BYD Sealion 5

BYD aims to shake up the PHEV market with a bargain family SUV The new BYD Sealion 5 is part of a significant technical shift within Britain’s new car market. It is one being driven almost entirely by a cohort of value brands we simply didn’t have a few years ago, and is likely to markedly alter our expectations for real-world efficiency and metal-for-the-money value that the providers of our daily family transport should offer.This specifically concerns hybrid powertrains. A new wave of range-extender-style, petrol-electric, mid-sized SUVs has hit the market, made up of cars supplied by Chinese manufacturers competing for value-driven custom, and driven primarily not by their combustion engines but rather by electric motors. Many offer sizeable drive batteries, plug-in functionality and significant electric range.This test concerns what could be the most notable arrival of all in that new wave. The Sealion 5 is the car that BYD’s already rapidly expanding network of UK dealers expects to supercharge its success. A compact SUV sitting in the popular Qashqai/Sportage segment, it is precisely the right car, claims its maker – with the right hybrid powertrain, offered at the right price – to do meteorically well in 2026. From a standing start, they suggest, it could even become one of the UK’s best-selling cars.Would it merit such a status? Read on to find out.

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