Image: Riz Akhtar
BYD, one of the newest and fastest-growing automotive brands in Australia, has launched its first sports sedan for Australian market with pricing and specifications that have wowed many EV enthusiasts and industry observers.
The announcement – hailed by the company as the “biggest moment in Australian automotive industry” was made a the launch event in Sydney at BYD’s Megastore in Alexandria at 7pm.
The Seal is BYD’s first “ground up” electric sedan and is seen as a major rival to the Model 3 electric sedan produced by Tesla, with which BYD is battling for prime position in the global EV industry.
In Australia, the Seal will be offered in three variants with the base Dynamic model starting at under $50,000, with the top Performance starting at $68,798 before on roads.
The pricing for both Dynamic and Premium models makes it eligible for various state and territory incentives, making it one of the most affordable ground-up electric sedans on the market.
At the launch, BYD’s distributor, EV Direct’s CEO, Luke Todd, emphasised that the Seal is one of the most important quality EVs to hit the Australian market: “We’ve got a Seal here for everyone,” he said. “We are super proud to announce these prices. I strongly believe that this sets a new benchmark,”
The Dynamic Model Seal is equipped with a single-motor rear-wheel-drive powertrain that delivers 150 kW of power and up to 310 Nm of torque. This helps accelerate the car from 0-100 km/h in a respectable 7.5 seconds.
This is paired with BYD’s 61.44 kWh blade battery pack that can offer up to 460 km of WLTP range. When it comes to charging the battery, it can be fast charged at up to 110 kW.
The premium model’s battery gets bumped up to 82.56 kWh, which delivers up to 570 km of WLTP range. The fast-charging speeds also ramp up to 150 kW for DC charging.
Other upgrades include a new motor with 230 kW of power and 360 Nm of torque. This shaves the acceleration time down to 5.9 seconds from zero to 100 km/h.
On the exterior, the wheels also get an upgrade and are now 19-inch premium alloys instead of the 18-inch found on the base variants.
Finally, the top-spec Performance model adds an all-wheel-drive powertrain that delivers up to 390 kW and 670 Nm of torque. This helps this variant sprint from 0-100 km/h in 3.8 seconds.
On the battery front, the Performance shares the same battery pack as the Premium vehicle. This now offers up to 520 km of WLTP range.
Other special features include a heads-up-display, suspension upgrades to include Frequency Selective Dampening (FSD) as well as features to improve driving dynamics with Intelligence Torque Adaption Control (ITAC).
Interested buyers can configure and order the vehicles now with first deliveries expected on this side of Christmas in 2023.
The pricing announcement means that BYD now has three well-engineered ground-up EVs on the Australian market for under $50,000, along with the top selling Atto 3 electric EV and the Dolphin, where deliveries are expected to begin this month starting under $40,000, before on roads,
BYD Seal Dynamic Specifications
BYD Seal Premium Specifications
BYD Seal Performance Specifications
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.
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