More than a year after the fully electric sports sedan was first teased in Malaysia during the media launch of BYD Atto 3, it seems that Sime Darby Motors (SDM) is finally ready to officially open the order book for the BYD Seal. This is based on a new teaser on BYD Cars Malaysia’s Instagram and Facebook page.
Get ready to book your BYD Seal
We would not blame you if you thought that the 19 January date mentioned in SDM’s new teaser is the Malaysian launch date for BYD Seal:
As it turns out, SDM will unveil the revamped BYD Malaysia’s website on the said date according to the description on the post. What made the occasion a little bit more interesting though is the fact that customers can pre-book the Seal EV through the website once it goes online.
That being said, the company did not provide any other details through the new teaser. Hence, it is not yet known at the moment whether there will be a pre-booking fee involved as well as benefits for customers who pre-booked the upcoming EV.
BYD Seal Malaysia estimated pricing
According to the chatters within the industry, the price of BYD Seal in Malaysia will be around the region of RM200,000. This means the new EV will compete directly against the Tesla Model 3.
The Seal has previously been sold in several right-hand-drive (RHD) markets such as Singapore, Thailand, Australia, and New Zealand. Based on those markets, we expect that SDM will be offering the new EV in three different variants including the base BYD Seal Dynamic as well as BYD Seal Premium and BYD Seal Performance.
BYD Seal Malaysia specs
The Seal together with Dolphin, Seagull, and Sea Lion 07 as well as the Chaser 05 plug-in hybrid are part of the BYD Ocean series. The new electric sedan will become the third EV offering from BYD in Malaysia after the Atto 3 SUV and Dolphin hatchback which was recently crowned as SoyaCincau Awards 2023’s Best EV of The Year.
Let’s start with the base BYD Seal Dynamic model which is equipped with a single 150kW (201hp) electric motor that also produces 310Nm of torque. This rear-wheel-drive (RWD) variant can go from 0 to 100km/h in 7.5 seconds.
Then BYD Seal Premium variant takes things up a notch by having a more powerful 230kW (309hp) electric motor with 360Nm of torque. The extra firepower helps reduce this variant’s sprint timing to just 5.9 seconds.
Last but not least, there is also the BYD Seal Performance which is the only all-wheel-drive (AWD) variant in the family. This model has a total output of 390kW (523hp) as well as 670Nm of torque and can go from 0 to 100km/h in just 3.8 seconds.
When it comes to battery, BYD has chosen to fit the base Seal Dynamic with a 61.44kWh battery pack. On the other hand, both Seal Premium and Seal Performance are equipped with a much larger 82.56kWh battery pack.
Hence, it is not surprising to see that Seal Dynamic has a much shorter WLTP-rated range of 460km than its higher-end siblings. As a comparison, the Seal Performance model has a range of 520km according to the WLTP standards while the Seal Premium offers a WLTP-rated range of 570km.
Another factor that separates these three Seal variants apart is their charging capabilities. While all three of them come with a 7kW onboard AC charger, the DC charging support for the base Dynamic model maxes out at 110kW – much lower than its Performance and Premium counterparts which can go up to 150kW.
