BYD Seal EV pre-booking open in Malaysia January 19

Following a teaser and a preview last December, the BYD Seal will be open for pre-booking on January 19, which is this Friday, as posted to the BYD Cars Malaysia Instagram page. This is after its first showing in Malaysia at the BYD brand launch in December 2022, and we’ve also had wheel time in an example in China; check out our review here.

The four-door coupé-styled sedan from BYD is expected to come to the Malaysian market in three variants, which means a line-up similar to those in nearby markets such as Singapore, Thailand and Australia, where there is a Dynamic Standard Range rear-wheel drive with a single 204 PS/310 Nm rear motor, paired with a 61.4 kWh Blade lithium-iron phospate (LFP) battery yielding 460 km of range (WLTP).

Second of the expected line-up is the Premium Extended Range, which is also of a single motor RWD driveline albeit with 313 PS and 360 Nm, and a larger 82.5 kWh LFP battery that brings up to 570 km of range.

BYD Seal EV pre-booking open in Malaysia January 19

Topping the range is the Performance AWD, with all-wheel-drive coming courtesy of a 215 PS/310 Nm front-axle motor joining the 313 PS/360 Nm rear motor for a combined output of 530 PS and 670 Nm. Paired with the same 82.5 kWh LFP battery as on the Premium Extended Range, its greater performance offsets range, which is up to 520 km (WLTP) on the Performance AWD.

For charging, the Seal in its base form supports up to 7 kW AC charging via a Type 2 connection, which will take 8.6 hours for a full, 0-100% charge, while DC charging via CCS2 connection goes up to 110 kW. The Premium Extended Range and Performance AWD, with their larger batteries, take 15.2 hours to get the full 0-100% charge via 7 kW AC (Type 2 connection), though their DC charging gets uprated to 150 kW, taking just 37 minutes for a 10-80% state of charge.

For pricing, the definitive figures have yet to be revealed, though sales advisors at the December preview event have indicated that pricing for the Seal will start from RM180k for the base Dynamic, stepping up to around RM200k for the Premium Extended Range, and then the Performance AWD at around RM220k.

Which would it be for you? The BYD Seal, or the recently launched Tesla Model 3 Highland facelift for similar pricing?

GALLERY: BYD Seal previewed in Malaysia

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