BYD SEALION 5

The BYD SEALION 5 is not able to detect and classify the stature of occupants in front seating positions, monitor seatbelt misuse, or detect a front-seat passenger sitting ‘out-of-position’, for example with their feet on the dashboard.

The SEALION 5 is fitted with an intelligent seat belt reminder with occupant detection for all passenger seating positions. A child presence detection system is not available.

The driver monitoring system fitted to the SEALION 5 was able to warn and adjust vehicle sensitivity for a range of common types of distraction. However, it was unable to detect phone use or intervene for an unresponsive driver.

Physical controls are provided for most key driving functions, including the indicators, hazard lights, horn, gear selector and windscreen wipers. However, headlight adjustment, interior lights, and climate control fan adjustment rely on interaction with the vehicle’s central screen interface and did not meet ANCAP requirements.

Control of the vehicle’s speed, once a speed limit was identified, was not sufficiently accurate to earn full points. During the on-road driving assessment, which assesses the accuracy of speed limit identification functionality on local metropolitan and regional roads, the SEALION 5 correctly identified 66% of speed change events - equivalent to 95% of the distance driven.

Adaptive cruise control performed reasonably in detecting and responding to other vehicles, motorcycles, pedestrians and cyclists. The steering assistance system also demonstrated an adequate level of performance, although more advanced functionality was limited.

The autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system fitted to the BYD SEALION 5 can detect and react to imminent collisions with other vehicles, motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians, including adults and children. The vehicle provided mixed performance across tested scenarios, with limitations observed in intersection scenarios, including T-bone crashes and when turning across the path of a pedestrian or cyclist.

The SEALION 5 had limited ability to avoid collisions through AEB in low-speed situations. Some crash avoidance performance was observed in tests where the vehicle turned in front of an oncoming car or motorcyclist. The vehicle is equipped with reverse AEB, however this only avoided collisions in a limited number of test scenarios.

The SEALION 5 provided warning of an approaching cyclist to vehicle occupants when attempting to exit the vehicle.

The lane support system demonstrated limited performance in preventing lane departures across the assessed scenarios. Testing did not reveal any vehicle intervention response when the SEALION 5 departed towards the road edge. Intervention to help prevent potential collisions with oncoming or overtaking cars or motorcycles in an adjacent lane was limited to vehicle speeds below 70 km/h.

In the frontal offset test, the level of protection provided for child occupants seated in the second row was good. There was a higher risk of injury to the driver’s chest and lower legs, and to the front passenger’s neck. Structures in the instrument panel and dashboard were a potential source of injury for the driver and front passenger.

A deduction was applied for the BYD SEALION 5’s crash compatibility in head-on crashes, where it presents a higher risk to occupants of an oncoming vehicle, if struck.

In the full-width frontal test, protection was generally good. The additional sled and virtual tests showed that protection was not as good for different occupant sizes or crash severities.

Maximum scores were achieved for adult and child occupant protection in the side impact test.

In the oblique pole test, protection of the driver’s chest was adequate, while protection of the head was good. A penalty was applied for rollover protection as BYD did not provide evidence to show that the curtain airbag would deploy in a rollover crash, or that it would remain inflated for the required period post-crash.

The SEALION 5 is fitted with a centre airbag between the front seats. This worked effectively to limit movement of the occupants across the vehicle and to reduce the risk of the driver and front passenger striking each other in a side crash. Overall, rear impact whiplash protection was adequate.

Protection for pedestrians and cyclists was varied. Protection of the pelvis and legs was mixed, while head protection was less effective around the edges of the bonnet surface.

The SEALION 5 is fitted with lower ISOFix anchorages for rear outboard seats and top tether anchorages for all rear seating positions. All child restraints selected for the installation assessment could be correctly installed.

Rescue information for emergency responders met ANCAP requirements, with both a rescue sheet and emergency response guide available.

The SEALION 5 does not provide eCall functionality.

In the event of a crash, multi-collision braking and hazard lights will activate.

As a plug-in hybrid, the SEALION 5 demonstrated effective post-crash fire risk management, with appropriate battery voltage isolation in three of four destructive crash tests. In the full-width frontal test, however, voltage did not reduce to the required level within the specified time and a penalty was applied.

Seatbelt buckles, interior and exterior door releases and the tailgate remained operable following the assessed crash tests - features which help occupants and rescuers access or exit the vehicle.

BYD did not demonstrate that the windows of the SEALION 5 would remain functional if the vehicle became submerged in water.