First unveiled at the Paris motor show earlier this year, the BYD Sealion 7 coupé-SUV will become available to order in the UK before the end of this year.
The Sealion 7 will bolster BYD’s UK range as its largest offering, and now joins a whole host of brand-new electric coupé-SUVs – including the Cupra Tavascan, Ford Capri, Audi Q6 e-tron Sportback and the new Peugeot E-3008 – vying to challenge the sales of established best-sellers like the Tesla Model Y.
The family car will be available with the choice of three powertrains. The first will be the ‘Comfort’, which pairs a 308hp electric motor with an 83kWh battery pack, providing a reported battery range of 298 miles and a 0-62mph sprint time of 6.7 seconds.
The mid-range choice will be the ‘Design AWD’ – an all-wheel drive model with an additional electric motor that increases power output to 522hp and drops the car’s 0-62mph sprint time to 4.5 seconds. The faster pace is at the expense of battery range, which is a slightly reduced 282 miles.
The range-topper will be the ‘Excellence AWD’ variant, which makes use of a larger 91kWh battery. It’s just as quick as the ‘Design AWD’ but can reportedly travel up to 311 miles on a single charge.
A new ‘Intelligent Torque Adaption Control’ system has also been developed for the SUV. BYD says this will be available with the dual-motor, all-wheel-drive models and will distribute torque between the front and back wheels to minimise skidding and improve safety. The Chinese manufacturer adds that the suspension is “tailored for excellent handling” and “secure vehicle control”.
Inside, the Sealion 7 has a similar interior layout to that of BYD’s Seal U SUV, with a larger 15-inch infotainment screen floating above the nautically-themed dashboard, alongside a ten-inch digital instrument cluster behind the newly-designed steering wheel.
That just about sums up the new Sealion 7. More details, including UK pricing and further specification details, will arrive in the next few weeks in the lead up to the car’s UK arrival.