Image: MIIT Filing via Car News China
BYD, one of the world’s fastest-growing car makers, is apparently ready to roll out another EV to join its growing electric fleet that is challenging the dominance of legacy car makers, and Tesla.
The latest model is dubbed the BYD Seal 08 and it appears to be a more affordable BYD Seal sedan that was sighted in regulatory approval documents run by the ministry of industry and information technology (MIIT), and shared by CNC.
The new Seal 08 will start at the equivalent of around $A32,300 in the Chinese market, much lower than the Seal which currently comes in at just over $A38,500.
The latest model will be slightly smaller – 4,720 mm long – than the Seal electric sedan, which has proved popular in Australia with over 6,000 units delivered in 2024.
On the powertrain front, it’ll be powered by either 110 kW or 160 kW motors instead of the high-powered motors seen in the Seal which start at 230 kW in the entry-level rear-wheel drive version.
Feeding these motors are two BYD lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) blade battery packs which include a 46.1 kWh that can deliver around 470 km in CLTC range. This is likely to be just shy of 400 km on the WLTP cycle.
The second larger battery pack will be powering the 160 kW version of the car and has a capacity of 56.6 kWh. That’s expected to deliver up to 545 km of CLTC range, or over 450 km on the WLTP cycle.
Other details such as the weight of the car was also sighted in the filing documentation, ranging from 1,670 kg up to 1,800 kg.
This is fairly light compared to the Seal which starts at 1,922 kg and goes all the way up to 2,185 kg, thanks to the bigger battery and dual-motor powertrain.
On the design front, the mid-sized sedan has a sharp front end with sleek styling across the profile of the car.
The door handles appear more conventional but are more flush with the door for improved aerodynamics. The regulatory filing also reveals the option for a sunroof which would be welcomed by some buyers and is expected to be an option.
There will also be three types of wheels on offer across its variants although the exact size of the wheels is not known.
The all-new Seal 08 is expected to be launched in the coming months, probably in time for the upcoming Shanghai Auto Show in April this year.
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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