Chinese car giant BYD has successfully delivered three fully electric models to the Australian market – the Atto 3, Seal and the Dolphin – that have helped the brand get to over 25,000 in local sales and number two in EV sales behind Tesla.
Now, for the first time, a new electric SUV model has been spotted being tested in Australia – a covered BYD Seal-like SUV parked in Melbourne appears to be the BYD Sealion 7.
These photos were shared by James L on BYD Sealion 7 facebook group and reveal the front which looks similar to that found on the popular sedan, the BYD Seal. A large landscape screen can be seen inside the right-hand-drive car.
The sighting of this car is a good sign for what’s to come in the next 12 months from BYD as the mid-sized SUV segment is currently dominated by the best-selling electric car in the country, the Tesla Model Y.
In May this year, BYD announced that the Sealion 7 was going to feature the company’s newest e-Platform 3.0 EVO, which supports motors that can reach speeds of 23,000 rpm.
With the new platform on the Sealion 7, BYD has noted that the DC fast-charging speeds have also been increased to 240 kW. Its 82.5 kWh blade battery pack is expected to allow for an NEDC range of up to 600 km, or closer to 500 km of WLTP range.
The Sealion 7 also comes in a single motor standard range variant with a smaller 73.5 kWh battery pack that can deliver up to 540 km of NEDC range. This battery can be charged at up to 180 kW. That’s a significant improvement over the Atto 3 which charges at up to 88 kW.
In the local Chinese market, the Sealion’s price starts at a price equivalent to $A40,480 for the entry-level single-motor variant and goes all the way up to $A51,150 for the top-spec dual-motor all-wheel-drive variant.
We can expect the Sealion 7 to be priced around $55,000 locally if it’s to remain competitive with Tesla’s Model Y.
This new SUV will be 4,830 mm in length, which is 80 mm longer than the Tesla Model Y. Having said that, the rear boot space is considerably smaller than the Model Y, at 500 litres compared to 854 litres.
At this stage, no details on local launch are available but more is likely to be announced closer to the end of the year, possibly in line with the right-hand-drive Thailand market launch.
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.