BYD Sealion 7 Review: Breaks Many Stereotypes

BYD is doing in India what many expected Tesla to do. It has piqued many people’s interest in EVs, especially the premium cars with numbers that are more close to supercars than competitors. The BYD Sealion 7, the company’s first electric sports SUV in the country was launched earlier this year and ever since, it has been one of the hottest EVs in the market, not only in terms of offering some of the most unique and interesting features, but also in terms of just how much it offers in every aspect.

But all is not good. There are things that you’d not want from a 50-lakh plus car, but then there are things you won’t get with cars with crores of rupees. In this review, we will take a look at everything from the design to the performance to the tech and comfort, along with what’s good and what’s not, so fasten your seatbelts as we make you experience one of the most interesting EVs in the market. Let’s go.

BYD Sealion 7 Review: Design

Design of the BYD Sealion 7 is good. The car has a road presence similar to any premium coupe SUV, it is big and it has this nice wide stance. My first impression – if you hide the BYD badging in the front, it is easy to fool people into thinking this is a premium European SUV, which is a great indicator at just how well-proportioned the BYD Sealion 7 looks.

With a width of about 1.9 meters and a length of more than 4.8 meters, the BYD Sealion 7 has quite a road presence but its not bulky at all. As mentioned, we get a very sleek coupe SUV-like design and a ground clearance of 163mm, which isn’t as high as you’d expect from a traditional SUV, but it is enough to take on Indian roads with potholes everywhere.

And now we are done talking about the stance and dimensions, let’s talk about some styling elements. On the front, things are simple, we are getting a flat bumper with air vents on the bottom for the radiator. On each sides of the bumper, we are getting air vents that keep the tyres cool. The headlights have a split design that creates a sort of a ‘C’ with the indicator at the bottom. I may be going too far but this looks like someone in the design team thought of creating mix of Porsche and Aston Martin headlights and it worked really well. But then again, that’s just my opinion.

From the side, we are getting a beautiful scooping roofline that gives the BYD Sealion 7 a coupe SUV shape. For those who want a more real world example, this is something between a Porsche Panamera and Porsche Cayenne. My favourite angle of this car is the side profile. It looks big yet sleek. The sides aren’t angular but curvy, and the flush door handles add to the whole seamless look from the sides.

At the back, there is a lot more styling. The rear bumper is designed aggressively to make the car more aerodynamic. I like the rear diffuser thing going on at the bottom of the rear bumper. Here also, there are air vents on either ends of the bumper. There is also a rear spoiler placed on top of the rear windshield which also adds to the whole sports SUV look of the BYD Sealion 7. The spoiler is huge and must be adding quite a lot of downforce on the car.

So in terms of design, there isn’t much that I didn’t like. And while the car is designed quite well, there are slight imperfections here and there that you would expect from a Chinese brand. For example, in the unit we got for review, the rubber seal under the front bonnet is not lined perfectly and when we tried opening it, the rubber padding wasn’t placed properly and was falling off from the edges.

Apart from these slight imperfections, overall the BYD Sealion 7 looks really good. It has a coupe SUV design which is proportionate and it will definitely turn heads more than many other luxury SUVs in the market that are priced much higher.

BYD Sealion 7 Review: Features and Comfort

Coming to features and comfort, the BYD Sealion 7 has it all and a bit more, barring a couple of things that some may expect from this car. First and foremost, we will talk about all the comfort and entertainment features, starting with the massive 15.6-inch rotating display, which is the center for all controls in this car. 

While I am not a huge fan of touch controls, BYD has done a few things that make it slightly more convenient. For example, the volume control is a physical dial in the center console. There is also a physical button to turn the air conditioning on and off. And while these things do make it much better, one still has to get into the display for some basic features like fan speed and temperature. Other controls like switching between air conditioner airflow or seat ventilation requires you to get into the display which is not very convenient.

Apart from this, the rotating display feature I fell is gimmicky since most people who will own the BYD Sealion 7 will use the display in the horizontal orientation, given that Android Auto and Apple CarPlay don’t support vertical displays since it would make more sense to mirror your phone screen on a vertical display. However, even that is not possible so this is just putting everything in a vertical resolution, which will require users to get used to all over again. Also the software isn’t the best in terms of how it looks and functions.

Apart from the display, we are also getting a fully digital instrument cluster which gives all the required information like battery, regenerative braking, driving modes, tyre pressure, ADAS indicators, alerts and notifications, basically every piece of information a driver needs is available in the 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster. There isn’t any option to change the theme, but that makes sense since there is an overflow of information on this display. Apart from this, the center console also gets up to 50W wireless charging in the front and two USB type-C ports placed in the storage bin under the center console. 

We are also getting 10-way adjustable driver seat and a 6-way electronically adjustable passenger seat in the front with the BYD Sealion 7. The front seats also get seat ventilation. The seats are similar to what you will see in sports cars and since this is a sports SUV, it only makes sense. The seats are super comfortable and plush. With adjustable thigh and lumbar support, these are even more comfortable. However, the only issue I have with these seats is that the headrest is not adjustable, but then again, during my time with the car, I didn’t feel the need to adjust my headrest so I guess it works.

Even the rear seats are super comfortable. There is ample space for all size passengers, but maybe the headroom is less for people whose height is more than 6 feet. The rear seats also recline and the flat footbed just adds to the whole space. The BYD Sealion 7 also gets a massive moon roof, which just adds to the sense of space inside the cabin. And for those who like a lounge-like feel to their car, this also comes with adjustable ambient lighting.

Other features on the car include a driver monitoring system, which brings an infrared camera to the A-pillar that monitors the driver constantly. So if you look away from the road for a bit longer or if you yawn, the car will alert you within seconds. Good feature for driver attention, but bad in terms of privacy.

We also get a 12 speaker Dynaudio surround sound system which is quite powerful and the sound distribution inside the cabin is top notch.

In terms of safety, the BYD Sealion 7 comes with ADAS level 2, meaning that the car comes with blind spot monitoring, lane keep assist, emergency braking, and adaptive cruise control to assist the driver on longer trips. We are also getting 11 airbags and all the necessary safety features like ABS, EBD, ESC, and more.

So yes, from the inside, the BYD Sealion 7 is a great place to be in. Here also, there are elements that you’d expect from a Chinese brand but that starts and ends with the software and the light panel on the passengers side – looks cheap. Apart from that, the cabin of the BYD Sealion 7 is a great place to be in. It is comfortable, it has all the bells and whistles, and it does justice to the car’s positioning as an electric sports SUV. I absolutely love the fit and finish of all the materials and panels used inside this car. Everywhere you see it is soft-touch and everything fits in well with no creaking or rattling sounds. This interior looks more refined than the one on the BYD Seal sedan.

BYD Sealion 7 Review: Performance

So we got the Performance variant of the BYD Sealion 7 which is the one with more power. There is also a Premium variant of the Sealion 7 which prioritises range over performance. The variant we experienced was the performance variant, which comes with 523 bhp of power and 690 nm of torque – all of that available instantly with the electric powertrain. So yes, the BYD Sealion 7 is super quick! 

A 0 to 100kmph dash of 4.5 seconds in an SUV is something you don’t get to experience everyday and boy, is it addictive. The Sealion 7 at no point feels sluggish. Even in Eco mode, the car feels very quick and it is ample for any sort of highway driving. It is when you put the BYD Sealion 7 in Sports mode, when the car unleashes all the 500+ horses in an instant! 

While the BYD Sealion 7 is fast, there is an issue that comes with the speed. It is the car’s weight. In sharp corners, you will feel the weight of the car but that will also only happen if you’re driving too fast, something people don’t usually do on public roads. What I found to be slightly underwhelming is the braking, specifically at higher speeds. Not the performance of the brakes, but the amount of effort it takes to stop a car this heavy going this fast makes the brakes feel soft at high speeds. At normal speeds, the brakes are fine. We are getting disc brakes in both front and rear, with the front wheels getting ventilated discs, which keep the temperatures normal during heavy braking.

We took the car out on the highway for a long drive to test both the performance and the range. In any drive mode, the BYD Sealion 7 was effortlessly overtaking vehicles even in Eco mode or standard drive modes. The car also handles quite well. The steering feedback is also pretty good. It doesn’t feel as artificial as many other EVs that I have driven, but then it also doesn’t feel as accurate at the same time. Regardless, the handling of the car is pretty decent and it is not very difficult to throw around the corners, given that the driver is used to the braking.

Now we weren’t able to drain the full battery of the BYD Sealion 7, but we drove the car around 400 kilometers on the day it was with us, and at the time of returning the car, we still had close to 100 kilometers left, meaning that the BYD Sealion 7 easily puts out 500 kms of range in a single charge, which means that for city driving, there will be no range anxiety. 

So yes, this is pretty much a driver’s car. It is super fun and it has enough range to last for 5 days or more, even if your daily running is around 100 kilometers. But then again, the steering wheel feels a little artificial and in high speeds, the brakes feel soft and the car’s weight is very evident.

BYD Sealion 7 Review: Battery and Charging

Coming to the battery and charging, we are getting an 82.5kWh battery with the BYD Sealion 7 which is good for a range of up to 580 kilometers (claimed). The car also supports CCS-II, which can charge the BYD Sealion 7 from 0 to 80% in just 45 minutes. Now, we didn’t get to test the charging speeds since the car wasn’t with us for very long, but we did get to test the range.

During our day with the BYD Sealion 7, we got the car at 98% battery, showing a range of about 550 kilometers. During our test, we drove the car just about 400 kilometers (Delhi to Rampur and back), which included both highway and city driving. Now, the distance we covered was about 180 kilometers on each side – a total of 360 kilometers, along with 50-60 kilometers extra while getting in and out of the city. On return, the Sealion 7 showed a remaining range of above 120 kilometers, which means that even with highway driving, you can easily get 500 kilometers on a single charge.

One feature missing here in the battery/ charging space is vehicle to load (V2L) or vehicle-to-vehicle charging, something we are getting in EVs that are a few segments below the Sealion 7 as well. Overall, however, the battery is fantastic and even the battery/ range indicator gives a clear picture of everything.

Review Verdict: Should You Buy the BYD Sealion 7?

So that was my experience with the BYD Sealion 7. A car that I have been wanting to drive and write about since the day it was launched in India. Now, the BYD Sealion 7 is a fantastic EV for the price. It punches way above its weight in every aspect – be it performance, design, features, or comfort. However, there are imperfections and things that just don’t make sense in a car. Does that make it a bad car? 

Hell no. Even with all the imperfections I’d suggest this over many similar-priced EVs and yes, for those who are looking to invest in a Tesla Model Y, the BYD Sealion 7 definitely deserves your attention. It is fast, it is comfortable, its got the looks, its got the power, its got the tech (a bit too much of it).

Smartprix ⭐ Rating: 8.2/10

• Design and Build: 8/10
• Features and Tech: 9/10
• Performance: 9/10
• Comfort and Space: 8.5/10
• Battery and Charging: 9/10

First reviewed in September 2025.