2026 BYD Sealion 5 Essential review

How much is the Sealion 5?

• Essential (12.9kWh, 71km claimed): $33,990 RRP
• Premium (18.3kWh, 100km claimed): $37,990 RRP

What each step up buys

The Essential has a 10.1-inch touchscreen, an 8.8-inch driver display, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, built-in navigation, synthetic leather, keyless entry, four speakers, 18-inch wheels on 225/60 R18 tyres and the core assist list.

The Premium costs $4,000 more. The big change is the battery, 18.3kWh against 12.9kWh, which lifts the claimed electric range from 71km to 100km. It also brings a 12.8-inch touchscreen, six speakers, a wireless phone charger and a power tailgate. If your daily driving sits between 71km and 100km, the Premium is the grade that keeps you on electricity.

What it costs on the road and per week

Our drive-away estimate for the Essential is about $36,880 in VIC and $36,050 in QLD, and for the Premium about $41,050 and $40,130. On our weekly-cost model ($5,000 deposit, five years at an assumed 7.5%, with fuel costed as if the battery is never charged, plus rego and tyres) the Essential is about $187 a week in VIC and $186 in QLD, and the Premium about $207 and $206. Servicing and insurance are not included.

How it compares at the same money

The Chery Tiggo 7 Super Hybrid Urban is $34,990 drive-away in VIC with a claimed 93km of electric range, a 475-litre boot and 40kW DC charging, and it holds a five-star ANCAP rating from 2025. The Geely Starray EM-i Complete is $37,490 RRP with 193kW combined, a claimed 83km, 30kW DC charging and a five-star rating from 2025. BYD's own Sealion 6 Essential is $42,990 RRP with a 92km claim and five stars from 2023.

On those rows, the Sealion 5 has the lowest list price of the four, though the Tiggo's $34,990 drive-away figure undercuts our $36,880 drive-away estimate for the Essential. Its 4.5L/100km battery-flat figure is low, but it is the only one of the four with three stars rather than five.

On electricity

BYD claims 71km of electric range for the Essential and 100km for the Premium. At the Victorian reference tariff of 27.5c/kWh, a full charge costs about $3.55 for the Essential's 12.9kWh battery and about $5 for the Premium's 18.3kWh. A commuter who charges every night and stays inside the range is paying those amounts for each full battery.

With a flat battery

BYD's brochure prints two fuel figures. With the battery between 25% and 100%, it quotes 1.2L/100km for the Essential and 1.3 for the Premium. Below 25%, where the car runs as a hybrid, it quotes 4.5 and 4.6L/100km. That second figure is the one for long trips: at $1.95 a litre over 15,000km it is about $1,320 a year for the Essential, and the 52-litre tank gives a calculated 1,156km between fills. That is low for an SUV even if you never plug in.

Charging

AC charging is 3.3kW, which is slow. By our arithmetic, a flat Essential battery takes around four hours on a 3.3kW supply and the Premium's around five and a half, so overnight charging works but a quick top-up does not. BYD states 26 minutes for a DC charge to 80%, but we do not hold a peak DC power figure. Vehicle-to-load is not listed on our rows.

Warranty, servicing and roadside

BYD covers the Sealion 5 for six years or 150,000km, with the battery covered for eight years or 160,000km, and six years of roadside assistance. Services are every 12 months or 20,000km, a long interval that keeps visits to one a year for most drivers.

We do not hold BYD's capped-price service figures for the Sealion 5, so there is no per-visit cost or five-year total here; ask the dealer for the schedule. The car has been on sale only since January 2026, so there is no resale record yet. Running costs beyond fuel are modest on paper: the 18-inch tyres are a common 225/60 R18 size, and the 20,000km interval means a driver doing 15,000km a year books one service a year rather than two. Ask the dealer what each scheduled visit covers and whether the price is fixed.

ANCAP: three stars

The Sealion 5 carries a three-star ANCAP rating from 2026, with an expiry date of 31 December 2034. It was assessed under ANCAP's newer protocol, which scores four stages rather than the older four occupant categories: 48% for safe driving, 51% for crash avoidance, 79% for crash protection and 74% for post-crash. Those scores cannot be compared one-for-one with the older adult and child percentages printed for rivals rated before 2026.

ANCAP's report shows where the points were lost. Occupant monitoring scored 23%, driver engagement 66% and vehicle assistance 55%, with the speed limit information function at 35%. In frontal collision avoidance the car scored 68%, including 26% for crossing scenarios. The crash protection score is stronger. If safety is near the top of your list, those are the numbers to weigh.

On our rows, autonomous emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, lane-keep assist, speed-sign recognition and fatigue detection are listed as standard on both grades, with seven airbags. There are ISOFIX points on the two outer rear seats and top tethers on all three rear positions.

Space, boot and garage fit

The Sealion 5 is 4,738mm long, 1,860mm wide and 1,710mm tall on a 2,712mm wheelbase, with 170mm of ground clearance and a 12m turning circle. That is close to mid-size length despite the lower price, and it fits a standard garage. Against the Sealion 6 it is only 37mm shorter and 30mm narrower, but 40mm taller with 30mm more ground clearance, so the two are closer in footprint than the price gap suggests.

The boot is 463 litres with the seats up and 1,410 litres folded. That is more than the Sealion 6's 425 litres and the Starray EM-i's 428, and a little less than the Tiggo 7 Super Hybrid's 475. There is no spare wheel on our rows. A full-size pram should fit with the seats up; check yours in the boot-fit tool below.

Five seats with synthetic leather trim on both grades.

Screens, phones and sound

The Essential has a 10.1-inch touchscreen and the Premium a 12.8-inch one, both with an 8.8-inch driver display. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and built-in navigation are standard. Audio is four speakers on the Essential and six on the Premium, and the wireless phone charger is a Premium feature. Digital radio and over-the-air updates are not confirmed for either grade on our rows, so check them on the car if they matter to you. The tech table below shows each item for the Essential as standard, optional, not fitted or no data.

The BYD Sealion 5 Essential has 90 kW for every tonne of kerb weight, 300Nm of torque, a claimed 0-100km/h of 7.7s. It weighs 1,724kg and turns in 12m. These are the figures that shape how quickly a car gets moving and how easily it parks.

Power, weight and towing

Both grades make 156kW and 300Nm through the front wheels. BYD claims 7.7 seconds to 100km/h for the Essential at 1,724kg, and 8.1 seconds for the Premium at 1,785kg, the extra battery weight showing up in the time.

Towing is 750kg braked and unbraked, with a 100kg towball download: a small box trailer, nothing more. Payload is 410kg on both grades, from gross vehicle mass minus kerb weight, so five adults and luggage will use most of it. If you need to tow a camper, a boat or a 6x4 trailer with a load of garden soil, the Sealion 6 Essential (1,500kg braked) is the BYD plug-in that can do it.

The verdict

The Sealion 5 makes plug-in hybrid running cheap to get into. For a commuter with a driveway, the Premium at $37,990 RRP is the better buy on the figures: 100km of claimed electric range, a 12.8-inch screen and a power tailgate, with 4.6L/100km once the battery is flat and a 463-litre boot.

The safety rating is the reason to pause. Three stars sits against five-star ratings on the Tiggo 7 Super Hybrid, Starray EM-i and Sealion 6 at similar or slightly higher prices. If you carry children or do a lot of highway driving, the Tiggo 7 Super Hybrid at $34,990 drive-away in VIC is the closest alternative on price with five stars. Look elsewhere too if you tow or want fast charging.

Compare both grades on the Sealion 5 listing, or put it against the Tiggo 7 Super Hybrid in the compare tool.