BYD Sealion 5 review

Overnight success comes in many forms, just take Instagram which gained 25,000 users on day one. Instant popularity is something many brands can only dream of, but a wave BYD is currently riding, following massive growth since the brand’s UK launch in 2023. You have to keep that kind of momentum going, though, and that’s where the new BYD Sealion 5 DM-i comes in. 

You see, BYD is predicting that this new plug-in hybrid (PHEV) will be one of its bestsellers, thanks to it majoring on practicality and affordability. Take a look at the stats and it’s easy to see why – for starters, the Sealion 5 is slightly bigger than a Hyundai Tucson PHEV but costs lots less. 

That should help the Sealion 5 to hit the ground running, but it still won’t be easy if it wants to take on the best family SUVs and win. After all, that’s a class that includes the Ford Kuga PHEV, VW Tiguan and the What Car? Car of the Year award-winning MG HS PHEV.

Does BYD’s third plug-in hybrid really have what it takes to come out on top?

How fast is it and which engine is best?

There are two different versions of the BYD Sealion 5 DM-i to go for, but both give you 209bhp thanks to the same 1.5-litre petrol engine and electric motor sitting beneath their bonnets. 

Even so, the entry-level Comfort is actually the fastest of the pair, owing to its smaller battery making it more lightweight. Officially, it’ll sprint from 0-62mph in 7.7sec, slower than the Ford Kuga PHEV, but a vast improvement over the Hyundai Tucson PHEV and more than fast enough for everyday driving. 

Design increases the 0-62mph sprint to 8.1sec, but put your foot down in either and the Sealion 5 is eager to get off the line, sprinting up to motorway speeds with ease and giving you a sudden burst of power whenever required. 

Is it agile and is the ride comfortable?

It’s often the case that plug-in hybrids need firm suspension in order to compensate for their heavy batteries, and the Sealion 5 is no exception. In a way, the firmness is a good thing because it gives it plenty of control over undulations, keeping the body upright and preventing you from swaying side-to-side. 

On the other hand, it means that the Sealion 5’s ride feels busy pretty much all of the time. Even on motorways that look smooth, there’s a near constant fidget that you feel through the seats, almost as if you’re feeling the grain of the road. It’s not uncomfortable, per se, but it isn’t as smooth as the softer Tucson. 

At slow speeds, the Sealion 5 manages to soak up potholes without any thuds, but it still feels fidgety and you’re moved around in your seat a lot. 

When driving more spiritedly on a country road, the Sealion 5 does a good job of keeping body lean to a minimum, but isn’t really something that encourages you to push the limits. That’s largely down to its steering, which feels really heavy around the center point and doesn’t give you much idea of what the front wheels are up to.

Is it quiet and how easy is it to drive smoothly?

At motorway speeds, you’ll hear more wind noise than you will in the Kuga but road noise is well contained. What’s more, while you’re cruising along, the engine is hushed and barely noticeable. 

Put your foot down, however, and it’s a different story. You see, while it isn’t loud in the same sense as the Toyota RAV4, it becomes incredibly bassy and sends lots of vibrations through the car. Both the Hyundai Tucson and MG HS PHEV are more refined in this sense, even when their engines are worked hard. 

The Sealion 5’s brakes take a bit of getting used to, with the pedal feeling a bit grabby at slow speeds but improving as speeds increase. Ultimately, it’s easier to bring the Sealion 5 to a smooth stop than the HS PHEV, but other rivals have more feelsome brake pedals. 

What’s the range and efficiency like and how quickly can it charge?

If you’re after maximum range, you’ll want to go for the Design version, because it increases the battery to 18kWh, compared with 13kWh in the Comfort. 

Impressively, that gives the latter an official electric-only range of 53 miles (up from 35 in the Comfort), which is more than the Ford Kuga PHEV and Hyundai Tucson PHEV, but some way off the MG HS PHEV, which can manage up to 75 miles.  

Once the battery is dead, both versions of the Sealion 5 can charge at a maximum rate of 3.3kW, meaning they’ll take 4hr 30min and 6hr respectively to charge from 0-100%. For comparison, the Kuga takes 3hr 30min on a 7kW charger, while the HS PHEV takes 4hr.

“The switch between the electric motor and petrol engine is very smooth, so it’s surprising how vocal the engine is at times.” – Dan Jones, Senior reviewer

What does the interior look like and is it well made?

While the BYD Sealion 5’s price tag might undercut many of its rivals, BYD certainly hasn’t skimped when it comes to interior materials. Indeed, both versions come with vegan leather seats as standard and have soft touch materials in all the places that you’ll touch most. It’s a definite improvement over the Ford Kuga’s interior, which is dominated by hard and scratchy plastics. 

Our only real demerit is that the interior lacks the showroom appeal of the Hyundai Tucson PHEV and MG HS PHEV, the former getting a greater mix of materials throughout and the latter an optional, and very striking, tan leather interior. By contrast, the Sealion 5 is currently only offered with an interior that is predominantly black.   

Tap around the interior and you’ll find that build quality is good, with all of the physical buttons on the centre console feeling well-damped and like they’ll stand the test of time.

Is the driving position comfortable and is it easy to see out?

The driving position in the Sealion 5 lines you up perfectly with the steering wheel and pedals, while standard-fit electric front seats help you to easily tailor it to your preferences. It’s just a bit of a shame that you don’t get adjustable lumbar support on either version. 

Meanwhile, the seats themselves are very firm and begin to feel uncomfortable when driving long distances. The Tucson’s seats are far more comfortable, thanks to them having a bit more give, allowing you to sink into the seat slightly more. 

You’ll have no issues seeing out the front of the Sealion 5, thanks to the fairly high driving position giving you a good view out over the bonnet and thin windscreen pillars maximising your view out at junctions. 

Rear visibility is also quite good, thanks to a decent-sized rear window and large cut-outs in the rear pillars that increase the view of your blindspot when you over your shoulder. To make parking easier, Comfort trim comes with rear parking sensors and a rear-view camera, while Design adds front parking sensors and a 360-degree camera. 

Is the dashboard and infotainment system easy to use?

You’ll find an 8.8in digital driver display behind the steering wheel of every Sealion 5. Unlike the MG HS PHEV, the Sealion 5’s display isn’t very customisable and can’t show you things like a fullscreen map. Even so, the graphics are clear and the display is really easy to read at a glance. 

Infotainment is shown to you on the 12.8in touchscreen that sits on top of the dashboard. It’s a fairly good system that responds to all of your prods quickly and has straightforward menus. Likewise, the graphics are crisp and all of the icons quite large, making it easier to use on the move. 

That’s useful because there are very few physical controls in the Sealion 5, meaning that you’ll need to do things like changing the air conditioning by tapping around the touchscreen. Alternatively, you can also use the voice control system, but we’ve found its responses to be a bit hit and miss. 

You get a decent amount of standard features in the infotainment, regardless of which version you go for, including built-in sat-nav and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone mirroring.

“Unlike most other BYD models, the infotainment screen in the Sealion 5 doesn’t have a rotate feature. That’s not the end of the world, but nice to have.” – Will Nightingale, Reviews editor

How much space does it have for people?

Even if you and your front seat passenger are over six feet tall and very broad, you won’t struggle for space in the front of the BYD Sealion 5. 

There’s plenty of storage spaces, too, including door bins that’ll swallow a big bottle of water, a pair of cupholders, a deep cubby within the centre armrest and a cutout underneath the centre console. You also get a slot on top of the centre console to hold your phone, which doubles up as wireless phone charging if you go for the Design model.

A six footer in the rear will have lots of space to stretch out, with lots of leg and knee room and plenty of space underneath the front seats to slot their feet. Likewise, head room is very generous and easily on a par with the Hyundai Tucson and MG HS PHEV. 

Thanks to the width of the interior, there’s enough space for three adults to sit side-by-side comfortably, even on a long drive. Better still, the completely flat floor means that the person sitting in the middle has loads of space to put their feet. 

How much room does it have for luggage?

At 463 litres, the Sealion 5’s boot is bigger than what you’ll find in the Ford Kuga (412 litres with the rear seats slid back) but a fair bit smaller than the HS PHEV (507 litres) and Tucson PHEV (558 litres). Even so, it should still swallow a large weekly shop or a couple of buggies with no issues. 

There’s no adjustable boot floor in either version of the Sealion 5, but at least the position of the floor leaves it with no drop down to the boot floor. That makes loading heavy items into the boot much easier. 

You can drop the Sealion 5’s rear seats in a 60/40 configuration for a bit more space, but that’s less versatile than the 40/20/40 split in the Tucson. What’s more, while the Kuga’s rear seats recline and its bench can be slid back and forth, the Sealion 5’s seats don’t do anything particularly special.

“I think it’d be great if the Sealion 5 had a ski hatch, because it’d mean you don’t lose one of the rear seats when feeding items through from the boot.” – John Howell, Deputy reviews editor

How much does it cost and what equipment do you get?

Price will likely be a big draw of the BYD Sealion 5, with even the top-spec Design version costing around the same as the entry-level MG HS PHEV and undercutting all other rivals by a decent amount. 

You might think that the low price comes at the expense of standard equipment, but that isn’t the case. Indeed, entry-level Comfort comes with 18in alloys, automatic LED headlights, electrically folding and heated door mirrors, adaptive cruise control, keyless entry and start, and the bits that we’ve already mentioned. 

While upgrading to Design adds heated front seats, an electric tailgate and the other things that we’ve talked about, we suspect that the main draw will be the bigger battery. 

The latter will also be the best choice for company car drivers that are trying to keep their benefit-in-kind (BIK) payments down, its longer electric range putting it in a lower bracket. Just bear in mind that the HS PHEV’s even longer range will reduce costs further.

Is it reliable, and how long is the warranty?

Neither the Sealion 5 as model or BYD as a brand appeared in the 2025 What Car? Reliability survey, so we’ll have to wait and see how they both stack up in the future. 

Luckily, every Sealion 5 comes with a six-year/93,750-mile warranty as standard, should anything go wrong. That’s longer than you get from Hyundai and only slightly shorter than MG’s seven-year warranty (although, MG has a mileage limit of 80,000-miles).

How safe is it, and is it easy to steal?

The Sealion 5 is yet to be tested by the safety experts at Euro NCAP but it comes with plenty of standard safety equipment to give you peace of mind. That list includes automatic emergency braking (AEB), blind spot monitoring, rear-cross traffic alert, driver monitoring, traffic sign recognition, emergency lane keeping assist and lane departure warning.

“It’s impressive that BYD has managed to keep the price tag down without having to skimp on standard equipment - especially when it comes to safety kit.” – Darren Moss, Deputy editor

Buy it if…

- You want an affordable plug-in hybrid family SUV

- You value having lots of driver assist systems

- Having lots of rear space is important to you

Don’t buy it if…

- You want a plug-in hybrid with a really long electric range

- You want a family SUV that’s good to drive

- Boot space is really important to you

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