The Chinese brand BYD has only recently emerged as a manufacturer of well-rounded EVs in Europe, but with its all-new BYD Sealion 7 the firm has set its sights on one of the most crowded and competitive markets – the electric SUV.

The Sealion 7 is related to the BYD Seal, the firm’s answer to the Tesla Model 3. It adds a taller SUV body with a coupe-ish look, in a similar style to the Tesla Model Y. The 7 in its name doesn’t mean seven seats, though – it’s a reference to the size, and that it’s BYD’s seventh all-electric model. Rivals it must compete with include not only the Model Y, but also the Renault Scenic E-Tech – which is the 2025 Parkers Car of The Year – the impressive Ford Explorer, and the well-established Skoda Enyaq. Among many others.

BYD is making a lot of noise about the safety and the integration of the Sealion 7’s ‘blade’ batteries into the car’s platform. This design is said to boost safety and packaging as well as improve the energy efficiency of heating and cooling the car. Charging is also rapid, with 230kW DC public charging possible, if you shell out for the range-topping model.

What’s it like inside?

The Sealion’s interior is commendably conventional. Yes, there’s a sizeable 15.6-inch infotainment touchscreen in the centre of the dash and smaller digital instrument display in front of you. But there are proper buttons, a recognisable gear selector, and normal stalks in there, though the bongs from the indicators are somewhat odd.

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That big touchscreen rotates, as it does in other BYD models, which is fun to mess about with once or twice. But to us it looks best in landscape mode, sitting more smartly in what’s a decent ly appointed cabin. The seats are comfortable and supportive, the dashboard nicely styled, with a cohesive feel that runs down the doors and through to the rear.

Sit in back there and you’ll find loads of space, while the boot’s a good size at 520 litres (rising to 1,789 litres with the seats folded). This is complemented with a 58-litre front luggage area under the bonnet that’ll take a carry-on sized suitcase, or more likely give you somewhere to sling charging cables and suchlike. There is some useful cubby storage, too.

Range and charging

The Comfort and Design AWD (for all-wheel drive) models feature an 82.5 kWh battery, which gives a WLTP driving range of 298 miles and 282 miles respectively. Choose the Excellence AWD and that battery pack grows to 91.3kW capacity, with a 311-mile WLTP driving range. Good numbers, but not high enough to trouble the longest-range EVs.

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More significantly, the Excellence AWD includes the potential of up to 230kW charging, which means a 10% to 80% charge time in 24 minutes using a suitable powerful rapid charger. It’s a shame the other Sealions miss out on this, but their 150kW charging power is still enough to deliver 10-80% in around 32 minutes.

What’s it like to drive?

We have so far test the Excellence AWD on a brief early drive, and in short it’s okay, rather than remarkable. Quick and quiet, as is the case with most electric cars, but we were disappointed by the ‘premium’ suspension setup that BYD is promoting. It doesn’t really manifest noticeably in reality, for while the Sealion rides acceptably, there’s little of the promised engagement and excitement BYD suggests it should bring, even if you toggle through the different drive modes. 

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If you don’t want to be hauled all over the place by the driver assist systems then you’ll want to spend a bit of time in that sizeable touchscreen switching them all off. Do that and it’s fine, commendably quiet when driving at big speeds on the Autobahn in Germany where the initial launch drives took place.

But overall, it feels like it could use a little bit more development to make it better still. More accurate steering and a less abrupt brake pedal would improve things, as would driver assist systems that are a bit more reactive than proactive in their operation. We’d also like an option for a bigger speedometer read-out in the instrumentation screen – if there is one, we couldn’t find it.

Safety

Like almost every new car today the Sealion 7 features a comprehensive driver assistance suite of equipment, with lane centring and emergency lane keeping assist.

These proved distracting on the smooth, wide, well-presented German roads, which led to us switching them off. The likelihood is they’ll prove even more annoying on trickier UK roads. There is still time for BYD to update the systems before the car goes on sale here, but we have no intel to suggest this will actually happen.

What models and trims are available?

The BYD Sealion 7 comes in three trim choices: Comfort, Design AWD and Excellence AWD. Pricing starts at £46,990 for entry-level Comfort RWD trim, £51,990 for Design AWD and £58,990 for Excellence AWD The Comfort and Design AWD models feature the same battery pack, while the larger-battery Excellence AWD includes a Nappa leather interior and the possibility of the fastest charging.

All come with heated and ventilated front seats, with the rear seats also heated. And there’s Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as standard, too.

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We’ve yet to sample the rear-wheel drive entry-level Comfort, but even so, it loses so little in specification that it’s difficult to argue against it for what is likely to be a useful cost saving. All Sealion 7s come with a six-year standard warranty, with the battery and motor covered for eight years.

What else should I know?

For reasons it’s not entirely easy to understand, BYD puts the 0-62mph times on the bootlids of some of its cars, and the Sealion 7 is no exception. The Design AWD and Excellence AWD are both marked 4.5 S in this manner, standing for 0-62mph in 4.5 seconds.

The Comfort model takes 6.7 seconds.

Read on for the Parkers verdict on this interesting newcomer in the electric SUV market sector. Also, you can find out more about how we test at Parkers, should you want to know.