The new SUV from BYD completes the year’s lineup for BYD for it’s market penetration program here in the country. Aggressive? You would say so coming from this Chinese manufacturer in its pursue to steal away the market share from the Malaysian automotive industry status-quo. The new electric SUV were launched recently at the TRX Exchange which is just across the street from one of BYD’s premium dealership.

BYD Sealion 7 is the fifth BYD EV model to be offered here, arrives as a fully-imported CBU model. Like the Seal when it was introduced earlier this year, the SUV is available in two different variant for us to choose from, they are premium and performance. The two variant will be priced at RM183,800 for the premium and RM199,800 for the performance version.

The car is about 4,830 mm long, 1,925 mm wide, 1,620 mm tall, with a wheelbase of 2,930 mm, the Sealion 7 is a direct competitor to the Tesla Model Y. In terms of pricing, the Sealion 7 will be positioned lower than the Model Y, which is currently listed at RM191,000 for the RWD and RM238,000 for the LR AWD.

In terms of specifications for the Sealion 7 offered here, it follows the one offered in Hong Kong, which is the Sealion’s first major export market, with two powertrain options and drive configurations. The Premium is equipped with a single rear motor producing 308 hp (313 PS, or 230 kW) and 380 Nm of torque, which is good enough to get it from zero to 100 km/h in 6.7 seconds. Not really an amazing number in this current trend of EV cars but rest assured, it is plenty good enough for our daily usage here in the country.

But if you really think it is not enough, the Performance variant which is an all-wheel drive comes with a 215 hp (218 PS, or 160 kW) and 310 Nm front motor working with the same rear motor seen on the Premium to offer a total system output of 523 hp (530 PS, or 390 kW) and 690 Nm, allowing it to achieve the century sprint at only 4.5 seconds. That folks is what we call as a sports car territory and that is plenty of drivability for you “car people” if thats what makes you happy.

On the Sealion 7 Premium, this provides a range of 567 km on the NEDC cycle, while the increased performance on the AWD results in a slight reduction in travel range to 542 km. The 82.56 kWh battery on both cars also answers the question of underpinnings and the maximum DC charging rate. While markets such as Europe and the UK also get a 91.3 kWh battery that can support up to 230 kW DC charging and a revised e-Platform 3.0 Evo platform, markets outside the Continent (and China) continue on with a maximum of 150 kW of DC fast charging capability, meaning the Sealion 7 sits on the same e-Platform 3.0 as seen on the Seal.

The car designs is neat with many stating their opinion on the positive side when it comes to the looks of the Sealion 7. There is no denying the fact that BYD puts a lot of effort to recruit all the best people from within the industry in their pursue of elevating the level of their product. This translates into an easy to like exterior as well as interior of the car. In terms of functionality, you can expect all the latest gizmos that is available from recent EVs are to be well tuned to your needs. It has the connectivity that you need, great audio system and most importantly, its equipped with ADAS 2.0 and 9 airbags to support you as the driver and passenger of the car.

We will surely be bringing you a more in-depth look of the car as we get our hands on it for testing some time in the future. There will be plenty to be uncovered as the car rolls out for the streets of Malaysia soon. Get your hands on one if you’re keen and do so by visiting https://byd.simedarbymotors.my/ for more information and dealership location near you.