BYD Sealion 7 review

Is the BYD Sealion 7 a good car? 

A premium price tag does not correlate to a premium product in the case of the new BYD Sealion 7. On the surface, it appears well built, spacious and comes with an impressive powertrain, but there’s a lot of work that needs to be done with the chassis, refinement and general dynamic capability. At this price point, and against similarly priced rivals such as the Kia EV6, Hyundai Ioniq 5 or Skoda Enyaq, there are precious few places for it to hide.

How much does the BYD Sealion 7 cost?

Chinese manufacturing giant BYD has quite some momentum behind it thanks to rapidly growing sales of its electric cars across the world. But things are now getting serious as it moves into building bigger, more sophisticated models that need to sell on capability and desirability, rather than just an attractive price point. Next up is the Sealion 7, a sporting fastback SUV with lots of rivals that aims to sell on desirability as much as outright ability. 

UK pricing has yet to be set in stone, but we do know that the entry-level single-motor Comfort model will get things under way at just over £45,000, rising to just under £50,000 for the dual-motor variant. The price of the top-spec dual-motor Excellence, with its bigger battery, is still yet to be set, but it should come in at around £55,000. This puts it at around the same price as an equivalently-sized Kia EV6 or even the new Ford Capri. No pressure, then. 

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BYD has confirmed three powertrain options for the Sealion 7, starting with the entry-level Comfort variant, which pairs a single motor with an 82.5kWh battery. This model produces 308bhp and can sprint to 62mph in 6.7 seconds. Next up is the Design AWD, which uses the same battery pack, but adds a second electric motor to produce a total of 522bhp. This drops the 0-62mph time to 4.5 seconds.

But it’s the top-of-the-range Excellence AWD that we’ve driven first, which upgrades the battery to a 91.3kWh unit in conjunction with the same dual-motor set-up as the Design model. First impressions are positive, with plenty of power and good response to the throttle. Being one of the few manufacturers that produces its own motors and batteries is a clear advantage in terms of calibration and smoothness.

Performance is also impressive considering the price point, with rivals such as a dual-motor Skoda Enyaq or a Kia EV6 GT-Line easily outgunned. The flipside is that it really only seems to highlight a chassis that doesn’t quite feel capable of controlling it. This makes the overall driving experience somewhat fraught, rather than confidence inspiring. 

BYD claims that its latest motors are capable of speeds of up to 23,000rpm – the highest of any mass-produced unit in a car – but whether a byproduct of such a capability or not, they produce a tangible whine at anything more than crawling speeds. It raises in pitch the faster you go, but the good news is that before it gets too piercing at high speeds, wind noise thankfully drowns it out.

Indeed, despite the standard-fit double glazing, wind noise around the A-pillars and door mirrors is particularly noticeable, especially on smooth road surfaces, where the Pirelli winter tyres on our test did a good job of keeping road roar subdued. 

This lack of refinement continues in terms of the suspension, too, as the overall ride quality is pretty jarring, despite the set-up not having a particularly good grasp on body control. Hit a bump and the Sealion 7 will deal with the initial shock well, but over undulating tarmac the suspension struggles to contain its near-2.5 ton kerbweight.

The steering has its own issues; namely a steering rack that’s actually a little too sharp off-centre, which makes it slightly twitchy on motorways and by extension not the most relaxed of cruisers. There’s little to no feel, too, and it lacks the accuracy and consistency you’ll find in most key rivals. 

And then there’s the brake pedal, which is grabby and over-sharp at low speeds, yet lacks consistency and feel at high speeds. When we’re talking about a car with more than 500bhp, competent brakes should be a key element of the chassis’ abilities. 

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BYD quotes a range figure of up to 298 miles in the entry-level single motor Comfort model, which drops to 282 miles on the dual-motor variant. The upgraded 91.3kWh model ups this to 311 miles; do the maths and this would equate to an average efficiency figure of around 3.4m/kWh.

On test, however, we achieved a rather different figure. This was likely affected by a few high-speed stretches of German autobahn, but even so just 2m/kWh was desperately disappointing. 

All Sealions come with a standard-fit heat-pump to help keep these figures consistent over varied temperatures, and feature a vehicle-to-load function that can be used to power electrical devices – such as a portable fridge or coffee machine – when parked up.

Both models with the 82.5kWh battery pack have a peak DC charge figure of 150kW, topping up the pack from 10 to 80 per cent in 32 minutes. The Excellence AWD upgrades this to 230kW, reducing the 10 to 80 per cent top-up time to 24 minutes. 

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Out on the road, the Sealion certainly has an expressive design by BYD’s standards, taking lots of cues from the Seal saloon and integrating them on to a fastback SUV body. However, this is a particularly busy part of the marketplace, so it does look a little generic among more sharply styled Korean or European rivals. 

Step inside the cabin and you’ll immediately be impressed with the Sealion 7’s interior presentation and quality. All models feature a design based around two main digital interfaces, with obvious improvements in terms of material and build quality compared with other BYD cars. 

All models come with a large fixed glass roof (with a full sun-blocking cover on the inside). This helps brighten up the cabin, which is available in two colours - black or Tahiti Blue. There are some other clever touches, such as the cooled high-speed wireless phone charger and lots of USB-C charge points to keep kids and tech-obsessed adults happy, plus an impressive high-end 12-speaker Dynaudio stereo. 

However, it’s clear that the fundamentals are a little less well resolved when you start spending more time inside. The driving position is high, even with the seat set to its lowest point, but thanks to the sharp angle of the windscreen it can feel cramped for taller drivers. 

The driving position itself is also compromised by a slightly odd angle to the steering wheel that feels more akin to a London bus than a high-performance road car. This is likely due to the Sealion sharing its basic chassis with the Seal saloon, with the steering wheel tilting upwards from a pivot point that’s too low relative to the driver’s seat. 

Sat-nav, stereo and infotainment

Fans of the BYD’s rotating central infotainment screen will be glad to see it in the Sealion 7, still twisting away when requested. The 15.6-inch display itself is high resolution, with good response to touch inputs and a relatively clean user interface that doesn’t take too long to get along with. 

But far too many secondary controls are buried deep into the menu structure, and even with a shortcut facility, it doesn’t give you instant access to the function, instead simply taking you to that function’s menu. For example, there are two different ways of turning the heated seats on, but all require at least five or six screen presses to reach them.

There are some static heating and ventilation controls on the main home screen, but they’re both a little small, and hard to use on the move. Although you can change the temperature by using a three-fingers gesture on the main screen, moving up and down to adjust the temperature or side-to-side for fan speed.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard fit, but you still need to use the native system for a majority of the car’s functions. The native navigation system is pretty good by most OEM standards, and comes with the integration of a Google database for the search functions. 

In addition to the main screen there’s a 10.25-inch driver’s display which shows all the car’s main driving information, and Excellence models also throw in a head-up display. 

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If there’s one element that makes it clear whether a car has been designed for the Chinese market, it’s the inclusion of lots and lots of rear legroom. Things are no different with the Sealion 7. 

There’s buckets of room in the second row, and in tandem with the adjustable back rests and the large glass roof, this ensures the back seats are a lovely place to spend time. Or they would be, if there weren’t issues with both ride quality and refinement, which are even more noticeable in the second row. 

There are plenty of cubbies and storage spaces in the cabin to compensate, including two wireless chargers, big door bins and a pair of cupholders in the centre console that have adjustable bases that extend so deep they could likely swallow a Pringles can. 

At the back, the electric tailgate reveals a big, square loading bay which is nicely shaped, and comes with a small extra space underneath that’s ideal for cable storage. If you don’t want to use that, there’s also a small under-bonnet storage space. 

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As a brand new addition to the European market there’s little specific safety information on the Sealion 7, but we can use the closely related Seal as a reference point. That’s a positive place to start, as it has received a full five-star Euro-NCAP rating, as has the older (and smaller) Atto 3. 

The Sealion 7 has a massive suite of active safety features, but we found some to be quite intrusive, and not properly set up for European road markings or conditions. Switching them off is also a very complicated process that requires diving into the screen and multiple presses. 

Another gripe is that lots of the sensor systems are notified by standard beeps and chimes, but also spoken word alerts which don’t always sound entirely natural. It’s also worth mentioning the irritating indicator tick – which is actually more of a chime – that makes it sound like there’s a door ajar every time you click the stalk. 

BYD Sealion 7 alternatives

This is where the Sealion 7’s overall package starts to really break down, as this part of the EV market is crowded with talented offerings. Two that we generally rate very highly are the Kia EV6 and Hyundai Ioniq 5 twins. They cost around the same, but offer much higher ranges, more consistent and engaging driving experiences and don’t compromise on tech. 

The Volkswagen Group’s offerings are also on the table at this price point, with the Skoda Enyaq Coupé being the strongest contender, with the possible exception of the new Cupra Tavascan. Peugeot’s E-3008 is also at a similar price point, but doesn’t pack the same interior space. However, it’s more efficient and offers more range. 

Finally, the Polestar 4 is also in play at this price point, and has up to 100 miles more range than the BYD, plus a far more upmarket interior and overall design. Admittedly, the Sealion 7 hits back by offering a very impressive 522bhp from its dual-motor set-up. But then for only a small jump in price, the high-performance offerings from Hyundai, Kia and Polestar are seriously impressive.