BYD Sealion 7: Australian pricing and features for new Tesla Model Y rival

In the last decade of automotive upheaval, one truth has emerged: the bigger the vehicle, the harder it is to electrify. Bigger vehicles require bigger

The original Tesla Model Y Performance was like the polarising deep-cut third album from your favourite band — the one that followed the sweet, well-liked Credible improvements in the Model Y Performance’s ride quality and body control lift engagement, making us cry out for a similar upgrade to this Tesla’s steering.

You’d have to live under a rock to not have noticed the surge of BYD-branded vehicles present on Australian roads. The Xi’an, China-based marque only Sharp pricing, generous specification, handsome styling and a few touches of genuine luxury have catapulted the Sealion 7 to success — but it isn’t perfect

When pre-orders opened for the updated Tesla Model Y earlier in 2025, most early-adopter Australians gravitated toward the Rear-Wheel Drive (RWD) variant. Deeply impressive real-world efficiency, and resulting usable range, makes the much-improved Tesla Model Y base model a solid SUV choice.

Chasing Cars doesn’t do political commentary. We publish road tests we hope Australian car buyers find valuable. So we’ll deal with the elephant in the Tesla has given its crucial Model Y a superb mid-life upgrade that fixes or improves many of the SUV’s previous faults—making its connection to fraught politics frustrating

BYD is on a mission in Australia – driven by a desire to expand its model range and achieve more than 40,000 sales annually in this market – and the chief New electric mid-sized crossover SUV aims to outdo Tesla Model Y in style and equipment while undercutting it in price. But is the Sealion 7 good enough?

Need more space than a Model 3 provides? Tesla’s first midsize SUV, the Model Y, has landed in Australia in RWD and Performance AWD models.

Not quite the full-on, game-changing, low-cost EV we were promised, cut-back Model 3 RWD still delivers superb value

The phenomenon of a front-wheel-drive car switching to rear-wheel drive has been a rare occurrence over the past 60 years – starting with the FWD Triumph You wouldn’t know from looking at it but this Atto 3’s mildly updated appearance hides a dramatic uplift in electric architecture, chassis capability, performance, range and value

Despite its conservative styling and its image as yet another cookie-cutter Chinese EV, the BYD Atto 2 has so far impressed us in review with its painless BYD continues its quest to become the Chinese Toyota by launching Australia’s cheapest plug-in hybrid – the Atto 2 DM-i, offering 90km of electric-only range for under $30K.

Stylish plug-in wagon punches above its weight for its seductive $40K price point

It’s hard to believe but it’s barely been more than a year since the BYD Shark 6 landed in Australia and re-wrote the rulebook on what counts as ‘utility’ Just over a year since it flipped the ute segment on its head, the Shark 6 adds a Performance trim to address its two biggest pitfalls: off-roading and towing.

The Tesla Model 3 is easily Australia’s most popular premium sedan. Last year, the Chinese-made, American-badged four-door outsold the BMW 3 Series/4 The Tesla Model 3 is the best-selling EV sedan in Australia. Over the next three months and 5000km, we’re going to see if the king deserves its crown.

The BYD Sealion 5 sets a new benchmark for PHEV affordability in Australia starting at $33,990 before on-road costs at a time when buyers are increasingly Eye-catching pricing is BYD’s forte, but has the new plug-in hybrid Sealion 5 finally pushed this brand to its limits?

The first thing you need to know about the new BYD Atto 2 is that it is — for now at least — Australia’s cheapest electric SUV. That’s going to be the big The most affordable electric SUV in Australia is actually quite good. So what’s the catch?

It’s been more than three years since China’s BYD brand debuted its ‘Build Your Dreams’ electric vehicle in Australia, the Atto 3 small SUV. And during BYD’s original ‘Build Your Dreams’ model in Australia, the Atto 3 small electric SUV, remains an interesting car that drives better than its looks imply

The new Mazda EZ-60 has been revealed in China after teaser images earlier in the month. Like the EZ-6 sedan (known as the Mazda 6e in Europe) the EZ-60 Japanese brand gets sleek electric SUV in China, but will it come to Oz?

September 2025 marks another month of strong, steady vehicle sales in Australia, totalling 106,891 total vehicle sales when combining findings from the While utes remain king in the sales castle, a pair of electric SUVs silently made their mark in September

Fresh from bringing Australian distribution in-house, Xpeng has announced updates to its G6 ‘ultra smart coupe SUV’, headlined by the addition of All-wheel drive and even faster charging boost Xpeng G6’s appeal as brand gears up to launch more models

A report from the Australian Automobile Association has revealed that this year's second quarter saw the greatest number of electric vehicles to date in This year’s second quarter sees the greatest number of electric vehicle sales to date

The Tesla Model Y has been given an MY27 upgrade that introduces faster mid-range models, a cheaper Performance flagship, and vehicle-to-load technology

Chinese carmaker Deepal has confirmed pricing and features for its quirky, genre-busting E07 electric vehicle. A melange of ute, SUV and coupe, the E07 Chinese EV maker Deepal’s strange new ute-cum-SUV arrives with sharp pricing

Four utes filled June’s top five best-selling new vehicles, as the Australia market enjoyed a big bump from widespread end-of-financial-year deals. Ford Ranger top and BYD Shark in top five as utes dominate best-selling vehicles in strong June market

Thanks for joining us this Wednesday, May 07th 2025. Notably in car news today: Labor could toss luxury car tax, BYD Sealion 7 more popular than Tesla in

Hyundai has confirmed its Ioniq 6 N performance sedan flagship will launch in Australia in the first half of 2026, providing the Korean automaker with a Ioniq 6 the latest to join Hyundai ‘N’ performance division with unique styling and driver-focused performance enhancements

Which Tesla Model Y offers the longest range? Which grade includes the best features? Which is the quickest model? And which Model Y delivers the best Grade by grade guide to Tesla’s popular midsized electric SUV, complete with reviews

A larger, longer version of the Tesla Model Y with six seats across three rows will enter production at the manufacturer’s Giga Shanghai, China plant Australia and China finally get their wish for “expanded” three-row Model Y as Tesla sends bigger version into production at Giga Shanghai

The new Model Y continues to revitalise Tesla sales in Australia after posting a consecutive strong month since its launch in May. There were 3457 Model Y Tesla Model Y drives sales fightback in Australia, though it's mixed results for the US brand as well as rival Polestar

The BYD Sealion 7 was the best-selling electric vehicle last month as sales of the usually dominant Tesla Model Y plummeted in April. BYD's new midsize BYD's new midsize SUV topped last month's EV charts as Tesla's sales struggles continue

A senior Tesla executive says the manufacturer will step back from the EV price war when the upgraded Model Y midsize SUV launches with a more stable Price ceasefire declared, as Tesla switches to emphasising Model Y’s value proposition and customer experience against flurry of cheap Chinese EVs

The updated 'Juniper' version of the Tesla Model Y has been revealed with a fresh look that takes a different design direction to its sedan twin, the

Thanks for joining us this Wednesday 16 October 2024. Notably in car news today: Tesla has confirmed its updated 2025 Model Y will be offered with seven Every important car news story breaking today, in one convenient read