BYD Sealion 7 SUV
New from £47,015 / £307 p/m
How long will it take to charge?
Results based on 82.50kWh BYD Sealion 7 battery
0
For a part charge (up to 0 miles)
0
For an 0% charge 0
You can charge this vehicle in 36 minutes at its fastest charging speed of 150 kW
* We have used data from the manufacturer to estimate these charging times, they are only a guide. Charging times for some speeds may not have been provided.
Is the BYD Sealion 7 SUV a good car?
Read our expert review
Words by: Autotrader
"With an ever-increasing list of new Chinese brands on the market, the rapid growth of BYD (AKA ‘Build Your Dreams’) in the UK is hard to ignore. It’s already brought us three electric models – the Atto 3, Dolphin, and Seal – plus the plug-in hybrid Seal U. The sea creature theme continues with the Sealion 7 all-electric SUV crossover. Why the ‘7’? Apparently BYD is planning to introduce a naming convention where the number on the end represents size, while the sea creature denotes body type. Quirky name aside, the Sealion 7 is spacious, packs plenty of features as standard and is very quick off the line but is let down by so-so handling and overbearing safety tech."
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Running costs for a BYD Sealion 7
The Sealion 7 costs more than the newly updated Tesla Model Y and, while it’s still cheaper than the more premium Polestar 4, the BYD looks rather steep at first glance. However, there are versions of the Ford Capri and Peugeot E-3008 in a similar ballpark and the Sealion 7 is considerably more powerful if bragging rights matter to you. Moreover, BYD is offering some competitive finance options to help sweeten the deal. As with all electric cars, running costs should be reasonable, particularly if you are able to charge at home. Additionally, company car drivers will benefit from the lower Benefit In Kind. The rear-wheel drive car version has an official WLTP range of just under 300 miles and this increases slightly for the all-wheel drive models with a bigger battery. When you do need to charge though it shouldn’t take too long, with BYD claiming it can go from 10 to 80 per cent in as little as 24 minutes.
Reliability of a BYD Sealion 7
Despite being a new player compared to legacy manufacturers, BYD has seen a rapid growth in sales over recent years and its background in battery technology is certainly reassuring. To increase peace of mind the Sealion 7 comes with a six-year manufacturer warranty with a separate eight years of cover for the battery and motors. However, when we first drove the Sealion 7 in Germany four of the cars on at the event weren’t working which wasn’t the most promising first impression. On our second drive of the Sealion 7 in the UK things ran more smoothly, though we would still be cautious of BYD’s claim you can leave your Sealion 7 parked up for months and it will still start without issue.
Safety for a BYD Sealion 7
The Sealion 7 comes with nine airbags, plus a suite of standard safety systems using radar and cameras to monitor your surroundings. This includes blind-spot detection, lane departure warnings and emergency braking systems. All good in theory but we found the adaptive cruise control to be rather twitchy in its attempts to keep us centred in our lane and the emergency braking was at one point unexpectedly triggered in a busy town by a car in a side road, so there's still room for improvement. All-wheel drive models also gain a system to control the amount of power allocated to each wheel helping to improve stability. As is increasingly common in modern cars, most functions are accessed via the giant central touch-screen. Although things like heating controls are pinned to a shortcut bar at the bottom and you can change the temperature by using three fingers to scroll up and down, the graphics are small and fiddly to use on the move. For this reason, along with the accompanying scolding from the driver attention monitor, we’ve docked a couple of points from our safety score. However, the Sealion 7 uses a special Blade Battery which is integrated into the body of the car designed to give more protection should the worse happen.
How comfortable is the BYD Sealion 7
There are three levels of trim available on the Sealion 7 starting with rear-wheel Comfort grade and adding all-wheel drive for Design and top of the range Excellence models. All trims come with luxuries such as electric front seats, a heated steering wheel and heated outer seats in the back, while the Excellence cars swap vegan leather for the real thing. It all looks plush from a distance but, up close, cheap materials on the door handles and harsh plastics on some of the buttons end the illusion. There is undoubtedly a good amount of space with a flat floor in the back allowing for ample legroom, and there’s also decent size storage spaces and a large boot if you remove its false floor. Under the bonnet you will find a front storage space (or ‘frunk’ in the EV vernacular) with enough room for cables or a small suitcase. Out on the road things felt fairly smooth and quiet, though the sheer length of the car gives the Sealion 7 a large turning circle, making some manoeuvres a multi-step process.
Features of the BYD Sealion 7
The Sealion 7 is packed with the latest tech and an array of features, including a crystal-clear sound system, impressively intuitive voice control functionality, a 360-degree camera and a massive panoramic roof. All models get BYD’s signature rotating central infotainment screen, with its party piece transformation from landscape to portrait. You also get Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) capability allowing you to charge up other devices from the battery and a heat pump to improve battery efficiency in colder weather as standard. Moving up the Design trim will get you red brake calipers, and range-topping Excellence grade adds a head-up display projecting driving information onto the windscreen.
Power for a BYD Sealion 7
Entry level Sealion 7s come with rear-wheel drive and around 300 horsepower, but the top two grades have all-wheel drive and up to 530 horsepower. We tested the latter and its straight-line acceleration was undeniably impressive though the sheer weight of the car meant it fell short of feeling sporty. The Sealion 7 is user friendly but doesn’t offer a particularly engaging driving experience. There are four driving modes – Eco, Normal, Sport and Snow – plus two levels of regenerative braking you can select using toggles on the central console. While we didn’t notice much difference between High and Standard braking mode, changing the driving modes does alter the amount of braking regeneration. However, even in Eco modes it's a long way off the ‘one-pedal driving’ we’ve enjoyed in other electric cars. BYD has made a deliberate decision to prioritise performance over range, though during our test the Sealion 7 averaged a reasonable three miles per kWh. While we haven’t driven the less powerful Comfort grade Sealion 7 we suspect this may provide a better blend of comfort and range if you can forego the rapid 4.5-second 0-62 mph time.
Lease deals
These deals are based on terms of 8,000 miles, for a 36 month lease with a 6 months initial payment.
£378.03
Monthly payment
£2,268.17
Initial payment
- 5 seats
- 5 doors
- SUV
- Electric
- Automatic
- 300 miles
£479.95
Monthly payment
£2,879.71
Initial payment
- 5 seats
- 5 doors
- SUV
- Electric
- Automatic
- 312 miles
£503.32
Monthly payment
£3,019.93
Initial payment
- 5 seats
- 5 doors
- SUV
- Electric
- Automatic
- 283 miles
Standard equipment
Expect the following equipment on your BYD Sealion 7 SUV. This may vary between trim levels.
- 10.25in Full TFT LCD Instrument Panel
- Ambient Lighting - Multi-Colour
- Auto-dimming Rear View Mirror
- Boot Light
- Boot Parcel Shelf
- Centre Console Light
- Double Layer Foot Mats
- Driver Seat - 2 x File Pocket
- Driver Seat - Electric Leg Support
- Driver Seat - Electric Lumbar Support - 4 Ways
- Driver Seat - Ventilated - Heated with Memorized Adjustment
- Driver Seat with 8-Way - Electrical Adjustable with Position Memory
- Driver Seat with Integrated Headrest
- Dual-Zone Climate Control
- Easy Access Mode
- Electric Tailgate - Kick to Open Function
- Front Boot
- Front Centre Armrest - 2 Cupholders
- Front Passenger Seat - 2 x File Pockets
- Front Passenger Seat - Electrically Adjustable - 6 Ways
- Front Passenger Seat - Ventilated and Heated
- Front Passenger Seat with Integrated Headrest
- Front Seat Footlights - Multi-Colour
- Front Seat Sun Visors with Illuminated Mirror
- Front Windscreen - Rain-Sensing Wipers - Defogging and Defrosting
- Glove Box Light
- LED Four Door Lights
- LED Front Reading Lights
- LED Rear Side Reading Lights
- Multi-Function Steering Wheel - Leather - Heated
- Negative-Ion Generator
- PM2.5 Air Purification System
- Rear Air Vents
- Rear Armrest - 2 Cupholders
- Rear Seats - Backrest Angle Manually Adjustable
- Rear Seats - Heated
- Rear Seats - Manually Adjustable Headrest
- Split Folding Rear Seats - 40-60
- Tire Nut Covers Remover
- 11kW On-board Charger - OBC
- Appointment Charging Function
- Heat Pump
- Intelligent Speed Limit Control - ISLC
- Mode 2 Charging Cable - Type G
- Mode 3 Type 2 Charging Cable - 3-phase
- Vehicle To Load Function - V2L
- VtoL Power Strip - Type G
- 12V Power Output
- 15.6in Electrically Rotatable Touchscreen
- Apple Carplay - Android Auto
- Cloud Service - BYD App
- DAB and FM
- Dynaudio Sound System - 12 Speakers
- Emergency Call
- Front USB Port - 1 x 18W Type C - 1 x 60W Type C
- In-Car WIFI Hotspot
- Navigation
- Onboard 4G Connectivity
- Rear USB Ports - 1 x 18W Type C - 1 x 60W Type C
- Smartphone Wireless Charging - 1 x 50W
- 19in Alloy Wheels - Bi-colour
- 235- 50 R19 and 255 - 45 R19 Tyres
- 4x One-click Lift Window with Anti-pinch Function
- Dynamic Turn Signal Lights
- Dynamic Welcome Lights
- Exterior Mirror Turn Signal Lights
- Exterior Mirrors - Electrically Adjustable - Electrically Folding - Heated - Reverse Auto-Tilt and Position Memory
- Front Windscreen and Front Windows - UV Protection - Thermal Insulation and Soundproofing
- LED Multi-Colour Charging Indicator
- Panoramic Roof - Electrically Adjustable Sunshade
- Rear Fog Lights
- Rear Windows - UV Protection - Thermal Insulation - Privacy Glass
- Rear Windscreen - Heated - Defogging - Defrosting
- Rear Windscreen - Privacy Glass
- Towing Hook
- Tyre Repair Kit
- Wheel Nut Protection Trim Cover
- 2x Smart Key and 1x NFC Key Card
- Auto Hold
- Automatic Emergency Braking - AEB
- Child Presence Detection - CPD
- Controller Deceleration Parking - CDP
- Drivers Airbag
- Electric Parking Brake - EPB
- Electronic Brake Distribution - EBD
- Electronic Child Safety Lock
- Electronic Stability Control - ESC
- Emergency Lane Keep Assist - ELKA
- Front Centre Airbag
- Front Passengers Airbag
- Front Passengers Airbag - Deactivation Switch
- Front and Rear Seats Unbelted Alarm
- Front and Rear Side Airbags
- Hill Hold Control - HHC
- Hydraulic Brake Assistant - HBA
- ISOFIX and i-Size - Front Passenger and Outer Rear Seats
- Intelligent Power Brake System - IPB
- Keyless Entry and Keyless Start
- Lane Centring Control - LCC
- NFC Card
- Pre-Tensioned Rear Seat Belts
- Pre-Tensioned and Height Adjustable Front Seat Belts
- Rear Cross Traffic Alert - RCTA and Rear Cross Traffic Brake - RCTB
- Side Curtain Airbags
- Traction Control System - TCS
- Vehicle Dynamics Control - VDC
- 360 Degree Camera
- Adaptive Cruise Control - ACC
- Blind Spot Detection - BSD
- Direct Driver Fatigue Management - DFM
- Door Opening Warning - DOW
- Driver Distraction Warning - DDW
- Driving Modes - Eco - Comfort - Sport - Snow
- Forward Collision Warning - FCW
- Front Cross Traffic Alert - FCTA and Front Cross Traffic Brake - FCTB
- Front and Rear - Parking Radars
- Intelligent Voice Control - Hi BYD - Quad-Zone Voice Control
- Lane Departure Warning - LDW
- Rear Collision Warning - RCW
- Traffic Sign Recognition - TSR
- Tyre Pressure Monitoring System - TPMS
- Cornering Lights
- Exterior Mirror Footlight
- Follow Me Home Headlights
- High Beam Assistant - HMA
- Intelligent High Beam Control - IHBC
- LED Daytime Running Lights
- LED Headlights - Automatic On - Off
- LED Taillights
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Your questions answered
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Contract Hire ('Leasing') is subject to status and approval and is only available to UK residents aged 18 and over. Vehicle must be returned with no more than fair wear and tear to avoid further charges. You will not own the vehicle. Excess mileage charges and return conditions apply.
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