BYD Sealion 7 Review 2025: Price, specs & boot space

If you can cope with the name, it might well be. And hey, at least BYD has stopped putting 'build your dreams' on the boots of its cars. We've been mostly impressed with all of the BYD products we've tested thus far, and the Sealion 7 largely carries on that trend. 

It's worth a look if you fancy something a little different and don't mind overlooking more obvious options like those from Tesla, Volkswagen or Kia while remaining competitive in terms of price, range, performance and build quality. Just bear in mind that most of those cars will be nicer to drive. 

The entry-level version with the 83kWh battery and Comfort trim grade will tick all the boxes for most. The range is decent at 300 miles, its output of 313PS is not to be sniffed at, and you're not losing out on a great deal of equipment - it's very well-equipped and a good chunk cheaper than the AWD Design model. 

The Tesla Model Y is the closest car to the BYD Sealion 7 not just in terms of range and price, but also size/shape. Both cars are classed as SUVs but aren't exactly lofty, boxy things like a typical vehicle from that genre. The BYD is cheaper, but the Tesla will go further on a full charge. 

That's far from the Sealion 7's only rival, though. This has become a busy section of the electric-car market, with the Kia EV6, Volkswagen ID.5 and the Hyundai Ioniq 5 ranges all starting around the £45k mark as well. It has its work cut out for it, in other words.

As with other BYD vehicles we've experienced, the Sealion 7 does well in this regard. The cabin is awash with soft-touch materials, with cheaper-feeling trim pieces seemingly absent from the cabin. The interior also features an interesting blend of different finishes and colours, so it doesn't look drab and unappealing. We'd be confident with everything standing the test of the time, perhaps aside from that rotating screen, which strikes us as a needless potential point of failure with little gain.

The BYD Sealion 7's clever rotating infotainment screen measures a sizeable 15.6 inches. It's the same system we've already experienced in the BYD Seal, and we prefer it in landscape mode, so beyond rotating it a few times and making passengers go 'ooh', we're not sure what the point is. 

It's not the most user-friendly out there in terms of its menu systems, and the graphics could do with being a bit brighter, but it's definitely responsive enough. It's also a shame that the climate controls along the bottom (there are no physical buttons or dials for these, unfortunately) are so small, making them difficult to use on the move. 

If you'd rather use the voice activation system, then good luck - we couldn't get it to do much other than rotate the screen. Asking it to change to a particular radio station, changing particular settings and so on seemed to result in the system saying it didn't understand. 

Speaking of a lack of understanding, there were also some strange translations cropping up on the instrument cluster, including 'In the Sport mode, long press Confirm to entry' for the 0-62mph timer (yes, it has one, and no, we're not sure there's much point in it). Once the function has been used, it amusingly declares 'Accelerated successfully', just in case you weren't sure. 

The in-built navigation was mostly fine, although we did experience a few bugs with it, including one junction which was apparently 1.2 miles away until we were pretty much on top of it, and some strange flickering on the map. Many users will prefer to use their preferred mapping app, which will be easy enough as Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone connectivity is included as standard, as should be considered the norm for a car costing this much. 

Along with various USB-C charging ports dotted around the cabin, there's also a dual charging pad which can fit two phones side by side. It even has a little vent to stop things from getting too toasty (albeit only on one side), which is a clever touch. 

Audiophiles are well catered for, meanwhile, thanks to the presence of a 12-speaker Dynaudio sound system. 

With a height of 1,620, the Sealion 7 is a decent 160mm higher than the Seal, so it should feel much roomier inside. You also get a lot more boot space at 520 litres, compared to 400 litres in the Seal. Fold the rear seats flat, and there's a healthy 1,789 litres to play with. That's pretty good, but as with the Seal, the boot opening is a bit tight. 

On paper, it might sound like the Sealion 7 is dwarfed by the Tesla Model Y, which has an official figure of 854 litres (2,041 with the rear seats folded), but we should point out that Tesla's number is based on loading the boot all the way to the car's ceiling. The Volkswagen ID.5 probably makes for a more useful comparison - in that car, you get a 549-litre load space which can expand to 1,561 litres with the rear seats folded.

One neat practical touch is the pair of variable-depth cupholders. So, whether you tend to go for a flat white or an extra-large latte for your drive-through coffee order, you should be well-catered for.

While a Tesla Model Y Performance is - as mentioned - a much faster-accelerating car than the Sealion 7 AWD, BYD was proud enough to put a '4.5s' badge on the back hinting at its 4.5-second 0-62mph time, which is very informative. And also a bit naff. 

The Excellence features two motors, one for each axle, giving it all-wheel drive. It features a 91.3kWh battery pack. The Comfort uses one motor, which drives the rear wheels, making for a 6.7-second 0-62mph time, and pairs it with an 82.5kWh battery.

In between those is the Design, which has the same battery as the Sealion 7 Comfort, combined with the dual-motor powertrain of the Excellence. This means it's just as quick as the Excellence, but it ends up with the lowest range of the three.

The longest-range BYD Sealion is the Excellence thanks to its larger battery more than offsetting its increase in power. As such, it can travel up to 311 miles on a charge according to the official figure. Numbers like these can be quite tricky to replicate in real life, so it's safe to expect more like 250. 

Meanwhile, the Comfort manages 300 miles, while the Design has an official range figure of 283 miles. Again, expect the actual range you get to be lower in reality. 

Mostly, the BYD Sealion 7 is hushed and relaxing on the move, if you're able to ignore its choppy ride. The additional caveat involves some annoying wind noise creeping in around the driver's side window. Since we've only tried the one example, we can't know if it was an issue related to our particular test car, but the fact the front passenger-side window was fine might suggest it's a one off. 

At the time of writing, the BYD Sealion 7 hadn't yet been tested by Euro NCAP, but we have no reason to expect it to get anything other than a five-star rating, following in the footsteps of the five-star rated Seal and Seal U which the safety organisation has previously assessed. There's also plenty of standard-fit safety technology, including lane-keeping assistance, front/rear cross-traffic alert and blind spot detection. 

The driver attention monitor needs some work, though, as it went off erroneously multiple times during our test of the car. It's also very sensitive - a brief look away from the road to change the climate settings  (necessary given how small the controls are) is often enough to have the car shouting at you. The lane assistance, too, went off when it wasn't supposed to on one occasion, aggressively steering the car towards a kerb.

The long-term reliability of any BYD model, not just the Sealion 7, is unknown. This is a very new brand to the UK, although the sheer scale of the company means it can't be treated in the same way as an iffy EV start-up. 

It's reassuring that BYD models come with a warranty that lasts 93,750 miles or six years, whichever comes first. The motors are covered for the same mileage but with the length of time stretched to eight years, while the battery is covered for eight years and 125,000 miles.

Sadly, the days of avoiding Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) by going for an EV are coming to an end. From 1 April 2025, electric cars are expected to be liable for a flat rate of £195.

Unfortunately, all versions of the BYD Sealion are over the £40,000 threshold for the government's ‘expensive car supplement’, which is a £410 annual charge levied from years two to five of ownership. 

The standard Comfort-specced car comes with plenty of bells and whistles. These include heated and cooled front seats, heated rear seats, that massive rotating screen, the 12-speaker Dynaudio sound system, the wireless charging pad, dual-zone climate control, an energy-saving heat pump and vehicle-to-load (V2L) capability. The last bit enables you to power various domestic appliances from the battery pack - handy if you're out in the sticks and fancy putting the kettle on. 

As well as the extra motor, Design-trimmed Sealion 7s come with 20-inch wheels. Upgrade to Excellence, and the interior will be trimmed in Nappa Leather (otherwise, it's synthetic). This trim level also adds a head-up display and faster rapid charging capability.