It’s a sign of how competitive the Malaysian car market is that a tech-laden electric vehicle launched less than two years ago has been almost completely forgotten. That’s exactly what the BYD Sealion 7 is going through, although it’s quietly remained a strong seller considering its slightly elevated price – and it will soon get a decent revamp.
An updated 2026 model has been teased ahead of its launch on July 30, with BYD Malaysia promising that the car will be “redefined further for tomorrow.” The emphasis (BYD’s own, not ours) suggests that the car will offer increased range over the outgoing model, although there is no news of impending upgrades coming to other markets – in fact, the car has already been discontinued in its home market of China.
More likely is the delayed introduction of the largest available 91.3 kWh Blade LFP battery, on sale since the beginning in Europe. Offered exclusively on the AWD model, it enables a range of up to 502 km on the WLTP cycle, which is significantly higher than the 454 km offered by the current Performance AWD with an 82.5 kWh pack (and the 480 km the Premium RWD musters with the same battery).
Perhaps more importantly, the bigger battery brings with it an 800-volt electrical architecture, which enables the Sealion 7 to be DC fast charged at up to 230 kW. This enables the car to be topped up from 10 to 80% in just 24 minutes, versus 32 minutes for the 400-volt models that charge at 150 kW.
The rest of the powertrain remains unchanged. The Sealion 7 is currently offered in Premium RWD and Performance AWD variants, with the former making 313 PS and 380 Nm of torque, and the latter, 530 PS and 690 Nm. Zero to 100 km/h is completed in 6.7 seconds and 4.5 seconds, and BYD is so proud of the Performance’s, um, performance that it has made the acceleration time a badge on the tailgate.
While sales of the Sealion 7 remains competitive, this upgrade has come at the right time as more and more rivals – such as the Zeekr 7X and Xpeng G6 – start to offer 800-volt charging. In fact, even the cheaper Atto 3 has been outfitted with the system since this year’s facelift, so it’s high time that this is reflected in the more expensive model.
As the Sealion 7’s styling remains fresh, it’s unlikely there will be any big design tweaks, although you can probably expect new wheels and some colour and trim changes. Expect the car to be either a little bit or a lot pricier than the current model, which retails at RM183,800 nett for the Premium and RM199,800 for the Performance, both tax-free 2025 figures.
That depends on whether the initial CBU fully-imported units were in transit before or after the start of MITI’s new EV policy on July 1, which imposes a minimum cost, insurance and freight (CIF) value – not including this year’s import and excise duties, by the way – of RM200,000. In either case, are you excited for this upcoming upgrade? Let us know in the comments.
GALLERY: 2024 BYD Sealion 7 Performance AWD
Rm200K …LoL…No BUYERS. TESLA is BETTER and CHEAPER>
But Tesla is not durable and not practical for long term than BYD and any other brands
How do you know? Watching too many little red book videos?
Why not watch from any websites and videos and will know why Tesla have many problems than others
thats ironic because i watched videos on american website Youtube and the videos give the same message, ccp EVs are superior above all others
not everyone like a tesla, it is agreed that the whole thing is too bare and too tech driven for some of the potential buyers compared to their chinese rivals.
Terima kasih MITI tongkat Proton supaya aku dapat sambung kerja kat Proton. Alhamdulilah
Worth!!
Nice
the fact that Sealion 7 already discontinued in china home market, raise a concern… are getting old stocks ? hmm … perhaps chinese model life cycle being too short means any time you buy one, it will be obsolete in very short time.. is it worth buying these cars ?
using your logic, better spend the equivalent RM170k on a suzuki Jimny because Jimny seldom facelift, only one new model every 15-20 years.
in China no one buying BYD, that is way stop selling in china. Best seller in china of course Tesla Model Y.
THIS BYD Sealion is definately too heavy…bad handling and bad in braking. why malaysian still buy a car that stop selling in china ?