Family Car Review: 2025 BYD Sealion 7 Premium

How much does the 2025 BYD Sealion 7 cost and what are the options?

The BYD Sealion 7 range is simple with just two versions to choose from. The Premium I tested starts at $54,990 and the Performance comes in at $59,990, both before on-road costs (stamp duty, rego, CTP etc). There are four exterior colours available: Aurora White, Cosmos Black, Atlantis Grey and Shark Grey, with a single black interior option.

The Premium is the rear-wheel-drive model with a single electric motor. It has a battery range of 482km, which is more than enough for my usual week of school runs and errands without needing to charge.

Paying more for the Performance gives you all-wheel drive due to the additional front motor, making it far more powerful and really rather fast but the battery range reduces to 456km. It also has bigger 20-inch wheels and stronger brakes.

I think this BYD gives you a lot of features for the money. The Premium I tested has a panoramic glass roof, 15.6-inch rotating touchscreen, 12-speaker Dynaudio sound system, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, head-up display, heated steering wheel, ventilated and heated front seats, heated rear seats, driver seat memory, wireless phone charging, 360-degree cameras, and heaps of safety tech including child presence detection.

Both Sealion 7 versions come with BYD's six-year, 150,000km vehicle warranty. The battery pack has an eight-year, 160,000km warranty.

How big is the boot of the 2025 BYD Sealion 7?

The boot door of the BYD Sealion 7 opens and closes electronically at the touch of a button, and it does so almost silently, which is fantastic as it won't wake your little ones sleeping in the back.

There's also a lock button on the inside of the tailgate. Touch that as you walk away from the car with your arms full of kids and all their things, and it automatically locks the whole car for you.

The model I tested came with a rubber floor mat in the boot which protects the floor from pram wheels, muddy boots and all your kids' dirty gear. It's also a great wipe-down surface for an emergency nappy change! Underneath the boot floor, there's a storage area for the puncture repair kit and charging cables. There's no spare tyre, which is worth noting for families who do a lot of regional driving or road trips.

The boot of the BYD Sealion 7 is a good size and very practical for families.

From empty, the boot of the BYD Sealion 7 will hold 13 shopping bags. That's pretty good for an electric SUV of this size and matches the Cupra Tavascan which also holds 13. If you need a bigger boot the Toyota bZ4X and the Subaru Solterra both fit 14 bags and the Tesla Model Y holds 15 bags and has a huge under floor compartment.

I measure the boot space in freezer shopping bags, prams and dogs. Not because I think all there is to a mum's life is food shopping, prams and dogs. (Although it can feel like it sometimes!!) But because these are visually measurable items we can all associate with. For me, the car company boot measurement of litres is not an amount I can easily visualise and 400L in one car may differ in usability to that in another due to the configuration or shape of the space.

A multi-configuration pram with a single seat, will fit in the boot of the BYD Sealion 7 with four shopping bags.

A multi-configuration pram with two sibling seats, will fit in the boot with four shopping bags.

A multi-configuration pram with a single seat and the bassinet, will fit in the boot of the BYD Sealion 7 side by side, but with no shopping bags. So if you've got a newborn and a toddler, you can fit the pram but you'll need to put your shopping elsewhere.

A single running stroller with the back wheels on, fits in the boot with three shopping bags.

I found it could comfortably fit a twin running stroller in the boot with the wheels on.

A compact folding stroller fits in the boot of the BYD Sealion 7 with room for six shopping bags.

For family road trips, two large duffel bags fit in the boot side by side.

A large dog will fit comfortably in the boot of the BYD Sealion 7.

The boot space and its functionality are really important. I like to have a big boot space and little side wells or areas I can divide things into. So something I don't want to move around while I'm driving such as my daughter's lunch bag or her wet swimming gear can be sectioned off in a little well where it's not going to spill or get squashed by the rest of the things in the boot.

I measure the boot space in freezer shopping bags, prams and dogs. Not because I think all there is to a mum's life is food shopping, prams and dogs. (Although it can feel like it sometimes!!) But because these are visually measurable items we can all associate with. For me, the car company boot measurement of litres is not an amount I can easily visualise and 400L in one car may differ in usability to that in another due to the configuration or shape of the space.

One big bonus for families is the frunk (front boot) under the bonnet, which adds another three shopping bags worth of storage. I found it perfect for popping wet or sandy gear you don't want touching the rest of your things.

How good is the storage in the 2025 BYD Sealion 7 for families?

The interior of the BYD Sealion 7 is very comfortable and well laid out for families. The cabin has a clean, modern design and feels spacious up front.

In the front, there are two cup holders in the central console. They will hold a reusable or disposable coffee cup. In front of the cup holders, there are two wireless phone charging pads, which is great for families where both parents need to keep their phones charged on the go.

Behind the cup holders, you've got a very good-sized central console box.

Underneath the central console bridge, there's a large open storage area that's big enough for an iPad or a handbag. There are USB-C sockets and a 12-volt accessory socket down there too, which is great for keeping larger devices charged on family road trips.

The front door bins are a good size and will hold a refillable water bottle, iPad and wallet.

Both front visors have lit vanity mirrors, which is handy. There's no glasses case in the ceiling, though, so you'll need to find another spot for your sunnies.

In the back, there's a fold-down armrest in the central seat back with two cup holders. They will hold a reusable or disposable coffee cup, and kids' drink cups fit in there too.

There are map pockets on the back of both front seats that will hold and conceal an iPad and handy small extra pockets above for phone storage.

In the back of the central console, you've got USB-C and USB-A sockets so rear passengers can charge their devices while driving along.

Rear door bins will hold a refillable water bottle.

How many child seats will fit in the 2025 BYD Sealion 7?

There are ISOFIX anchorages for the two outer rear seats of the BYD Sealion 7.

They're not within plastic guides, instead they're hidden within the seat fabric, which does make them a little bit tricky to access.

There are top tether anchorages on the back of all three rear seat backs, and they're nice and easy to access through the boot.

I could fit three child seats across the back of the BYD Sealion 7 really lovely and easily. It's very spacious back here. Three forward-facing child seats fit across easily.

I also tested with a rear-facing child seat and two forward-facing seats with no issues at all.

It means the Sealion 7 joins a growing list of five-seat SUVs that can fit three child seats across.

Legroom is excellent. With a forward-facing child seat behind the driver, a 190cm-plus driver can sit comfortably in front, which is one of the best results I've tested.

With a rear-facing infant capsule, a 186-centimetre driver still fits comfortably, with room to spare. That puts the BYD Sealion 7 among the best EVs for legroom with rear-facing child seats, and it's better than the Hyundai Tucson Hybrid and the 2025 Tesla Model Y on this measure.

The footwell is completely flat in the rear, so there's no hump for the middle passenger to straddle. That makes access really nice and easy, and little passengers can get to and from their child seats without tripping.

The rear doors open very wide too, which makes a real difference when you're leaning in to buckle up a child seat or lifting a baby in and out.

I could fit in between two child seats in the back, that's how spacious these rear seats are. So if you need to sit back there to attend to a little one on a drive, you can do it.

How comfortable is the 2025 BYD Sealion 7 for families?

All members of the family are kept really comfortable in the BYD Sealion 7.

Rear passengers have air vents in the back of the central console box, so you can keep little ones in the back the right temperature while you're driving along. There are also USB-C and USB-A charging sockets back there for rear passengers to charge tablets and devices.

Above both of the rear doors, there are grab handles so you can hang a toy for a little infant to keep them entertained on long journeys. There are also lights above both rear doors, so you can see what you're doing when you're putting your kids in and out of their child seats at night.

I have found our daughter does not like travelling in the dark in the car so if it gets dark whilst travelling then I reach back and turn the interior light on for her. So it's really important for me that I can reach the rear ceiling light.

It is also useful when there are lights situated above the doors where the handles are usually positioned. These are good for when putting baby into their child seats when visibility is poor, so you do not have to reach across them to a light situated in the ceiling centrally etc.

The front seats in the BYD Sealion 7 are incredibly comfortable. The Premium model comes with ventilated and heated front seats as standard, which is brilliant for keeping cool on hot school runs or warming up on cold winter mornings. The driver's seat has eight-way power adjustment with four-way lumbar support and a position memory function, which is great if, like in my family, the drivers are very different in height. The passenger seat has six-way power adjustment.

The heated steering wheel is a lovely touch for cooler months. And the rear seats are heated too, which is a nice feature that not many cars at this price offer but not relevant until your kids are out of child seats!

The panoramic glass roof makes the cabin feel even more open and airy. There's an electronic sunshade available as an option on the Premium, or it comes standard on the Performance. In Australia, you need the sunshade pretty much year round, so see if the dealer will throw it in to make the sale!

The BYD Sealion 7 also has mood lights that can pulse with the rhythm of your music or you can choose from heaps of colours. The kids love choosing colours for these!

What is the media system like in the 2025 BYD Sealion 7?

The media system in the BYD Sealion 7 runs on a 15.6-inch touchscreen that can rotate between portrait and landscape, which is a bit of a BYD party trick. It's lovely and easy to navigate, with shortcuts along the bottom that make it nice and quick to get to what you need.

It has wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which is fantastic, so you can access your phone's navigation, music and messaging apps while you're driving along.

One feature I love for parents is the quick links along the bottom of the screen. You can lock the rear child locks individually from here, so if you've got a little one on one side and an older child or adult on the other, you can lock just the door you need. You've also got physical child locks in the driver's door control panel, which I prefer because you don't have to go into the screen while you're driving.

When you put the Sealion 7 into reverse, the camera images are lovely and clear. You've got lots of different views including 2D and 3D options, and you can turn the parking sensors on and off on the screen too.

Another thing I have realised is I spend my time in a lot more places where small children roam, parks, beaches, play gyms, swimming lessons, daycare centre etc. I have become more aware that when I'm reversing or manouvering in the car parks I have to triple check for small children running around behind me or being in my blind spot when reversing. For this I LOVE reversing cameras, I just don't like their beeping sounds!!

The 12-speaker stereo sounds great too. There's also a 10.25-inch digital dashboard behind the steering wheel and a head-up display projecting the speed and other info onto the windscreen so you can keep your eyes on the road.

Being fully electric, the BYD Sealion 7 is whisper-quiet inside. The indicator sound is subtle and the doors and windows are quiet too, so you can get in and out without worrying about waking sleeping passengers.

With baby asleep you want to be able to get in and out without worrying the doors will be too noisy and wake Bub up!

How safe is the 2025 BYD Sealion 7 for families?

The BYD Sealion 7 has a five-star ANCAP safety rating, scoring 93% for child occupant protection, 87% for adult occupant protection, and 78% for safety assist. That 93% child occupant score is one of the highest I've seen, which is fantastic news for families. This rating applies to all variants (both Premium and Performance). This score puts the BYD Sealion 7 on our TOP 10 Safest Family Cars for kids, as rated by ANCAP list.

The BYD Sealion 7 comes with seven airbags as standard, including side curtain airbags that extend to protect rear-row passengers.

The Sealion 7 also has child presence detection (CPD) fitted as standard across both variants, which alerts you if a child is left in the vehicle and is a feature more and more families are looking for.

The BYD Sealion 7 comes with a long list of active safety technologies as standard, including autonomous emergency braking (AEB) covering car-to-car and vulnerable road user scenarios, front cross-traffic alert with braking, adaptive cruise control (ACC), a lane support system with lane keeping control (LKC), lane departure assist (LDA) and emergency lane keeping assist (ELKA), forward collision warning (FCW), and traffic sign recognition with intelligent speed alert.

The driver-assist safety features also include blind spot detection (BSD), rear cross-traffic alert with braking (RCTB), rear collision warning, door open warning, driver attention warning (DAW), front and rear parking sensors, 360-degree camera, traction control (TCS), electronic brake force distribution, hill hold control, and auto-hold.

The good news is that the BYD Sealion 7 lets you customise your driver assist settings through the touchscreen, so you can adjust individual features as you need them (or they begin to annoy you).

Some of these safety features are also features that drive me crazy as a mum! Like the lane departure and forward collision alert or the parking sensor beeping sound. I want all the safety technology AND to be able to mute the sound when Bub's asleep!

What is the 2025 BYD Sealion 7 like to drive?

The BYD Sealion 7 is a lovely car to drive. It's smooth, quiet and comfortable, and being fully electric, you get all those benefits that make life easier as a parent. You can drive your kids to sleep without the carbon footprint guilt. You can sit at school pick-up with the aircon running without chewing through fuel. And when your little one falls asleep in the back, you can leave the air conditioning running on battery power without any idling engine and local air pollution from your exhaust fumes.

Since becoming a mum I spend A LOT of time parked up somewhere with a nice view while my daughter is asleep in the back! If it's hot I need to leave the engine running and the aircon on but I do like to get out and drink my cuppa tea in the fresh air while enjoying the fact my limbs are free from said dangling child!

The Premium I drove model has a battery ange of 482km, which is more than enough for most families throughout the week without needing to charge. The Performance all-wheel drive model has a range of about 456km.

The Sealion 7 supports DC fast charging at up to 150kW, so you can top up fairly quickly on longer trips or if you don't have a home charger. It also has Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) which means you can use the car's battery as mains power when you're camping or at a picnic for example.

Visibility is very good in the Sealion 7. With three child seats installed in the back, I can still see out the rear windscreen, and the 360-degree cameras are fantastic for parking and manoeuvring in tight spots. The turning circle is lovely and tight at 5.85 metres, and the steering is nice and light, which makes parking at school and the supermarket quick and painless.

One thing I have noticed since being a mum is I hate it when I reach a destination or get home from being out and the kids have either done really well in the car or she is screaming her head off and I have done really well to keep it together for the entire journey (usually the latter!!) and it takes 10 minutes to park the car! It can be really stressful.

The Sealion 7's tight turning circle and light steering mean you can get parked and get those kids out without the stress, which is exactly what you need!

The ride is comfortable for all passengers, on the highway, the double-glazed windscreen and front windows keep outside noise to a minimum, making it a relaxed environment for frazzled parents needing a moment after daycare drop-off.

Additional Information

BYD offers a six-year, 150,000km warranty for the Sealion 7, with an eight-year, 160,000km warranty on the high-voltage battery. BYD provides free map updates for three years, and the vehicle supports over-the-air (OTA) software updates.

The Sealion 7 also features a dual-zone heat pump air conditioning system, which is more efficient than a traditional heater in cold weather and helps preserve battery range.

As well as the soundproof glass it has, rain-sensing windscreen wipers and, parents of kids with pollen or dust mite allergies will appreciate the PM2.5 air filtration system with a negative ion air purifier.

Compare the 2025 BYD Sealion 7

If you're looking at the BYD Sealion 7 as a five-seat electric SUV for your family, here are some competitors worth considering.

The 2025 Tesla Model Y (from $58,900) is the most obvious alternative. It holds 15 shopping bags in the boot (not counting the huge under floor comparmen and frunk) and fits three child seats across the back. It scored 95% for child occupant protection in ANCAP testing, which few cars have matched and none have beaten so far. However, it doesn't pass the 186cm legroom test with a rear-facing infant capsule in the 2025 model, where the Sealion 7 does. The Tesla is also about $4,000 more expensive.

The Toyota bZ4X AWD (from $67,990) is another electric SUV option. It holds 14 shopping bags and fits three child seats, with a 186cm driver fitting in front of a rear-facing capsule. It scored 86% for child occupant protection. It's a well-known brand with a strong dealer network, but it's considerably more expensive than the Sealion 7 and has less range.

If you're open to a hybrid rather than a full EV, the Hyundai Tucson Hybrid (from about $42,850 for the Hybrid) holds 14 shopping bags and fits three child seats (though it's a tight squeeze across the shoulders). It scored 87% for child occupant protection. It's cheaper to buy but doesn't offer the electric-only driving capability of the Sealion 7, and it doesn't pass the 186cm rear-facing legroom test.

The Subaru Forester Hybrid (from about $46,490 for the Hybrid) holds 16 shopping bags and fits three child seats with 186cm of legroom. It scored 91% for child occupant protection and comes with standard all-wheel drive. It's a great all-rounder for families, though it's not a plug-in hybrid so doesn't offer the EV benefits of silent running and no fuel costs for local trips.

BabyDrive Verdict on the 2025 BYD Sealion 7 Premium

The 2025 BYD Sealion 7 Premium makes a great family car. It fits those three child seats in the back really nice and easily, with fantastic legroom (a 186cm driver in front of a rear-facing capsule, and 190cm-plus with forward-facing seats) and a completely flat footwell making access a breeze.

The 93% child occupant protection score from ANCAP is one of the highest available, and the full suite of safety tech including child presence detection gives real peace of mind for families.

Boot space is good, with a twin pram fitting alongside other gear, and the frunk adds useful extra storage that sets it apart from many competitors. The rubber boot mat in the one I tested is a small touch that makes a big difference for messy family life.

The electric drive is smooth, quiet and comfortable, with 482km of range more than covering a typical family's weekly driving. Sitting at school pick-up or waiting for a sleeping baby without burning fuel is one of those EV benefits you don't appreciate until you experience it. The V2L capability is a nice bonus for camping families too.

The only real downsides are the lack of a spare tyre, and no glasses case in the ceiling.

For families looking for a good value, spacious and safe electric SUV, the BYD Sealion 7 Premium is well worth a test drive.

Key Pros:

• Fits three child seats across the rear row with room to spare
• 186cm+ driver fits in front of a rear-facing child seat (190cm+ with forward-facing)
• Completely flat rear footwell for easy access
• Five-star ANCAP safety rating with 93% child occupant protection
• Child presence detection standard
• Very quiet and smooth electric drive
• 482km WLTP range for weekly family driving
• V2L functionality for camping
• 58-litre frunk for extra storage
• Rubber boot floor mat standard
• Rear doors open very wide for child seat access
• Ventilated and heated front seats standard

Key Cons:

• ISOFIX hidden within seat fabric (no plastic guides)
• No spare tyre (puncture repair kit only)
• No glasses case in the ceiling