► We drive BYD Sealion 7 Excellence AWD
► Choose from three models in total
► Generous interior space, up to 311-mile range
BYD adds the Sealion 7 to its line-up, this D-Segment electric SUV from the Chinese brand looking to take sales away from rivals like the Skoda Enyaq, Tesla Y and a host of other plugged-in battery powered family SUVs. It’s not particularly exciting, but really, that’s not a complaint. And despite its name, the Sealion 7 does not have seven seats. Apparently the 7 is something to do with its size, we’re told by someone at BYD…
At a glance
Pros: Good specification, lots of space, quiet.
Cons: Rivals cheaper, pretty uninteresting to drive, distracting driver aids
What’s new?
Pretty much everything. Build Your Dreams, shortened to BYD, is a relative newcomer here in the UK despite having been around for a long time in its home market. It’s been a battery leader for some time, too, and makes a lot of noise about the safety and the integration of Blade batteries into the car’s platform for safety and neat packaging.
They’re claiming energy saving across much of the auxiliaries, too – think heating/cooling – while charging is rapid at 230kW, if you shell out for the range-topping model.
The Sealion 7 is related to the Seal, BYD’s Tesla Model 3 competitor that impressed us here, though the Sealion 7 adds a taller, SUV body with a coupe-ish look. Decent looks, a choice of three trims and respectable WLTP potential range make this a worthy new addition to the family SUV mix.
What are the specs?
The Sealion 7 is diving into the European and UK market in three differing specifications. There’s Comfort, Design AWD and Excellence AWD. The Comfort is a single motor rear-wheel drive model with the other two gaining a second motor and all-wheel drive as the AWD name suggests. Comfort and Design AWD feature an 82.5 kWh battery, which gives a WLTP tested range of 482km (298 miles) and 456km (282 miles) respectively. Choose the Excellence AWD and that battery pack grows to 91.3kW capacity, with the possibility of 502km (311 mile) range.
More significantly, the range-topping model gains the potential for up to 230kW charging, the others making do with up to 150kW, which drops the 32 minute 10%-80% charge time to 24 minutes if you find a juicy enough charger.
In terms of equipment all come decently specified, with ventilated and heated front and heated rear seats, a massive, rotating 15.6-inch central touchscreen containing nav, standard Apple CarPlay/Android Auto and operating the Dynaudio sound system, with the only real difference between the models being the Excellence AWD’s standard Nappa Leather trim and head-up display along with the faster charging and bigger battery.
You’ll know which one you’re driving by number on the bootlid, with the Design AWD and Excellence AWD having 4.5 S on it, which denotes the 0-62mph time. The Comfort’s 6.7 seconds, should you need to know.
How does it drive?
We sampled the Excellence AWD only on a brief early drive, and it’s okay, rather than remarkable. Quick and quiet, as is the electric car way, BYD made a lot of noise about the ‘premium’ double wishbone front suspension and Multi-link rear – and specifically the use of frequency variable dampers which aid stability and engagement. It doesn’t really manifest, the Sealion rides acceptably, but there’s little of the promised engagement and excitement BYD suggests, even if you toggle through the different drive modes.
That’s not a criticism, and, really, the Sealion 7 goes about its job respectably. However, if you don’t want to be hauled all over the place by the driver assist systems, then you’ll want to spend a bit of time in that sizeable touchscreen switching them all off.
Do that and it’s fine, commendably quiet when driving at big speeds on the Autobahn on the German launch, but overall it feels like it could use a little bit more calibration to make it better still. More accurate steering and a less abrupt brake pedal would improve the Sealion 7, as would driver assist systems that are a bit more reactive than proactive in their operation. While we’re at it, we’d change the annoying indicator bongs for clicks, and want a bigger speedometer read-out in the instrumentation screen – if there was one, we didn’t find it.
What’s the interior like?
Commendably conventional, yes, there’s a sizeable 15.6-inch touchscreen in the middle of the dash and smaller instrument display in front of you, but there are buttons, stalks and a gear selector in there – which is enough to not put the fear of God into technophobes. That big touchscreen rotates, which is fun once or twice, but to us it looks best in landscape model, sitting more smartly in what’s a decent car interior. The seats are comfortable and supportive, the dashboard nicely styled, with a cohesive, feel that runs down the doors and through to the rear.
Sit back there and there’s loads of space, while the boot’s a good size at 520-litres (or 1789-litres with the seats folded), that complimented with a 58-litre frunk that’ll take a carry-on sized suitcase, or more likely give you somewhere to sling charging cables and suchlike. Plenty of space for a family, and some useful cubby storage, too.
Before you buy
BYD hasn’t released firm pricing, but the Comfort is anticipated to land at around £45,000, the Design AWD being just shy of £50,000 and the Excellence AWD sitting at around £55,000. We’ve yet to sample the rear-wheel drive entry-level Comfort, but even so, it loses so little in specification that it’s difficult to argue against it. All come with a six-year standard warranty, with the battery and motor cover being 8 years.
Verdict
BYD came from nowhere with its Dolphin and Seal models and has created genuine alternatives in the new order as well as against the established legacy manufacturers. The Sealion 7, slightly odd name aside, is well equipped, has decent range and performance, is comfortable and quiet, so does more of the same. A bit more polish in some areas would elevate it even higher, but as it stands the BYD Sealion 7 is well worth consideration.
Specs for BYD Sealion Excellence AWD