.8 miles per kWh which would give a range of 230 miles. However, in our experience on motorway runs you’ll be lucky to get more than 200 miles.
Leasing A BYD Sealion
Gateway2lease is offering the BYD Sealion in Design trim for £506 a month on a 3+36 contract with 10,000 miles a year. Gensen Reports forecasts maintenance costs at £41 a month with Class 1A NIC coming in at £19 a month.
Driving A BYD Sealion
With a host of manufacturers trying to beat the Tesla Model Y to be the car of choice in the large family SUV sector, the offer from rivals has to be compelling. BYD’s new Sealion is approaching the task by offering more of pretty much everything.
The interior from both materials and construction points of view is impressive. The feel of the materials is one of quality and the seats provide good comfort and support for longer journeys.
The level of standard equipment is class leading including the very clever cruise control which can be set in stages if you ‘just’ want adaptive cruise rather than lane keeping too. On the top spec Excellence you can also have a head-up display, something that’s not even an option on the Model Y.
While there is more kit on the Sealion than you’ll realistically need, we found that the software running the car wasn’t entirely glitch free. BYD offers regular over-the-air updates but our car would randomly change the climate control temperature and on one occasion refused to start or spring into life once we’d unlocked and got in. Relocking and repeating the process solved the issue.
While the cabin is a lovely place to spend the miles, the range and efficiency are not the Sealion’s strongest points. While we weren’t far off the official figure, we’ve become accustomed to better efficiency from BYD through its other cars. 2.8 miles per kWh isn’t great. What’s more the range display doesn’t seem to learn from your previous driving, so if you’re on the motorway and have been for half a battery, the range can be highly optimistic.
With well over 500hp, the Sealion can be decidedly rapid if you want it to be. But fortunately it’s also very easy to drive at everyday, bimbling, speeds. The only difficulty comes when parking when the overly grabby brakes make smooth manoeuvering difficult. This is the case no matter if you’re in normal or high brake regeneration modes.
The suspension copes very well with the UK’s pothole strewn roads, although at low speeds passengers can complain of a bouncy ride. This is mostly only at lower speeds and settles down as you get faster.
Overall the BYD Sealion is a roomy, high quality and rapid SUV. We’d just hope for better efficiency, particularly if this is a car for higher mileage drivers.
FleetandLeasing.com Verdict On The BYD Sealion
Impressive value for money with a high quality interior and amazing performance.
BYD Sealion
- Model: Sealion 7 Design
- Power: 523hp
- Torque: 690Nm
- Max speed: 133mph
- 0-62mph: 4.5s
- Official range: 283 miles
- Test range: 230 miles
- CO2 emissions: 0g/km
- BIK tax band 2025/26: 3%
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