BYD’s Sealion 5 offers up to 1,016km range
This is a proper five-seater with room for all adults to travel in comfort, with very good levels of headroom and legroom front and rear.
Chinese car brand BYD has certainly made its mark on the Irish car market, having launched eight new models since arriving here just three years ago.
The company has sold 3,894 units so far this year, representing a massive increase of +99.69% over the whole of last year’s sales. BYD is now amongst the leading five EV and PHEV brands in Ireland.
My latest test drive was the BYD Sealion 5 Super Hybrid, which sits below the larger Seal U hybrid in the brand’s hybrid line-up. It measures 4,738mm long, 1,860mm wide, 1,710mm high, and has a wheelbase of 2,712mm.
This is a 1.5 plug-in hybrid with a range of up to 1,016km when fully charged and with a full tank of petrol, dispelling any driver range anxiety as you could travel the length and breadth of the country without having to stop to ‘refuel’.
To me, the model is not as stylish as some competitors such as the Hyundai Tucson, Kia Sportage, or Toyota Corolla Cross. It looks quite fussy with too much going on, especially on the front and sides with the large textured grille, muscular shoulders that flare over the wheel arches, and all the indented lines. But the 18-inch bi-colour alloy wheels look great and provide good grip, while the full-width LED light bar and contrast-colour D-pillar create a ‘floating’ roof effect.
This is a proper five-seater with room for all adults to travel in comfort, with very good levels of headroom and legroom front and rear. Front seats feature durable vegan faux leather upholstery, have integrated see-through head restraints, and can be heated. The driver’s seat has six-way power adjustment, while the co-driver’s seat has four-way power adjustments. Both provide very good back support.
The centre dash is the fixed 12.8-inch landscape touchscreen, which I changed from a dark background to a lighter one. The touchscreen is compatible with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay; built-in shortcuts let you change the temperature and fan speed. Dual zone climate control, fan, air direction settings are permanent controls along the base of the central screen.
The colourful 8.8-inch digital instrument cluster stands out from the dash and provides all the relevant information, including your current speed shown large top centre.
The three-spoke multifunction steering wheel includes voice control - say ‘Hi BYD’ to grab her attention. You can ask ‘herself’ to turn on the air conditioning, change the temperature, or radio station.
There’s also an excellent reversing camera. The automatic transmission selector is on the flat of the central console, with the start-stop button and buttons for sensors, audio, fan, windscreen heater, and controls for EV or HEV driving.
Rear seats can split 40:60. Wide-opening doors help install a child seat, and there are three ISOFIX anchor points provided. A completely flat floor improves foot room for the middle passenger. The power tailgate opens up 463 litres of boot space that can expand up to 1,410 litres with rear seats folded.
PHEVs can be charged by both regenerative braking and by plugging into an external charger, either a home charger or public charging station.
Hybrid cars are ideal for long-distance driving as when the electric range runs out, you can just carry on your journey powered by petrol in this case.
The Dual Mode hybrid system pairs a 1.5 petrol engine with an electric motor to provide a combined 212hp. In EV or HEV modes, wheels are driven solely by the electric motor and back-up charge supplied with power from the 1.5 petrol engine. When the battery is fully charged and switched to EV mode, the car becomes pure-electric with up to 86kms of electric range with its dual Blade Batteries, manufactured in-house by BYD. When the battery charge runs out, it changes over to the petrol engine.
This DM-i technology improves efficiency during hybrid driving, with a combined fuel consumption of just 2.1 L/100km.
Trims are Comfort and Design. The Comfort model, with its 12.96 kWh battery, delivers up to 62kms of all-electric range and a range of 992kms. With its larger 18.3 kWh battery, the Design trim has an electric range of 85kms and a combined range of 1,016kms, with acceleration from 0-100km/h in 8.1 seconds.
Comfort trim includes metallic paint, LED headlights and tail-lights, power folding/heated exterior mirrors, aluminium roof rails, V2L, six speakers, rear parking sensors, and a rear-view camera. Design adds an electric tailgate, heated front seats, a wireless phone charging pad, a 360-degree camera, front parking sensors, and Dynamic welcome lights.
On the road, I liked how this car drove like an electric vehicle, mostly using the Normal drive mode (also Eco and Sport modes), and was able to get a great driving position, and I appreciated the comfort provided.
The car comes with a comprehensive suite of safety and driver assistance features, but I turned off all the annoying lane keeping/departure ‘alerts’ and stuck masking tape over the driver monitor on the A-pillar, which annoyed me with a big yellow ‘eye’ image on my driver’s screen warning me to keep my eye on the road should I glance sideways.
The Sealion 5 Super Hybrid has a basic warranty of six years or 150,000km; the power battery eight years or 250,000km. Road tax is €140.
PRICE: from €36,990-€40,990
