Game-Changing Affordability? (BYD Sealion 5 Plug-In Hybrid 2025 Review: Preview Drive)
i’m John Law this is Chasing Cars and we’re in China and we have a question do we need another electrified midsize SUV in Australia and for that matter do we need another BYD hybrid midsize SUV when the brand already has the Sea Lion 6 well this is the Sea Lion 5 as you can see from the number plate but actually the front end tells you that it’s the Song Pro it’s not confirmed to come to Australia yet but if it did it could offer an even more affordable option in that space coming in at under 40 grand at a start price for a vehicle with about 75ks of electric range and up to 1,400 ks of combined range those numbers are both CLTC figures and today we’re going to take a brief look around this car check out the interior take it for a minute’s worth of spin in a little private course and see if BYD would be making a good decision in bringing it to Australia
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brought to you by Direct i’ll give some context to the Cine 5’s possible price if it starts under 40k plus on-road costs it won’t only undercut its sibling and the Mitsubishi Outlander it’ll be cheaper than a base model Toyota RAV 4 hybrid and Hyundai Tucson hybrid neither of which have plug-in capability cherry has recently thrown a cat among the pigeons with its Tigo 7 plug-in hybrid at 3990 drive away so BYD will still have a solid challenger if the Sea Lion 5 comes to Australia now I’m told the Song Pro from the Chinese market that we’re in here would be pitched as a less luxurious alternative to the Sea Line 6 were it to come to Australia but I’m sitting in here and seeing quite nice materials and a little bit of a different sort of take on the cabin compared to the Sea Lion 6 this kind of Worther’s original tan leatherrett is quite nice feels soft to touch and it doesn’t feel as sweaty as some other fake leathers you can get and you’ve got these nice little armrests here that feel very Lexus plus the design is a bit more cohesive and mature than the Sea Lion 6 in my opinion and I quite like this intricate crystal gear selector so yeah all those things sound like this might be a slightly nicer car than the Sea Lion 6 if it were to come to Australia still has the rotating touchcreen still pretty crisp obviously it’s all in Chinese so I can’t really tell you much about it wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto pretty legible digital drivers display and a nice design coherence between some of the other BYD products we’re driving today and then we have the back seat which at around 50 mil shorter than the Sea Lion 6 you’d expect to be a bit worse but actually there’s plenty of space back here for me at 6’2 that’s my driving position look at all the knee room we’ve got a nice flat floor as well with a bit of tow room decent headroom and a huge sunroof it all feels very light and very nice in here you even get soft touch materials up on top of the doors where the Sea Lion 5 falls a little bit short is when it comes to the boot the space looks pretty big although we don’t have exact leader and although there’s a bit of storage under the boot floor there’s no spare tire the real issue though is the fact that there are no smarts there were no netted cubbies or clever plug-in sockets or anything like that like you’d see in many of its rivals right so after that we’ve got about a 1 minute drive around a little course set out in a car park so let’s go give it flat you can hear the engine come in there through a little slalom and it’s very similar in feel to the larger Sea Lion 6 and by that I mean very light steering very light brake pedal and quite a lot of body roll pretty decent over those bumps but there does seem to be a little bit of disconnect between front and rear but the power delivery is good 173 kW is the official rating for this plug-in hybrid version and I can go through a couple of different modes so we’ll try EV mode there nice and quiet and then I can put it back in HEV and that’s where I get full power of course it’s frontwheel drive only so we do get a little bit of front wheel spin when you try and push on but yeah this this one the Sea Lion 5 seems very much like a regular family SUV with a bit of a focus on comfort light steering light control weights just like the Cine 6 i guess the question is should BYD really consider bringing the Cine 5 to Australia and that might come down to what you say in the comments section so let me know your thoughts my thoughts after driving it are that it could make sense to have a slightly more affordable entry option with the Cine 6 is a bit of a luxury version above it that said this car has the better newer plug-in hybrid system that’s more efficient so I think the smarter decision might just be to replace the Sea Lion 6 with the Cion 5 but again let me know your thoughts let me know what you think of this car hit subscribe to the Chasing Cars YouTube channel if you haven’t done so already and thank you very much for watching
The plug-in hybrid market is fast reaching saturation, as new-start Chinese brands pump-out fresh models promising over 1000km driving range and less than 2L/100km. They’re affordable, too, but BYD’s new Sealion 5 could change the price game, if it comes to Australia.
Based on the BYD Song Pro in China, the Sealion 5 has some impressive stats: 173kW, up to 1400km of combined range (CLTC) and in excess of 75km electric-only range. It’s pretty snazzy inside, with faux-leather, seat heating and more.
Chasing Cars road test editor John Law heads to China to sample what could be BYD’s most affordable mid-size SUV, with pricing possibly starting below $40K if it comes to Australia — that’s impressive considering even a base Toyota RAV4 is $42,000 these days. But is the Sealion 5 any good to drive?
Time codes:
0:00 – Intro
0:58 – Pricing speculation
1:29 – Front seat
1:58 – Cohesive design
2:30 – Back seat
2:52 – Boot space
3:13 – Driving
4:15 – The honest verdict
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