BYD has been testing the Sealion 7 in Australia – the latest addition to its rapidly growing electric vehicle line-up – ahead of its international launch expected soon.
BYD has quickly grown to be one of the biggest makers of EVs in the world, and in Australia has had success with the Atto 3, the Dolphin and the Seal.
Now, the brand is already looking at launching multiple new models into the market and recent sightings of test vehicles give us a glimpse into what’s next in the company’s lineup.
Over the weekend, a sighting of BYD’s upcoming electric SUV, the Sealion 7, appeared with the vehicle spotted at a shopping centre in NSW.
Photos of the covered BYD Sealion 7 show the mid-sized SUV from multiple angles and were shared by Maria P on the BYD Sealion 7 Australia Facebook group.
In these photos, the front shows daytime running lights on the car which are similar to the ones seen on the BYD Seal SUV. The logo is also covered on the black car but can still be made out through the plastic covering.
Another photo shows the car from the rear with tail lights on along with the brake light seen near the roof of the car that’s built into the rear spoiler.
From this angle, the wheels of the car are also seen which appear to be in line with the wheels found on the BYD Seal.
In the background, a BYD Shark PHEV ute is also seen, likely undergoing local testing. The same ute is also then seen at an Evie Network charging site.
On the back of this sighting, one brand observer said: “The more on road testing in public they do, the closer it’s getting to a release, I would suspect.”
Another fan of the potentially upcoming BYD Sealion 7 model said: “I think Sealion 7 is being tested in Aussie road. I can’t wait.”
Within the last fortnight, multiple sightings of the Sealion have been reported. Earlier this month, the same vehicle was spotted in testing in Melbourne, hinting at more testing to be undertaken in the coming months.
The new Sealion 7 that’s set to begin customer deliveries shortly in China is expected to be equipped with the company’s newest e-Platform 3.0 EVO. This is an upgraded version of the e-Platform 3.0 found in cars such as the locally available BYD Seal.
The new platform has been noted to have a faster DC fast-charging speed, which has been increased to 240 kW in certain variants of the Sealion 7. That’s a step up from the current 150 kW DC fast charging available on the Seal sedan.
With the new BYD Sealion 7 testing underway, the Tesla Model Y-sized vehicle is one step closer to launching in international markets outside of China. We look forward to revealing more details on the car as they come to hand in the coming months.
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.