BYD Sealion 5 Review 2026: Prices, specs & verdict

The BYD Sealion 5 plug-in hybrid SUV is a value-focused family car that promises low running costs and limo-like comfort. Should you buy one? We find out.

What is the BYD Sealion 5?

The Sealion 5 is the latest offering from Chinese car giant BYD. It is a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (commonly known as a PHEV), designed to combine SUV practicality with bargain basement running costs.

Will it be a huge seller? Well, BYD think so, it claims the Sealion 5 is going to be its best-selling car in the UK.

But the competition is fierce in the family SUV market, with rivals including the popular Nissan Qashqai, excellent Kia Sportage and affordable MG HS PHEV.

BYD has an ace up its sleeve though, with prices for the Sealion 5 starting at under £30,000. That represents strong value against its pure-petrol rivals from Nissan and Kia. It’s also significantly cheaper than the MG HS plug-in hybrid.

To sweeten the deal, the Sealion 5 is generously equipped as standard.

Is the BYD Sealion 5 too good to be true? Read our in-depth review to find out.

Verdict: is the BYD Sealion 5 a good car?

The BYD Sealion 5 is excellent value, thanks to its low running costs and sub-£30,000 starting tag. Family car buyers will be impressed with the comfortable cabin and generous spec, too.

Rival PHEVs are better to drive and offer faster charging speeds, but we think the BYD Sealion 5 has lots to offer at a price that many will find affordable.

Pricing, specs & rivals

The BYD Sealion 5 is one of the cheapest plug-in hybrid SUVs you can buy, with prices starting at £29,995 (January 2026).

That undercuts the entry-level 1.6 petrol Kia Sportage by £1000 and is around £600 less than the cheapest 1.3 petrol version of the Nissan Qashqai.

Only the Chery Tiggo 7 and Jaecoo 7 (both PHEVs) get close to the BYD Sealion 5 on price, while you’ll pay over £32,000 to get behind the wheel of the MG HS plug-in hybrid.  

The Sealion 5 line-up only has two trim levels – Comfort and Design – and the entry-level model is well-equipped as standard.

Comfort spec includes 18in alloy wheels, metallic paint, LED headlights and tail-lights, an 8.8in digital instrument panel and a widescreen 12.8in infotainment screen.

You also get electric adjustment for the front seats, rear parking sensors and four USB ports for charging mobile devices on the move.

Design spec starts from £32,995 and adds front parking sensors, a powered tailgate, 360 parking camera, a wireless charging pad for your phone and heated front seats.

Rivals

There is no shortage of choice when it comes to mid-sized family SUVs, with the Nissan Qashqai and Kia Sportage being two popular with UK buyers.

You may want to consider the MG HS, Chery Tiggo 7, Jaecoo 7, Toyota RAV4 or Hyundai Tucson. The Dacia Bigster is a cheaper option but doesn’t get the option of a plug-in hybrid powertrain. Other PHEV options include the Ford Kuga and Citroen C5 Aircross.  

BYD Sealion 5: Interior comfort, quality & technology

Cabin quality is extremely good, with lots of high quality and soft-touch materials that give the impression the BYD Sealion 5 is a much more expensive car than it actually is.

Vegan leather seats are fitted as standard and you get physical buttons on the steering wheel and centre console for key in-car controls.

The driving position is good, while the front seats have lots of electric adjustment that make it easy to get comfortable.

Our only complaint is the lack of steering wheel reach adjustment, which means you need to sit quite close to the dashboard (something taller drivers with long arms might find uncomfortable).

General visibility is fine and Design trim includes a 360 camera that makes it easy to park the Sealion 5.

Infotainment, sat-nav, stereo and connectivity

All versions of the Sealion 5 get a smart 12.8in infotainment touchscreen, located at the centre of the dashboard.

The quality of the display is excellent, while the operation system is equally as impressive with fast screen changes and a simple menu system.

The large icons and responsive touch controls make the Sealion 5’s infotainment system easy to use when on the move.

The screen doesn’t rotate, as in the BYD Atto 3, but you do get wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity. There is also voice commands and useful shortcut keys for essential functions.  

How practical is the BYD Sealion 5?

At 4,738mm long, the BYD Sealion 5 is notably larger than the Nissan Qashqai (4,425mm) and Kia Sportage (4,540mm).

As a result, you get lots of interior space, which means the Sealion 5 is well-suited for family car life.

Head and shoulder space is good in the back, while the wide rear seats should make long distance travel a comfortable experience, even for tall teenagers. We think the Sealion 5 is on par with the Vauxhall Grandland and Kia Sportage for passenger space and comfort.

The floor in the back of the car is also completely flat, which means you can also fit a large adult in the middle rear seat without any issues when it comes to legroom.

Storage and boot space

The Sealion 5’s 463-litre boot isn’t class leading – you’ll get over 500 litres in the Nissan Qashqai, Kia Sportage and MG HS PHEV.

The boot doesn’t have an adjustable floor level either, but you do get a low loading lip, which makes it easy to fit bulky and heavy items.

For day-to-day use, the square shape of the boot should make it practical enough for transporting two or three suitcases and a child’s buggy.

The rear seats fold down to provide 1,410 litres, but you don’t get any fancy configuration options or a skit hatch.

The 40/60-split should prove useful, but the rear seats don’t slide or recline like they do in the Ford Kuga or provide a 40/20/40 split like the Kia Sportage.

That said, you do get a decent amount of storage in the cabin, with large door bins that’ll hold a bottle of water. There is also a pair of cupholders in the centre console and a phone holder by the gear selector, which becomes a wireless charging pad if you spend extra on the Design trim.

Performance & drive: What is the BYD Sealion 5 like on the road?

The BYD Sealion 5 is designed to get you from A to B in comfort and with low running costs. This means it’s not the most engaging SUV to drive, but it has lots of admirable qualities.

There are two versions to choose from. Both combine an electric motor with a 1.5-litre petrol engine to deliver 209hp to the front-wheels.

The entry-level Comfort trim features a 12.96kWh battery that will carry you up to 38.5 miles on pure electricity and sprint to 62mph from a standstill in 7.7 seconds.

The Design version has a larger and heavier 18.3kWh battery, increasing the EV range to 53 miles but numbing acceleration a little and raising the 0-62mph time to 8.1 seconds.

The Sealion 5 is effortless to drive and refined, which means you seldom notice when the 1.5-litre engine kicks in.

This means it’s a comfortable and enjoyable companion on a slow-moving B road or fast flowing motorways.

The performance figures might not seem like much to boast about on paper, but the Sealion 5 should be brisk enough for family car driving; it has sufficient poke to overtake a slow moving vehicle or navigate a busy roundabout.

One of the traditional bugbears of PHEVs is engine harshness, with the revs usually becoming quite vocal when the engine kicks in. But that isn’t the case here, thanks to the silky-smooth nature of the BYD hybrid powertrain.

The brakes are firm, with the pedal biting quite hard at low speeds, but it does become more progressive as you build speed.

There are two regenerative braking options, neither are particularly strong, which means you will need to use the brake pedal to reduce speed or bring the car to a complete halt.

Power, 0-62mph times 

• BYD Sealion 5 Comfort plug-in hybrid 209hp / 7.7 seconds
• BYD Sealion 5 Design plug-in hybrid 209hp / 8.1 seconds

Ride and handling

Easy to drive, comfortable and refined, the Sealion 5 is a good allrounder when it comes ticking the family car boxes.

The ride quality sits on the firm side of comfortable, which mean occasional lumps and bumps from the road are transferred into the cabin, but for the most part the Sealion 5 is a calm and composed road companion.

The steering has decent weighting, and the body control is fine, even when tackling twisty A roads, but the Sealion 5 isn’t really designed for spirited driving.

If you’re looking for a more rewarding driving experience from your family SUV, you may be better suited with Ford Kuga or Cupra Formentor.

Noise and refinement

Given its sub-£30,000 starting price, we rate the Sealion 5 as one of the best budget PHEVs for refinement.

Some plug-in hybrids tend to become quite noisy when the combustion engine kicks in, but the BYD system is seamless and silent.

This means you waft along the motorway with very little engine roar, while road and wind noise is kept to the bare minimum.

Euro NCAP: is the BYD Sealion 5 a safe car?

The Sealion 5 hasn’t been crash tested by Euro NCAP, but we expect it to follow the 5-star rating that has been awarded to the BYD Sealion 7, Seal 6 and Dolphin Surf.

Standard safety kit is fairly high across the Sealion 5 range with all getting adaptive cruise control, lane keep assistance and blind spot detection.

You also get a useful rear cross traffic alert system, which warns you of approaching vehicles when reversing out of a parking space or driveway.

Fuel economy and running costs

Official fuel economy figures for PHEVs is always a moot point, with the advertised economy numbers dependent on the plug-in battery being charged regularly.

If you have access to a charger at home or work, official fuel economy numbers range from 104mpg for the Comfort trim level and rise to 134mpg for the Design version. 

There is no fast-charging option for either version of the plug-in hybrid battery, which means you are limited to a maximum rate of 3.3kW, which is disappointing given a home wallbox will charge up to 7kW.

As a result, a full charge of the 12.96kWh battery takes 4.5 hours. You’ll be waiting six hours to replenish the 18.3kWh version.

How much does the BYD Sealion 5 cost to insure?

There are no insurance branding details available for the BYD Sealion 5 available, but we expect it to line up roughly with the Insurance Group 26 of the MG HS PHEV.