BYD Seal News

A new ultra-efficient BYD model has been exposed by China’s vehicle regulator.Dubbed the Seal 08, the all-new electric model will arrive as a sibling to the Qin L EV in China, a cut-price sedan offered with internal combustion engine (ICE), plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and battery-electric powertrains.This model, however, will only be available with an electric powertrain. Specifically, a small 46.1kWh lithium iron phosphate Blade battery pack, paired with a 110kW electric motor.Despite its small size, the Sealion 08's 10kWh/100km efficiency means the sedan has an impressive 461km of driving range, albeit in the more lenient CLTC protocol. It also puts it comfortably ahead of the updated Tesla Model 3 (on paper), which achieves a peak rating of 13.2kWh/100km under the more stringent WLTP cycle. A top-spec variant will carry a larger 56.6kWh unit that will provide 545km, while it also gets a more powerful electric motor that delivers 160kW.In terms of design, the Seal 08 mirrors the Seal with its 'Ocean Series' silhouette, which includes the same front end, roofline and tailgate as the Seal.That said, it gets different LED headlight clusters, no fancy LED running lights on the lower bumper, physical door handles, less sophisticated wheel designs and different LED tail-lights.According to CarNewsChina, this is because it will fit under the Dynasty series in China, a more budget-friendly offering that the publication said is targeted at younger, cash-strapped buyers.The Ocean Series, which makes up most of the offerings on the Australian market, such as the Seal, Dolphin and Sealion 7, is alternatively targeted at a more upmarket clientele.As such, the Seal 08 is being floated with a price tag of around 150,000 yuan ($32,422) in China, although it would certainly carry a premium should it land in Australia.CarsGuide has contacted BYD’s local operations to determine whether the Seal 08 is a chance for the Australian market as a cut-price follow up to the brand’s more premium Tesla Model 3 and Hyundai Ioniq 6 competitor, the BYD Seal.It comes after CEO of BYD’s local distributor David Smitherman told CarsGuide he was pushing for more models in Australia."BYD has got a huge appetite for Australia and is very keen to bring product to the market," said Smitherman"In my role, I’m saying let's get lots of products to Australia to meet every segment."

Electric cars are finding their footing in the new car market, but used EVs remain mysterious. You can’t check the oil, the service records won’t tell you much and the single most expensive part — the battery — typically requires full replacement if there’s an issue, rather than repair. Good news is that data from online auction house Pickles shows that battery health is in line with — if not better — than manufacturer predictions. Which should help allay one of the biggest fears of buying a second hand electric car.The vast majority of electric cars on sale today have an eight-year or 160,000km — whichever comes first — battery warranty. These typically guarantee the battery health of any car will remain above 70 per cent. If not, the manufacturer will replace the unit free of charge. Battery health refers to what percentage of the battery’s original capacity remains usable and dictates maximum driving range. For example, if a car was capable of travelling 500km from 100 per cent charge when new, a battery health of 80 per cent would see your maximum range fall to 400km. Additional aspects, including fast-charge time, may be affected as well. Pickles has found the average battery health of vehicles sold to be in excess of 90 per cent, even for vehicles that have travelled more than 120,000km. Many of these cars would have travelled this distance in less than five years, which is an impressive result. Additionally, cars over four years old with lower kilometres retained, on average, more than 93 per cent battery health.Data was collected from the ‘Pickles EV battery health assurance process’, which uses consistent third party software and has been run on 250 vehicles so far. See the below table for observed battery health against kilometres travelled. “This underlines that Pickles is selling used EVs with very healthy batteries, as early data suggests battery health is in line with manufacturer expectations,” said Brendon Green, Pickles General Manager, Automotive Solutions.Some brands fared better than others, though exact reasons why would be speculative. Hyundai and BYD had the highest average battery health rates, followed by Tesla. Partially this can be attributed to Tesla being around for longer. With advancements in battery temperature management such as liquid cooling and heat pumps, lifetime health has generally improved. Admittedly, Pickles’ sample size is small compared to the 90,000-strong new electric car market last year. The auction house had 334 electric cars come through in 2024, a huge leap from 2023’s 115 units. Naturally, the used market has lagged behind the new one but there’s an important milestone coming up, with the government’s FBT exemption for electric vehicles coming up to three years old in July. This will see numbers increase as cars come off lease. Along with bringing broader choice, prices are only expected to fall further in response to intense new-car discounting and a flood of the market.Not ideal for those who purchased new electric cars, but a great thing for those looking to get into an EV without the capital for a new purchase. Pickles' data shows used petrol and diesel vehicles remain 20 per cent above pre-COVID prices, electric vehicle are back to, or below, those values.Interestingly, the report shows that a much greater number of electric cars are selling to private buyers (51 per cent) versus the split for petrol and diesel vehicles (24 per cent) which are motor trade heavy. Green said that EVs may have attracted a “marginally smaller” dealer pool, but the private buyer interest is a good thing for Pickles and its sellers as they are typically less outright price sensitive. “In general, EV buyers are far more educated than any other vehicle buyer category that we’ve seen so far. They do a lot of research, because they’re all stepping away, often for the first time, from a traditional ICE . “They’ve probably test driven them elsewhere and gone, right, I want a Tesla Model 3 with two years and 30,000kms and there’s three of them on Pickles already,” explained Green. 

BYD has revealed yet another offering in its range of hybrids overseas, the Seal 05 DM-i.

With so many new brands and models entering what appears to be a softening new car market, what started as a price skirmish is quickly evolving into all out war, with BYD announcing further reductions on cost-of-entry to some of its most popular models.

BYD is a relative minnow in the Australian car market. Yes, it’s had some modest success with its range of electric cars, but it’s still well-short of reaching the top 10 in sales and having a real impact on the market… or is it?

It’s been another huge year at CarsGuide, especially when it comes to our video content.

BYD is looking to drive sales at the end of the year, slashing prices by $3000 on all of its passenger car models for a limited time. Additionally, the Chinese carmaker is offering a $1000 home charger installation voucher in the bundle. This deal applies to the end of November across all BYD models currently on sale, including the Dolphin hatch, Atto 3 small SUV, Seal sedan and Sealion 6 plug-in hybrid medium SUV. It is the latest move in BYD asserting dominance in the Australian new-car market, with loft ambitions first to take a top-five place among manufacturers followed by a challenge on giant Toyota that currently has a lock on first place. The brand plans to sell 25,000 cars this year, double 2023’s sales figures. By the end of October, BYD had registered 16,913 new cars in Australia, with 1732 done last month.It will need to really lift its game to hit the 25,000 target, more than doubling its October sales figures for the last two months of the year to over 4000 in a typically quiet time for new-car sales.BYD was not able to quantify how successful the promotion yas been yet but a spokesperson told CarsGuide "sales are in the thousands to date across the festival BYD campaign."The $3000 discounts bring the Dolphin electric hatch (340km-427km WLTP range) down as low as $33,890 before on-road costs, in Dynamic guise. Close but not enough to undercut the MG4 Excite 51kWh that is still on offer for $32,990 drive-away.The popular Atto 3 Standard drops to a competitive $41,499, while the Seal Dynamic sedan — that already undercut Tesla’s base Model 3 — is a quite ridiculous $46,888, before on-road costs. Finally, the plug-in hybrid Sealion 6 Dynamic drops its price below an equivalently-equipped Toyota RAV4 hybrid at $45,990, before on-road costs. Discounts have been instrumental in driving electric car sales in Australia with brands such as Tesla and MG finding bursts of serious success by slashing prices. Not everyone is on board, though, with critics noting the effects on resale value and price stability. 

Just two months after celebrating production of its nine millionth vehicle (and 15 months after celebrating its five millionth) BYD has gone and shocked the automotive world again – and broke its own record in the process.

BYD's rapid growth should have other car brands worried.

BYD has teased a new electric SUV set to be revealed at the Paris Motor Show in mid-October.