Peter Lyon
April 16, 2025
BYD’s Atto 3 electric vehicle may have received an unsatisfactory safety rating last year for its driver-assistance tests, but this year, new results paint a much brighter picture for the marque.
The Chinese brand’s flagship Sealion 7 SUV has just earned a maximum five-star safety rating in the latest round of tests by independent body Euro NCAP. The model, which was launched in Europe in late 2024 and features not only a Blade Battery but also BYD’s trademark Cell-to-Body construction, picked up the top rating with strong performances in all of the four key areas in Europe’s most stringent safety examination – Adult Occupant protection, Child Occupant protection, Vulnerable Road Users protection and Safety Assist.
The Sealion 7, which is available with a choice of battery sizes and power outputs, and incorporates the world’s fastest electric motor in mass production (23,000rpm), has picked up particularly strong scores in the two occupant areas of the test. Euro NCAP’s official report says that the car offered good whiplash protection in a crash, while noting good protection in the side barrier test and severe side pole impact evaluation. The Adult Occupant protection rating is 87%.
The Child Occupant protection rating is even more impressive, at 93%, equalling the highest percentage score in this category over the past nine years and reinforcing the Sealion 7’s positioning as a family car. The report states how, in the frontal offset and side barrier tests, the Sealion 7 scores maximum points for protection of all critical parts of the body for both the 10-year and six-year dummies. It also credits its direct child-presence detection system, which issues a warning when it detects that a child or infant has been left in the vehicle.
The Sealion 7’s suite of driver-assistance features all earn praise in the evaluation, with a Safety Assist score of 79%. The report comments that the autonomous emergency braking system performs well, including responding well to pedestrians and motorcyclists, and notes the presence of lane-support and speed-assistance systems.
CARLIST THOUGHTS
Up until around five years ago, NCAP safety ratings for Chinese cars, including BYD were more often that not, below the results of their European counterparts. But now, as the brand branches out and becomes more international—as it spreads its wings in Europe especially, those NCAP ratings have peaked at the maximum 5-stars. Just when the brand will be allowed into the US market though is anyone’s guess.
