Big technology shift coming for popular electric car: Facelifted 2025 BYD Seal gets cosmetic tweaks and embraces Lidar despite key rival Tesla Model 3 sticking to cameras

The 2025 BYD Seal was revealed in official images last Friday, signalling more bad news for Tesla as the Chinese EV-maker looks poised to climb global sales charts. 

For 2025, the Seal will improve its Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) capabilities through the addition of an integrated Lidar sensor, developed by Chinese tech company Robosense. 

It means the Seal is likely to gain enhanced ADAS capabilities. Exact details will have to wait, however, until the vehicle’s official unveiling in China on August 8. Australian arrival timing also remains unconfirmed.

Aside from an eye-catching new sensor, images from CarNewsChina.com show the Seal also gains some extra design tweaks that include a brand new ‘Sky Purple’ colour. 

The ‘build your dreams’ motto has also been dropped from the vehicle’s rear to be replaced by a bold BYD logo in red.

Inside, the China-market Seal gets a new steering wheel, along with a new ‘Coral Orange’ colour scheme on the vehicle’s lower dashboard, steering wheel, seats and centre console.

The floating 15.4-inch multimedia system appears unchanged, as does its centre console which is equipped with wireless charging panels, cup holders and a gear shifter. 

The Seal's dimensions remain unchanged, too, at 4800 mm long, 1875mm wide, 1460 mm tall, with a wheelbase of 2920 mm.

The 2025 Seal will be built on BYD’s e-platform 3.0, which will utilise 800V architecture, allowing for faster charging and greater range capacity. 

However, exact powertrain details are yet to be revealed and how enhanced battery capacity may impact the vehicle’s cost is unknown. 

In Australia, the Seal is currently available in three trims: the entry-level Dynamic trim, the mid-range Premium trim and the top-spec Performance trim.

The Dynamic trim starts at $49,888 (before on-road costs), and is fitted with a 61.4kWh battery that sends power to a single 150kW/310Nm rear-wheel drive electric motor. It has a rated WLTP driving range of 460km.

The Premium trim, which is also rear-wheel drive, provides a claimed 570 km of driving range through an 82.6kWh battery and an upgraded 230kW/360Nm electric motor. It is priced at $59,798 (before on-road costs).

The all-wheel drive Performance spec utilises the same 82.6kWh battery as the Premium variant, though it has an increased output of 390kW/670Nm thanks to twin electric motors.

Its range dips slightly to 520 km due to the weight of an additional motor, though it records a 0-100kmh time of 3.98 seconds. It starts at $68,748 (before on-road costs).

For comparison, the Model 3 range starts at $54,900 (before on-road costs), $5,000 more than the Seal Dynamic, while rising to $12,152 more for the top-spec Tesla 3 Performance. 

Along with general updates, the Lidar module is likely to increase the cost and that's one of the key reasons Tesla eschews the technology in its cars.

The Model 3 does not use Lidar and, in 2019, CEO Elon Musk said: “Lidar is a fools’ errand. And anyone relying on Lidar is doomed”.

Reuters later revealed that Tesla was one of Luminar Technologies’ – a key Lidar supplier in the US – biggest customers, although how it uses the technology is unclear.

That extra cost could prove crucial as low prices have been a key determinant for BYD’s quick rise to global dominance in global EV sales. 

Even with relatively low domestic sales in China, BYD’s global battery-electric sales in the April-June quarter jumped nearly 21 per cent year on year to 426,039, while Tesla’s fell 4 per cent to 443,956 vehicles. 

In Australia, BYD has sold 4662 Seal’s since the model was released in Australia in October 2023. The more established Model 3 has sold 11,839 vehicles this year to date, though sales are down 2.8 per cent from this time last year.

CarsGuide contacted BYD’s local importer, EV Direct, ahead of the vehicle's official unveiling in China, though a spokesperson declined to comment on the updated model’s Australian launch.

The updated model could arrive in Australia as soon as six months from now, though it may certainly take longer. 

After launching its Sealion 6 plug-in hybrid, BYD is soon introduce a PHEV ute known as the Shark with a third electric vehicle, likely the Sealion 7, coming to rival the Tesla Model Y.