BYD starts shipping Sealion 08 to customers nationwide

BYD has begun dispatching the Sealion 08 to customers across China, with footage posted by the Ocean Series social media team showing a convoy of the SUVs leaving the company's Jinan plant. Ocean Series sales chief Zhang Zhuo disclosed that the model gathered over 12,000 firm orders during its first day on sale. The carmaker at the same time rejected online claims that second-generation Blade Battery output was constraining production and that a 250,000-order backlog had built up, calling the chatter baseless.

Buyers choose from eight trims priced between 229,900 and 279,900 yuan (roughly 33,800 to 41,200 US dollars), offered as plug-in hybrids or battery-electric vehicles. The PHEV versions run on fifth-generation DM hardware, mating a 115 kW (154 hp) 1.5-litre turbo engine with either a single 200 kW (268 hp) motor or one of equal rating on each axle. Electric driving range tops out at 400 km on the CLTC cycle (324 km WLTP), combined range reaches 1,650 km, and the stated fuel draw with a depleted battery is 4.6 L/100 km.

Pure-electric variants come with 320 kW (429 hp) or 370 kW (496 hp) in rear-drive form, while the dual-motor layout pairs a 215 kW (288 hp) front unit with the 370 kW rear motor. Packs of 92.093 kWh and 115.072 kWh deliver CLTC ranges of 800 km (648 km WLTP) and 900 km (729 km WLTP) respectively, and BYD's flash-charging system can restore 70 percent in five minutes and a full charge in nine when conditions are ideal.

Shaped after the Ocean S concept, the SUV carries split headlamps, a full-width light bar and a roof-mounted lidar, and seats five or six, with the six-seater adding second-row captain's chairs and an optional overhead entertainment screen. Every trim includes the God's Eye B driver-assistance suite on the 5.0 platform, covering automated parking and urban navigation, plus DiSus-A body control, road-previewing dual-chamber air suspension and rear-wheel steering.