BYD is about to launch the latest of its electric vehicle offerings in Australia as it continues its challenge for EV market supremacy with Tesla.
The Chinese car giant has already delivered more than 10,000 of its popular electric SYV, the Atto 3, into the Australian market and is about to begin deliveries of its BYD Dolphin, with one variant pitched at below $40,000, before on road costs.
Now BYD’s “halo” car, the Seal electric sedan, is on the cusp of launching with pricing to follow in the coming days.
“BYD is about the launch arguably the most anticipated new car of 2023,” Luke Todd, the CEO of BYD’s local distributor, EV Direct, wrote on LinkedIn on Monday. “Get ready Australia. Sales date to be announced in the coming days.”
Along with the announcement Todd shared multiple images of the BYD Seal which was wrapped in signage saying “Innovation meets acceleration – BYD Seal”.
There was also one image that showed the sedan drifting on a track at an undisclosed location.
Since the beginning of this year, there have been multiple sightings of the BYD Seal being tested in the local market.
These sightings have been reported in Victoria all the way up to Queensland which indicates that the vehicle has undertaken a comprehensive local road testing program, hence better suited to Australian road conditions. This of course will be tested in the drive-tests when the model officially becomes available for reviews in the coming months.
The BYD Seal is expected to be offered in 3 variants with the most powerful 3.8S version capable of accelerating from 0-100 km/h in just 3.8 seconds.
As per Todd’s post, the pricing is expected to be announced in the coming days along with the official local lineup’s specifications.
Last month, BYD opened its flagship at Alexandria in Sydney. At the opening, it unveiled the BYD Seal to those who attended the new Sydney Megastore.
I also got to spend a bit of time inside the top-spec dual-motor variant which looked and felt very plush with soft-touch materials inside the cabin.
With the stage set in Todd’s latest post, there will be many watching this launch closely as it finally brings a performance-orientated sedan to compete with what’s been the industry benchmark for EVs and performance, the Tesla Model 3.
Tesla is yet to unveil its upgraded Model 3 Performance but it’s likely to be a step up from the current model.
The Seal will add more options to those looking for a performance sedan and that can only be a good thing for the Australian EV market.
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.