SPY PICS: Undisguised 390kW BYD Seal flagship spotted brandishing its 3.8sec 0-100km/h pace

UPDATED 12/07/2023: Another BYD Seal has been spotted on Sydney roads, as you can see from these images sent to us overnight by Jason Ellis, who spotted the undisguised local evaluation vehicle near the Roseville Bridge on his way back from work.

There’s no way of knowing for sure without a clear look at the trade plate, but this particular EV looks a lot like the single-motor version spotted in Macquarie on the weekend, judging by the off-white paint colour, lack of rear badging and more modest wheels/tyres.

BYD Australia hasn’t confirmed how many of the upcoming electric sedans are currently testing on local roads, but odds are there are more than two floating around since the Australian Seal line-up will likely comprise three variants.

ORIGINAL ARICLE PUBLISHED 11/07/2023: An undisguised, fully-badged BYD Seal electric sedan wearing Chinese temporary plates has been spotted at a layover on the Pacific Motorway between Sydney and Newcastle on the weekend, as the Australian release of the upcoming Tesla Model 3 rival draws ever nearer.

Pictures of the spied development vehicle, finished in fetching baby blue paint like the camouflaged BYD Seal spotted in Sydney in January and fitted with all of its production-spec badges including separate ‘AWD’ and ‘3.8S’ lettering, were posted to a local Tesla owners Facebook group yesterday and promptly stirred up a commotion in the comments section.

In the midst of the debate around whether the BYD Seal will be a genuine Tesla competitor, another user posted an image of a white example they spotted in Macquarie on Sunday minus – the rear AWD badging.

The separate sightings reiterate the fact BYD is testing Seal development vehicles on Aussie soil and that local evaluation of the all-new electric sedan is ongoing despite the model being due on sale next month, while the two different variants provide an insight into the EV’s local model range.

Put simply, BYD Australia’s Seal line-up will consist of at least two powertrain options including single-motor and dual-motor set-ups, the latter of which outputs 390kW, is powered by an 82.5kWh battery pack and accelerates to 100km/h in a claimed 3.8 seconds – hence the badging on our spied example.

The middling long-range variant pairs the same battery with a single 230kW motor, whereas the entry-level Seal features a 150kW motor and a 61.4kWh battery.

BYD Australia CEO Luke Todd confirmed last month that the Seal’s local launch was being brought forward to August, but stopped short of revealing any market-specific details.

“Pricing will be extremely competitive… we want to make sure it’s accessible for as many Australians as possible,” he said.

We wouldn’t be surprised if all three powertrains were made available Down Under in an effort to rattle the cages of MG and GWM at the budget end of the EV market while also taking the performance EV fight to Tesla, Polestar and Kia.

A sub-4.0sec 0-100km/h time is bordering on supercar-quick and will undoubtedly catch many established performance cars by surprise out on the road, but unlike other EVs that hide or at least downplay their standing-start performance credentials, it seems the flagship Seal will literally brandish its 0-100km/h time for the world to see.

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