BYD has launched a second-generation Seal 07 electric saloon in China that is bigger, goes further on a charge and — unusually for the car industry — costs less than the model it replaces, just eight months after that car went on sale.
BYD launched the second-generation Seal 07 in China on Thursday, November 5, according to CnEVPost and Electrek, refreshing both the all-electric and plug-in hybrid versions with lower starting prices and longer range. The range has five trims: two DM-i plug-in hybrids at 139,900 and 149,900 yuan, and three fully electric versions at 149,900, 159,900 and 172,900 yuan. The all-electric version’s starting price is 20,000 yuan, or about 12%, lower than the Seal 07 EV launched on March 5 this year, while the plug-in hybrid starts 9,900 yuan, or about 7%, lower than its predecessor.
The electric versions share a 76.7 kWh second-generation Blade battery and a claimed 775 km of range on China’s CLTC test cycle, up 70 km from the 705 km of the March car. CleanTechnica, reporting on November 10, notes the range has risen to 775 km CLTC from 700 km in the original 2022 Seal, with power up from 230 kW to 245 kW (329 hp). The car is 5,080 mm long, 1,960 mm wide and 1,495 mm tall — about the size of a Toyota Camry — and starts at 149,900 yuan, about $22,400.
Five-minute charging
The headline technology is BYD’s flash charging, which the company says can take the battery from 10% to 70% in five minutes and from 10% to 97% in nine minutes, according to CleanTechnica — and can still manage 10% to 97% in 12 minutes at minus 30°C with no preconditioning. BYD plans 20,000 flash charging stations in operation by the end of the year, which CleanTechnica notes would be more than all DC charging stations in the US combined. Buyers trading in an old car get another 4,000 yuan off, bringing the entry price down to 135,900 yuan, and launch offers for cars invoiced by November 30 include a lifetime warranty on the battery, motor and power electronics for the first private owner, plus a year of free fast charging on BYD’s network for the electric version.
Not for sale outside China — yet
The catch for Western buyers is that the new Seal 07 is a China-market car for now. CleanTechnica reports the three new Seal models are not yet offered outside China, and CnEVPost and New Mobility both confirm BYD has not announced plans to bring the car to Europe. The original fully electric BYD Seal saloon has been sold in Europe since 2023 and currently starts at €42,500 in Belgium, according to New Mobility — a reminder that Chinese domestic prices cannot be translated directly into European showroom figures.
The 775 km figure also needs a caveat: it is measured on China’s optimistic CLTC cycle, and CarNewsChina puts the equivalent at about 636 km on the European WLTP cycle. Even so, a five-metre electric saloon with flagship charging technology for roughly €18,200 in China shows how fast Chinese carmakers are advancing — and how far behind Western prices still sit.
