The BYD Sealion 6 plug-in hybrid (PHEV) SUV has become even cheaper with a new entry-level Essential trim, priced from $42,990 before on-road costs.
The Sealion 6 was already Australia’s most affordable plug-in hybrid (PHEV), as well as our market’s best-selling PHEV last year, and the new Essential brings the cost of entry down by $3000 over the outgoing Dynamic.
Only the Essential and Premium feature in the model year 2025 lineup, with the latter priced at an unchanged $52,990 before on-road costs.
Orders are opening today, with vehicles arriving in March.
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2024 Sealion 6 pictured
While the company announced pricing in a press release, it hasn’t said what features have been removed from the old Dynamic to bring down the price, other than to say “all the five-star ANCAP safety features have also been retained”. It also hasn’t released any images of the Essential.
We’ll update this article when more information becomes available.
The Essential has the same 18.3kWh Blade lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery as other Sealion 6 models, and like the Dynamic it has total system outputs of 160kW and 300Nm.
It’s front-wheel drive, unlike the top-spec Premium, and does the 0-100km/h dash in 8.5 seconds.
Claimed electric-only range is 92km on the NEDC test cycle, while BYD also claims fuel consumption of 1.1L/100km – or 4.8L/100km if the state of charge is below 25 per cent.
The Sealion 6 is the latest BYD to get the Essential treatment, following last week’s announcement of cut-price versions of the Atto 3 and Dolphin.
The Atto 3 Essential brings the cost of entry to the electric SUV range down by $4509, while the Dolphin Essential is $6900 less than the Dynamic trim it replaces.
Both models have lost features compared to the previous entry-level models, with the Dolphin Essential and Atto 3 Essential lacking features like panoramic glass roofs and wireless phone chargers.
MORE: Everything BYD Sealion 6
