BYD Seal EV Saloon Launched In Thailand And Singapore – Malaysia Next?

Sleek and sporty BYD Seal four-door EV saloon has entered the markets of neighbouring Thailand and Indonesia late last week. Is Malaysia next?

It appears that both our neighbours to the North and South of the Peninsular saw their respective local electric vehicles (EVs) market grow a little as Chinese upstart EV marque BYD introduced its sleek and sporty new Seal saloon model in both markets late last week.

We start with the Kingdom known as the Land of Smiles, BYD’s Thai arm have reportedly elected to launch the Seal in three guises. For Thailand, the Seal’s range consists of a Dynamic RWD base model, followed by a mid-spec Premium RWD, and a range-topping AWD Performance variant.

Both neighbours north and south of our Peninsular sees the BYD Seal available in three guises with single- and dual-motor forms too.

The Thai-spec entry-level Dynamic RWD variant is primed with 61.4 kWh-sized iteration of BYD’s proprietary LFP Blade battery pack. It juices a rear-mounted motor that drives the rear wheels with 204 HP and 310 NM, thus granting 0-100 KM/H sprints in 7.5 seconds.

As for range and charging, this entry-level variant accepts both 7 kW AC charging and DC charging inputs up to 110 kW, whilst its claimed NEDC range stands at 510 KM. It’s also worth noting that this variant also offers vehicle-to-load (V2L) functionality rated up to 2.2 kW or 2,200 watts.

Range-topping dual-motor guise of the BYD Seal offers up to 530 HP and 670 NM, which enables 0-100 KM/H in just 3.8 seconds!

The Premium RWD variant benefits with a larger 82.5 kWh battery capacity instead, along with peppier 313 HP and 360 NM outputs and a quicker 0-100 KM/H time of 5.9 seconds too. The larger battery also accepts 7 kW AC and higher 150 kW DC charging inputs, thus providing up to 650 KM of NEDC range too.

The range-topping AWD Performance uses the same 82.5 kWh battery to juices a dual-motor setup – one over each axle – with all-wheel-drive (AWD) traction. With a combined output of 530 HP and 670 NM, this variant despatches 0-100 KM/H in just 3.8 seconds, but at the cost of range – just 580 KM (NEDC).

As for price, BYD Thailand offers the Seal Dynamic RWD at THB 1,325,000 (approx. RM169,424), the Premium RWD at THB1,449,000 (approx. RM185,279), and the AWD Performance at THB1,599,000 (approx. RM204,459).

Alot of the exterior touches sees plenty of novel design elements, some already applied in the Dolphin and Atto 3 models, others being totally unique to the Seal (i.e. the taillights).

Down south and just across the causeway, BYD Singapore reportedly launched the Seal in said island state with three guises too – two single-motored ‘Dynamic’ plus a dual-motored ‘Performance’ range-topper. Despite the different naming, the specs in all three mirror their Thai-spec equivalents.

BYD Singapore also opted to publish claimed ranges based on WLTP standards instead. It sees the base-spec Dynamic single-motor variant boasting up to 460 KM, up to 570 KM for the dual-motored Dynamic variant has a claimed 520 KM figure instead.

Besides trimline naming, what’s also starkly different than Thailand here are the prices the Seal commands in Singapore. Given the island state’s stiff car pricing scheme, the Seal is tagged between SG$242,888 (approx. RM835,219) and SG$284,888 (approx. RM979,644).

On board, the Seal sees BYD offering plenty of tech and luxury amenities to keep it on par against segment rivals like the Tesla Model 3 and Hyundai Ioniq 6.

With its entry in both neighbouring markets north and south of our Peninsular’ s borders, it seems likely we’ll see the Seal debut in Malaysia soon enough. The folks over at BYD SD Motors Malaysia have remained rather tight-lipped about launch dates, but all signs point towards a launch before the end of this year.

In other words, we won’t have long to wait before we see this sleek and sporty alternative against the likes of the Tesla Model 3 and Hyundai Ioniq 6 on our roads. Using the Thai market’s figures as a yardstick, what would be your guess for the Seal’s pricing in Ringgits? Hit the comments below with your guesses then…