BYD Sealion 7 vs Lexus LM 500H

What's the difference?

Not the most comprehensive of tests, I'm afraid, but on first impressions the BYD Sealion 7 feels like a very solid offering that delivers on price and spec, too.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel and meals provided.

The Lexus LM 500h is luxurious, comfortable, practical, easy to drive and expensive. While it may appear to be the ultimate family car, with only four seats it's limited in terms of how many kids and their friends you can carry. On top of that, the privacy screen introduces accessibility issues to the kids you wouldn't encounter on other vehicles. If you are thinking of a Lexus people mover as your next family car I'd suggest looking at the LM 350h which has seven seats and no privacy screen. If you’re looking at a business class executive van the LM 500h would be perfect. 

Probably not what you might describe as revolutionary design, the Sealion 7 still presents as a clean, functional and relatively premium-feeling SUV – and one that doesn't look in any way confronting or overly futuristic.

The lights are LED and look sleek in the way they are cut into the body work, and the swept-back roofline, including the rear windscreen spoiler, lends the Sealion 7 an athletic look, too.

Inside, the Sealion 7 is a comfortable and well-trimmed space, with soft-touch materials placed wherever you're likely to interact with the car, and a gigantic central screen that handles tech duties - with some climate control shortcuts that are a nice touch, too.

But most happily of all, there is not one but two screens for the driver; a display screen in the driver's binnacle, and a head-up display, both of which deliver the info you need without having to turn your head.

The LM 500h doesn't look real. More like a concept vehicle with its vertical face wearing that enormous grille. Feels like if you watched it for long enough you’d catch it transforming into some kind of robot. Yet, at the same time its styling is elegant and prestigious.

I have a confession to make. I used this Lexus as my office. Its interior is that comfortable and spacious. I'm also a parent and there were times where it was the quietest place to get some work done.

It also let me observe people's reactions as they walked past with their dogs not knowing what was going on inside behind those tinted windows. The people that noticed were clearly car enthusiasts as they knew what they were looking at and couldn't pass without gaping it awe.

The LM 500h’s interior is superbly plush with thick carpets, beautiful copper metallic trim and nappa leather seats.

As I’ve said, the cockpit up front is less luxurious than the extravagant first class section in the back behind that dividing wall.

And yes, I’ve seen large screens before but nothing that stretches the width of the vehicle.

The Sealion 7 is just over 4.8m long, 1.9m wide and 1.6m tall, and it rides on a near three-metre wheelbase.

The real party trick of the Sealion 7, though, isn’t one you’ll get to enjoy as the driver, it’s all about the back seat. There is oodles, and I mean oodles, of room for rear riders, helped by the wide, flat floor that adds extra space to spread out.

Sitting behind my own 175cm driving position, I have heaps of knee room, plenty of head room, and thankfully the glass roof has a shade, too.

Elsewhere, there are two cupholders in the rear seat divider, USB-C and USB-A charge points, seat heating for backseat riders, and air vents, but no way to control your own temperature in the backseat.

At the boot, you’ll find a very usable, flat-floored 500 litres of luggage space, and you can adjust the floor height to make carrying bulkier items a little easier. There’s a second smaller space in the frunk as well.

You might be able to take Lexus out of Toyota but it's very hard to take Toyota out of Lexus and this particularly applies to the practicality of the LM 500h.

Every day I discovered new compartments, tray tables and storage areas. There are so many cabinets, lockers and hidey holes that we almost left my belongings (an entire family of plushie toy capybaras) behind because there are so many places to check.

Of course, I'm talking about the rear compartment here because up front there's not much storage. In fact, it proved to be quite a problem in that I had nowhere to put my bag with somebody sitting next to me and no area behind the front seats to stow it, either.

Talking of seats, the LM 500h only has four of them, with two up front and two in the rear. Up front, the seats are supportive and large, but the rear seats - those are, well... have a look at the images.

We’re talking two large captain's chairs that look as though they’ve been removed from the first class section of a plane.

And while this might be suitable for businesses shuttling a couple of executives to and from meetings, for a family, even with two children, the extra couple of seats a third row offers would come in handy.

The LM 350h has seven seats over three rows and no privacy screen. A far better choice for families.

For device charging there are USB ports up front and in the rear. There are wireless phone chargers for those in the back seats but not up front.

The LM 500h has a cargo capacity of 752 litres with all seats in place.

The Lexus LM 500h sits at the top of its range and is without a doubt one of the most expensive people movers on Earth with its list price of $220,888.

As you would imagine the standard features list is as extensive as it is extravagant.

For starters, while the regular LM 350h has two rows of seating in the rear (seven seats all up, including the front two), the 500h has the third row removed and just two super luxurious and enormous fully reclining seats fill the entire space. It’s like a theatre back there.

That theatre theme keeps going with a media screen in the back so large it stretches the width of the vehicle. Seriously, it's a 48-inch screen to watch movies or connect to your device.

The sound system is probably the best I’ve experienced - a spine tinglingly incredible 23-speaker Mark Levinson set-up.

What else can I tell you? Those rear seats are upholstered in beautifully soft semi-aniline leather. They’re heated and ventilated with a massaging function and... ridiculously comfortable.

There’s four-zone climate control, windows which have an electronic shade that turns the glass opaque, there are wireless phone chargers in the doors and carpet throughout so thick you sink down into it as you step inside.

Our LM 500h was upholstered in the 'Solis White' leather which also brings contrasting and mesmerising copper metallic trim.

Oh, and there’s a wall with an electric glass screen that can be raised or lowered to separate the rear passengers from the driver.

I should have mentioned this earlier. The kids loved it, but these parents spent a lot of time telling the 10- and three-year old not to put the screen up again.

The rear occupants, aka the kids, can also lock the screen in place. Which they did, and so sound proof is the dividing wall that we can only just hear their uproarious laughter.

Up front, the cockpit is comfortable but it’s clear all the space and luxury is for those being driven around.

Still, the front seats are leather with heating and ventilation, there’s a 14-inch media screen and 12.4-inch digital instrument cluster, plus a head-up display. Sat nav, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are also standard.

The Premium model gets a single rear-mounted electric motor, producing 230kW and 380Nm, which is sent straight to the rear tyres. BYD reckons the sprint to 100km/h takes 6.7 seconds. 

But the the dual-motor, AWD Performance adds a second electric motor up front which ups the grunt to 390kW and 690Nm, and lops almost two seconds off the 100km/h sprint, now just 4.5 seconds.  

The LM 500h is a petrol-electric hybrid with a 2.4-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine which makes 202kW/460Nm and works in concert with two electric motors.

The front motor makes 64kW/292Nm and the rear makes 76kW/169Nm. The combined maximum power output of the two motors and the petrol engine is 273kW.

The LM 500h is all wheel-drive and has a six-speed automatic transmission.

Both Sealion 7 models share the same 82.56kWh battery, and the Premium will travel a claimed 482kms between charges on the WLTP cycle. The Performance, with its extra grunt, will cover less distance, with the range dropping to a claimed 456km.

Both feature 150kW DC fast charging, and up to 11kW AC charging, though BYD is yet to confirm charging times.

Lexus says after a combination of urban and open roads the LM 500h should use 6.6L/100km. In our own testing we found consumption was higher at 9.4L/100km.

Worth noting my driving environment was mainly a hilly suburban one filled with school drop offs. Achieved some personal bests this week, with one long run to Sydney’s outskirts, only to return in nightmarish peak hour traffic.

Premium (95 RON) fuel is required and the tank size is 60 litres. In theory the driving range is a smidge more than 900km, which drops to around 640km using our real-world average.

Unfortunately BYD's launch drive program was brief at best - about 40 minutes or so across mostly suburban Adelaide - so please do consider the below a taste test. We will put the Sealion 7 to the proper CarsGuide test when we get it down the track.

In the meantime, the Sealion 7 did impress on first impressions. Our test car was the dual-motor Performance, and the power delivery is smooth, constant and absolutely ample for just about anyone.

In fact, I suspect it's a little too ample. While I haven't driven the single-motor Premium, I suspect that will be the pick of the bunch. It's no slouch either, and it will travel further between charges, plus I suspect the power delivery will be better suited to the nature of this mid-size SUV.

In the Performance, the grunt is plentiful, but the Sealion 7 isn't quite set up to take full advantage of it. I was impressed by the grip and the relative lack of body roll, but it's still heavy, and the tyres still complain when you ask too much of them.

That said, the Sealion 7 felt very well set up for urban and long-distance commuting. The cabin is quiet and refined, and the ride is really impressive, even over rough stuff, with BYD managing to make it feel compliant, but not completely disconnected. Which is a win.

Downsides? The power on offer in the Performance is plentiful, which means merely breathing on the accelerator will see you suddenly collecting speed – something you need to be aware on 40km/h and 50km/h streets.

And when you do lift your foot off the accelerator, the Sealion 7 doesn't decelerate immediately. It feels like it continues pushing forwards for a beat or two.

But in a vehicle as potent as the Performance, that beat or two can take you a fair way down the road.

Quite simply, driving the LM 500h is like piloting a limousine on stilts. Superbly comfortable, but with an elevated driving position that offers outstanding forward and side visibility, the LM 500h is an easy vehicle to drive for long periods of time.

A digital rear vision mirror means visibility behind is good and unobstructed by the privacy screen or the seats.

The drawbacks are down to the lack of space up front, with the driver’s chair limited in its ability to recline or slide back due to the bulkhead behind it.

And that's compounded by the lack of cabin storage for bags if the front passenger seat is taken.

As for the rear passengers there aren't many people movers offering this level of comfort, except perhaps the Zeekr 009.

Variable suspension that adjusts continuously keeps the vehicle composed and provides a high level of comfort for those in the rear. At the same time, the LM stays nice and flat through roundabouts while remaining civilised over speed bumps.

And then there's the acceleration, which, while not supercar-like is incredibly brisk for a van. The all-wheel drive system provides outstanding traction in wet and slippery conditions, too. 

Our family used the LM daily for everything from school runs to shopping trips and weekends away and not only was it fun to drive, our lucky rear passengers enjoyed sitting high and being able to see clearly out their windows along with the luxury of a giant movie screen.

The Lexus  LM 500h is yet to be tested by ANCAP so it doesn't have a safety assessment score. There is, however, a high level of safety tech onboard including AEB which can detect pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and other vehicles, emergency steering assist, lane keeping assistance, road sign recognition, rear cross-traffic alert, front and rear parking sensors as well as six airbags.

For child seats there are ISOFIX points and top tether anchor mounts on the two rear seats. We have a forward facing child seat and found it easy to install.

A space-saver spare wheel is located under the boot floor.

BYD offers a complicated six-year, 150,000km warranty, so just check what is and isn’t covered, and for how long, before taking anything for granted.

The battery is covered for eight years or 160,000km. Servicing is require every 12 months or 20,000kms, and there’s a capped-price servicing program which covers 10 years of ownership.  

BYD’s website has the details for every service, but the most expensive will be $1109 and the cheapest is $246, with most falling somewhere between those numbers.

Lexus covers the LM 500h with a five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty. 

The Lexus Encore Platinum program is complimentary for LM owners for three years, providing 24-hour roadside assist, a loan vehicle or pick-up/return service at service time, 'On Demand' vehicle evaluation options, valet and airport parking benefits as well as exclusive offers and event opportunities.

Servicing is recommended annually or every 15,000 kilometres, and impressively, pricing is capped at $695 per service over five years.