BYD Sealion 5 long-term test
Our senior photographer needs an economical, practical car that's relaxing on long trips and shrugs off big, bulky loads. Is the Sealion 5 a capable performer? Let's find out...
The car BYD Sealion 5 DM-i Design Run by John Bradshaw, chief photographer
Why it’s here To find out if this family SUV combines economy and convenience.
Needs to Be economical and relaxing on long trips, and endlessly practical.
Mileage 1013 List price £32,995 Best Price £29,990 Price as tested £32,995 Official economy 134.5mpg Test economy 41.5mpg Options none
14 June 2026 – A level playing field
My BYD Sealion 5 has me thinking about dating apps. Of course, as a joyously married bloke, I have no need for them, but I can understand their appeal. If you’re looking for that special someone, they enable you to cast your net far and wide from the comfort of your sofa – and it’s a completely level playing field.
Because all you have to go by on a dating app is a photo and whatever half-truths users put in their online profiles, there’s no way a potential suitor can be put off by any irksome personality traits you may be afflicted by. And such is the case with my BYD Sealion 5. BYD is, to me, a brand I'm so unfamiliar with that I can't possibly approach it with either prejudice or praise.
I’ve seen plenty of BYDs around for the initials to be familiar – they're on the back of buses all over London, and the cars it makes are everywhere; in fact BYD accounted for more than 7% of all electric car sales in the UK between January and April this year. But whereas Alfa Romeo, for example, courts buyers with the promise of sportiness, and Skoda has its “simply clever” reputation, I chose a BYD Sealion 5 as my new company car purely on the strength of the credentials on its dating profile.
It’s a plug-in hybrid (PHEV) family SUV for a shade less than £33,000, and one with a pretty decent electric range. My range-topping Design version, with its 18.3kWh (usable capacity) battery, officially manages 53 miles, putting it in the 10% benefit-in-kind tax bracket. That's not, admittedly as low as the most efficient PHEVs (the MG HS PHEV, for instance, occupies the 7% bracket), but, when the Sealion 5's relatively low price is taken into account, a 40% taxpayer will pay just £110 per in company car tax to run a Sealion 5. A regular petrol-engined rival would cost several times that amount.
And the theoretical good news keeps on coming. For me, a plug-in hybrid – on paper – represents the best of both worlds: the flexibility of petrol power when I’m out and about (and I am… a lot), and the silent efficiency of electric running for local trips. When I don’t have a long journey in my diary, an overnight charge should be more than enough for a day’s urban trundling, and that should go some way to offsetting my petrol costs.
It’s also not short on standard equipment. Walking around, from front to back, you’ll pass full (automatic) LED headlights, 18in alloy wheels, electrically folding door mirrors with puddle lights, and an electric tailgate. BYD has made a bit of an effort with the exterior styling, too; witness the embossed pattern aft of the side windows.
Open the door (keyless entry and go means you needn’t do anything as plebian as press a button on the keyfob), step inside, and you’ll spot (vegan) leather seats that are six-way adjustable for the driver, four-way adjustable for the passenger, and heated for both. There’s a sizable (12.8in) infotainment screen, which packs sat-nav, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity, and offers BYD’s “intelligent” voice control. There are two USB-C sockets up front and another two in the back, one of each being capable of 60W charging, and there’s a wireless charging pad in the centre console for my smartphone.
There’s also a long list of features that promise to help with the heavy lifting on long journeys. I have adaptive cruise control, lane-keeping assistance, lane departure prevention, speed limit assistance, blind spot detection and traffic sign recognition for when I’m going forwards, and rear cross-traffic alert and braking to help when I’m reversing.
That’s a pretty princely list of kit for a £33,000 car, I’d say; and other than a choice of extra-cost colours, there’s no scope to up that price with options. In fact, my car’s metallic Atlantis Blue comes gratis; if you fancy white, black or grey, you’ll part with another £850 for the privilege.
At this price, direct rivals to the Sealion 5 are few and far between. The most formidable of them is the MG HS PHEV , which won our 2026 Plug-in Hybrid of the Year title – it’s that good. It has a bigger battery and a longer electric range than the Sealion 5, but it is a touch more expensive, spec-for-spec. There are also the Ford Kuga and Hyundai Tucson PHEVs, but those are both pricier than the Sealion 5.
So, like a householder looking for a handyman, I’ve done the car-choosing equivalent of picking one on the strength of its Yellow Pages advert and trusting them with my everyday goings on. Or, indeed, plumping for an eye-catching profile on a dating app. Having never run a BYD before, I’m approaching the Sealion 5 with an open mind and a positive outlook. I’m looking for a lasting friendship – or maybe more.
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