My husband loved this car, and after research on all brands, we put a deposit down for this. And yes, we own a Camry, but we dont stick to brands, we go with whats best for us.
@@petercrawford3370 after a year, the Camry will only depreciate around 10%. For the Chinese branded car, it would be worth no more than 50% of the sell price
@@yslee1401 oh so negative and unsubstaniated. It's totally inappropriate for you to make assumptions about what other folk want to do. The prejudices that are so commonly voiced about Chinese manufacturing are dellusional at best, and unproven. BYD are a massive company on the global stage, with immense technical prowess. Their product is more evidenced based that your unfortunate attitude towards them.
Yes. You'd be "forced" to use up the petrol since it's not good to keep them in the tank for too many months. I'd simply keep the tank a quarter to half tank max, unless I'm going for a roadtrip
I know no physical buttons/dials for AC control will be mentioned in this video so I l'd like to add that Sealion 6 has the most up-to-date software installed upon vehicle pickup from dealership. It allows 3-finger gesture touch AC control on the centre screen. Regardless of what APP is on display, Google map/ DAB / Spotify/ built-in Sat Navigation etc. move your 3 fingers against the screen up and down to adjust the temperature, left and right to adjust fan speed. And you are welcome mate 😃 On a different note the pure EV range test and fuel efficiency test at battery-deficit state are brilliant! These test results are prob what potential buyers are really interested in. Big thumbs up Matt👍🏻
@@MichaelCoates I learned about it on my vehicle pickup from the dealer. This is one of the features from the latest OTA update for other BYD models. However this software is already installed in SL6 so that's probably why Matt missed it in his review. Not his fault. You gotta keep up with BYD's OTA updates to be on top of it. 🤣
And if i want the fan to blow at my feet how many fingers i need to do the gesture. No offense but I still think that having a physical button for things is still more practical than not having it. I just think that i bought a car to drive not an ipad to play while driving. If the all-screen thing is that good. A Race care would have it by now.
Not really. Toyota doesn't need BYD for hybrid technology as it has decades of experience. It's for models for Chinese market, as Chinese automakers are selling cars at US$10,000-15,000. Chinese don't need quality, safety, or reliability like in Japan, North America, or Europe. They need cheap cars. Basically, they're BYD cars with a Toyota-badge sold in the Chinese market.
@@yo2trader539what a freaking nonsense! What makes you think Chinese car owners don't need quality, safety, and reliability in their vehicles?! Toyota bootlicker 🫵🏻
@@yo2trader539 if Toyota can't compete in china, what will make them competitive in other markets? Toyota THS is still ICE focused, DMI are ev at heart and the trend world wide is electrifying.
Getting my awd version this week , cancelled my rav 4 xse order as sea lion 6 awd had more pro's in comparison . Great review included a lot of extra info I didn't realise which is really just a bonus ...
Great review. Re the 25% minimum you can hold the EV toggle for a few seconds which forces EV mode until battery is down to 15%. So thats another 10km of EV range if you want it.
At this price, unless you are a Toyota tool, it would be completely foolish to get Rav 4. The nasty plastics, 20 yo tech, the 30 yo hybrid tech, BYD is just on another 2 levels above any Toyotas.
We just bought a Rav 4 hybrid which we waited 20 months for, If this was available back then, I would have considered this for sure. The Rav is great and we are not disappointed but the EV range in the BYD is compelling
Had a ride in an Uber RAV4 hybrid and it felt rubbish. Really cramped interior and it rocked around on the road horribly. Why you’d buy one over a Camry for Uber work is beyond me. Why you’d buy one full stop is beyond me…
"... a new type of technology for BYD". Ah new to Australia yes, but they've been producing hybrid cars since 2008. They definitely know what they're doing.
I'm in NZ, and I went and looked at the Premium version today. I'm driving the 2018 ZB Calais at the moment, and when I'm ready to trade out of that, the Premium is definitely on the list to consider. Similar in Kw, but the torque is soooo impressive. I'm sold on this SUV.
That’s because paid little pink cybertroopers floods these forums/posting to artificially promote these sub-par vehicles that can’t sell even in Mainland China
This Sealion is just an entry level of DMI in China, the next level is Tang DMI, bigger size and More Impressive to Drive AWD, saddly Australia not selling those, and Leopard 5, Yangwang U9 U8... Those models killing any of the cars in current market
@@Im-mono Here in Chile is also called Song plus, but we only got the cheap version (8kw/40km) and thats not that useful. Also is almost double the price than in China, so not selling that well. China has unbelievable prices on its cars, so no surprise these models kills competition there.
Great reviev. I’m patiently waiting for the Shark Ute myself, think that it will be the perfect all round vehicle - use it as an EV during the weekly commute, no range anxiety on weekends and even a nice power source for the campsite.
@@andrer8583 Chinese manufacturers are ditching BEVs for HEV/PHEV. Hang on, Toyota/Lexus said so way back in 2018 when Tesla had a momentary sales hype and the world no. 1 car maker is spot on
@@yslee1401you're clearly a paid troll. You've posted negative comments on every post on this site. When you do that, you lose all credibility and people discount you as nothing more than a troll. Why waste your time doing this, unless you've been paid to, or are just a strange person on a mission against BYD.
Love: power, interior, fuel consumption, ride comfort, price. Dislikes: Vibration in brake padel on the highway going uphill with the battery below 20%, no memory sheets, boot could have been better. I cancelled Rav4 order for this. I got stone grey premium earlier this week. love the back design.
Brilliant review! Matches my own findings. And it is so unbelievably quiet. Seems to be the best SUV value offer on the market atm. Especially as it is a Plug In Hybrid .
@@yslee1401 😂 yeah I guess that's the case with new cars. But here in Australia the value of BYD cars holds up very well so far. I guess time will tell.
It really was an enlightening video. I liked the way you present the vehicle with its pros and cons. I write to you from Spain. This SUV will begin to be delivered here at the end of September(BYD SEAL U DM i). There are not many tests and your analysis has helped me a lot. I don't know if it is included in the Australian version but according to the description in Spain it includes a voice control system ("HI BYD" or button).You can control the AC temperature, seats, open/close windows, roof, radio, navigation, etc...Through simple voice instructions. Thanks for the work. New subscriber.😊
Great review, thank you. Really appreciate the test you did on pure EV, which I feel is a big question mark for a lot of people looking at the EV only use scenario. To be fair, I'm much more interested in the BYD Shark but can use this as encouragement that the Sharks EV only range will be as close to what's on paper as advertised. Thank you for all your work on reviews.
I knew that this car started selling in Australia would be very popular when i saw this car in China. Good price, good techs. I have driven my honda jazz from 25years old to 40 years old. Almost 350k kms. Saving some money, this car would be my next car.
Great review! I put a deposit in for the premium option and figured the claimed ~80km EV range would be sufficient for in and out of work, flipping to HEV on the weekends to keep the petrol usage over time. Looking forward to this being my first proper family car (currently using my wife's golf tsi as my yaris yr can't really do carseats and pram)
Hey Matt, I was surprised to learn that BYD makes plug-in hybrids, as I thought they only did EVs. Their PHEVs, like the Qin and Tang, offer great performance and features, especially for the price. Pretty cool cars!
@@justcooler2877 correct, Seal 06 sedan and the more popular Qin L sedan. Some real life test in ideal conditions have squeezed closer to 2400km out of the new models.
A great review. I really appreciate your honesty and insights. I like the fact that you live with these cars and call on that real life experience when commenting. The right car is the one to watch for all the characteristics I have called out. And for the record, I subscribe to dozens of these review sites and I have zip to do with this one other than my subscription. Many thanks.
Wow great review. I think you may be right there is now a legitimate RAV4 alternative and it will very likely be a RAV4 killer. It has the Tech, the Price, the economy and the AWD performance. It seems to outscore the RAV4 in all of these. I have a 2021 RAV4 AWD Hybrid cruiser which I think is amazing and fitting title holder as worlds best selling car. However after this review I hope we have a new winner. I reckon the RAV 4 was the Mohamed Ali but the I reckon this one is the Mike Tyson :-)😂
Toyota have announced they will be using the BYD engine and battery in the next generation RAV4. Toyota claim they will polishing up the the current engine and drive train - I guess this means they will tune the engines for 91 RON ULP unlike the current BYD which use 95 RON ULP.
This has just increased my anticipation for the local Shark launch now. With the FBT excemption for leases taken in the next FY, these look VERY easy for a lot of people to get into.
@@MichaelCoates “BYD reported 12,438 new vehicles as sold in Australia in 2023, and the company says it delivered its 20,000th vehicle in April 2024” from Google
First time i am watching your video, After a long time i am commenting on a video because you deserve it 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼, such a nice video with very helpful information .. appreciate your effort 👍👍
Thanks another brilliant review. In regards to purchasing a BYD in Australia, it's probably best to do your own research in regards to existing BYD owner reviews when trying to get warranty claims.
@@Mike-d2m2u selling price aside, BYD has a horrendous reputation of denying warranty claims. The Canberra BYD owner that got the attention of 60 minutes learned it the hard way
I am a proud owner of MG HS +EV and I am impressed by it. Sealion is however a step up. Definitely my next car. Although all my life I have had Toyota's but after owning an MG, I won't go for those. These cars are very good value for money.
Looks amazing to be honest and fuel efficiency! Buying a Porsche Cayenne isn’t the most practical choice. Not surprised this car was the most popular selling car in China in 2023 and continues to break records.
@@yslee1401 You realy made me laugh, as foreign brands are selling at the same, if not lower, prices as Chinese brands nowadays in China. That seems to be the only thing they can do in the brutal competition going on in this market.
I will wait a bit more for more better 7 seater from BYD. Not in a hurry to pull the trigger yet. I have been following the latest model from BYD in China launch (GWM, Geely etc in China has so much more advance model). They are definitely much more advance than this BYD Sealion model which is an outdated model back in China. Even the latest BYD sdean PHEV can now do more than 2100 plus km per tank of fuel. So no hurry to pull the trigger on this outdated BYD model for us Aussie here. BYD just try to clear their stocks of old model for us here. Furthermore with so much unsold stocks by the car manufacturers now especially China, car prices will just keep dropping and with much greater offer and advance features. I will keep my cash in the bank working to earn interest until all these competitions and prices to settle down further to my advantage.
If you're going for novated lease, the FBT exemption for PHEV ends 31st Mar 2025. So that has to be part of the consideration as the total cost works out to be almost 30% more over lease period. Furthermore, this "outdated" model is already more advanced than many current Japanese/Korean/European/US car models
As a Chinese I gonna say BYD’s 7seater Tang suv are craps in terms of chassis’s calibration since they were sold for around 6years on the old platform now .Li auto are definitely are better options but they probably cost 2times of price than the sealion .
As mentioned in the video the other PHEV options are $10k-15k more expensive than the Sealion6. Not only that, if you consider similiarly priced Hybrids (like RAV4 which is a couple grands more), on a novate lease the Hybrids will still cost $10k-15k more over the lease period because the PHEV has FBT exemption. So if you're going to use novated lease, getting this PHEV is a no brainer (FBT exemption for PHEV is until 31st Mar 2025)
Bought the Dynamic Sealion 6 three days ago Stone Grey colour in Sydney. I’m very happy with it so far :). One tip the guy who trained me on the BYD gave me was to set EV battery reserve percentage to 40-45% than 25% during long trips.
@@shiiraga1111I think it is because on long trips with constant speeds the system's ability to charge the battery is better...This would mean that when you arrive at the destination city it allows you to return to EV mode
@@rokchlafen9160 so from what I understand, the ICE engine is efficient when cruising in highway speeds (60-80kph) so it's better to charge the battery during those times?
Looks an interesting vehicle, excellent interior, boot average and the EV driving range is very good for a plug in hybrid. I don’t mind the screen controls, easy to learn I’m sure (I do drive a Tesla). If I was in the market I’d try the all wheel drive and pay the extra for additional power. I don’t mind the trim colours, bright and cheery. The problem for regional drivers will be distances above 100k’s in petrol only operations. For local driving the Sealion would be excellent. This is a car that should be competitive against most others in its class though tyres should be better. I think ride is better if it’s comfortable. A very liveable vehicle and a great and thorough review.
Yes, you’ll be carrying around the dead weight of an electric motor and battery that’s useless beyond a little over 80km, so the economy offered by buying a PHEV would be lost in regional driving. This car is suited to urban driving over shorter distances and would be excellent in that role.
@@gregturner_awod My RAV-4 is getting about 5.3l per 100km, which seems to be the same for Sealion after it runs out of electricity. My Mercedes C350e has only 6kWh battery with a range of 24km on full charge (when it was new, now only 18km after 5 years), and gets about 1.3l/100km initially, but without the charged battery it is about 6.3l/100km on a long trip. Plus the boot is much smaller than the non-PHEV of C class.
@@Woodland26 My Tesla gets 608km on a full battery and my car doesn’t burn petrol. All things are relative. Everyone buys a car for what it will do for them. You have two good cars, I like my Tesla.
An Outlander PHEV with a Blade tech battery would be the ideal combination. The Outlander is superior in dynamics and AWD ability (plus the 240v outlets are standard sockets inside the car). Also, you shouldn't be parroting Toyota Australia's spin of "you don't need to plug in" when it's "you can't plug in, so you are always visiting the servo" in reality.
The annoying thing about Toyota is they INSIST that there’s not a market for PHEV yet, but if they’d brought out a RAV4 Prime here in 2021 or 2022, it may have reshaped the entire concept of the tech.
@@therightcar Toyota always seems to be p#ssing into the wind. Insisting ICEs have a long future and their failed push into hydrogen as a consumer level viable fuel.
Thanks for your customary, thorough and practical review. Regarding the boot, the floor can be adjusted for height to all but eliminate that otherwise annoying brace across the base of the rear seats. There are a few anomalies in the vehicle: like the lack of seat-memory for the driver (and passenger) which are available in overseas models, the lack of lumbar support adjustment in the seats, and the really cheap-feeling steering wheel. That said, I'm waiting on my Premium, due towards the end of July. And I cancelled my Outlander - which I would now be driving - for this vehicle. Style or attractiveness is a bit subjective, but I feel that inside and out, the Outlander is more pleasing and may even be a better vehicle in some ways, but it was the apparent quality (and worrying exclusions in the warranty) that put the final nail in the Outlander's coffin. And the $25,000 price difference. Our BEV market is changing rapidly, and this will likely be a half-way house for a few years until it properly blossoms.
Hi nice informative review. I just need clarity one point..for the 2nd 100km did u actually charge the car (plugged it in) and then got 5.2litres/100km or was it purely on engine working as a hybrid and without plug in? Thnx
I like this more. I like the idea of plugging in and actually relying on zero emissions power, rather than using petrol to create electrification. They are very different powertrains.
No, took a look today underneath the foam of my sealion 6, and there's some equipment in the back half that does not allow either a full size or space saver to fit
I have the fantastic BYD Seal premium but my wife has severe range anxiety, (we had a problem with two different broken charge stations on a recent road trip and we finished up having to spend quite some time and distance finding one that worked), so I’m thinking that this car, or one very similar, may be the better choice for her. We have an appointment to look at this car next week along with the Peugeot 408 HPEV.
Growing in popularity in Latin America and Brazil. BYD is constructing at the site of old Ford factory a plant to build 150,000 cars per year in Brazil.
Been waiting for this review, at that price nothing comes close. Obviously resale is probably not going to be great and long term reliability is unknown at this stage but it’s probably going to be our next family car.
Impressive EV range and hybrid fuel economy figures in terms of the size and weight of this car. It blows RAV 4 out of water IMO, for lots of people’s bias toward Chinese car: reliability and dealership network, well, time and market feedback will tell, For me, it is definitely a RAV4 killer. I hope there is HEV model as convenient home charging facility is not available to me. Ready to see more of this car on the road in Australia in the future.
Getting a free wall charger for my new sealion 6. (First 3000 purchasers) But it will be sent by BYD in the near future. Did not come with the car. Car does come with a 1-1.4kw granny charger that plugs into a standard wall socket. Took 9.5 hrs to fully charge battery from 25%. Since then wife drives to work, then the supermarket and then back home. Last two days it fully charged in about 3hours. During the day free solar. And if I have to, in the evening,we use off-peak at 18cents/kW between 9-12pm
BYD started to sell plugin hybrids ( first in the world ) in year 2008 so this is not new technology for them. But i get it why people kinda think it is new for BYD because they never sold PHEV overseas previously :)
They have been selling these in Latin America, central Asian, Russia as the Song Plus 2021 onwards and south east Asia before it came to Australia. Left hand market first as same as China and now moving into RHD markets
@@yslee1401 here in Japan you have the buying plan that allows you to pay montly loan for the first 4 or 5 years, and after the first 5 years, you can decide it to return the car back to BYD, or pay the rest of the price and keep the car forever. So you never need to worry about the resell value because you can resell it to BYD at a fixed price.
Why do you need spare tyre in the car? Have any of you experienced exploded tyre? If your tyre is flat, just use electric pump (a must have in your car) to pump your tyre and drive to the nearest tyre shop to fix the tyre.
so interested to buy this car, but it may be hard for me to keep it (plug-in) charged regularly as I live in a unit (apartment) that does not support the charging system. Do you reckon that it will be an issue in later days if I just rely on the regen brake system to get the battery charged and run the hybrid mode most of the time? Thanks
Thanks! Glad you trust my work. And yes, I can understand that. It mightn’t be a traditional way of dealing with customers and after sales, but if the product is good enough I’m sure it will be something that they will improve.
BYD have treated me well thus far, 1 month in. Cannot say the same for Skoda(VW) HQ who outright lied to me regarding mib1 map updates that never happened. Their service centre near me kept trying to rip me off they quoted $13k to replace turbo and water pump, or BMW service Centre where X5 transmission plug mysteriously fell out after a service..destroying the transmission as it was being driven home at the time.
Agree, though I did not stop me picking my Sealion 6 on Monday. Great cruiser and very relaxing. No more jarred back on pot holes due "sporty suspension".
I am buying the Premium in the next few weeks as I have gone back twice and love the car and my brother loves it to and I was biased against it untill I drove it and my brother was to. It walks all over the chery tiggo 7 and yes I know that there 2 different cars but the chery was very uncomfortable and through you all over the road where as the byd sealion was effortless in driving and smoth and there is 2 hight for the boot floor
Great review! I’ve test driven the car myself and agree with your assessment, unbeatable value in the current Australian car market. Regarding the range, considering you started your trip with an 85km range, and noting that the charge bar wasn’t at 100% (there was still a bit of grey on the right side of the green bar), along with the fact that it was 4 degrees outside and you managed to drive 83km out of the estimated 85km, the claimed range is quite accurate i think. When I test drove the same model with a fully charged battery, it showed a 91km range, and it was also 4 degrees that morning. With warmer weather and a fully charged battery, you’d likely come very close to the manufacturer’s claimed range, wouldn’t you? Also FYI if you hold down the EV button, it switches to EV Max mode, allowing you to use the battery down to 10%
Re: the range, what was the 1.9l figure? Was that in HEV mode before you used the 83km or after you used the 83km and it still had the 25% left? And is the 5.2 after the battery depletes?
1.9 is the official number. That is what the car achieved against the official testing regime, which isn’t that realistic. Yep, the battery allowed 83km of full EV. And yes, 5.2L/100km after the battery is depleted.
There are some buttons for climate control. On the console to the right of the gear stick There is an one-off button and auto climate button. On the steering wheel press the mode button and use arrow keys to select temp symbol you can then scroll up down to change temperature for the driver side. The mode stays on the last selected function .
I write from Spain. Aquí vendría With the name Seal U DM i. The fact is that they supposedly incorporate a voice control system with which with a "HI BYD" or by pressing the button you can control practically everything. Open/close window, roof, seat heating/ventilation, AC temperature. No buttons IS needed if you dont want
actually if hold the ‘EV’ button for seconds, you can force it into EV only mode to 10%, then it will change to HEV. If you still force it in EV, it can still drive in EV until 0% but you will be limited to 60km/h
Other way around, it usually starts the petrol engine to recharge the battery which continues to power the electric motor that drives the wheels. The petrol engine is rarely involved in driving the actual wheels.
BYD dm-i is an electric drive train recharged by small simple petrol engine. Toyota is petrol engine assisted by electric motor in situations where the petrol engine is inefficient. Thus Toyota model has reached its end point whereas BYD architecture is continuing to evolve and greatly surpass Toyota.
Any thoughts on the seats? I test drove it - loved the car but found the seats to be quite uncomfortable. It seemed like the seats are designed for taller drivers. Also, the passenger side seat does not go up or down.
Fun fact, BYD song 宋 sound similar in chinese as song送 as deliver or send. People in china once said this song宋 has song送sent alot Europe overrated and overpriced car away from market.
don't compare any prices in China, where the world's most competitive markets, not just car, all products in China is way cheaper then the rest of the world
How does the servicing work? like if you go in for a 15k service and you've done 90% of your driving on the battery do they still change the engine oil/filters etc? (would be a total waste if they do!) what are the servicing costs? Been driving a Tesla for a few years and now servicing and petrol is an expense I'm not missing - I just need a second car with a decent back seat for 3 kids. Also considering the EV5.
Too affordable for all that tech at a low price so that is also why america is putting 100% tariff on chinese ev's so the price is higher than non chinese ev's with low tech.
Or think of it this way US/Japanese/European car companies had the tech 20 years ago but failed to develop it. It was more profitable to charge high prices for old tech for which they already had lots of factories. The Chinese simply built hi tech factories for BEV. PHEv and sell those cheaply. Leaving legacy companies with old factories that are becoming worthless. See Ford/GM sales of factories in last few years as they become regional players rather than global ones
I was about to pull the trigger on this one. Everything on paper seemed good. Until I went for a test drive and found that the boot size is very small for a mid size SUV. It just about fits a full size pram. And with that in-place doesn't leave space for anything else.
@@RodneyW lack of refinement in general but especially considering the price point. Sticky steering that is borderline undriveable on highways. Shocking NVH, too loud, too over sprung, already added some dynamat to the car to help. Stereo sucks, in the process of installing a fully custom speakers and amp system. Powertrain has random surges, sometimes violently so. Should have just used the ZF8 Not particularly economical for a PHEV, lucky if I get under 30 kWh/100km. No DC charging. Had something in the headlight housing make a constant loud buzz/hum, suspect height adjusters but wasn't confirmed. Infotainment screen isn't tall enough to make a useful aspect ratio for Google maps. The instrument cluster becomes almost pointless with the cruise on. The safety systems are overly sensitive or flat out wrong. No option to have standard hybrid modes when on the highway, it's either full EV or just petrol with the battery set at a certain charge percentage. Battery is too small, I get 50km EV only on a good day, would have likely to 100km highway driving on EV on a single charge. No V2H like the outlander. Too many chromed or reflective surfaces in the cabin that make the sun glare if at the right angle. Had the gear knob come loose. 50l fuel tank is too small. Regen braking cuts out below about 20kmph making for poor descents in multistorey parking lots. Steering return to centre doesn't feel linear. Seats are mediocre, 2hrs max before pain sets in. Pumped in engine sounds are unpleasant. There are things I like about the car though. Fast enough to make me giggle which is amazing. It comes to life on twisty roads and is rear drive biased with AWD which is so good. Visibility is good and feels like a smaller car than it is to drive. Overall I think it could have been an amazing car, it just costs way too much to justify. It either needs to be cheaper or truly premium in its fit an finish. It needs to be more like a Lexus and less like a corolla at its price point. Rant over 🤣
@MrFordy90 you need to book suspension and tranmission fix at Mazda dealer. The upgrade is free for CX-60 build before Sep 2023. Oct 2023 build onward is way better to drive.
@@chchu5543 yeah got that booked in, waiting on parts for that and the steering recall But changing shocks won't fix the harsh ride from being over sprung. I just don't think the product justifies the price.
@@MrFordy90 I'm glad you got that off your chest. 🤥 .... and I hope that Mazda is listening to your feedback as they prepare "generation 2" of their SUV PHEV. I've really enjoyed driving a range of Mazda's over many years (the small "zoom zoom" ones 2, 3, MX5), and they've never let me down.
Very nice detailed review. I am in Dubai and seriously considering of buying this car. In Dubai however it is marketed as Song Plus AWD. BYD has messed up the marketing for this car as it has different names in different regions.
@@yslee1401 you will be surprised on how many Chinese cars you see on road. Families with multiple cars prefer to go for their 2nd or 3rd car with Chinese brand due to their aggressive pricing and fully loaded options. Resale value and reliability is still a concern though. As far as BYD is concerned, it is not viewed as your run of the mill Chinese brand and it is giving a tough competition to Tesla in Electric segment.
@@pruthvirajthegreat that’s a load of bull. Emiraties would not be seen in an el-cheapo Chinese branded car. And in UAE, cars are cheap, petrol is cheaper than water
Byd DMi is perfect for me everyday use bcos the poor ev charging facilities in Europe. For day to day use it has the battery range for what I use and for longer trips I sometimes do the dual mode is perfect. I can drive hard on petal and still without the petrol engine kicks in. Even when the engine kicks in you don't really feel it bcos it's stays really quiet for charging the battery. I don't like the Toyota hybrid, battery range is too short and you have to go gently on the petal to drive on quite ev mode. Otherwise the petrol engine kicks in and noisy.
One aspect of review that many people don't do is night time driving and wet conditions (light/medium /heavy). If safety is the concern, I believe driving in those conditions will test the car capabilities to handle such challenges. And also, for myself, in the car is where I can listen to my favourite jazz tracks and oldies, etc, so sound system is also as important as the safety techs. But, rarely ever mentioned in the review. If the sound system is not up to my standard, I will go to next vehicle, especially nowadays they're all built in with the info display.
Drove it in the rain last night, auto rain wipers worked well. Found lights were set too low(5) on manual dial changed it to 1 and all good. Drove well. Sound system is excellent with a bit tweaking. 10 speaker infinity system by Harman. I boosted mid and bass. This is obviously a personal thing so mileage may vary. Best to try it out first.
Hi there, just bought this car here in Italy, it’s supposed to arrive in October. If you put the speed limit alert off, will it stay off the next time you power on the car? Thanks
I own one in China and the range here is bigger , I’m not sure why or how they decided to reduce it for the Australian market. They advertise 110km driving range and depending how you drive sometimes I get more than that.
@@rezanamdari3542 It's been great so far, I've had it for 14 months and still runs like new! There is very little maintaince done as well. I was just comparing the fuel savings with my wifes hyunday ix35 this morning and everytime it surprises me how much fuel I save.
Liked and subscribed 🎉a question about the battery type, I can’t find anywhere this information, what kind of battery uses this car? Old Pouch blade battery or the new prismatic short blade battery? Thanks
My husband loved this car, and after research on all brands, we put a deposit down for this. And yes, we own a Camry, but we dont stick to brands, we go with whats best for us.
Good for you.
I was considering the ZR Camry, but after looking at the Prumium today, I'm definitely leaning to that.
@@petercrawford3370 after a year, the Camry will only depreciate around 10%. For the Chinese branded car, it would be worth no more than 50% of the sell price
@@yslee1401 oh so negative and unsubstaniated. It's totally inappropriate for you to make assumptions about what other folk want to do. The prejudices that are so commonly voiced about Chinese manufacturing are dellusional at best, and unproven. BYD are a massive company on the global stage, with immense technical prowess. Their product is more evidenced based that your unfortunate attitude towards them.
@@petercrawford3370 2 dimes is probably a lot more than anyone expects from a used Chinese car
83km electric would probably get me to work and back home each day. So I'd never use the petrol until days where we go out and do other shit
It’s properly usable range.
xpeng g6 is coming to aus this yr september!!!
Yes. You'd be "forced" to use up the petrol since it's not good to keep them in the tank for too many months. I'd simply keep the tank a quarter to half tank max, unless I'm going for a roadtrip
U do need to charge the battery, but that's few dollars per month only
As other said, one do need to use the tank from time to time to get fluid running through system so Not become plastic fuel ruining the fuel system.
Im gonna cancel my Kia Sportage hybrid man, this car looks awesome and Im saving money too.
Fair enough mate. I can see why!
Well, BYDs poor resale value may change your mind when you do the maths
@@yslee1401 apart from Toyota, all cars have bad resale value. Korean cars don't have great reviews too
@@LawlessRaafay at least it’s resale value is still better than Chinese branded vehicles
@@yslee1401 if ur thinking of a resale value before even buying a car then u sound like a loser mate. U shouldn't buy any brand new car lol
I know no physical buttons/dials for AC control will be mentioned in this video so I l'd like to add that Sealion 6 has the most up-to-date software installed upon vehicle pickup from dealership. It allows 3-finger gesture touch AC control on the centre screen.
Regardless of what APP is on display, Google map/ DAB / Spotify/ built-in Sat Navigation etc. move your 3 fingers against the screen up and down to adjust the temperature, left and right to adjust fan speed. And you are welcome mate 😃
On a different note the pure EV range test and fuel efficiency test at battery-deficit state are brilliant! These test results are prob what potential buyers are really interested in. Big thumbs up Matt👍🏻
Thanks, I've not heard it mentioned anywhere, so this is great to know
@@MichaelCoates I learned about it on my vehicle pickup from the dealer. This is one of the features from the latest OTA update for other BYD models. However this software is already installed in SL6 so that's probably why Matt missed it in his review. Not his fault. You gotta keep up with BYD's OTA updates to be on top of it. 🤣
@@Deandzzzzzz most up to date spyware installed perhaps
@@yslee1401 go get a life. You are just a pathetic hater. Bye
And if i want the fan to blow at my feet how many fingers i need to do the gesture.
No offense but I still think that having a physical button for things is still more practical than not having it. I just think that i bought a car to drive not an ipad to play while driving.
If the all-screen thing is that good. A Race care would have it by now.
Toyota will be using BYD's hybrid tech, which tells you something about how good BYD is getting.
Indeed!
Toyota have been using BYD's battery, motor and controllers in their Bz3 sedan in China.
Not really. Toyota doesn't need BYD for hybrid technology as it has decades of experience. It's for models for Chinese market, as Chinese automakers are selling cars at US$10,000-15,000. Chinese don't need quality, safety, or reliability like in Japan, North America, or Europe. They need cheap cars. Basically, they're BYD cars with a Toyota-badge sold in the Chinese market.
@@yo2trader539what a freaking nonsense! What makes you think Chinese car owners don't need quality, safety, and reliability in their vehicles?! Toyota bootlicker 🫵🏻
@@yo2trader539 if Toyota can't compete in china, what will make them competitive in other markets? Toyota THS is still ICE focused, DMI are ev at heart and the trend world wide is electrifying.
Getting my awd version this week , cancelled my rav 4 xse order as sea lion 6 awd had more pro's in comparison . Great review included a lot of extra info I didn't realise which is really just a bonus ...
Congratulations
Im mixed between the same 2 as well....
I don't have a byd dealer in Darwin to physically inspect.
@@kerrynseymour2383 bought mine from Alexandria, Sydney BYD. Great service there. Good luck on finding one. Again very happy with this purchase.
Yeah right. There are thousand of people waiting for their RAV4 out there and your fake booking cancelled will not earn your CNY0.50
@@kerrynseymour2383 which means that when something goes wrong, you will be in a limbo
Great review. Re the 25% minimum you can hold the EV toggle for a few seconds which forces EV mode until battery is down to 15%. So thats another 10km of EV range if you want it.
@@markus6664 boo hooh
@markus6664 if it's Chinese, it ain't got RV (resale value)
@@yslee1401They also used to say that about Toyota back in the day.
Great detailed review, Matt! Love your work.
BYD really kicking goals right now.
Legacy manufacturers really need to start taking notes!
Thanks mate. Yep, there are some brands in line to be smashed by brands like BYD.
At this price, unless you are a Toyota tool, it would be completely foolish to get Rav 4. The nasty plastics, 20 yo tech, the 30 yo hybrid tech, BYD is just on another 2 levels above any Toyotas.
Agreed
@@yslee1401 A Toyota tool identified😂
Agrer
Isnt the same being said about Korean cars in early 90s ,what ever we think Chinese are here long haul.
@@RoscoMac1234 who would? warren buffett
We just bought a Rav 4 hybrid which we waited 20 months for, If this was available back then, I would have considered this for sure. The Rav is great and we are not disappointed but the EV range in the BYD is compelling
Some says this BYD is 1,000km
BYD'S mainly driving by electric motors not engine like Toyota. There is no gear box in DMi.
Had a ride in an Uber RAV4 hybrid and it felt rubbish. Really cramped interior and it rocked around on the road horribly. Why you’d buy one over a Camry for Uber work is beyond me. Why you’d buy one full stop is beyond me…
Same for me, waited an age for a new Rav, and happy with it - BUT - if I was buying today this Sea Lion would be a top contender
The RAV 4 Hybrid would be worth more than when you bought it. For the BYD, the value halved the minute you sign the dotted line
"... a new type of technology for BYD". Ah new to Australia yes, but they've been producing hybrid cars since 2008. They definitely know what they're doing.
Yeah, they are largely an unknown brand here.
@@therightcar love your content man. Best car reviewer down under.
@@therightcar soon you will know about this giant. It will conquer the world.
No thank you. Huawei is banned for a good reason
@@yslee1401 Man, just say u hate China, I know u r trying hard but, unless ppl are brainwashed like u, it won't work on ppl with a brain lol.
I'm in NZ, and I went and looked at the Premium version today. I'm driving the 2018 ZB Calais at the moment, and when I'm ready to trade out of that, the Premium is definitely on the list to consider. Similar in Kw, but the torque is soooo impressive. I'm sold on this SUV.
Thanks mate. Good move, I reckon.
@@therightcar and thx for your review, excellent content and well structured. It certainly answered my questions.
Wait for the Sealion 7. 1000% better
@@waynehobbs5175 another CNY0.50 for you
@@waynehobbs5175 I’ll wait for the Terrapin
Best review to date for this vehicle. You're getting a lot of praise from the Sealion 6 community on this - great work!
Fake praises by paid 50cent little pink army has zero credibility and value
That’s because paid little pink cybertroopers floods these forums/posting to artificially promote these sub-par vehicles that can’t sell even in Mainland China
That’s because CCP little pink cybertroopers storm all pro-Chinese posts and create an artificial hype for these junk class products
@@ThaoLe01 so many cybertroopers from PrC
This Sealion is just an entry level of DMI in China, the next level is Tang DMI, bigger size and More Impressive to Drive AWD, saddly Australia not selling those, and Leopard 5, Yangwang U9 U8... Those models killing any of the cars in current market
Sealion here r called song plus in China, best selling BYD vehicle in China in the last 3 years straight.
@@Im-mono they can call it whatever they want. We don’t want spy ware rigged vehicles in Australia
@@Im-mono Here in Chile is also called Song plus, but we only got the cheap version (8kw/40km) and thats not that useful. Also is almost double the price than in China, so not selling that well. China has unbelievable prices on its cars, so no surprise these models kills competition there.
Great reviev. I’m patiently waiting for the Shark Ute myself, think that it will be the perfect all round vehicle - use it as an EV during the weekly commute, no range anxiety on weekends and even a nice power source for the campsite.
Yep, hopefully it’s realistically priced and has decent capabilities too.
@@andrer8583 Chinese manufacturers are ditching BEVs for HEV/PHEV. Hang on, Toyota/Lexus said so way back in 2018 when Tesla had a momentary sales hype and the world no. 1 car maker is spot on
@@yslee1401stop the cap. China can and will dominate in both hybrids and BEVs.
@@yslee1401you're clearly a paid troll. You've posted negative comments on every post on this site. When you do that, you lose all credibility and people discount you as nothing more than a troll. Why waste your time doing this, unless you've been paid to, or are just a strange person on a mission against BYD.
Love: power, interior, fuel consumption, ride comfort, price.
Dislikes: Vibration in brake padel on the highway going uphill with the battery below 20%, no memory sheets, boot could have been better.
I cancelled Rav4 order for this. I got stone grey premium earlier this week. love the back design.
@@DD-fs2hq and no resale value
Brilliant review! Matches my own findings. And it is so unbelievably quiet. Seems to be the best SUV value offer on the market atm. Especially as it is a Plug In Hybrid .
@@matthiasedwards294 yeah right. Hard earn 0.50
@matthiasedwards294 you will also be unbelievably quite when you realise that your car devakued by 75% right after you sign on the dotted line
@@yslee1401 😂 yeah I guess that's the case with new cars. But here in Australia the value of BYD cars holds up very well so far. I guess time will tell.
It really was an enlightening video. I liked the way you present the vehicle with its pros and cons. I write to you from Spain. This SUV will begin to be delivered here at the end of September(BYD SEAL U DM i). There are not many tests and your analysis has helped me a lot. I don't know if it is included in the Australian version but according to the description in Spain it includes a voice control system ("HI BYD" or button).You can control the AC temperature, seats, open/close windows, roof, radio, navigation, etc...Through simple voice instructions. Thanks for the work. New subscriber.😊
Thanks very much for the kind feedback.
There is the voice control system here, but it really struggles with the Aussie accent!!
Great review, thank you.
Really appreciate the test you did on pure EV, which I feel is a big question mark for a lot of people looking at the EV only use scenario. To be fair, I'm much more interested in the BYD Shark but can use this as encouragement that the Sharks EV only range will be as close to what's on paper as advertised.
Thank you for all your work on reviews.
Thanks heaps for the feedback. And yep, I can’t wait for the Shark!
Thanks mate! going for a test drive this weekend.
I knew that this car started selling in Australia would be very popular when i saw this car in China. Good price, good techs. I have driven my honda jazz from 25years old to 40 years old. Almost 350k kms. Saving some money, this car would be my next car.
Wow, that Jazz has served you well. This will feel like a step (or 10) into the future!
Great review! I put a deposit in for the premium option and figured the claimed ~80km EV range would be sufficient for in and out of work, flipping to HEV on the weekends to keep the petrol usage over time. Looking forward to this being my first proper family car (currently using my wife's golf tsi as my yaris yr can't really do carseats and pram)
Awesome! It sounds like it will fit your family well. Let us know how you go with it!
@@therightcar CNY0.50 for you
@@yslee1401you are under every comment, how much did they pay you?
@@jay8235 I realise that CCP will not pay you CNY0.50 if someone challenges your comments
@@yslee1401 that’s why im checking with you for who is paying you. I want some quick cash too. R you cia boy or toyota boy?
Hey Matt, I was surprised to learn that BYD makes plug-in hybrids, as I thought they only did EVs. Their PHEVs, like the Qin and Tang, offer great performance and features, especially for the price. Pretty cool cars!
In fact BYD started with hybrid and they are up to their 5th gen. In China they have just launch a 2000km PHEV sedan.
@@justcooler2877, just looked it up, crazy 2000km, BYD is really going all out.
BYD was the first company to mass produce PHEV with BYD F3DM in 2008
Mitsubishi started producing PHEV's in 2013
@@justcooler2877 correct, Seal 06 sedan and the more popular Qin L sedan. Some real life test in ideal conditions have squeezed closer to 2400km out of the new models.
A great review. I really appreciate your honesty and insights. I like the fact that you live with these cars and call on that real life experience when commenting. The right car is the one to watch for all the characteristics I have called out. And for the record, I subscribe to dozens of these review sites and I have zip to do with this one other than my subscription. Many thanks.
Thank you! Appreciate that feedback.
Wow great review. I think you may be right there is now a legitimate RAV4 alternative and it will very likely be a RAV4 killer. It has the Tech, the Price, the economy and the AWD performance. It seems to outscore the RAV4 in all of these. I have a 2021 RAV4 AWD Hybrid cruiser which I think is amazing and fitting title holder as worlds best selling car. However after this review I hope we have a new winner. I reckon the RAV 4 was the Mohamed Ali but the I reckon this one is the Mike Tyson :-)😂
Hahaha good analogy.
There is no alternative to RAV4 as Toyota has been perfecting Hybrids for the past 25 years. New Hybrid players will take another 10 years to catch up
Toyota have announced they will be using the BYD engine and battery in the next generation RAV4. Toyota claim they will polishing up the the current engine and drive train - I guess this means they will tune the engines for 91 RON ULP unlike the current BYD which use 95 RON ULP.
@@diycave5144 that’s a load of cow droppings
Great review! We ordered the Premium this week.
This has just increased my anticipation for the local Shark launch now. With the FBT excemption for leases taken in the next FY, these look VERY easy for a lot of people to get into.
Yep, too right. The incentive is excellent.
@@MichaelCoates and yet, hardly any Australians or mainland Chinese that have migrated to Australia buy them
@@yslee1401 over 1900 BYDs sold in May alone suggests that's changing quickly
@@MichaelCoates “BYD reported 12,438 new vehicles as sold in Australia in 2023, and the company says it delivered its 20,000th vehicle in April 2024” from Google
Ordered 24th May, (dynamic), car delivered 24th june, free Wall charger 7kw single phase arrived via courier 5th July. Pretty fast in my books.
@@stevenvalle7319 that’s because there is so little demand for any PRC vehicles and they have been sitting in car lots for months if not years
Great review. You can raise the boot floor to be inline with the back seats when they are down. 👍
First time i am watching your video, After a long time i am commenting on a video because you deserve it 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼, such a nice video with very helpful information .. appreciate your effort 👍👍
@@rishabmb wow, clearly a 50 cents army
Thanks another brilliant review. In regards to purchasing a BYD in Australia, it's probably best to do your own research in regards to existing BYD owner reviews when trying to get warranty claims.
Yep, good point. The early days haven’t been ideal for some owners.
@@Mike-d2m2u selling price aside, BYD has a horrendous reputation of denying warranty claims. The Canberra BYD owner that got the attention of 60 minutes learned it the hard way
@@Mike-d2m2u BYD does not honour warranty claims unless it gets media attention
I am a proud owner of MG HS +EV and I am impressed by it. Sealion is however a step up. Definitely my next car. Although all my life I have had Toyota's but after owning an MG, I won't go for those. These cars are very good value for money.
Thanks for the feedback, and glad you’re happy with your MG. The new-gen model of it is due this year, too!
@@ahmarkarimullah715 good luck selling the MG. It has no resale value
@@yslee1401 I usually keep my car for a long time. By the time I sell it, resale value doesn't matter.
@@ahmarkarimullah715 yeah right
Looks amazing to be honest and fuel efficiency! Buying a Porsche Cayenne isn’t the most practical choice.
Not surprised this car was the most popular selling car in China in 2023 and continues to break records.
As you stated, yeah in China ONLY as the the Chinese economy has tanked and they can’t afford to buy foreign brands these days
@@yslee1401 You realy made me laugh, as foreign brands are selling at the same, if not lower, prices as Chinese brands nowadays in China. That seems to be the only thing they can do in the brutal competition going on in this market.
@@crawfish-le7cz congrats on your post that’s worth 50 cents
I will wait a bit more for more better 7 seater from BYD. Not in a hurry to pull the trigger yet. I have been following the latest model from BYD in China launch (GWM, Geely etc in China has so much more advance model). They are definitely much more advance than this BYD Sealion model which is an outdated model back in China. Even the latest BYD sdean PHEV can now do more than 2100 plus km per tank of fuel. So no hurry to pull the trigger on this outdated BYD model for us Aussie here. BYD just try to clear their stocks of old model for us here. Furthermore with so much unsold stocks by the car manufacturers now especially China, car prices will just keep dropping and with much greater offer and advance features. I will keep my cash in the bank working to earn interest until all these competitions and prices to settle down further to my advantage.
About to say the same thing myself. 😅
If you're going for novated lease, the FBT exemption for PHEV ends 31st Mar 2025.
So that has to be part of the consideration as the total cost works out to be almost 30% more over lease period.
Furthermore, this "outdated" model is already more advanced than many current Japanese/Korean/European/US car models
wr
As a Chinese I gonna say BYD’s 7seater Tang suv are craps in terms of chassis’s calibration since they were sold for around 6years on the old platform now .Li auto are definitely are better options but they probably cost 2times of price than the sealion .
Wow, so many CNY0.50 little pinks around
Great format mate, solid review
Thanks mate!
As mentioned in the video the other PHEV options are $10k-15k more expensive than the Sealion6.
Not only that, if you consider similiarly priced Hybrids (like RAV4 which is a couple grands more), on a novate lease the Hybrids will still cost $10k-15k more over the lease period because the PHEV has FBT exemption. So if you're going to use novated lease, getting this PHEV is a no brainer (FBT exemption for PHEV is until 31st Mar 2025)
With the FBT exemption I can buy one for 100% personal use without paying FBT
@@boonhowemoh9807 but other makes don’t depreciate by 50% in the first 12 months
Bought the Dynamic Sealion 6 three days ago Stone Grey colour in Sydney. I’m very happy with it so far :). One tip the guy who trained me on the BYD gave me was to set EV battery reserve percentage to 40-45% than 25% during long trips.
What is the reasoning for this?
@@shiiraga1111I think it is because on long trips with constant speeds the system's ability to charge the battery is better...This would mean that when you arrive at the destination city it allows you to return to EV mode
@@thathyavenuariyaratne9926 another CNY0.50 post
Interesting idea.
@@rokchlafen9160 so from what I understand, the ICE engine is efficient when cruising in highway speeds (60-80kph) so it's better to charge the battery during those times?
V2L is a great addition point for this car! This will be a excellent family camping car
Yep, it would make camping a bit easier to plug in the espresso machine!
Looks an interesting vehicle, excellent interior, boot average and the EV driving range is very good for a plug in hybrid. I don’t mind the screen controls, easy to learn I’m sure (I do drive a Tesla). If I was in the market I’d try the all wheel drive and pay the extra for additional power. I don’t mind the trim colours, bright and cheery. The problem for regional drivers will be distances above 100k’s in petrol only operations. For local driving the Sealion would be excellent. This is a car that should be competitive against most others in its class though tyres should be better. I think ride is better if it’s comfortable. A very liveable vehicle and a great and thorough review.
Thanks mate! Appreciate your feedback as always.
why would this car be an issue for regional drivers given its 1200km range (with a full 60litre tank)?
Yes, you’ll be carrying around the dead weight of an electric motor and battery that’s useless beyond a little over 80km, so the economy offered by buying a PHEV would be lost in regional driving. This car is suited to urban driving over shorter distances and would be excellent in that role.
@@gregturner_awod My RAV-4 is getting about 5.3l per 100km, which seems to be the same for Sealion after it runs out of electricity. My Mercedes C350e has only 6kWh battery with a range of 24km on full charge (when it was new, now only 18km after 5 years), and gets about 1.3l/100km initially, but without the charged battery it is about 6.3l/100km on a long trip. Plus the boot is much smaller than the non-PHEV of C class.
@@Woodland26 My Tesla gets 608km on a full battery and my car doesn’t burn petrol. All things are relative. Everyone buys a car for what it will do for them. You have two good cars, I like my Tesla.
An Outlander PHEV with a Blade tech battery would be the ideal combination. The Outlander is superior in dynamics and AWD ability (plus the 240v outlets are standard sockets inside the car). Also, you shouldn't be parroting Toyota Australia's spin of "you don't need to plug in" when it's "you can't plug in, so you are always visiting the servo" in reality.
The annoying thing about Toyota is they INSIST that there’s not a market for PHEV yet, but if they’d brought out a RAV4 Prime here in 2021 or 2022, it may have reshaped the entire concept of the tech.
@@therightcar Toyota always seems to be p#ssing into the wind. Insisting ICEs have a long future and their failed push into hydrogen as a consumer level viable fuel.
@@adampoll4977 Japanese brands are way superior to PRC vehicles
I assume the car keeps a 25% SoC to have electric power when needed, like overtaking.
great car, would go for the AWD. Wish there was a spare tyre.
Most hybrids only come with tyre repair kit. Guess the battery or rear motor has to go somewhere.
Friend of mine added a full size spare to their RAV4.
You could possibly do the same here?
@@jeppo1185where do you put in thou?
@@daweigo6851 they carry it in the back. They only use it for long trips involving dirt.
5.2lt per 100km for 2nd 100km is excellent. Remember this is a family sized car.
Yep, it is impressive.
Yeah right. Who verified the claim? Another equivalent Diesel Gate by a Chinese vehicle maker
@@yslee1401 mate it was guy driving car got 5.2lt in real world experience. I love Chinese food.
5.2L for a 2 tonner that's more than impressive
I currently have a petrol Tiguan and it’s 8.5 per 100 km, needless to say my sealion 6 arrives in September.
Loved the Outlander but 25.000 cheaper i will look at it
Worth a look, for sure!
@@Karl-Benny but buy it a year later for less than 50% off the current sticker price
Thanks for your customary, thorough and practical review. Regarding the boot, the floor can be adjusted for height to all but eliminate that otherwise annoying brace across the base of the rear seats. There are a few anomalies in the vehicle: like the lack of seat-memory for the driver (and passenger) which are available in overseas models, the lack of lumbar support adjustment in the seats, and the really cheap-feeling steering wheel. That said, I'm waiting on my Premium, due towards the end of July. And I cancelled my Outlander - which I would now be driving - for this vehicle. Style or attractiveness is a bit subjective, but I feel that inside and out, the Outlander is more pleasing and may even be a better vehicle in some ways, but it was the apparent quality (and worrying exclusions in the warranty) that put the final nail in the Outlander's coffin. And the $25,000 price difference. Our BEV market is changing rapidly, and this will likely be a half-way house for a few years until it properly blossoms.
Hi nice informative review. I just need clarity one point..for the 2nd 100km did u actually charge the car (plugged it in) and then got 5.2litres/100km or was it purely on engine working as a hybrid and without plug in? Thnx
How would you compare driving this car compared to nissan xtrail epower? Since they use similar technology.
I like this more. I like the idea of plugging in and actually relying on zero emissions power, rather than using petrol to create electrification. They are very different powertrains.
Nice one Matt. How did you rate the audio quality and experience? Same question for anyone who ones one and what are you comparing it too?
I don’t really remember it being great or bad, to be honest.
If you took the foam out of the boot could you fit a spare?
Audi dont give spares anymore either, but they have room for one at least.
No, took a look today underneath the foam of my sealion 6, and there's some equipment in the back half that does not allow either a full size or space saver to fit
I have the fantastic BYD Seal premium but my wife has severe range anxiety, (we had a problem with two different broken charge stations on a recent road trip and we finished up having to spend quite some time and distance finding one that worked), so I’m thinking that this car, or one very similar, may be the better choice for her. We have an appointment to look at this car next week along with the Peugeot 408 HPEV.
WOW,, I only do short trips to work so i don't think i will ever need to use the petrol engine at all! such a nice-looking car all around!!!
It could easily be The Right Car!
@@shinlee2579 just be doubly sure that there is a Defibrillator nearly when you sell the car, coz you’ll definitely need one
Great review Mate thanks
This is good but, I will wait for the full electric model with bigger battery pack.
Byd phevs actually has a FORCED EV mode,just push the EV/Hev shift button for a while,it will allows you to drain your battery till 10 percent.😮
Good to know - but it seems their innate way of operation is better!
All other manufacturers should be worried about BYD. So much on offer at a reasonable price. Theo other look like they are taking the P155.
They make me get the “this is the Chinese Toyota” vibes
Just wait 12 month to buy one used for around 75% off the current sticker price
Love mine so far. A few thing i thought it has but turns out doesn't, but all in all very good.
What are the things you thought it had?
The byd is good brand, and this is.good car , the only thing i am worry about is service, i heard many bad comments about the service😂😂😂😢😢😢
Yep, there have been some issues - but there’s an agreement with mycar (formerly Kmart Tyre and Auto) which means there’s a big network.
So many little pink here
This is the best selling BYD SUV in China, sold 600,000 units in2023, very popular in China, the local price is AUD 37,500
Thanks - good price! Mass sales means lower costs.
Growing in popularity in Latin America and Brazil. BYD is constructing at the site of old Ford factory a plant to build 150,000 cars per year in Brazil.
Really really like this car
Why are mainlanders waiting 18 months for Lexus LM and Toyota Alphard/Vellfire then?
@@yslee1401 Because some Chinese are sleeping like u
Been waiting for this review, at that price nothing comes close.
Obviously resale is probably not going to be great and long term reliability is unknown at this stage but it’s probably going to be our next family car.
Good one. I could see it being my next family car too (if I needed one - I usually run a couple of cars each week!).
Buy it one year later. You will likely be able to get a unit for at least 50% off the current sticker price
Impressive EV range and hybrid fuel economy figures in terms of the size and weight of this car. It blows RAV 4 out of water IMO, for lots of people’s bias toward Chinese car: reliability and dealership network, well, time and market feedback will tell, For me, it is definitely a RAV4 killer. I hope there is HEV model as convenient home charging facility is not available to me. Ready to see more of this car on the road in Australia in the future.
Thanks for your thoughts. A HEV would be good. But what price would it need to be?
@@therightcarmaybe FWD starts as $44990and AWD $48990 before on road cost. 😄
Getting a free wall charger for my new sealion 6. (First 3000 purchasers) But it will be sent by BYD in the near future. Did not come with the car. Car does come with a 1-1.4kw granny charger that plugs into a standard wall socket. Took 9.5 hrs to fully charge battery from 25%. Since then wife drives to work, then the supermarket and then back home. Last two days it fully charged in about 3hours. During the day free solar. And if I have to, in the evening,we use off-peak at 18cents/kW between 9-12pm
BYD started to sell plugin hybrids ( first in the world ) in year 2008 so this is not new technology for them. But i get it why people kinda think it is new for BYD because they never sold PHEV overseas previously :)
They have been selling these in Latin America, central Asian, Russia as the Song Plus 2021 onwards and south east Asia before it came to Australia. Left hand market first as same as China and now moving into RHD markets
@@stevenvalle7319 I see, thanks for letting me know
Yeah right. Buy a unit 1 year later for less than 50% of its current sticker price
@@yslee1401 here in Japan you have the buying plan that allows you to pay montly loan for the first 4 or 5 years, and after the first 5 years, you can decide it to return the car back to BYD, or pay the rest of the price and keep the car forever. So you never need to worry about the resell value because you can resell it to BYD at a fixed price.
@@betterserenity which other country apart from Japan does this? And Chinese cars probably sell 12 units a year in the land of the rising sun
Why do you need spare tyre in the car? Have any of you experienced exploded tyre?
If your tyre is flat, just use electric pump (a must have in your car) to pump your tyre and drive to the nearest tyre shop to fix the tyre.
Yes, a Made in China tyre in a rental car
I'd buy this BYD over a RAV4 and Tesla. RAV4 terrible ride quality, Tesla low quality interior materials.
Yeah right. CNY0.50 for you
so interested to buy this car, but it may be hard for me to keep it (plug-in) charged regularly as I live in a unit (apartment) that does not support the charging system. Do you reckon that it will be an issue in later days if I just rely on the regen brake system to get the battery charged and run the hybrid mode most of the time? Thanks
Finally a full review from someone I trust. I want one but the way the BYD AU treats its customers scares me.
Thanks! Glad you trust my work. And yes, I can understand that. It mightn’t be a traditional way of dealing with customers and after sales, but if the product is good enough I’m sure it will be something that they will improve.
BYD have treated me well thus far, 1 month in. Cannot say the same for Skoda(VW) HQ who outright lied to me regarding mib1 map updates that never happened. Their service centre near me kept trying to rip me off they quoted $13k to replace turbo and water pump, or BMW service Centre where X5 transmission plug mysteriously fell out after a service..destroying the transmission as it was being driven home at the time.
What have you heard/experienced with BYD service reputation?
Great review🎉 every aspect covered, really considered buying one. ☝️ good job mate
Thanks mate!
50 cents army
lack of spare tyres are a deal breaker for me as far as electric vehicles are concerned. Cupra formentor still gets my vote.
Cool! Formentor is a honey.
Fine until they leave Australia just like Seat.
Then Your re-sale drops like a stone
I would probably consider storing a spare tyre in the boot.
Rav4 PHEV doesn't come with spare wheel either. Hardly to find spare wheel in PHEV SUV in the global market.
@@zazhouvery dangerous if not safely secured
Great car proved itself in chinese market, only things missing are driving seat memory function and rear seat heating wish they cover them too.
Agree, though I did not stop me picking my Sealion 6 on Monday. Great cruiser and very relaxing. No more jarred back on pot holes due "sporty suspension".
I am buying the Premium in the next few weeks as I have gone back twice and love the car and my brother loves it to and I was biased against it untill I drove it and my brother was to. It walks all over the chery tiggo 7 and yes I know that there 2 different cars but the chery was very uncomfortable and through you all over the road where as the byd sealion was effortless in driving and smoth and there is 2 hight for the boot floor
@@tigergod666 before you sign on the dotted line, be aware that Chinese branded vehicles have no resale value at all
@@yslee1401 Shove your bs up your back door
Good review Matt!! Btw, does this suv have a dead pedal??
@@SJ-dw6uu because it's already dead the minute you drive it out from the showroom
Great review! I’ve test driven the car myself and agree with your assessment, unbeatable value in the current Australian car market.
Regarding the range, considering you started your trip with an 85km range, and noting that the charge bar wasn’t at 100% (there was still a bit of grey on the right side of the green bar), along with the fact that it was 4 degrees outside and you managed to drive 83km out of the estimated 85km, the claimed range is quite accurate i think.
When I test drove the same model with a fully charged battery, it showed a 91km range, and it was also 4 degrees that morning. With warmer weather and a fully charged battery, you’d likely come very close to the manufacturer’s claimed range, wouldn’t you? Also FYI if you hold down the EV button, it switches to EV Max mode, allowing you to use the battery down to 10%
Can you charge the battery to run V2L with the engine? It would be great for car camping
good review, thank you
Re: the range, what was the 1.9l figure? Was that in HEV mode before you used the 83km or after you used the 83km and it still had the 25% left? And is the 5.2 after the battery depletes?
1.9 is the official number. That is what the car achieved against the official testing regime, which isn’t that realistic.
Yep, the battery allowed 83km of full EV. And yes, 5.2L/100km after the battery is depleted.
Compelling option indeed. BYD it is
Would love to see the look on your face when it’s time to sell. Chinese vehicles have no resale value
@@yslee1401since you’ve gone personal, im going to have to boast now, according to my wife and her female friends, a rather handsome face actually
I love what you are showing especially the value. Unfortunately we have ultra high tariff on Chinese EV imports here in North America. 😭😭😭
@@dannyboy8850 don’t think smart Americans would buy any Chinese branded cars
@@yslee1401 I love our dedication to hating everything Chinese. I've seen your comments in a lot of this videos
@@martingicemi8745 not true. Love cheap and quality items from China like toilet paper, IKEA furniture, mobile phone screen protector etc
There are some buttons for climate control. On the console to the right of the gear stick There is an one-off button and auto climate button. On the steering wheel press the mode button and use arrow keys to select temp symbol you can then scroll up down to change temperature for the driver side. The mode stays on the last selected function .
I write from Spain. Aquí vendría With the name Seal U DM i. The fact is that they supposedly incorporate a voice control system with which with a "HI BYD" or by pressing the button you can control practically everything. Open/close window, roof, seat heating/ventilation, AC temperature. No buttons IS needed if you dont want
Love this car so much
Perhaps the car keeps 25% power to increase power to the 1.5L engine given it's a heavy car..
actually if hold the ‘EV’ button for seconds, you can force it into EV only mode to 10%, then it will change to HEV. If you still force it in EV, it can still drive in EV until 0% but you will be limited to 60km/h
Other way around, it usually starts the petrol engine to recharge the battery which continues to power the electric motor that drives the wheels. The petrol engine is rarely involved in driving the actual wheels.
BYD dm-i is an electric drive train recharged by small simple petrol engine. Toyota is petrol engine assisted by electric motor in situations where the petrol engine is inefficient. Thus Toyota model has reached its end point whereas BYD architecture is continuing to evolve and greatly surpass Toyota.
my next car for sure
Any thoughts on the seats? I test drove it - loved the car but found the seats to be quite uncomfortable. It seemed like the seats are designed for taller drivers. Also, the passenger side seat does not go up or down.
Thanks for the question. I didn’t find them bad, but I’m 182cm tall.
Good point on the passenger seat.
In China this car is named Song Plus and only starts with 27k dollars 😅
And the Toyota rav4 in China starts at 28k aud as well
Fun fact, BYD song 宋 sound similar in chinese as song送 as deliver or send. People in china once said this song宋 has song送sent alot Europe overrated and overpriced car away from market.
wrr
don't compare any prices in China, where the world's most competitive markets, not just car, all products in China is way cheaper then the rest of the world
Resale value after 1 year would not even fetch $10k equivalent
There’s the BYD Dolphin, Sealion. Now I want to see a BYD Penguin 😂😁
There's a BYD Seagull. It's getting close!
@@redl-ine Is there BYD Whale?
@@Woodland26 not sure tbh, I'm just waiting for them to come out with a BYD Box Jellyfish
@@Woodland26
No actually there's MG Whale in middle Eastern market
Yeah, pretty soon it will be BYD Pangolin, BYD Civet Cat, BYD Terrapin as these are the exotic animals sold at the Wuhan Seafood market causing Covid
So the engine does not recharge the batteries you have to plug the car in for that??
Mitsubishi needs to step up. This will kill the Outlander PHEV.
Mitsubishi could not catch up and abandoned the Chinese market in 2023
@@stevenvalle7319Mitsubishi dominate the New Zealand market. Mitsubishi needs to do something quick otherwise BYD is going to eat them alive!
Mitsubishi is actually stepping down.
@@maverick_akl1824 reputation and trust earned by Japanese makes will be hard to erode
How does the servicing work? like if you go in for a 15k service and you've done 90% of your driving on the battery do they still change the engine oil/filters etc? (would be a total waste if they do!) what are the servicing costs? Been driving a Tesla for a few years and now servicing and petrol is an expense I'm not missing - I just need a second car with a decent back seat for 3 kids. Also considering the EV5.
Good question. I’d imagine they will still change the oil and filters, and I put in an average service cost in the video (see Ownership section).
Too affordable for all that tech at a low price so that is also why america is putting 100% tariff on chinese ev's so the price is higher than non chinese ev's with low tech.
What has that got to do with Australia? We’ve got it good.
@@therightcar Australia is US vassal state, do as i say and don't do as i do
Or think of it this way US/Japanese/European car companies had the tech 20 years ago but failed to develop it. It was more profitable to charge high prices for old tech for which they already had lots of factories. The Chinese simply built hi tech factories for BEV. PHEv and sell those cheaply. Leaving legacy companies with old factories that are becoming worthless. See Ford/GM sales of factories in last few years as they become regional players rather than global ones
I was about to pull the trigger on this one. Everything on paper seemed good.
Until I went for a test drive and found that the boot size is very small for a mid size SUV. It just about fits a full size pram. And with that in-place doesn't leave space for anything else.
Wish I could have got this instead of the CX-60 PHEV
Though it's a pity Australia didn't get the bigger battery!
What's wrong with the CX-60?
@@RodneyW lack of refinement in general but especially considering the price point.
Sticky steering that is borderline undriveable on highways.
Shocking NVH, too loud, too over sprung, already added some dynamat to the car to help.
Stereo sucks, in the process of installing a fully custom speakers and amp system.
Powertrain has random surges, sometimes violently so. Should have just used the ZF8
Not particularly economical for a PHEV, lucky if I get under 30 kWh/100km.
No DC charging.
Had something in the headlight housing make a constant loud buzz/hum, suspect height adjusters but wasn't confirmed.
Infotainment screen isn't tall enough to make a useful aspect ratio for Google maps.
The instrument cluster becomes almost pointless with the cruise on.
The safety systems are overly sensitive or flat out wrong.
No option to have standard hybrid modes when on the highway, it's either full EV or just petrol with the battery set at a certain charge percentage.
Battery is too small, I get 50km EV only on a good day, would have likely to 100km highway driving on EV on a single charge.
No V2H like the outlander.
Too many chromed or reflective surfaces in the cabin that make the sun glare if at the right angle.
Had the gear knob come loose.
50l fuel tank is too small.
Regen braking cuts out below about 20kmph making for poor descents in multistorey parking lots.
Steering return to centre doesn't feel linear.
Seats are mediocre, 2hrs max before pain sets in.
Pumped in engine sounds are unpleasant.
There are things I like about the car though.
Fast enough to make me giggle which is amazing.
It comes to life on twisty roads and is rear drive biased with AWD which is so good.
Visibility is good and feels like a smaller car than it is to drive.
Overall I think it could have been an amazing car, it just costs way too much to justify.
It either needs to be cheaper or truly premium in its fit an finish.
It needs to be more like a Lexus and less like a corolla at its price point.
Rant over 🤣
@MrFordy90 you need to book suspension and tranmission fix at Mazda dealer. The upgrade is free for CX-60 build before Sep 2023. Oct 2023 build onward is way better to drive.
@@chchu5543 yeah got that booked in, waiting on parts for that and the steering recall
But changing shocks won't fix the harsh ride from being over sprung.
I just don't think the product justifies the price.
@@MrFordy90 I'm glad you got that off your chest. 🤥 .... and I hope that Mazda is listening to your feedback as they prepare "generation 2" of their SUV PHEV. I've really enjoyed driving a range of Mazda's over many years (the small "zoom zoom" ones 2, 3, MX5), and they've never let me down.
Very nice detailed review. I am in Dubai and seriously considering of buying this car. In Dubai however it is marketed as Song Plus AWD. BYD has messed up the marketing for this car as it has different names in different regions.
Thanks mate. Glad you found it helpful, name aside!
Song plus is its original name in its home market.
@@pruthvirajthegreat who would buy a Chinese branded car in Dubai?
@@yslee1401 you will be surprised on how many Chinese cars you see on road. Families with multiple cars prefer to go for their 2nd or 3rd car with Chinese brand due to their aggressive pricing and fully loaded options. Resale value and reliability is still a concern though. As far as BYD is concerned, it is not viewed as your run of the mill Chinese brand and it is giving a tough competition to Tesla in Electric segment.
@@pruthvirajthegreat that’s a load of bull. Emiraties would not be seen in an el-cheapo Chinese branded car. And in UAE, cars are cheap, petrol is cheaper than water
Byd DMi is perfect for me everyday use bcos the poor ev charging facilities in Europe. For day to day use it has the battery range for what I use and for longer trips I sometimes do the dual mode is perfect. I can drive hard on petal and still without the petrol engine kicks in. Even when the engine kicks in you don't really feel it bcos it's stays really quiet for charging the battery. I don't like the Toyota hybrid, battery range is too short and you have to go gently on the petal to drive on quite ev mode. Otherwise the petrol engine kicks in and noisy.
One aspect of review that many people don't do is night time driving and wet conditions (light/medium /heavy). If safety is the concern, I believe driving in those conditions will test the car capabilities to handle such challenges. And also, for myself, in the car is where I can listen to my favourite jazz tracks and oldies, etc, so sound system is also as important as the safety techs. But, rarely ever mentioned in the review. If the sound system is not up to my standard, I will go to next vehicle, especially nowadays they're all built in with the info display.
Drove it in the rain last night, auto rain wipers worked well. Found lights were set too low(5) on manual dial changed it to 1 and all good. Drove well. Sound system is excellent with a bit tweaking. 10 speaker infinity system by Harman. I boosted mid and bass. This is obviously a personal thing so mileage may vary. Best to try it out first.
very good review ... FYI for anyone who wants to know this is the facelift version of the 2020 Sealion. There is now a new SEALION released in China
RMB0.50 hard earned money
Think this is a great choice for Australian conditions. No range anxiety and 85% of my trips would be less than 80k’s. Just make sense. 👍
@@ogdog123 will not sell well in Australia. BYD has a horrendous after sales support and almost in-existent after sales support network
Hi there, just bought this car here in Italy, it’s supposed to arrive in October. If you put the speed limit alert off, will it stay off the next time you power on the car? Thanks
From memory you need to do it every time.
@@therightcar ohh noooo 😅 hope some further update will fix that
I loved this car but found that the very light steering put me off after a test drive
I own one in China and the range here is bigger , I’m not sure why or how they decided to reduce it for the Australian market. They advertise 110km driving range and depending how you drive sometimes I get more than that.
Is this car reliable? I scare whatever I save now I spend it later,any idea?
@@rezanamdari3542 It's been great so far, I've had it for 14 months and still runs like new! There is very little maintaince done as well. I was just comparing the fuel savings with my wifes hyunday ix35 this morning and everytime it surprises me how much fuel I save.
If you use EV only for 5000 km or so, do you still need to change the oil of the Internal Combustion Engine even if it was not used at all?
That’s a question for BYD… I’d also venture to say that if you don’t need a petrol engine, don’t buy a PHEV.
@@mosm17 why bother when the car will not last more than 24 months
Do the airbags deploy in a collision and can you exit before it catches fire?
Let me rebook it and test that for you 🙀
Liked and subscribed 🎉a question about the battery type, I can’t find anywhere this information, what kind of battery uses this car? Old Pouch blade battery or the new prismatic short blade battery? Thanks
I’ve asked the people at BYD. ✅
I found out - it has the Pouch battery. Thanks!!