Design
Tell Me About The BYD Sealion 7’s Looks!
- The BYD Sealion 7’s style is very unique and grabs more attention than some luxury brand cars that cost a lot more!
- Much like the BYD Seal sedan, it follows the ‘Oceanic’ design theme, featuring curves like a whale or dolphin
- The front end sports full LED lighting with LED daytime running lights that also function as indicators
- From the side profile, the car almost looks like an elongated Porsche Macan and while it is an SUV, the coupe-roofline gives it a low-slung stance
- Viewed from the side, you also appreciate how long the Sealion 7 is, measuring over 4.8 metres long with a nearly 3-metre-long wheelbase!
- It also gets large (electric) pop-out door handles that make the side profile look cleaner
- While the rear-wheel drive model (Premium) gets 19-inch alloy wheels, the all-wheel drive (Performance) rides on 20-inch wheels
- The rear end sports a large roof spoiler and a very distinctive connected LED light bar
- Curvy and slightly bulky shapes may not appeal to those who prefer sleeker or even boxier designs
- More colour options would have been appreciated. It’s currently available in white, black, light grey and light blue
Interiors
What’s The Sealion 7 Like Inside?
- Much like the Seal, the Sealion 7 offers a simply fantastic interior, both in quality and design!
- The choice of materials used inside, match and even surpass luxury brand cars that cost more
- BYD has lathered the interior with soft-touch padding, making everything from the door pads to the lower dashboard feel very premium
- Unlike the Atto 3, the design here is not quirky or unusual but clean and classy. It’s quite European
- The dashboard is dominated by the large touchscreen and a lightly illuminated piano black panel
- Small touches like the quilted look for the leatherette seat upholstery and the crystal-finish gear selector, make this cabin feel very upmarket and rich
- All-black is the only interior colour option. No tan or beige finish offered
Space & Practicality
Is It Spacious?
- Putting its large size to good use, the Sealion 7 feels very large inside, even with the all-black interior
- There’s adequate space for users over 6ft in height to sit one behind the other with knee room leftover still!
- Even with the sloping roofline, headroom is generous even for users over 6ft tall.
- It’s also wide enough to seat 3 passengers in the rear seat
- The door pockets are large enough to hold 1-litre bottles and there’s a large storage area under the centre console to store even grocery bags if needed
- There’s storage space under the front armrest for wallets, keys or a tin of mints and the glovebox is large too
- The front cupholders have a height-adjustable base so you can store a long bottle or small can with the same convenience
- Rear passengers get an armrest with two cupholders and a slim storage area for a notebook or wallet
- Each rear seatback has 3 pockets, two for smaller items like your phone or a book and a large one for magazines or a pickleball racket
- The 500-litre boot can accommodate 3-4 cabin-sized trolley bags and some soft bags or two full-sized suitcases
- The 58-litre front trunk is accessed by opening the bonnet and is large enough for one cabin-sized trolley bag
- While the boot is large, it’s not very deep. With a parcel tray in place, stacking bags on top of each other is difficult and multiple big bags cannot be kept out of sight from the rear windshield
- The seats don’t go very low. Even at the lowest setting, the driver’s seat height is quite tall so you can’t get a low-seating position where you’re cocooned by the dashboard if that’s how you prefer it
- While the rear seats are very comfortable, the slightly raised floor means under-thigh support for tall users is lacking
Features
What Features Does The BYD Sealion 7 Offer?
- The Sealion 7 is loaded with features like a fixed panoramic glass roof with a retractable sunshade, a powered tailgate with kick-sensors, USB type-A and type-C charge ports at the front and rear along with a 50W wireless phone charger that gets a cooling vent
- The H-U-G-E 15.6-inch touchscreen infotainment system has great resolution and response times. It can also electrically switch between portrait and landscape orientations
- The driver’s seat is 8-way power-adjustable and gets 4-way adjustable lumbar support and an extendable thigh-rest as well.
- The two-memory settings also link to the rear-view mirror positions and the front passenger seat gets 6-way power-adjustment
- 128-colour ambient lighting can auto-shuffle through colours through different programs. The front and rear rows can have different ambient lights and the brightness can be controlled too
- Dual-zone climate control with rear AC vents comes as standard, as does reach and tilt adjustment for the steering
- The Sealion 7 also gets a 110.25-inch digital driver’s display (LCD) and a head-up display with speed, navigation and ADAS data
- All power windows get one-touch operation and while all the windows have a UV-cut film, the rear passengers also get a dark privacy tint
- Functions such as seat ventilation, AC blower speed control and the driver’s seat memory functions are operated from the touchscreen. Buttons would be FAR more convenient for this, especially because some of these functions aren’t available as shortcuts on the home screen
- The 12-speaker Dynaudio sound system’s sound quality is acceptable at best. Sound quality is flat and it doesn’t do justice to bass-heavy songs
- Retractable rear sunshades are missed
Safety
What About Its Safety Features?
- 11 airbags, ABS with EBD, a highline tyre pressure monitoring system, electronic stability control, and hill assist control are offered as standard.
- Front and rear parking sensors make parking easier and the Sealion 7’s 360-degree camera resolution is incredibly clear and dependable
- While using maps (on Apple CarPlay), the side camera display pops up on the touchscreen (picture-in-picture view) to improve visibility. Very thoughtful!L2 ADAS uses data from radars and cameras to enable features such as auto emergency braking, lane keep assist, adaptive cruise control, rear/front collision warning/avoidance, safe-exit warning and more
- The BYD Sealion 7’s plug-in hybrid variant scored a full 5-star crash safety rating from Australian NCAP as well as Euro NCAP
- Adaptive cruise control, collision warning and auto-emergency braking can be too sensitive in Indian conditions. The car brakes too early and the auto intervention not only affects your driving experience but can also annoy drivers around you
Performance & Mileage
Will I Like Driving The BYD Sealion 7?
- The BYD Sealion 7 is offered in two versions, both of which get the same 82.56kWh battery pack. Claimed range for the rear-wheel drive model as the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) is 567km while the all-wheel drive model delivers a claimed 542km
- BYD created the Blade LFP battery tech that powers the Sealion 7 and other cars, including the Mahindra XEV 9e and BE 6
- Based on our drive experience with the AWD performance model, a real-world range of over 500 km can be easily achieved
- Large as the Sealion 7 is, it’s also very fast. 0-100kmph takes 4.5 seconds in the Performance AWD model (530PS/690Nm) and 6.7 seconds in the Premium RWD model (312PS/380Nm)
- The car gets Eco, Sport, Normal and Snow driving modes and delivers performance that is both quick and smooth
- Everything from city driving to driving on inclines or making high-speed overtakes is a breeze, even with a full passenger load
- It doesn’t get a single-pedal mode that many EVs offer. You can choose between standard or high brake-energy regeneration levels
Handling
Is It Fun To Drive?
- The Sealion 7’s handling manners are neutral. It’s very easy to drive and manoeuvre even through narrow lanes
- Steering and brakes could’ve offered more feedback. While this SUV is as fast as a sportscar its handling isn’t very engaging
Ride Quality
Is The Sealion 7 Comfortable To Drive?
- Noise insulation is a strong point and even road noise over concrete roads is well-controlled
- The ride is comfortable on smooth roads and it feels planted even at high speeds
- Ingress and egress are very convenient and even elderly users will find it comfortable
- The suspension feels a little firm over bad roads and bump absorption could have been better
- Concrete roads can also make the ride feel slightly bumpy, especially in the rear seat
Verdict
Who Should Buy The BYD Sealion 7?
- The BYD Sealion 7 is a great electric family SUV for someone who wants all the values of a luxury car without the expense that comes with German luxury brands
- While it doesn’t have the brand value that’s non-negotiable for many, its combination of comfort, space, interior quality, features and performance is very hard to ignore. You’d have to spend almost twice as much to get these values from a German luxury brand
- Battery warranties: The high-voltage battery gets an 8 year/1,60,000km warranty. Instead of a standard lead-acid auxiliary battery, the Sealion 7 gets a low voltage LFP battery that comes with a 7-year/1,50,000km warranty* (*for the first lot of customers).
