BYD Seagull 2026 review: Cheap new electric rival to rival Mini Cooper Electric, Fiat 500e & GWM Ora
i’ve got a confession i hate seagulls they’re loud they’re annoying they try and steal your chips at the beach but this Seagull won’t do any of that but it might just become Australia’s cheapest EV byd Seagull hasn’t quite been confirmed for Australia but if it did it would sit under the Dolphin in BYD’s Australian lineup so of course it would have to be affordable what are its competitors well at this size honestly not many in Australia you could look at something like a GWM Aura MG4 they’re a bit bigger maybe a Fiat 500E also a little bit bigger so it would occupy its own kind of niche space in the micro segment as you can see kind of tiny proportions but as you’ll see shortly that doesn’t necessarily translate to the interior first up I’ve got to say I love this exterior design i’m mad for a tiny little car it does give Japanese K car vibes for sure uh it’s got kind of edges and angles as well but not too many it’s not overdone it’s just kind of nicely done those tail lights sit up nice and high and you’ve kind of got this cool you know rear window treatment to make it look like it’s going faster than it actually is um and you know you’ve got your cladding here because of ruggedness um I don’t know who BYD thinks it’s fooling but I kind of love it all and this tiny tiny little like bonnet is just adorable you’ve got just the one windscreen wiper and if you have a look at these headlights what do they remind you of because if I’m looking at them I’m thinking Lamborghini which isn’t surprising given Wolf Gang Eggger who did design Lamborghinis designed this tiny tiny adorable car check out the interior of the BYD Seagull there is some familiarity with other BYD models but it’s not quite as sophisticated and that you know talks to the positioning of this car it’s an entry- level model in the range so in terms of controls you don’t have a lot going on on the dashboard this is in Chinese i’m just going to go ahead and assume it’s air conditioning judging by some of the pictures um in terms of the screen you’ve got a 10.1 inch rotatable uh screen there and of course the digital instrument cluster is 5 in byd calls this dash design its wing design i’m assuming that’s because this car is named after a bird uh but look I think this is a smashing design for a really kind of entry- level basic EV it’s quirky enough it’s cute enough i’m obsessed with this pink the other one we drove had this really vibrant blue um so they they really know how to to kind of get your attention and have an interesting interior it’s just so nice to see and again the seats are really comfortable in this car um there’s a huge amount of headroom this does not feel like a micro car up front wait till we get in the back so again this straddles the micro small car segment and dimensionally it is quite small but as you can see inside I’ve got quite a lot of leg room for such a tiny car of course being an EV no transmission tunnel flat seats but that’s fine one thing to note about the seats this car is a fourseater only which I think is completely fine because realistically who is going to try and get five people in a car this size so I think it’s fine not as many amenities as in some of the other cars we’ve driven today the bigger BYD models but again not surprising given this vehicle’s positioning so there’s also a European version of this car called the Dolphin Surf and it’s got a slightly longer wheelbase if this car was to ever come to Australia and that’s still a big if you could probably imagine that that would be the one to come here not this tiny Chinese domestic model it has a 55 kW permanent magnet synchronous motor and torque is 135 Nm it’s frontwheel drive no surprise there and it’s got a singlespeed automatic there’s two battery options a 30.08 kWh lithium iron phosphate battery and a 38.88 kWh blade battery driving range varies and on the Chinese CLTC cycle it’s between 305 km and 405 km but again that is pretty generous byd says it’s got a top speed of 130 km an hour and it will get from 0 to 100 km an hour in a lazy 14.9 seconds there’s a lot of cool cars here at the test track in Shenzhen that BYD are letting us put through their paces but this is the one I’m excited by the most the Seagull let’s see if this seagull squawks oh no bird chirping so far sorry for the bad puns oh okay oh yes wow the way this turns in this is an absolute hoot uh that’s really quick it’s really quick tell you what you wouldn’t be doing this in a GWM or a or a Fiat 500E for that matter maybe the Abbath yeah it’s real sharp woo [Music] and the bumpy bits yeah not great not great but kind of to be expected it’s not going to soak up those bumps but the ride doesn’t feel super firm oh my god this is silly this is silly you shouldn’t be able to have this much fun in a tiny car like this that’s called a seagull come on this is the least annoying seagull I’ve ever experienced okay that might have been the most fun I’ve had today so the Seagull is not confirmed for Australia but it is under consideration um I know it’s hard to get something like this across the line because of how much you have to charge for something so small but I really really hope BYD takes a chance on this car for Australia if they can price it right because it is an absolute joy to drive for more on the BYD Seagull head to carsguide.com.au
Could the 2026 BYD Seagull be the new fully electric car that could bring EV life to the masses in Australia? While not confirmed for a showroom release Down Under, the micro hatchback would slot in beneath its big brother, the Dolphin small hatchback, which itself is priced from $29,990 plus on-road costs. So, we’re talking about a potential $25K starting cost here, which would be a record low for a zero-emissions vehicle sold locally.
What would the Seagull bring to the table? Well, there are three different versions of its, each with their own power and torque outputs, battery sizes and driving ranges, all of which are relatively modest, as you’d expect at this price point. There’s also a Dolphin Surf spin-off with a larger body.
In this expert review, CarsGuide Managing Editor Tim Nicholson travels to China to get a taste of the Seagull before its possible Australia release date. Should the Mini Cooper Electric, Fiat 500e and GWM Ora rival actually come here? Watch on to find out.
#BYD #Seagull #Review
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Timecodes:
00:00 Intro
00:15 Pricing and positioning
00:47 Design
01:50 Interior design and practicality
03:40 Under the bonnet
04:40 Driving
06:12 Verdict
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Read Tim’s full review: https://bit.ly/4exSvLB
Check out our BYD hub: https://bit.ly/4loQgwa
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Visit our EV Guide: https://bit.ly/3IfOhfo
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