BYD SEALION 7: SHOWCASES CHINA’S GREAT LEAP FORWARD IN ELECTRIC CARS

Have you seen videos of sealions swimming in ocean depths? They fly through the water, and they’re smooth. Almost that similar grace and speed can be felt in a car – in BYD Sealion 7, provided you are driving it on well-paved roads.

What’s the Sealion 7?

It’s an electric SUV made by BYD, the Chinese carmaker.

How does it drive?

I drove it for a few days in Delhi, and this is what I liked and disliked.

Likes: The cabin quality is a bit like Mercedes-Benz – not in the same league as that of the EQS, but not much different either.

It has a swiveling screen – it can be set either as a portrait mode or a landscape mode at the touch of a button (the default is landscape).

It’s an all-wheel drive, with good high-speed stability, handling.

Even if you drive inefficiently, expect a range of 450 km (driving efficiently, I did almost 530 km).

Dislikes: Tyres seem low-profile, which make the ride amazing on well-paved roads, but harsh and uncomfortable on broken patches.

Most functions (including features like ventilated seats) are controlled through the touchscreen, which makes them very difficult to access when you’re driving.

There is no spare wheel.

Rear visibility via the cabin mirror is very poor, and you’ve to rely on exterior mirrors and camera (whose resolution is very good).

In case you buy it, think about BYD’s service network (will you get it in a small town or not?).

Why it feels nice?

The floor is a battery pack, and the car is built around that, which gives it structural rigidity of the level not found in most other cars.

It makes you realise the Chinese have gotten a solid lead over others – Kia EV6 and some Mercedes-Benz and BMW cars feel good, even better, but they are expensive too.

But let’s place trust in Indian carmakers to better BYD – in both price and quality.

Over to Mahindra and Tata now.

2025-05-05T01:49:20Z