2026 BYD Sealion 5 Essential review

We appear to be reaching a critical mass – the moment when neither electric vehicles (EVs) nor plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) are priced at a premium, making them available to the masses.

And BYD is leading the charge (pun unfortunately intended). Last year, the Chinese automaker released the Atto 1 – the cheapest electric car on sale in Australia, priced from around $24,000 before on-road costs – and now it’s launching the cheapest PHEV.

The BYD Sealion 5 mid-size SUV is available from $33,990 before on-roads, which is a good chunk less than the next most affordable plug-in hybrid available on the market.

But don’t think this is some tiny SUV with no space. Think Mitsubishi Outlander or Nissan X-Trail, but with just five seats. If you want seven seats, look at the BYD Sealion 8.

Well, spank my patoot and call me Charlie, because – somehow, despite the price – the Sealion 5 doesn’t suck. In fact, spoiler alert, it’s actually bloody good.

BYD arguably rose to prominence in the West as the Chinese car company that Warren Buffett, the Oracle of Omaha, invested in very early on. His company, Berkshire Hathaway, sold its share of BYD in September 2025, after generating a $10 billion profit over 17 years.

The brand hasn’t had the easiest of starts in Australia, but it seems to be finding its feet after launching the very popular Shark 6 dual-cab in 2024 – Australia’s first plug-in hybrid ute – and moving from a third-party importer/distributor to being self-managed.

And it’s on a roll. Aussie buyers who like the idea of switching to electric, but don’t want to give up the safety blanket of a petrol car for long drives across our big country, are increasingly choosing plug-in hybrids – with BYD pushing a lineup of affordable PHEVs alongside its EVs.

Oddball model names aside, the company is emerging as a leader in the Australian market of New Energy Vehicles – the catch-all name for EVs and PHEVs – and the Sealion 5 could prove to be a tipping point for many buyers.

So, where better to start than with the entry-level variant, the BYD Sealion 5 Essential?

How much does the BYD Sealion 5 cost?

The 2026 BYD Sealion 5 Essential is priced from less than $34,000 plus on-road costs, and tops out at $37,990 plus ORCs for the Premium. Just two variants exist in the lineup at this stage.

That undercuts the Geely Starray EM-i Complete – previously the cheapest PHEV available – by $3500, and yet another mid-size SUV in the Chery Tiggo 7 Super Hybrid by $6000.

To see how the BYD Sealion 5 stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

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What is the BYD Sealion 5 like on the inside?

When you hear that something is the cheapest thing in the segment, it’s easy to assume there have been some shortcuts to achieve the price. That isn’t the case with the Sealion 5.

Keep in mind, this is also the base trim, the Essential version, and it doesn’t feel like a warehouse special. Anything but.

In fact, I had to double-check with the folks at BYD that it wasn’t the Premium. This was, in fact, the Sealion 5 Essential. I thought maybe I’d gotten it wrong.

Compared to the larger Sealion 8, the Sealion 5 does feel like it’s a generation older in terms of design. It’s maybe not quite as cutting-edge, but it also doesn’t suffer from those horrendous whale-inspired interiors seen in some Atto models.

The brushed aluminium is a little 2005, but it works pretty well in this instance and brightens up the area, while the contrast stitching provides streaks of colour to help break up the blacks and greys.

What’s more, there are buttons. And a shifter! And stalks behind the steering wheel that do what you expect them to! (I’ll even forgive the minor play in the stalks.) It’s a car you can drive without needing specialist training and a lab assistant.

But it gets better. The materials are really high quality, which, coupled with its quiet cabin – devoid of any rattles, even on rough roads – offers occupants the type of premium experience you would normally expect from a car three times the price of the Sealion 5.

There’s a big slab of a panel below the infotainment screen, which looks like a bit of an odd design choice, but the soft-touch trim makes it less offensive. I imagine the bones of the dashboard might have been borrowed from a different BYD, so it might serve a different purpose in another model.

Our main gripe with the interior is the shape of the dash, which – if you’re seated closer to the steering wheel – means your left knee is pushed in and sits up against hard plastic. An hour or two behind the wheel and that could potentially be an issue. Sit further back and it won’t be a problem, but there’s not enough reach in the steering column to make that work for me.

I also noticed the alignment gap between the dash and the door cards wasn’t uniform from left to right. This is one of those nitpicking, car-reviewer things that most people won’t notice or care about – but it does raise questions about fitment and quality control.

While, in the wrong light, I could look like the long lost brother of the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters, I did find the seats a little bit on the tight side. Not uncomfortable, but a bit huggy – but not like a sports seat.

Perhaps more concerning was what felt to me like a support bar under the bottom cushion. Jump in and out of the car a few thousand times and that could be an issue.

There’s decent room in the second row for adult passengers, while the boot offers 463 litres of luggage space – which increases to 1410L with the back seat lowered.

To see how the BYD Sealion 5 stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

What’s under the bonnet?

The BYD Sealion 5 uses a 1.5-litre non-turbo four-cylinder petrol engine in marriage with an electric motor to power the front wheels.

On its own, the engine puts out an anaemic 72kW of power and 122Nm of torque, but they’re not the numbers that matter. When combined with the 145kW/300Nm electric motor, the driver is blessed with 156kW under their right foot.

Curiously, BYD doesn’t quote a combined torque figure, but it’s probably 300Nm (or in that ballpark).

An e-CVT sends that power to the front wheels, while a 12.9kWh ‘Blade’ battery feeds the electric motor in the base Essential.

BYD says the Sealion 5 Essential has an electric-only driving range of 71km, and a combined driving range of 1001km. However, both of those are based on the lenient NEDC test protocols, so more than a pinch of salt should be applied in this case.

The Sealion 5 Essential has a claimed 0-100km/h time of 7.7 seconds, which is almost half a second faster than its more expensive sibling, the Sealion 5 Premium. That’s almost never the case.

If the car has more than 25 per cent battery charge, BYD claims fuel economy of 1.2L/100km, dropping to 4.5L/100km if the battery drops below the 25 per cent level. We didn’t have enough time to confirm these numbers, but we’ll get the car back soon to obtain some more accurate day-to-day fuel-efficiency figures.

To see how the BYD Sealion 5 stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

How does the BYD Sealion 5 drive?

The BYD Sealion 5 is certainly one of the most impressive plug-in hybrids I’ve driven in recent memory.

Immediately, it’s apparent the vehicle offers pretty much the perfect ride comfort. The more I drove it, the more I struggled to fault it. We’re talking big dips at [definitely responsible] speeds that would have bottomed out most cars, and this thing just ate it up like gummy bear.

Typically if something is this comfortable, there’s a compromise, but I’ll be darned if I could find out what that was here. There’s plenty of feedback, and the Sealion 5 still offers great handling.

Drive it like a fool, and you’ll be met with understeer and wheelspin. But take a step back and you can wheel this thing through corners at a pretty decent rate of knots, and – dare I even risk the ridicule? – it’s actually kind of fun.

Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t about to steal the crown from the Mazda MX-5, but on a winding road the Sealion 5 will reward a motivated driver to a degree that shocked me.

The brakes are also great. Nicely responsive and firm, with pedal response right in the sweet spot.

It’s worth mentioning though that my colleague James Wong drove the Sealion 5 on a skid pan in late 2025, and found the car to be a bit soft and wallowy during the tight tests – and he said the handling wasn’t engaging. Which makes me think the flowing country backroads I spent most of my time on with the BYD might have been the sweet spot for the car. However, he was also in the Premium, which is a little heavier and slower overall.

But despite my surprising enjoyment behind the wheel, it’s not perfect. While the chassis provides a good amount of feedback, the steering is a little lifeless, and the power – though sufficient – isn’t mind-blowing. Not slow, not quick, but enough for most people to do most things, most of the time.

It feels like there’s a bit more power on tap when Sports mode is engaged, and the car noticeably relaxes when it’s switched into Eco mode.

I did have to remind myself that I was reviewing a plug-in hybrid SUV, which will mostly be used by families – and for that, it does just as good a job. It’s shockingly quiet, rides beautifully, and has a nice flow of torque for daily driving while using a minimum of petrol.

Between you and me, if you like a bit of a squirt on a quiet backroad after dropping the kids off for a sleepover, there are worse options out there.

To see how the BYD Sealion 5 stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

What do you get?

The Sealion 5 Essential comes with a decent list of standard features, however, the Premium adds a few extra goodies for the extra money.

2026 BYD Sealion 5 Essential equipment highlights:

• 18-inch alloy wheels with Hankook 225/60 R18 tyres
• Automatic LED headlights
• Automatic high-beam
• Keyless entry and start with key fob, NFC card, BYD digital key
• 10.1-inch touchscreen infotainment system
• Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
• Satellite navigation
• 6-speaker sound system
• 8.8-inch digital instrument cluster
• Dual-zone climate control with rear air vents
• Leatherette upholstery
• 60:40-split/folding rear seats
• Rear centre armrest with cupholders

Sealion 5 Premium adds:

• Power tailgate
• Roof rails
• Panoramic sunroof
• Heated, power-folding exterior mirrors
• Heated and ventilated driver’s seat
• 12.8-inch infotainment touchscreen
• 9-speaker sound system
• Wireless phone charger
• 6-way power driver’s seat
• 4-way power passenger seat
• Auto-dimming rear-view mirror

To see how the BYD Sealion 5 stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

Is the BYD Sealion 5 safe?

The BYD Sealion 5 has not yet been tested by ANCAP or its global affiliates at the time of writing, and as such remains unrated.

Standard safety equipment highlights:

• 7 airbags, incl:
  • Front
  • Front-side
  • Curtain
  • Front-centre
• Adaptive cruise control
• Autonomous emergency braking (AEB)
• Blind-spot monitoring
• Driver attention monitoring
• Emergency lane-keep assist
• Intelligent speed-limiter
• Lane-keep assist
• Rear cross-traffic assist
• Rear parking sensors
• Reversing camera
• Safe exit warning
• Traffic sign recognition
• Tyre pressure monitoring

The Premium adds front parking sensors and a surround-view camera.

To see how the BYD Sealion 5 stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

How much does the BYD Sealion 5 cost to run?

As with the rest of the BYD range, the Sealion 5 gets the company’s six-year, 150,000km vehicle warranty, while the battery has its own eight-year, 160,000km warranty.

BYD has not yet published the service schedule or service costs for the Sealion 5 PHEV.

To see how the BYD Sealion 5 stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool

CarExpert’s Take on the BYD Sealion 5 Essential

The joy of finding out the cheapest plug-in hybrid SUV on the market might actually be one of the best quickly turned to fear and insecurity: will anyone actually believe me? Do I even believe me? Have I lost the plot?

Our time with the BYD Sealion 5 was shorter than we would have liked, which meant we were limited to the environment we tested the car in. But there’s a lot here that’s promising, and very little that I didn’t like.

Of course it’s not perfect, but its low price means I am far more willing to forgive its shortfalls, particularly when its strengths are so… strong.

We got the Sealion 5 late. It was originally released in its native market of China back in 2019, which makes me wonder if BYD’s engineers have had time to tune and refine the car over the years to make it as good as it is today.

I’m not sure. But what I do know is that the Sealion 5 is a lovely car that rides and handles better than some Honda and Toyota SUVs, while delivering more value than a pallet of olives from Costco.

BYD execs have said they are actively pursuing more fleet sales, and the Sealion 5 could be the sweet spot for companies looking for a plug-in hybrid that is both easy to drive, cheap to run, and inexpensive.

But given how many Australian families are embracing PHEVs, this could also be a great solution for those wanting to make the switch without spending big bucks.

For a commuter car with family-duty capabilities, a healthy electric-only driving range, and commendable on-road dynamics, the Sealion 5 could be the very thing that propels BYD up the sales charts.

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MORE: Explore the BYD Sealion 5 showroom