Following the launch of the BYD M6 fully electric MPV, BYD has teased another upcoming model for the Malaysian market. According to teasers posted on their official Facebook page, BYD Cars Malaysia has hinted that it’s a performance SUV and all clues have indicated that it will be the BYD Sealion 7.
From the picture, it is clear that the next model is a Sealion but it isn’t explicitly mentioned if it will be the Sealion 6 or the Sealion 7.
However, if you dig through the edit history of the post, the original teaser had asked users to comment “7” if you want to be the first to know about its arrival. While the reference was removed in their latest updated post, this seems to confirm that the upcoming model will be the fully electric BYD Sealion 7.
The BYD Sealion 07 was originally launched in China as the BYD Sealion 07 EV (海狮07 EV) during the Beijing Auto Show in April this year. Outside of China, the same EV is marketed as the Sealion 7 and it has made its debut in Europe and Hong Kong.
BYD Sealion 7 Specs and Features
The Sealion 7 is a fully electric SUV with a coupe-like roofline and carries over some design elements from the BYD Seal. Depending on the market, this EV comes with either a 400V-based e-Platform 3.0 architecture or a more advanced 800V-based e-Platform 3.0 Evo architecture which offers faster DC charging speeds of up to 240kW.
In China, it comes in three configurations where the base model comes with a single 170kW (228hp) motor and a 71.8kWh battery and a Long Range model with a more powerful single 230kW (308hp) motor paired with a larger 80.64kWh battery. There’s also an AWD model with twin motors that provide a combined 390kW (523hp) and it is also paired to a 80.64kWh battery. In Europe, the Sealion 7 is offered with a larger battery of up to 91.3kWh.
The base model has a 0-100km/h time of 7.3 seconds, while the Long Range RWD model is slightly quicker at 6.7 seconds. Meanwhile, the range-topping AWD model does the century sprint in 4.2 seconds, which is slightly slower than the BYD Seal Performance’s 3.8 seconds.
The Chinese Sealion 07 has a CLTC-rated range of up to 550km for the base RWD and range-topping AWD model and up to 610km for the Long Range RWD model.
The base model with the 71.8kWh battery can support DC fast charging up to 180kW, while the bigger 80.64kWh battery models can support up to 240kW. While a 10-80% charge takes just 25 minutes, BYD claims its e-Platform 3.0 Evo is capable of completing the final 80-100% charge in just 18 minutes. The faster charging speed is made possible by boosting the current from 250A to 400A.
In terms of dimensions, the Sealion 7 is slightly bigger than the BYD Seal. The wheelbase is slightly longer at 2930mm and overall, it is 4830mm long, 1925mm wide and 1620mm tall. All variants come with 19″ wheels (235/50 R19) while the range-topping AWD model runs on 20″ wheels (245/45 R20).
In mainland China, the BYD Sealion 7 is priced from CNY 189,800 (about RM116,813) for the base RWD model and it goes all the way up to CNY 239,800 (about RM147,586) for the range-topping AWD model.
As a comparison, the updated BYD Seal in China based on the newer Evo platform starts from CNY 175,800 (about RM108,197) for the base RWD model and goes up to CNY 239,800 (about RM147,586) for the AWD Performance model.
So far BYD Malaysia has yet to reveal the launch date of its upcoming EV. Since this is seen as a potential SUV version of the BYD Seal, we reckon that it could be priced from under RM200,000 when it goes on sale in Malaysia.
