BYD will launch the second-generation Seagull on Tuesday, October 20, at the Zhengzhou International Circuit in China. The car being replaced starts at 69,900 yuan, roughly $10,000, a price that few electric cars anywhere can match. Pricing for the new version has not been published, and BYD says it will be revealed at the launch event itself.
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The October 20 launch and what BYD has said so far
The date comes from a media invitation reported by the Chinese outlet IT Home News, which said BYD confirmed the second-generation Seagull would go on sale at the Zhengzhou circuit on October 20. Blind pre-orders opened on October 9 with six exterior colors and no price. Zhang Zhuo, general manager of BYD’s Ocean series, announced them on Weibo, and he had already given the car the name “Great Seagull” at the Chengdu Auto Show in August.
Not everything has been officially confirmed. The invitation itself was reported by IT Home News, and CnEVPost noted that its date came from a Yiche report citing BYD and that the company had publicly said only that the model would arrive before the end of the year. Online rumor, relayed by Electrek, holds that dealers will quote a pre-deduction price near 85,000 yuan, or about $12,500, which would put the new car above the current entry price.
Seagull pricing and sales
The current model starts at 69,900 yuan in China. The 2026 version of the car launched in May at a range of 69,900 to 85,900 yuan, with LiDAR available at extra cost on select variants, according to CnEVPost, which converts the entry price to $10,390. Overseas, the same car is sold as the Dolphin Surf in Europe and the United Kingdom, where it starts at €22,900, about $25,000, and as the Dolphin Mini in Brazil and Mexico.
The price gap is the story, and the volume backs it up. Citing CleanTechnica data, Electrek’s October 9 report says the Seagull was the sixth best-selling electric car in the world through August, with more than 212,000 units sold. Domestic numbers have been softer: CnEVPost lists 265,901 units for the first nine months of 2026, down 33.22 percent from a year earlier, though September’s 38,650 units were up 11.75 percent. The model sold 529,537 units in all of 2025.
A bigger, rear-drive Seagull with 1,500 kW charging
The new car is much larger. Its filing with China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology gives a length of 4,205 millimeters, a width of 1,810 and a height of 1,570, with a 2,650-millimeter wheelbase. That is 425 millimeters longer than the current car, with a wheelbase 150 millimeters longer, and it seats five instead of four, as Paultan’s coverage of the filing details.
The motor is rated at 95 kilowatts, or 127 horsepower, up from 55 kilowatts and 75 horsepower, and Electrek reports the car switches from front-wheel to rear-wheel drive with a multi-link independent rear suspension. Two lithium-iron-phosphate Blade battery options offer up to 320 and 420 kilometers of range on China’s CLTC test cycle. Higher-priced trims get BYD’s 1,500 kW Flash Charging, which Electrek says takes a battery from 10 to 70 percent in five minutes and from 10 to 97 percent in nine.
The model has also changed in what it offers beyond range. Paultan’s filing summary lists a top speed of 150 km/h and a curb weight of 1,180 kilograms for the base version and 1,255 for higher-spec variants, while CnEVPost adds a 94-liter front trunk and up to 1,380 liters of rear cargo space with the seats folded. The same top trims add the God’s Eye B intelligent driving system and DiPilot 300 driver assistance with a roof-mounted LiDAR, and every version gets a stability system for tire blowouts at up to 140 km/h. Inside are a larger central screen, a two-spoke steering wheel, a redesigned console and physical buttons returning to the dashboard. Electrek’s summary of the intent is that BYD wants the car to be “bigger, smarter, and feel more premium.”
Whether the ten-thousand-dollar Seagull survives
The open question is whether the cheap Seagull stays cheap. If the leaked 85,000 yuan figure holds, the redesigned car costs more than the model it replaces, and the original 69,900 yuan car remains the one that put BYD on the global sales charts. Whether the old version stays on sale after the new one arrives is not addressed in the reports reviewed.
For overseas buyers, the timeline is later, and Electrek frames the arrival as part of a wave of low-cost competition that BYD is trying to stay ahead of with a more premium-feeling car. Electrek says BYD is expected to introduce a larger, upgraded version outside China after the domestic launch, most likely as a variation of the Dolphin Surf and Dolphin Mini. For now, a car at roughly $10,000 exists only in China, and the October 20 price announcement will show whether that number survives the redesign.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
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