BYD Sealion 7 Premium 2025 Review

The 2025 BYD Sealion 7 has officially landed in Australia priced from $54,990 for the single-motor Premium and $63,990 for the dual-motor Performance. This means it undercuts the Tesla Model Y ($55,900) but not the XPeng G6 ($54,800). All pricing is before on-road costs.

Some other Chinese-built battery-electric mid-size SUV rivals with their elbows out include the impressive Deepal SO7 ($53,900), the affordable Leapmotor C10 ($45,888), and the mainstream Kia EV5 ($56,770).

Another serious rival could come from within, given the Sealion 6 plug-in hybrid SUV is roughly the same size, similarly equipped, has more range and comes in at $43K, some $11,000 below the Sealion 7. Food for thought.

While the Sealion 7 doesn’t outgun all EV rivals in terms of equipment levels, the vehicle’s build quality is good – arguably on par if not better than most of the abovementioned vehicles.

There’s a distinctly premium feel to the finishes in the cabin and all the touchy-feely bits, although how well they last under the hot Aussie sun is yet to be determined. Mercifully, however, the large panoramic glass roof has a solid power-operated sunshade.

Whether you go for the entry-level Sealion 7 Premium or the flagship Performance model, BYD has thrown in plenty of standard kit covering tech, comfort, and safety, with the rotating 15.6-inch touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto the cabin’s centrepiece.

This is joined by two other digital screens, a 10.25-inch digital driver’s display and an impressive large head-up display, while both models also get a rather strapping 12-speaker Dynaudio sound system.

A 50W wireless phone charge pad is a nice touch as is a powered tailgate for hands-free grocery loading.

Power-operated leather front seats with heating and cooling functionality, 19-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights and tail-lights, GPS satellite navigation, ambient cabin lighting (with rhythm function!) and a karaoke mode are in there, along with dual-zone climate control.

Step up to the Sealion 7 Performance model and the extra $9000 buys you a far more potent powertrain – a dual-motor 390kW/690Nm setup versus the single motor’s 230kW/380Nm.

The extra cash splash doesn’t really buy much more kit, which is interesting, with 20-inch alloy wheels, a heated steering wheel and heated rear seats the only other additions. Oh, and painted red brake callipers, which add at least 20kW of street cred.

On the safety front, both Sealion 7 model grades are stacked, starting with nine airbags, autonomous emergency braking (AEB), adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist and driver attention monitoring.

There’s a very handy 360-degree parking camera with custom 3D modes that makes parking less of a gamble, plus front and rear cross-traffic alert with auto braking, which is handy in hectic car parks. Blind-spot monitoring, safe exit warning, front and rear parking sensors, traffic sign recognition, auto hold, and twin ISOFIX and triple top tether child seat anchorages are in there too.

The car hasn’t been tested by ANCAP but European NCAP gave the SUV (which is called the BYD Seal-U overseas) a five-star safety rating in 2023. Every other BYD sold in Australia thus far has snaffled a five-star ANCAP safety rating.

Capped price service costs are competitive at an average of $317 per annum, which works out to just over $1900 across six years. Service intervals are pretty handy too, set at 12 months or 20,000km, whichever comes first.

Warranty provisions sound good on paper at six years/150,000km for the vehicle, but read the fine print and there are lot of caveats. For instance, the multimedia system (screen etc), AC/DC charging port assembly and USB charging ports are only covered for three years/60,000 kilometres.

The LFP battery pack is backed by a fairly standard eight year/160,000km warranty.

After driving the 2025 BYD Sealion 7 in China late last year, there were several question marks hanging over the much-anticipated Tesla Model Y-fighter.

The good news? Most of the issues have been addressed, chief among them the suspension tune.

BYD execs confirmed to carsales that chassis adjustments had been made following our initial drive and it’s manifestly clear the Sealion 7 is a better drive now.

It is certainly one of the more compliant and controlled Chinese EVs to land on local shores in recent times.

Bump absorption is very good in the Premium model with its 19-inch alloy wheels and still ‘good’ in the Performance version with its sporty 20-inch rims shod with sporty (and grippy) Michelin tyres.

The way the SUV soaks up manhole covers and potholes is commendable, keeping occupants fairly isolated from bigger hits. On a short dirt road the Premium AWD model grade also showed a clean pair of heels, managing the bumpy gravel surface with remarkable poise.

On the flip side, the Sealion 7 has confident driving dynamics – particularly considering it weighs as much as a big beluga whale, at 2225kg for the Premium and 2340kg for the Performance.

The way the double wishbone front and multilink rear independent suspension work in tandem with the (semi) passive frequency selective dampers is commensurate with some of the more dynamic family SUVs on sale today.

Sure, the Sealion 7 is not class leading in terms of ride and handling, but body control is above average on fast, flowing country roads, with not too much body roll or wallowing through corners. Perhaps expectations were low but the way it drives, right out of the box, is more than satisfactory.

Both models accelerate smoothly but with purpose, even the single-motor Sealion 7 Premium.

But it’s the dual-motor BYD S7 Performance that makes the biggest impact, firing away from the traffic lights with serious venom. The 4.5 second 0-100km/h acceleration claim is eminently believable. The 6.7 seconds for the Premium less so.

Around the Adelaide ‘burbs at more pedestrian speeds the setup is also quite good, with a well-weighted but direct steering rack making T-intersections, three-point turns and car-parking a cinch.

It’s good to have an actual (if stubby) gear shifter, not to mention an engine start/stop button, plus physical mirror and window controls. These conventional and physical controls are nice touches and make for a good first impression – the lack of super-annoying and in-your-face safety nannies is another pleasant surprise.

There’s also loads of drive data right in the line of sight thanks to a large digital driver’s display and a good head-up display that provides good navigational instructions. If you don’t like the single screen jobbie like in the Tesla Model Y, this will be worth a closer look.

During this short two-hour launch drive around Adelaide it was hard to get a gauge on energy consumption (although early initial impressions suggest its okay, rather than good) so our verdict on the 482km of range for the Premium and 456km for the Performance will have to wait for our next test.

Both models come with vehicle-to-load (V2L) functionality, which is a nice touch, while the double-glazed front windscreen and front windows make it a very quiet cruiser too. As mentioned, build quality is also solid and there’s a sincerity to its luxury pretensions.

Less impressive aspects of the 2025 BYD Sealion 7 start with the lack of a spare tyre. While this is common to most EVs, it’s still unacceptable in my view. Perhaps providing customers a choice between more boot space or a spare tyre would be a good middle ground?

Charging speeds are also far from class leading at 150kW on a DC charger. Granted, the majority of public DC fast chargers in Australia are still between 50 and 100kW, but when rivals offer charging bandwidth up to 350kW it makes BYS's efforts look paltry and its claims of being a tech leader dubious; it doesn’t really future proof the vehicle either.

Maximum AC charging is rated at 11kW, which is better.

As mentioned, the BYD Sealion 7 is a quiet cruiser… until the road surface gets a bit ragged and patchworked. In these scenarios the noise of the (admittedly accommodating) frequency selective dampers pounding in and out of potholes and across lesions in the road is very noticeable.

Throttle calibration is also a little touchy at slower speeds and when you let off the throttle there’s a second or two where it feels as though it ‘sticks’. Drivers can dial up the recuperative braking to overcome this but if you’re not a fan of one-pedal driving it could be a sticking point (no pun intended).

Only four exterior colour options are available and they’re all fairly passive – Atlantis Grey, Cosmos Black, Aurora White, and Shark Grey. If you want something more eye-catching, you’ll want an aftermarket wrap.

There are no interior colour options either, with black the only choice. Again, this is a bit disappointing when some rivals offer multiple choices in more radical hues. But hey, you’ll never be paralysed by choice when it comes to the colour palette.

We’ve already touched on the warranty issues and while there are no physical temperature or fan controls you can swipe three fingers vertically or horizontally on the touch-screen to facilitate this, which is a very handy shortcut.

Speaking of which, the air-conditioning struggled to do the job in extreme heat during our launch drive, when the Chinese chariot was working hard on a balmy 43-degree day in Adelaide.

If you’re in the market for an EV, there are a lot of reasons to take the 2025 BYD Sealion 7 very seriously. It’s sharply priced, generously equipped and impressively engineered.

Simply put, the positives far outweigh the negatives and the hype appears well-earned.

Local reps for the Chinese car-maker say the Sealion 7 will likely be the third-best-selling vehicle in the BYD range by the end of 2025, behind the Sealion 6 SUV and Shark 6 ute hybrids. After driving it, we’d say it might even overtake its Sealion sibling.

BYD insists the Sealion 7 is not just a Tesla Model Y and XPeng G6 rival but a vehicle to take on all mid-size SUVs, from high-end Toyota RAV4s to low-end BMW X3s. While the latter might be a stretch, there’s no denying BYD’s product portfolio is one with increasing appeal.

2025 BYD Sealion 7 Premium at a glance:
Price: $54,990 (plus on-road costs)
Available: Now
Powertrain: Single permanent magnet synchronous motor
Output: 230kW/380Nm
Transmission: Single-speed reduction gear
Battery: 82kWh lithium-ion LFP (lithium ferrous phosphate)
Range: 482km (WLTP)
Energy consumption: 17kWh/100km (WLTP)
Safety rating: Not tested

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