BYD Sealion 7 vs Seal U DM-i / Sealion 6 Plugin Hybrid

Beware! Do not make the mistake of buying an EV right now. Plug-in hybrids are currently the better alternative over pure EVs, mainly due to following five reasons. Take the case of these two cars. The BYD Sea lion 7 EV and BYD's own plugin hybrid, called the Sea lion 6 in Australia, or the Seal U in the UK. The most logical reason for getting the plugin, is its eighty kilometer of pure EV range. That is enough for ninety percent of the drivers usage ninety percent of the times. In fact, insisting on a pure EV, is logically absurd! It is nothing but illogical insistence, on covering each and every mile on electricity, especially those 10 percent of use cases, that a plugin has to do, on fossil fuels. What additional virtue signaling moral high ground is to be gained, from doing that final 10 percent on electricity, is beyond any common sense. Now, if the pure EV was a good twenty percent cheaper than the plugin here, it would have been worth the hassle. But that is not the case either. In fact the plugin here is the most affordable option among the bunch. If you look at the prices, down under, the range topping, sea lion 6 retails for fifty three thousand aussie dollars. That is two grand cheaper than the base model, of the sea lion 7. Up in old blighty, the difference between the two is a massive, seven thousand pounds. On top of that, the plugin gets all wheel drive, whereas the EV is just a rear wheel drive at that price. The plugin has better performance than the rear-wheel drive EV here as well. If you want to splurge more, to get the all wheel drive version of the EV, you'll be spending 12 grand more than the plugin, of respective currencies in the UK, as well as Australia. Although, you will get better performance than the plugin, as a consolation, after paying through your nose. Finally, coming to the re-fueling time. For the EV, it will take you around half an hour to add 300 kilometers of range. In the plugin, it will take you 2 whole minutes. Think of it like having a three thousand kilowatt charging capability in the plugin, for all you EV nerds out there. There is an option of a slightly better charging speed on the EV, but only in the UK. That is the long range variant of the sea lion 7. It takes 20 minutes to add 300 kilometers of range. But it's price is 19 thousand quid more than the plugin. That being said, there is a slew of EVs coming, later this year, which might pull this battle, back in favor of pure-EVs. BYD's onslaught will continue with the next gen, Han L & Tang L EVs, with blistering performance, and charging ports on both sides, to practically reduce the charging time, to ten minutes for 300 kilometers of added range. Till then, stick with the plugin if you absolutely have to, or just wait it out.