BYD Sealion 8 vs Lexus Lm500H

What's the difference?

There’s no denying the value the BYD Sealion 8 Premium offers as it packs a lot in for the price. Its efficiency and inoffensive looks add up to a good package and reflect what it does well. That said, the underwhelming driving experience and clunky media system are noticeable. Whether they're deal breakers is up to you.

The Lexus LM 500h is luxurious, comfortable, practical, easy to drive and expensive. While it may appear to be the ultimate family car, with only four seats it's limited in terms of how many kids and their friends you can carry. On top of that, the privacy screen introduces accessibility issues to the kids you wouldn't encounter on other vehicles. If you are thinking of a Lexus people mover as your next family car I'd suggest looking at the LM 350h which has seven seats and no privacy screen. If you’re looking at a business class executive van the LM 500h would be perfect. 

The Sealion 8 is a big unit, and its design leans more towards soft and rounded than sharp. There’s a sense of restraint with its pillowy panels, smooth curves and flush door handles all contributing to a clean, almost clinical look.

The 21-inch wheels add a bit of presence, as does the full-width LED light bar with its braided design. But overall, it doesn’t try too hard to stand out. It’s inoffensive - clean and easy on the eye, but it stops short of having any sense of identity.

Inside, the cabin carries that same restrained approach. There’s black leather upholstery, some interesting geometric detailing through the panels and speaker grilles and a generous use of soft-touch materials throughout.

The large displays and panoramic sunroof help lift the space, giving it a premium feel, but more importantly, it’s just a comfortable, easy place to spend time. Which, for a family SUV, arguably matters more than anything else.

The LM 500h doesn't look real. More like a concept vehicle with its vertical face wearing that enormous grille. Feels like if you watched it for long enough you’d catch it transforming into some kind of robot. Yet, at the same time its styling is elegant and prestigious.

I have a confession to make. I used this Lexus as my office. Its interior is that comfortable and spacious. I'm also a parent and there were times where it was the quietest place to get some work done.

It also let me observe people's reactions as they walked past with their dogs not knowing what was going on inside behind those tinted windows. The people that noticed were clearly car enthusiasts as they knew what they were looking at and couldn't pass without gaping it awe.

The LM 500h’s interior is superbly plush with thick carpets, beautiful copper metallic trim and nappa leather seats.

As I’ve said, the cockpit up front is less luxurious than the extravagant first class section in the back behind that dividing wall.

And yes, I’ve seen large screens before but nothing that stretches the width of the vehicle.

Up front, storage and general usability are well thought out. There’s a handy shelf tucked underneath the centre console with two USB-C ports, while a tray above houses the fast wireless charging pad. You also get a sunglasses holder, two cupholders and decent-sized bottle holders in the doors, so it’s easy to keep things organised.

Seat comfort is a highlight, and the overall layout is clean and easy to live with, but the same can’t be said for the multimedia system. While the graphics are sharp and the touchscreen is responsive, functionality isn’t always its strong suit. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are included, but CarPlay required reconnecting on every drive during testing and the digital radio and phone calls experienced noticeable signal dropouts. It’s the kind of friction that chips away at the day-to-day experience and starts to feel out of step with how polished the rest of the cabin is.

There’s also a heavy reliance on the screen for core functions. Climate control is integrated, which is fairly standard, but so too are things like headlight controls. It might suit those who are used to navigating everything through a screen, but needing to dig through menus to adjust something like auto high beam on the move feels like a step too far. Bring back buttons.

The second row is where the Sealion 8 really leans into its family-friendly brief. Space is generous, with enough width to comfortably accommodate three adults and the flat floor helps here too. There are three top tether points and two ISOFIX mounts, while charging is covered by a USB-A and USB-C port.

Amenities are a standout. The outboard seats mirror the front with heating, ventilation and massage functions, which quickly become a favourite, alongside dedicated climate controls, roof-mounted air vents and multiple cupholders. A set of sunshades would round things out nicely, but it’s otherwise a very accommodating space.

Access to the third row is less impressive. The manual slide and tilt mechanism feels a little heavy and fiddly to operate and the space itself is best reserved for kids. In practice, that means younger passengers will likely take the path of least resistance, as mine did and simply climb over the second row instead.

Amenities are fairly basic, with directional air vents and cupholders, but there’s no charging provision back there. You do, however, get two top tether points and ISOFIX mounts, which will be a plus for larger families.

Around the back, the boot is a practical, usable space with a wide opening and flat loading floor. With all three rows in place, there’s 270L on offer, which is enough for a few school bags or a grocery run, expanding to 960L with the third row folded. There’s no spare tyre, just a repair kit, which may be a consideration for regional drivers. A 12-volt socket and powered tailgate round things out in this grade.

You might be able to take Lexus out of Toyota but it's very hard to take Toyota out of Lexus and this particularly applies to the practicality of the LM 500h.

Every day I discovered new compartments, tray tables and storage areas. There are so many cabinets, lockers and hidey holes that we almost left my belongings (an entire family of plushie toy capybaras) behind because there are so many places to check.

Of course, I'm talking about the rear compartment here because up front there's not much storage. In fact, it proved to be quite a problem in that I had nowhere to put my bag with somebody sitting next to me and no area behind the front seats to stow it, either.

Talking of seats, the LM 500h only has four of them, with two up front and two in the rear. Up front, the seats are supportive and large, but the rear seats - those are, well... have a look at the images.

We’re talking two large captain's chairs that look as though they’ve been removed from the first class section of a plane.

And while this might be suitable for businesses shuttling a couple of executives to and from meetings, for a family, even with two children, the extra couple of seats a third row offers would come in handy.

The LM 350h has seven seats over three rows and no privacy screen. A far better choice for families.

For device charging there are USB ports up front and in the rear. There are wireless phone chargers for those in the back seats but not up front.

The LM 500h has a cargo capacity of 752 litres with all seats in place.

The Lexus LM 500h sits at the top of its range and is without a doubt one of the most expensive people movers on Earth with its list price of $220,888.

As you would imagine the standard features list is as extensive as it is extravagant.

For starters, while the regular LM 350h has two rows of seating in the rear (seven seats all up, including the front two), the 500h has the third row removed and just two super luxurious and enormous fully reclining seats fill the entire space. It’s like a theatre back there.

That theatre theme keeps going with a media screen in the back so large it stretches the width of the vehicle. Seriously, it's a 48-inch screen to watch movies or connect to your device.

The sound system is probably the best I’ve experienced - a spine tinglingly incredible 23-speaker Mark Levinson set-up.

What else can I tell you? Those rear seats are upholstered in beautifully soft semi-aniline leather. They’re heated and ventilated with a massaging function and... ridiculously comfortable.

There’s four-zone climate control, windows which have an electronic shade that turns the glass opaque, there are wireless phone chargers in the doors and carpet throughout so thick you sink down into it as you step inside.

Our LM 500h was upholstered in the 'Solis White' leather which also brings contrasting and mesmerising copper metallic trim.

Oh, and there’s a wall with an electric glass screen that can be raised or lowered to separate the rear passengers from the driver.

I should have mentioned this earlier. The kids loved it, but these parents spent a lot of time telling the 10- and three-year old not to put the screen up again.

The rear occupants, aka the kids, can also lock the screen in place. Which they did, and so sound proof is the dividing wall that we can only just hear their uproarious laughter.

Up front, the cockpit is comfortable but it’s clear all the space and luxury is for those being driven around.

Still, the front seats are leather with heating and ventilation, there’s a 14-inch media screen and 12.4-inch digital instrument cluster, plus a head-up display. Sat nav, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are also standard.

The BYD Sealion 8 Premium is all-wheel drive and pairs a 1.5-litre, four-cylinder, turbo-petrol engine with two electric motors, one on each axle. Combined outputs sit at a hefty 359kW and 675Nm, which comfortably out-muscles its key rivals.

Those figures do drop back to a more modest 110kW and 220Nm when running on the petrol engine alone.

Performance is strong for a large family SUV, with a claimed 0-100km/h sprint time of 4.9 seconds. You can toggle between pure EV and hybrid modes depending on the drive, which adds a layer of flexibility that suits short daily trips and longer highway runs.

The LM 500h is a petrol-electric hybrid with a 2.4-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine which makes 202kW/460Nm and works in concert with two electric motors.

The front motor makes 64kW/292Nm and the rear makes 76kW/169Nm. The combined maximum power output of the two motors and the petrol engine is 273kW.

The LM 500h is all wheel-drive and has a six-speed automatic transmission.

Charging is handled via a Type 2 CCS port, with support for up to 11kW on AC and up to 74kW on a DC fast charger. BYD claims a 30 to 80 per cent recharge can be done in as little as 20 minutes under ideal conditions.

The 35.6kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery is a standout, delivering a claimed electric-only driving range of 152km on the NEDC cycle. That figure is on the optimistic side compared to WLTP testing, but even with that in mind, it remains an impressive number for a plug-in hybrid of this size.

With a full battery, the combined fuel consumption is rated at just 1.0L/100km, translating to a theoretical driving range of over 1000km. Real-world results will vary depending on how often you’re able to charge and the type of driving you’re doing, but after a week that included a fair stretch of highway driving, my trip computer was showing 6.3L/100km. Overall, it’s a solid result, particularly for something with this level of performance.

Lexus says after a combination of urban and open roads the LM 500h should use 6.6L/100km. In our own testing we found consumption was higher at 9.4L/100km.

Worth noting my driving environment was mainly a hilly suburban one filled with school drop offs. Achieved some personal bests this week, with one long run to Sydney’s outskirts, only to return in nightmarish peak hour traffic.

Premium (95 RON) fuel is required and the tank size is 60 litres. In theory the driving range is a smidge more than 900km, which drops to around 640km using our real-world average.

On-road performance is where things become a bit of a mixed bag. There’s no denying the Sealion 8 Premium is quick and it leans more heavily into its EV character than many large plug-in hybrids. It’s quiet in hybrid mode and responsive off the mark, which makes it easy to keep pace in traffic and overtake when needed. For something of its size, it also does a good job of masking its weight on the move.

Regenerative braking is offered in two levels, but even the stronger setting feels fairly mild. The upside is smoother low-speed driving, with none of the abruptness you sometimes get in hybrids, and it does still recover a decent amount of energy, particularly on longer descents.

Where it falls short is in its overall dynamics. The steering and suspension are tuned for comfort, which results in a soft, slightly floaty feel on the road. It’s not unpleasant and around town it actually suits the car’s brief, but there’s a noticeable lack of feedback and control if you’re expecting something more composed.

Visibility and driver positioning also take some getting used to. The forward view is decent, but the pillars are quite thick and it can be difficult to find a driving position that doesn’t feel a little enclosed.

Judging the edges of the car isn’t always intuitive, and while the 360-degree camera is clear, its perspective can feel slightly off. Objects tend to appear much farther away than they are, which isn’t the most reassuring combination when you’re trying to manoeuvre in tighter spaces.

Quite simply, driving the LM 500h is like piloting a limousine on stilts. Superbly comfortable, but with an elevated driving position that offers outstanding forward and side visibility, the LM 500h is an easy vehicle to drive for long periods of time.

A digital rear vision mirror means visibility behind is good and unobstructed by the privacy screen or the seats.

The drawbacks are down to the lack of space up front, with the driver’s chair limited in its ability to recline or slide back due to the bulkhead behind it.

And that's compounded by the lack of cabin storage for bags if the front passenger seat is taken.

As for the rear passengers there aren't many people movers offering this level of comfort, except perhaps the Zeekr 009.

Variable suspension that adjusts continuously keeps the vehicle composed and provides a high level of comfort for those in the rear. At the same time, the LM stays nice and flat through roundabouts while remaining civilised over speed bumps.

And then there's the acceleration, which, while not supercar-like is incredibly brisk for a van. The all-wheel drive system provides outstanding traction in wet and slippery conditions, too. 

Our family used the LM daily for everything from school runs to shopping trips and weekends away and not only was it fun to drive, our lucky rear passengers enjoyed sitting high and being able to see clearly out their windows along with the luxury of a giant movie screen.

The Lexus  LM 500h is yet to be tested by ANCAP so it doesn't have a safety assessment score. There is, however, a high level of safety tech onboard including AEB which can detect pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and other vehicles, emergency steering assist, lane keeping assistance, road sign recognition, rear cross-traffic alert, front and rear parking sensors as well as six airbags.

For child seats there are ISOFIX points and top tether anchor mounts on the two rear seats. We have a forward facing child seat and found it easy to install.

A space-saver spare wheel is located under the boot floor.

BYD offers the Sealion 8 with a six-year/150,000km warranty and an eight-year or up to 160,000km battery warranty. Both terms are competitive for its class.

Service is recommended every 12 months/20,000km with each workshop visit averaging a solid $596 for the first five years (year four is $1360). Accessing a BYD service centre is fairly easy as there are around 70 centres nationwide now.

BYD recommends premium unleaded petrol (95RON) to be used for the Sealion 8.

Lexus covers the LM 500h with a five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty. 

The Lexus Encore Platinum program is complimentary for LM owners for three years, providing 24-hour roadside assist, a loan vehicle or pick-up/return service at service time, 'On Demand' vehicle evaluation options, valet and airport parking benefits as well as exclusive offers and event opportunities.

Servicing is recommended annually or every 15,000 kilometres, and impressively, pricing is capped at $695 per service over five years.