The BYD Sealion 7 and Tesla Model Y are Australia’s best-selling electric SUVs. Photo: James Coleman.
Tesla was to EVs what the Model-T Ford was to cars.
Whereas nobody with functioning eyes and a remote sense of dignity would want to be seen in the earliest EVs (the hateful Mitsubishi i-MiEV springs to mind), Tesla made them cool. Accessible. Useful. Fun.
It’s why more Australians have bought a Tesla Model Y than brushed their teeth twice a day – in the first six months of this year, 10,431 alone were delivered.
And so far, nothing has come close to knocking it off its perch. Well, except for BYD.
First, China’s BYD launched its attack with the Atto 3. Over the first six months of this year, 1854 units of this SUV were sold in Australia.
But this has been overtaken by its latest salvo – the new Sealion 7 SUV, which, despite sharing its name with a smelly oceanic cat, recorded 3756 sales between January and June this year.
In fact, in July alone, the Sealion overtook the Model Y, with 1427 sales compared to Tesla’s 555.
The price gap is only $5K, with the BYD as the cheaper one. Photo: James Coleman.
So, which one should you have?
For this test, we’re comparing each of the cheapest models. Tesla Australia loaned us their single-motor RWD Model Y, starting at $58,900, and BYD Canberra provided us with the Sealion 7 Premium, also a single-motor and rear-wheel-drive model, priced at $54,990.
So, here’s the real question: Is the Tesla $5000 better?
Let’s start with the Tesla
This year, and to bring it in line with the Model 3 sedan, the Model Y received an update that Tesla enthusiasts will recognise by its technical name, ‘Juniper’.
Good. I had the discomfort of driving a friend’s pre-update Model Y, and the suspension was unbearingly stiff.
It’s still stiff, but the good sort, where occupants are vastly more sheltered from bumps, while the car is also able to handle its 1921 kg of weight in corners tidily.
There are three settings for the steering, from light to heavy, and all of them are quite direct. The regenerative braking also comes with two modes, including one where you can effectively just use the accelerator for everything. Either way, you come to a smooth, graceful stop.
At the same time, it’s still sickeningly quick – 0-100 km/h takes just 5.9 seconds. However, when you’re not giving your best SpaceX impression away from every traffic light, the total range is claimed to be 466 km.
However, the Model Y is still not exactly pretty.
The Cybertruck clearly inspires the front, but there’s just something about the bloated proportions and flat bottom that screams more fridge than anything you’d feel compelled to turn around to look back at.
The inside makes up for it, with that characteristically simple and suave style buyers have swooned over from the beginning. There’s piles of space too, especially when you lift the fake floor in the boot.
Boot space is brilliant – and this doesn’t include the extra ‘boot’ in the front. Photo: James Coleman.
However, the issue is that while other car makers have realised that burying everything in a touchscreen is actually quite annoying when you want to do something simple, like adjust your mirrors, Tesla refuses to change.
Fortunately, they decided to put the indicators back on a stalk – rather than the stupid buttons on the steering wheel in the Model 3 – but you change between Drive and Reverse using a slider on the right-hand side of the touchscreen. Just why?
Of course, this also means all the gimmicks remain – like Dog Mode, the ability to pair gaming controls with either the front or rear screens and play Beach Buggy 2, or just let the kids watch YouTube compilations of Thomas the Tank Engine from the back seats.
The rear touchscreen includes AC controls, games and even YouTube. Photo: James Coleman.
I also used the Tesla phone app for the first time, and being able to control the AC from afar was brilliant.
But all I really wanted was a 360-degree camera view while parking, like every other car on the market nowadays. Even though the bodywork is studded with cameras, the Tesla sticks with something that looks like an ultrasound – and about as easy to interpret for the average mere mortal.
In the end, then, the Tesla continues to feel like the iPhone. Game-changing initially. Still slick. But lost on how to move forward.
The Tesla ‘ultrasound’ – and the ‘gear stick’ on the right of the screen. Photo: James Coleman.
Now for the BYD
The best thing about climbing into the BYD was that I was again able to relive the joy of adjusting the AC vents with the novel invention of the lever. It also features 360-degree parking cameras (see, it’s not that hard, Elon) – and phone mirroring so that you can use Waze (again, unlike Tesla).
The rest of the interior is beautiful, featuring flowing shapes, quilted leather, and a crystal gear lever. It’s hard to believe this is a $50,000 car, and not an Aston Martin.
It’s also balm on the eyes compared to the Model Y. In fact, you could swap the badges on this and the new Audi Q5 or Mercedes GLC and fail to tell them apart.
To drive, the Sealion is silky and subdued enough. And like the Tesla, you can adjust the weight of the steering and the ferocity of the regenerative braking. There are also drive-mode options for when you find yourselves on snow or mud – when presumably, in the Tesla, you must phone Elon and beg for a helicopter dispatch.
It’s heavier than the Tesla – 2225 kg – so you don’t get quite the same rush to 100 km/h, with a slower time of 6.7 seconds. Perhaps it’s the larger diameter of the steering wheel, but it’s also a bit sloppier in the corners.
The range is ever so slightly more than the Tesla’s, at a claimed 482 km.
Space is similar to the Tesla. Photo: James Coleman.
So, what’s the verdict?
This is tricky.
The BYD presents as more of an SUV that happens to be electric. The controls are the same as you’d find in any other modern – and particularly Chinese – car. So it’s easy to get to know.
But then again, like an Apple, you could theoretically become used to everything in the Tesla to the point it becomes second nature. Other things you would adjust once after you bought it, and then never again – like mirrors.
The Tesla is the better drive. Photo: James Coleman.
Unlike BYD’s chaotic screen, which includes acronyms and graphics that would baffle an atomic scientist, Tesla’s tech is also clearer to read at a glance.
So for this, and the nicer drive, I reckon the Tesla is worth the extra.
However, my co-tester and colleague would emphatically opt for the BYD, as it’s less distracted by gimmicks and more focused on being a pleasant companion.
So, I guess this is ‘sorry for wasting your time’.
The BYD is easier to learn. Photo: James Coleman.
Thanks to Tesla Australia and BYD Canberra for providing these vehicles for testing. Region has no commercial arrangement with either company.
