BYD Sealion 7 vs Deepal S07

The Deepal S07 is the cheaper car. It is $47,990 drive-away on a run-out offer, and the Sealion 7 opens at $54,990 for the rear-drive Premium before on-road costs, with the dual-motor Performance at $63,990. Read the basis carefully, because the two are quoted differently: the Deepal figure already includes on-road costs, the Sealion's does not, though BYD is currently absorbing those costs so the Premium lands close to that figure drive-away during its campaign. Either way the Deepal undercuts it. Worth knowing, the Deepal price is a sell-through offer on the last of its 20-inch stock, so confirm both are current with a dealer before you buy.

The Sealion 7 is the faster charger by a distance. On a DC fast charger it peaks at 150kW, enough for a 10 to 80 per cent top-up in about 32 minutes, while the Deepal S07 tops out at just 92kW, so the same charge takes noticeably longer. Neither is a class leader against the newest 800-volt rivals, but between these two the difference is real and it is the Deepal's clearest weak point. On AC they are level, both accepting up to 11kW for a full overnight home charge. If you road-trip and lean on public fast chargers, the Sealion is the easier car to own.

On the WLTP cycle there is almost nothing in it: the Sealion 7 Premium claims 482km, the Deepal S07 claims 475km. The batteries are close in size too, at 82.56kWh and 79.97kWh. The tie-breaker is efficiency. The Sealion Premium uses 170Wh/km against the Deepal's 186, so it should stretch a little further in the real world, where both will land below their lab figures in cold weather or at highway speed. Note the quicker Sealion Performance gives up some range for its second motor at 456km. For range confidence the Sealion has the slimmest of edges, helped more by efficiency than by the headline number.

Both are five-star cars, tested under recent criteria, but they get there differently. The Deepal is outstanding in a crash with a 95 per cent adult-occupant score to the Sealion's 87, but it is the weaker car on active safety, scoring 70 per cent for safety assist to the Sealion's 78, and 74 for vulnerable road users to 76. The Sealion also edges child-occupant protection at 93 per cent to 86. The Deepal's safety-assist figure was trimmed after it re-engineered intrusive driver aids so owners could switch them off, a fix ANCAP publicly cautioned about. If crash protection leads your brief, the Deepal; if active-safety breadth does, the Sealion.

The Sealion 7 is the more accommodating car behind the seats. Its 500-litre boot beats the Deepal's 445 above the floor, and folded flat it pulls well clear at 1,769 litres to 1,385. The Deepal answers with a bigger 125-litre front boot to the Sealion's 58, handy for storing charging cables away from the main load space. Both seat five, both offer a panoramic roof and dual-zone climate, and the two are within 80mm on length. So for the weekly shop and big folded-flat loads the Sealion carries more, while the Deepal gives you the roomier frunk for cables and odds and ends.

The Deepal S07 has the stronger ownership pitch, which matters for a newer brand. It carries a seven-year vehicle warranty to the Sealion's six, and an eight-year battery warranty covering 240,000km against the Sealion's 160,000km, among the most generous cover in the class. Both service every 12 months or 20,000km, and Deepal publishes capped-price servicing at about $300 a visit for roughly $1,804 across five years. The Sealion counters with an eight-year battery warranty of its own and BYD's fast-growing dealer network. Both use a heat pump to protect efficiency in the cold. On paper the Deepal takes more of the new-brand risk off the table.

The Sealion 7 is the quicker car in either grade. The rear-drive Premium makes 230kW and reaches 100km/h in 6.7 seconds, and the dual-motor Performance lifts that to 390kW and a genuine 4.5-second sprint. The Deepal S07 offers one 160kW rear-drive tune good for 7.9 seconds, fine for daily use but never the quicker car here. Neither is a driver's car: both are tuned for comfort over corners, and Australian reviewers describe both as easy-going rather than sharp. If straight-line pace matters, the Sealion has it in hand, and the Performance grade adds speed most owners will rarely use for about $9,000 more.

The backing is stronger than the badge suggests: a seven-year vehicle warranty, an eight-year 240,000km battery warranty, and sale through the established importer Inchcape. That is the same distributor behind Subaru and Peugeot here, and Deepal is the electric brand of Changan, one of China's largest carmakers, so there is real scale and a real dealer network behind it. Those warranties answer much of the near-term risk. The genuine unknowns for any young marque are resale value and long-term parts support, which only time settles. The Sealion 7 has the advantage there, with tens of thousands of examples on Australian roads already, which tends to steady resale.

The decision splits cleanly. If you want the more complete electric SUV, with faster 150kW charging, better efficiency, more power and a bigger boot, from the better-established of the two brands, the Sealion 7 is the pick, and the rear-drive Premium is the sweet spot for most buyers. If your priority is the lowest drive-away price and the longest warranty, in a well-equipped, sharply styled and quiet car you charge mostly at home, the Deepal S07 makes the stronger value case, provided you can live with its slower 92kW charging. Rank completeness against cost of entry, and the winner is clear.