2026 BYD Sealion 08 PHEV: Flagship SUV Offers 5- or 6-Seat Layouts From ~$34,500

The 2026 BYD Sealion 08 PHEV is the new flagship of BYD's Ocean lineup, a mid-to-large SUV that officially went on sale in China on September 2, 2026 after debuting at the Beijing Auto Show in April and opening pre-orders on August 13. It slots in above the Sealion 06 and Sealion 07 as BYD's answer to buyers who want three-row-adjacent space, a plug-in hybrid powertrain with real long-distance range, and BYD's newest flash-charging tech, all without stepping up to the pricier Denza N8L. The car is offered in both 5-seat and 6-seat configurations built on the same body and powertrain, a flexibility few rivals in this price bracket match. Buyers choose between a front-wheel-drive Honour Edition and a dual-motor all-wheel-drive Flagship, with pricing starting at CNY 229,900 (~$34,486) for the 5-seat Honour Edition and topping out at CNY 269,900 (~$40,487) for the loaded 6-seat AWD Flagship.

Performance & Specs

The Sealion 08 PHEV uses BYD's DM-i/DM-p super-hybrid architecture built around a 1.5-liter turbocharged engine rated at 115 kW (154 hp). The entry front-wheel-drive Honour Edition pairs that engine with a single 200 kW (268 hp) electric motor. Step up to the AWD Flagship and a second 200 kW motor joins on the rear axle, lifting total system output to 400 kW (544 PS / 536 hp), with dealer-quoted figures of 675 Nm of torque, 0-100 km/h in 4.7 seconds and a 200 km/h top speed. Both configurations ride on BYD's DiSus-A dual-chamber air suspension with active rear-wheel steering, which BYD says brings the turning radius down to just 4.95 meters despite the car's size — something the walkaround confirms is genuinely adjustable for ride height, not just marketing copy.

Powertrain	1.5T DM-p, dual-motor AWD
Power	400 kW (544 PS / 536 hp)
Torque	675 Nm
0–100 km/h	4.7 s
Battery	55.8 kWh LFP
Range	Up to 1,650 km combined (CLTC)

POWERTRAIN TYPE	DM-i/DM-p plug-in hybrid
HORSEPOWER	268 hp (FWD single-motor) / Up to 536 hp (AWD dual-motor)
ACCELERATION	4.7 s (0-100 km/h, AWD Flagship)
TOP SPEED	200 km/h
DRIVETRAIN	FWD or AWD
BATTERY	55.8 kWh 2nd-gen Blade LFP
ELECTRIC RANGE	350-400 km (CLTC)
COMBINED RANGE	Up to 1,650 km (CLTC)

Dimensions & Practicality

Length	5,115 mm
Width	1,999 mm
Height	1,800 mm
Wheelbase	3,030 mm
Ground clearance	~200 mm (adjustable)

At 5,115 mm long on a 3,030 mm wheelbase, the Sealion 08 gives up real interior volume for its price bracket, and BYD sells that space two different ways. The 5-seat layout adds leg rests on the rear outboard seats and a storage cubby beneath the middle seat position, while the 6-seat layout swaps the middle bench for two individual captain's chairs with armrests, power adjustment, and their own leg rests, plus a second-row-facing entertainment screen and a dedicated climate/seat control panel within reach of the middle row. In the 5-seat layout, cargo space measures a genuinely competitive 943 liters behind the second row, expanding to roughly 1,800 liters with the rear seats folded flat, figures the walkaround confirms match BYD's own listed numbers. The 6-seat version lists 317 liters with all six seats in place and 1,173 liters with the seats folded. Wheels are 21-inch, shod in 265/45R21 Goodyear rubber on the trim shown, with a panoramic glass roof and power sunshade fitted across the range.

LENGTH	5,115 mm
WIDTH	1,999 mm
HEIGHT	1,800 mm
WHEELBASE	3,030 mm
CARGO VOLUME	5-seat: 943 L (seats up) / ~1,800 L (folded); 6-seat: 317 L / 1,173 L (folded)
SEATING	5-seat or 6-seat (2+2+2)

Charging & Battery

Every Sealion 08 PHEV trim shares the same 55.8 kWh second-generation Blade Battery pack, a lithium-iron-phosphate design BYD says is both more energy-dense and safer than the first-generation cells used on earlier Ocean-series cars. On the 800-volt architecture, BYD's flash-charging system takes the pack from 10% to 70% in about 5 minutes and 10% to 97% in about 9 minutes on a compatible high-power DC charger — figures broadly in line with what the walkaround shows on a standard fast charger, where a top-up to roughly 80% took 7 to 10 minutes. A full AC top-up from empty is considerably slower, at roughly 5 hours on a slow charger according to the dealer. BYD quotes 4.6 L/100 km (NEDC) once the battery is depleted and the 1.5T engine is doing the work alone, and has not published the fuel-tank capacity.

BATTERY	55.8 kWh 2nd-gen Blade LFP
AC CHARGING	Not officially disclosed (about 5 hours on a slow charger, per the dealer)
DC FAST CHARGING	Flash charging, up to 800V
DC 10-70% TIME	~5 min

Design & Interior

The Sealion 08's exterior follows BYD's current Ocean Aesthetics 2.0 language, with a full-width LED taillight bar, sculpted rear haunches, and a front fascia dominated by slim daytime running lights over the main headlight clusters, plus a functional lower grille feeding the turbocharged engine. It's a more restrained shape than some of BYD's newer Dynasty-series SUVs, closer in proportion to a conventional three-row family SUV than a coupe-styled crossover. Inside, the cabin leans on a light-beige color scheme with soft leather-look surfaces, oval-shaped chrome-trimmed air vents, and adjustable ambient lighting. The driver faces a three-spoke steering wheel, a floating digital instrument cluster, and the tablet-style 17.3-inch center touchscreen running a full English-language interface on the unit shown, with menus covering everything from suspension height and ambient lighting to individual drive-mode profiles. Seats on the trim shown get ventilation, heating, and massage functions, and BYD fits a wireless phone charger, dual cupholders, and an armrest storage box up front.

Technology & Features

The center display runs BYD's own infotainment platform rather than a third-party system, with quick-access tiles for phone, navigation, media, and vehicle settings laid out in a clean grid. A dedicated settings menu breaks controls into Vehicle, Light, Energy, Drive, ADAS, Display, and Audio tabs, giving owners granular control over things like screensaver behavior, HUD content, and drive-mode calibration without digging through nested menus. The 6-seat version adds a rear-facing entertainment screen for second-row passengers and a rear climate/seat control panel, while both layouts get a panoramic glass roof with a powered sunshade and NFC card-key entry so the car can be unlocked without the traditional key fob.

Safety & ADAS

BYD equips the Sealion 08 PHEV with its God's Eye B driver-assist suite, a LiDAR-anchored system capable of Navigate-on-Autopilot on both highways and urban roads, backed by a 360-degree camera array and a dedicated exterior indicator light that signals when autonomous-driving functions are active. Automatic parking assist is standard across the range, and the DiSus-A suspension's road-scanning sensors feed into the ADAS stack to help the car anticipate surface changes before they reach the wheels.

ADAS LEVEL	L2+ (God's Eye B)
ADAS FEATURES	LiDAR NOA (highway + urban), 360° camera, automatic parking assist, road-preview air suspension

Available Versions

VERSION	POWER	TORQUE	0-100	TOP SPEED	DRIVETRAIN	BATTERY	EV RANGE	COMBINED RANGE	PRICE	KEY DIFFERENCES
Honour Edition (5-seat)	268 hp	—	—	200 km/h	FWD	55.8 kWh	400 km	Up to 1,650 km	$34,486	Entry trim, single front motor, 5 seats
Honour Edition (6-seat)	268 hp	—	—	200 km/h	FWD	55.8 kWh	400 km	Up to 1,650 km	$37,486	Single motor, captain's chairs, rear entertainment screen
Flagship AWD (5-seat)	536 hp	675 Nm	4.7s	200 km/h	AWD	55.8 kWh	350 km	Not separately confirmed	$37,486	Dual-motor, rear leg rests, under-seat storage
Flagship AWD (6-seat)	536 hp	675 Nm	4.7s	200 km/h	AWD	55.8 kWh	350 km	Not separately confirmed	$40,487	Dual-motor, captain's chairs, rear entertainment screen

Pricing & Availability

BYD opened Sealion 08 pre-orders in China on August 13, 2026 and began deliveries after the official September 2, 2026 launch, when the SUV drew more than 12,000 firm orders in its first 24 hours. The plug-in hybrid runs from CNY 229,900 (~$34,486) for the 5-seat front-drive Honour Edition, through CNY 249,900 (~$37,486) for either the 6-seat Honour Edition or the 5-seat AWD Flagship, to CNY 269,900 (~$40,487) for the 6-seat AWD Flagship. A battery-electric Sealion 08 is sold alongside it in four versions from CNY 239,900 (~$35,986) to CNY 279,900 (~$41,987): a 115.1 kWh second-generation Blade pack with up to 900 km of CLTC range from a single motor of up to 370 kW (496 hp), or 800 km from the 585 kW (784 hp) dual-motor AWD setup, which reaches 100 km/h in 3.9 seconds. The EV also has a 201-liter powered front trunk, which the plug-in hybrid, with its engine up front, does not. This article covers the plug-in hybrid versions.

How It Compares

The Denza N8L is BYD's pricier six-seat plug-in hybrid flagship: it out-powers the Sealion 08's AWD Flagship by a wide margin with 751 hp, but starts at CNY 319,800, about $13,500 more than the Sealion 08 PHEV's entry price. The sibling Sealion 08 EV starts only about $1,500 higher and swaps the plug-in hybrid's 1,650 km combined range for up to 900 km of pure-electric range and, in AWD form, 784 hp. The Sealion 08 PHEV's pitch is less about outright performance and more about a genuinely flexible 5- or 6-seat cabin with class-competitive range at a lower entry price than either of these two rivals.