This hot-selling Chinese electric SUV costs £60,000…and I can’t figure out why.
Car changing is a big deal
The BYD Sealion 7 is accomplished in some ways, with a plush interior and loads of kit. After living with a top-spec version for a week to see why it’s selling so well, senior reviews writer Mario Christou isn’t convinced.
Good value for money is possibly the most attractive quality that anything can possess these days, in what seems to be a never-ending cost-of-living crisis and outrageous inflation. I reckon that’s the main reason why so many Chinese cars are selling well.
Most offer loads of standard equipment and fairly posh interiors for less than the price of an entry-level European, Japanese or Korean car. This almost always comes at the expense of a pleasant driving experience, but if you’re buying a cut-price motor then some degree of compromise is to be expected. The BYD Sealion 7 is also a hot seller, but with a catch.
I recently drove the BYD Seal, which really impressed me. Knowing that the Sealion 7 is mechanically similar to the saloon car, I decided to test one for a week to see if it’s just as good to live with. Spoiler alert: it is not.
So why is the Sealion 7 selling so well? Because while yes, it’s well-equipped, it’s worse to drive than other electric Chinese SUVs – yet in top-spec trim it costs twice as much as the alternatives!
At least it looks expensive, with the Seal’s slippery styling and pointy, curvaceous features translating well on the larger, taller SUV body shape. There’s a visual heft to the Sealion 7 which escapes most Chinese SUVs; wheels filling the beefy arches nicely with a low roofline, almost akin to the Porsche Cayenne Coupe. Almost.
The interior also looks premium, again, differentiating the Sealion 7 from the cheaper alternatives on the market. The sculpted, quilted seats are comfortable and easy on the eye, while the flowing design on the door cards and dashboard are more interesting than the expanse of nothingness in so many cars.
There are even physical controls for audio volume, drive modes and a couple of shortcuts for the climate controls on the centre console, which are a joy to use compared to the touchscreen-only fare that’s so popular these days. But – and it’s a big but – the vast majority of the controls, such as the driver assistance systems, are indeed buried within menus and sub-menus in the central display.
It’s spacious inside with loads of room to get comfortable, even for tall adults, across both rows of seats. The 520-litre boot isn’t particularly large, however, lagging behind the Peugeot E-3008 (588 litres) and Tesla Model Y (854 litres).
The thing is, BYD isn’t alone in its shift to screen-heavy interiors. The BMW iX3 has abandoned the tried and tested iDrive system for a touchscreen-only interface, Mercedes has gone mad with the hyperscreen in the GLC Electric and Audi’s latest ‘MMI’ unit is naff compared to the setups of old. That is largely forgiven, however, because they’re all pretty good to drive.
The BYD Sealion 7, meanwhile, is not – yet in Comfort trim (£47,000) it costs as much as an Audi Q4 e-tron, while the top-spec Excellence all-wheel drive is a whopping £60,000 with anything besides the standard paint colour.
For a car that wallows over speedbumps and rough roads like a dinghy in choppy waters, is particularly noisy on the motorway and easily breaks traction on a country lane, chirping a tyre when you put your foot down out of a bend, that is far too much money. Add to that the lacklustre 2.9mi/kWh efficiency figure I achieved, meaning 271 real-world miles against a claimed 312, and I can’t quite fathom why the Sealion 7 sells so well.
Where the BYD Seal is a genuinely good car that could do with being a touch cheaper, the Sealion 7 is a real let down – which is a shame because it has a lot going for it. Sadly, not enough to justify the outrageous price. Buy an Audi Q4 e-tron instead, for your own sake.
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*Savings are made up of the maximum dealer discount off RRP – subject to dealership, location and trim. Prices correct at the time of writing.