Volvo C40 vs BYD Sealion 8

What's the difference?

The C40 becomes a compelling option in the electrified small SUV space, offering a premium look and feel, great range and tech inclusions at the price, as well as awesome on-road dynamics.

Its main downsides are the rear seat, which is compromised by its platform and design-led roofline, and the overwhelming power and added traction of the dual-motor makes the single motor less attractive on the value front.

Still, regardless of variant chosen, the C40 looks to offer a stand-out balance of price, range, and performance, against its traditional rivals and newcomers alike.

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.

Volvo has become a brand with a distinctive and consistent design language which embodies the kind of beautiful minimalism normally associated with Scandinavian brands.

I have always liked how Volvo says more with less design elements, with only gentle touches of chrome or gloss black, and a lack of over-the-top sporty pieces avoiding the temptation to over-sell the sporty potential of the brand’s range.

The C40 takes the small SUV formula, well established by its XC40 relation, and gets a bit weird and experimental. It’s slightly lower and has a more coupe-styled rear, with a strongly raked rear window giving it a sportier and more aggressive look than the rest of Volvo’s SUV range.

The styling is sold by an angular spoiler piece running atop the boot, and the rear light clusters have gone all minimalist, constructed of individual pieces rather than a single transparent housing, and they give a nod to the C30 hatchback which this car is the spiritual successor to, by name and nature.

The interior offers up no surprises, sticking to the formula Volvo has established across all of its current models. An effortlessly premium space with, again, a minimalistic dash dominated by the portrait touchscreen, the C40’s premium nature is confirmed by its finely patterned inlays, simple chrome pieces, and abundance of soft-touch surfaces.

The big upright vent fittings with clever rhomboid patterns on their adjustment dials are always a highlight piece of modern Volvos, and the pattern work is continued on the central volume adjust dial and even on the little rotating pieces of the light and wiper stalks. Clever.

Even the software is paired back on the multimedia suite and digital dashboard, with easy to use shortcuts and simple menus which suit the car.

Volvo might turn off some buyers with the more unconventional shape of the C40. But for those looking for a more traditional SUV it also offers the XC40 in the same two variants, and the Polestar 2 caters to those not looking for an SUV at all.

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 C40 is essentially a XC40 with a cropped down roofline, and there are some obvious downsides which this new shape brings.

The front seat throws no surprises, though, offering plenty of room for two adults with a welcome level of adjustability for the seat and wheel. The seats could be more comfortable, though, with a notable lack of padding in the base compared to some luxury (or even non-luxury) rivals. 

I’m a fan of the fabric trim which comes on both grades, bucking the trend of needing to have leather or leather-like trim for a car to feel ‘premium’.

The ample window space up front, including the massive glass roof helps the C40’s cabin feel spacious, but the view out the rear with its aggressive design is all but a very limited letterbox aspect, particularly if the rear seat headrests are in the upright position. 

While some controls are exclusively via touch interface, there is a physical volume dial, and shortcut buttons for the defogger functions. 

Temperature is controlled by touch, however, and the detail settings have some smaller toggle adjustments. Tricky to jab at when you’re on the move.

The digital dash is refreshingly simple, but minimally adjustable, with the choice of either a nifty navigation screen, a blank screen, or trip details being the only options.

Cabin storage is good but not stellar. There are bottle holders and big pockets in the doors, a set of two cupholders in the centre (beats the Polestar 2’s single cupholder), a small tray with a wireless charger under the multimedia screen, and a smallish console armrest box.

The rear seat is where the real problem exists. Unlike the XC40, the C40’s cropped roofline means my head was hard up against the roof (I’m 182cm tall). 

I did have decent knee room behind my own seating position, however the seat comfort in the back still isn’t as good as some rivals. 

The middle position is also compromised, thanks to the raised centre floor piece the C40’s platform needs to facilitate all-wheel drive in its combustion relations.

A bottle holder appears in each door pocket, and in a rare inclusion, there are heated outboard rear seats, adjustable air vents, and USB-C charging ports.

The boot has a quoted capacity of 413 litres with the rear seats up. The floor is comparatively high suggesting a smallish space when loaded with luggage cases, for instance. Stay tuned for a follow-up review so we can see how well it holds our three-piece demo set.

The floor itself has an adjustable, pop-up divider and multiple luggage hooks, making it quite versatile, and there is a cavity beneath which can hold your charging cables as well as the inflator kit in place of a spare wheel.

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.

The BYD Sealion 8 range is relatively straightforward, with two grades on offer and the base variant available with a choice of two drivetrains. For this review, we’re in the flagship Premium AWD, which is priced from $70,990 before on-road costs.

It lines up against the Chery Tiggo 9 Super Hybrid at $65,430 driveaway, the Kia Sorento GT-Line PHEV from $71,130 before on-roads, and the Mazda CX-80 P50e Azami, which stretches up to $87,950 before on-road costs.

On paper, the Sealion 8 Premium doesn’t quite undercut the Chery on price or match its claimed 170km (NEDC) electric-only range, but it’s not far off, with a still-impressive 152km (NEDC). And when you look at the broader package, it starts to make a fairly strong value argument, particularly against its other key rivals.

The 'Premium' badge isn’t just for show, either. Equipment is generous, with highlights including a fixed panoramic sunroof with an electric sunshade, leather-appointed upholstery, a heated steering wheel, and heated, ventilated and massaging seats not just in the front, but for the outboard seats in the second row as well - a feature that hasn’t gone unnoticed by my nine-year old.

Technology is a clear focus. There’s a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster, a large 15.6-inch touchscreen multimedia system and a 26-inch augmented reality head-up display, alongside wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a 50W wireless charging pad and a 21-speaker DiSound audio system. BYD also includes 2GB of data per month for the first two years to support its 4G connectivity and over-the-air updates.

Practical touches round things out, with keyless entry and start, NFC card access and a digital key via the BYD app, a powered tailgate, vehicle-to-load (V2L) capability, rain-sensing wipers, sound insulation for the front doors and windscreen and three-zone climate control.

Great news here, the C40 can be chosen with two powerful layouts, either a front-wheel drive 170kW/330Nm set-up, or a dual-motor all-wheel drive arrangement, able to make use of nearly double the power at 300kW/660Nm. The dual-motor is capable of sprinting from 0-100km/h in just 4.7 seconds.

The front-drive is backed by a 69kWh battery allowing it a 434km range, while the dual motor ups the battery size to 78kWh to allow a 420km driving range.

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.

Surprisingly, energy consumption is quite high for both C40 variants. The single motor is the more efficient of the two, consuming 16.8kWh/100km on the more lenient ADR testing schedule, while the dual motor officially consumes 22.2kWh/100km to the same standard. I saw around 23kWh/100km overall in my short test of the dual-motor variant.

Energy consumption could be better for both, as I have achieved more consistently impressive results particularly from Hyundai and Kia electric cars.

Where the C40 is more impressive though is its charging specs, which are exactly where they need to be for a car this size. On a rapid DC charger, the C40 can charge at a rate of 150kW meaning a 10 - 80 percent charge in 40 minutes for the dual motor, or 32 minutes for the single motor.

On the slower AC standard, the C40 charges at a rate of 11kW. Expect a 10 - 80 percent charge time of around five or six hours on this standard. 

The C40 uses a European-standard Type 2 CCS charging port, although it misses out on the handy two-way charging feature offered by some rivals.

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.

If you’ve driven any kind of XC40 or even a Polestar 2 before, the C40 will offer no surprises. It’s pretty much exactly the same from behind the wheel with a few subtle tweaks.

This is a very good thing. The C40 is quiet, easy to drive, and its electric motor and regen system offer a smooth single-pedal experience.

It is also alarmingly, overwhelmingly, rapid. While its massive set of batteries under the floor make it feel heavy off the line in stop-start traffic, sticking your boot into the accelerator will remove any doubt, particularly in the dual-motor variant, that this Volvo means business.

The dual-motor also has an incredible torque-vectoring system, making it extremely difficult to elicit so much as a squeak from its tyres. It also feels as though torque is distributed quite evenly between its two driven axles, making it feel neither prone to over- or understeer.

This has the effect of making the C40 feel somewhat indestructible in the corners, with absurd levels of grip. 

The same feeling is present in top-spec versions of the Polestar 2, only the feeling of ever-present weight is more noticeable in the higher-riding C40, which can make it unsettling to take corners at the kinds of speeds it is capable of.

The steering tune is interesting. Volvo offers two software-controlled modes, either heavy or standard, and the standard mode is heavy enough. 

Despite its electrical assistance, the wheel does continue to offer some organic feedback, making the C40 a pleasure to steer on countryside roads.

The ride is also surprisingly good, despite massive wheel options. I was impressed how easily the C40 handled most bumps and undulations, communicating little to the cabin. 

The ride can approach its limits with such big wheels and the weight of its batteries, generally these are communicated via unsettling thuds from underneath the car. Regular undulations at higher speeds also had the C40 bouncing around a little.

On the whole, though, the cabin is kept relatively insulated and serene, adding an element of total confidence, similar to that offered by Teslas, whilst offering better ride quality with a softer edge. At higher speed, at least on the 20-inch wheels, road noise does pick up, however.

In terms of electric driving, there is a single adjustable setting for regen. The car either offers a full single pedal mode with maximum regenerative braking to bring the car to a halt with the motor alone, or a ‘standard’ mode which tones the regen down and offers it blended in via the brake pedal. 

Single pedal mode is more efficient. I suggest you stick to it if you want to make the most of this car’s efficiency.

I was surprised to have so few complaints about the C40’s drive experience. This is a balanced and capable EV which is yet another example of how even vehicles which use combustion platforms are improved out of sight by full electrification.

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.

The BYD Sealion 8 is yet to be tested by ANCAP and therefore remains unrated at this stage. That said, it comes equipped with a comprehensive suite of safety features, along with nine airbags including side chest airbags for the front and second rows.

Standard equipment includes seatbelt reminders for all seating positions, front and rear parking sensors, driver attention monitoring and alert, tyre pressure monitoring, traffic sign recognition and autonomous emergency braking. It also features front and rear collision warning, blind-spot monitoring, rear and front cross-traffic alert and side exit assist.

On the road, however, some of the active safety systems are less polished in execution. The adaptive cruise control can feel abrupt when slowing down and slow to regain speed, while the steering assist can be overly reactive through corners. Lane keeping also lacks consistency, with the system not always engaging as expected.

For families, child seat provision is strong, with four ISOFIX anchor points and five top tether mounts across the cabin, along with child presence detection.

The C40 is covered by Volvo’s five year and unlimited kilometre warranty, with a separate eight-year, 160,000km warranty for the battery. There is also eight years of roadside assistance attached.

It is pleasing to see the service intervals for the C40 are long, as they should be for an electric car with so few moving parts, set at two years or 30,000km. 

The first 24 month service is free of charge, and Volvo tells us service pricing after this period will average out to around $100 a year ($200 per visit).

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.