BYD Sealion 6 Plug-in Hybrid

Been having SL 6 for almost 4 months, driven 6,000 including a trip to KL. My previous car was a G01 BMW X3 Xdrive30i, Toyota Harrier Turbo, so been comparing back and forth with those SUVs.

I'll skip the exterior styling as this is very much personal preference.

Interior fit and finish:

• beside the strange choice of upholstery colour, generally SL6 feels more premium.

• Leather seats of X3 feels more premium, but the SL6 vegan leather is better than the Harrier genuine leather.

• Controls and switches are quite similar to conventional car, including inside outside door handles, aircon vents, this is a big plus for me. Simplicity is key.

• better foot well space for both front and rear seat, flat floor at rear seats

• The reclining angle of rear seat is very comfortable especially for long distance

• The click sound of switches and door open close sound of SL6 is very solid,

• The factory fitted Infinity speakers and sound systems is quite decent, better than many other car stock sound systems. It also comes with a 8" subwoofer with woofer box at boot.

Driving

• The handling is surprisingly decent, despite many noise from social media about the 3 links rear suspension setup. Checked km77, the SL6 passed moose test at 72km/h, better than the latest generation X3 G45

• Feels it corners better than X3, when taking corner bends at TPE to Seletar West Link, BKE to PIE (Jurong direction),

• But pitch control is not good, when going over humps the front and rear bounce are not coordinated, this area is worse than X3 and Harrier

Others

• smaller boot space than X3, lack of built in hooks. No rear seat folding switches at boot

• no kick sensors for boot opening, seems this is not the thing for Chinese car

I have owned the Sealion 6 for about 2 months. It is spacious inside. The ride is quiet and the suspension is better than I expect for the size of it. The handling is surprising good, likely due to the battery making the center of gravity low. It return a very good fuel economy, close to 19-20km/l, better than what is advertised. I use AC charging only as my condo only have AC charging. Charging from 25% to 100% takes about 2 hours @7kW. The remote turn-on of aircon is a big advantage considering the hot weather in Singapore. The ventilated seat works work. I only need to set the aircon to 24-25 degree and it is cold enough for me. Switching among different mode (EV, parallel, serial mode) are seamless. Cannot hear the engine sound at all. Braking is good and seamless between regen and physical brake. But some suggestion for improvement : The firmware need to get updated to allow more apps to be loaded. The boot is of good size but need to replace the foam with aftermarket storage bin to create more storage space. Some feature missed out in the spec. import to Singapore such as Head-Up Display, fatique monitoring. Wish that they import the dm-i 5.0 instead of the 4.0 used in Sealion 6. Wish to have more selection on interior and exterior colour.

Very spacious this car. First time driving this and very impress by it. Very long drive and nice to have. Defintely good.

This car surpass my expectations of typical BYD car. BYD deeply rooted to our mindset that it is an EV brand. But this Sealion 6 plug-in hybrid. Having boast an impressive mileage per tank of 1000km 70/30 highway city driving. I would say that it is a very comfortable and powerful car (Category B). It serves its purpose very very well. I have no regrets about this car. It brings joy to me and my family with the big infotainment display and the big sun roof. BYD designers are doing the perfect job at the moment as I hope they will continue to impress the world.

Long term wise, we still do not know about the overall reliability of gearbox and ICE engine. This is the only downside in my opinion.

Compare to other cars PHEV, it has a nicer interior. But with this price tag I rather get entry level BMW. Road tax is also higher compare to 1.5cc cars.

No EV rebate and yet road tax for this 1.5 engine is $1,100 plus compared with ICE hybrid same cc which is only $700 plus

Test Drive Review: BYD Sealion 6 DM-i (Pre-Launch Experience)

I had the chance to test drive the BYD Sealion 6 DM-i during their pre-launch sales event at BYD Alexandra on Sunday. BYD has clearly adjusted the specifications of the Sealion 6 DM-i to keep it competitively priced. Most of the omitted features are nice-to-haves rather than essentials. The more noticeable exclusions include: Head-Up Display (HUD), Parking Assist, Memory Seats, and downgraded tires and sound system. (Personally, I couldn't really tell the difference in sound quality, but both my wife and daughter felt that the systems in the Sealion 7 and Seal were noticeably better.)

Driving Experience

The overall driving feel is solid — composed, comfortable, and refined, without being overly floaty or dull. Cabin soundproofing is excellent, and on par with what you'd expect from higher-end luxury vehicles.

My only real gripe is with the steering. It felt far too light and disconnected, almost like a video game steering wheel — in fact, my PS5 steering wheel gives more feedback. Switching to Sport mode helps slightly with steering response, but it still felt numb to me.

Interior & Space

Cabin space is generous. Seating three adults in the back is comfortable, and if the passengers are smaller in size, you might even manage to squeeze four. Boot space is decent — about the same as what you'd get in a typical mid size SUV.

Performance

Acceleration is smooth and adequate. It's not a rocket off the line, but it moves from a standstill with ease and without drama. Engine noise is minimal, contributing to the premium and relaxing drive feel.

Braking performance is also impressive. Whether you set the regenerative braking to high or low, it doesn't have the abrupt, jerky feel that earlier EVs often struggled with (at least from what I remember).

Final Thoughts

The 10-year battery warranty and 10 years of free servicing make this an even more attractive package.

There is another PHEV SUV in the same price range that includes many of the features missing from the Sealion 6 — including a Sony sound system — but I'd still pick the Sealion 6 DM-i for its overall comfort, excellent noise insulation, refined suspension, and premium driving feel.

That said, if you're open to going fully electric, the BYD Sealion 7 is definitely worth a serious look.