BYD has officially revealed this Sea lion 08its large new all-electric three-row SUV with the longest range and an “industry-leading” range.
The Sealion 08 was unveiled at the Beijing Motor Show after images were leaked online. It is the new flagship of BYD’s “Ocean” model range – consisting of Dolphin, Seal, Seal 6, Sealion 6, Sealion 7 and Sealion 8 – and will be launched in China later this year.
Although previous Chinese government documents have confirmed both plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and electric vehicle (EV) versions of the SUV, says a report from CarNewsChina points out that only the all-electric iteration has been revealed so far.
That’s not a bad thing, though, as BYD claims the Sealion 08 EV can travel up to 900km on a single charge, based on more lenient CLTC tests, and can complete the 0-100km/h sprint in just 4.9 seconds – as indicated by the “4.9s” badge on the tailgate of a display car.
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This will be made possible by a dual-motor, four-wheel-drive electric powertrain producing up to 480kW of power, with some technologies expected to be shared with BYD’s Great Tang SUV, the flagship of the ‘Dynasty’ range.
As such, CarNewsChina predicts that the Sealion 08 will be powered by a 130.5 kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery, a second-generation BYD “blade” battery that can reportedly be charged from 10 to 97 percent in just nine minutes.
Although not confirmed, it is possible that the PHEV version of the Sealion 08 will also share technology with the Great Tang PHEV, which is available in China with two plug-in hybrid powertrains with 1.5-liter turbocharged petrol engines offering up to either 200kW (single engine) or 400kW (dual engine).
Other items on the list of shared equipment include BYD’s DiSus-A dual-chamber air suspension system and four-wheel steering, while a prominent enclosure above the windshield is expected to contain LiDAR hardware for BYD’s “God’s Eye” advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS).
As expected, the Sealion 08 is one of the largest BYD SUVs introduced to date. It is 5115 mm long, 1999 mm wide and 1800 mm high and has a wheelbase of 3030 mm. This makes it significantly larger than the Toyota LandCrusier 300 Series and only slightly smaller than the Mercedes-Benz GLS.
It’s also larger than the similarly named but still three-row Sealion 8 PHEV, the largest BYD-badged SUV currently sold in Australia. It is 5040 mm long and has a wheelbase of 2950 mm.
According to BYD, the Sealion 08 has six independent seats in three rows and rides on 21-inch alloy wheels with floating center caps.
Additionally, and most bizarrely, BYD claims that it is equipped with “the longest taillight motif in the industry,” a so-called “tidal gradient” design measuring “nearly two meters long.” This is part of the simplified design language of BYD’s latest Ocean series models.
The situation is similar with the Seal 08, BYD’s new flagship sedan, which was exhibited at the show alongside the Sealion 08. Measuring 5,150 mm long, 1,999 mm wide and 1,505 mm high with a 3,030 mm wheelbase, it is larger than the existing Seal sedan and even larger than a BMW 5 Series sedan.
Like the Sealion 08, the Seal 08 will be available with both EV and PHEV powertrains. The latter features a 115kW 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine, a 200kW electric motor and a 45.36kWh LFP battery, offering an EV-only CLTC range of more than 400km.
However, prices for both models are yet to be confirmed CarNewsChina expects the Sealion 08 to cost around 300,000 yuan (~A$61,000).
It is not yet known whether BYD plans to offer any of the flagship Ocean series models in Australia, let alone whether they will be branded as BYDs or sold under the brand’s recently launched luxury brand, Denza.
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