Over the last 12 months, BYD has become a well-known brand amongst the EV community in Australia. Now, one of its upcoming models has been spotted at BYD’s upcoming Megastore in NSW.
Pictures shared by a BYD owner and EV enthusiast Vincent L, show the upcoming BYD Seal getting ready for its big reveal in the coming months.
The latest sighting shows a black seal on wheeled dollys at an upcoming showroom floor. Looking at the alloy wheels it appears to be the top-of-the-range 3.8S all-wheel-drive (AWD) variant which can get the Seal from 0-100 km/h in 3.8 seconds.
The top variant also has an estimated real-world range of over 500 km on the WLTP cycle. That’s thanks to its 82 kWh BYD blade battery pack that powers the dual-motor setup. This configuration also produces over 390 kW helping the car achieve its quick acceleration time.
The latest sighting makes it the first time a black BYD Seal has been seen by many EV enthusiasts in Australia.
With flush door handles, it’s quite an understated look from some angles while other angles show sports car-like features. These include the side skirts and the large rear diffuser setup seen in other sightings of the car.
Dimensions-wise the BYD Seal is longer than the current generation of Tesla Model 3, coming in just over 100 mm longer at 4,800 mm in length.
This could mean there is more interior and boot space but that’s to be seen in an upcoming comparison when the cars land for local deliveries later this year.
In recent months, the BYD Seal has also been revealed in New Zealand. Across the ditch, the first customer deliveries are slated before the end of this year. This may give us an indication of when the first Australian deliveries are likely to start as well.
In New Zealand, the Seal will be offered in four colours. These include:
- Cosmos Black
- Aurora White
- Atlantis Grey
- Arctic Blue
These colours are available in two RWD and one AWD variant. These are:
- Dynamic RWD – 61.4 kWh battery pack with 460 km WLTC range
- Premium RWD – 82.6 kWh battery pack with 570 km WLTC range
- Performance AWD – 82.6 kWh battery pack with 520 km WLTC range
With the local expansion of the EV maker underway and new models on the horizon, it’s an exciting time for the EV market in Australia. We can’t wait to check it out in person in the coming months so stay tuned.
Riz is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.