EV Direct, the exclusive Australian distributor of BYD Electric vehicles has unveiled pricing details and delivery timetables for the latest addition to their stable, The BYD Seal.
At an event held at their Megastore in Alexandria, Sydney and streamed live online, Luke Todd, CEO of EV Direct announced that The BYD Seal, a medium-sized BEV sedan would be available in 3 models with the base model priced at just $49,888 plus on-road costs.
Whilst it was anticipated that the Seal would be competitively priced to compete with the Tesla Model 3 which has a starting price of $61,990, but to undercut that by over $12,000 had many surprised.
Luke Todd, EVDirect CEO stated: “This really is a significant moment in the Australian automotive industry. When I first founded EVDirect the objective was to bring the world’s best electric vehicle technology to Australia and do so in an affordable manner. I’m confident we have delivered.”
After teasing in recent weeks with The Seal being available to inspect at their Sydney Megastore Experience Centre in Sydney’s Alexandria, today is the first time we have been given pricing and delivery dates.
Two other variants complete the range with the top performance, dual motor AWD model with an impressive 0 – 100 km/hr time of 3.8 seconds topping out at $68,798 plus on-road costs.
In order to be a real contender BYD needed this announcement to tick all the boxes of features, availability and pricing. Tick, tick & tick
| Model | Seal | ||
| Variant | Dynamic | Premium | Performance |
| Max power (KW) | 150 | 230 | 390 |
| Driving Range (WLTP) | 460 | 570 | 520 |
| Touch Screen (inches) | 15.6 | 15.6 | 15.6 |
| Battery capacity (kWh) | 61.44 | 82.56 | 82.56 |
| Acceleration 0-100km/hr (s) | 7.5 | 5.9 | 3.8 |
| Max torque (Nm) | 310 | 360 | 670 |
| Drivetrain | RWD | RWD | AWD |
| Availability | Dec ’23/Jan ’24 | Dec ’23/Jan ’24 | Dec ’23/Jan ’24 |
| Price (excl- on road costs) | $49,888 | $58,798 | $68,798 |
The Seal is the latest addition in what is quickly becoming a crowded EV market.
The latest VFacts report to Sept 2023 shows no less than 40 full EV or Hybrid models to choose from and sales growing exponentially with fully electric vehicles accounting for just under 8% of all vehicles sold in Australia in September 2023. If you exclude categories where EV’s don’t compete such as Commercial Vehicles (yet) the Sept result shows that 1 in 10 new car sales are fully electric.
Australians are embracing Battery EV’s and BYD want to have a big slice of that market-share. With today’s announcement other manufacturers may need to sharpen their pencils
The Seal is available to order and deliveries are expected to start in December this year.
Features include a 15.6” central infotainment touchscreen, heated and ventilated front seats, Wireless Android Auto, wired Apple CarPlay and a panoramic sunroof and attachable sunshade. Unlike BYD’s SUV offering there is also a 50 litre frunk. Interior styling is available in black or an option to upgrade to “Ocean Blue”
This announcement really sends a shot across the bow of rival EV car manufacturers.
What’s next?
Alongside today’s announcement several other morsels were thrown our way regarding future plans for BYD in Australia.
Loyalty Program
A loyalty rewards program is imminent where owners can refer-a-friend and earn points for activities including charging and even driving challenges.
What was significant was also Luke Todd teasing those attending the launch of what’s next for BYD’s vehicle offering.
Upcoming vehicles – The SUV and a HYBRID UTE
In 2024 they intend to release two more models. Firstly a larger SUV, thought to be the Seal U but in an attempt to capture the Aussie Ute market, the second half of 2024 may see the release of a utility vehicle based on what they are calling DMI technology where a highly efficient petrol engine supplements the electric motor.
According to Luke Todd the vehicle will be “the first electric car platform to introduce a high quality 1.5 litre turbo engine that allows the vehicle to have a range of 1,000 km”
A “ground-up electric vehicle that has had petrol reintroduced, with ultra low emissions”
The Author travelled to Sydney as a guest of BYD Australia
