BYD Dolphin Review 2024

BYD may very well be the biggest company you’ve never heard of. BYD stands for Build Your Dreams – a Chinese giant that’s the world’s biggest electric car brand. And the BYD Dolphin is its entry-level electric car that costs £25,490 - less than an MG4. Question is, is it any good? We'll reveal all on our BYD Dolphin review.

BYD makes half the world’s supply of Apple iPads and sells so much automotive tech to other manufacturers (EV batteries being top of that list) that it is reluctant to discuss rivals for this new compact electric hatchback, the BYD Dolphin, for fear of upsetting its customers.

However, whatever rival you do choose will be more expensive than this, BYD’s second electric car (the first being the BYD Atto 3 small SUV). The BYD Dolphin's keen pricing combined with generous all-electric range and surprisingly high build quality make it a pretty compelling proposition and an interesting alternative to the cheapest electric cars on the market.

With four trim levels on offer – Active, Boost, Comfort and Design – the BYD Dolphin is available with a choice of two batteries featuring the company’s ‘Blade’ structure: Active and Boost models have a 44.9 kWh battery with a 95PS motor for the former and a 176PS motor for the latter, while estimated WLTP ranges are 221 and 192 miles respectively.

Posher Comfort and Design variants boast a gutsier 60.4kWh battery, a 204PS electric motor and an estimated WLTP range of 265 miles.

This two power strategy divides the BYD Dolphin’s rivals into two camps. The lesser battery is pitched against the likes of the Vauxhall Corsa Electric and the Peugeot e-208. The larger battery, meanwhile, takes on the MG4 and even the Volkswagen ID.3.

Pricing from between £25,490 and £30,990 feels far more reasonable than that of most electric offerings, undercutting even the MG4.

Because the company is still building up a head of steam over here, with 27 sales locations in the UK this year and 100 promised by 2024, the BYD Dolphin is currently only available in Comfort and Design trim levels with the larger battery.

In terms of design, the BYD Dolphin is reasonably attractive. It demonstrates the same mildly sharp-suited generic looks as most of the electric compact hatches currently available, although the words ‘Build Your Dreams’ are writ large in chrome across the tailgate.

Those who grew up with the more familiar GLX or GTi badging may find themselves surreptitiously reaching for a small chisel.

On board, however, the BYD Dolphin immediately stands apart from the throng with an enthusiastically different interior. The cockpit boasts, among other touches, ergonomically inept door handles styled on a dolphin’s flipper, a rotatable 12.8-inch touchscreen, plenty of conventional switchgear, vegan leather upholstery and stacks of room in the rear seats.

The driving experience is classic electric hatchback, with plenty of oomph off the line from the 60.4kWh/204PS combo, and a focus on ride comfort rather than the last word in handling prowess.

That’s not to say the BYD Dolphin isn’t respectably agile for a car in this class. It’s merely that there’s little reward for pushing too hard. The electric powertrain makes itself heard at low speeds, but A-pillar and door mirror wind noise allied to tyre roar take over when cruising.

Our experience of the BYD Dolphin suggests that the quoted WLTP range of 265 miles isn’t too over-optimistic, and the presence of a heat pump fitted as standard across the line-up will help avoid that figure falling through the floor in winter months. All versions also get Vehicle-to-Load (VtoL) technology that allows you to run electrical devices from the car on posh picnics.

The 60.4kWh battery charges at a maximum of 88kW from an appropriately powerful DC source – perceptibly slower than most rivals. BYD claims 30-80% charging in 29 minutes, which sounds great, until you realise that competitors claim similar times starting from only 10%. But 11kW AC charging is standard, so with a three-phase supply at home you’ll be fine.

In the absence of the lesser battery-equipped versions at the moment, the BYD Dolphin Comfort is likely to take the lion’s share of sales. So £29,490 buys you a pretty impressive compact electric SUV with a respectable range, decent infotainment, creditable build quality and a price verging on affordability.

Tipping the scales at 1658kg, both higher-powered versions of the BYD Dolphin are comparative lightweights in the world of battery power.

This, allied to multi-link rear suspension fitted to all but the entry-level version, makes for a pleasingly supple ride with none of the thump and crash you get from rivals on poor surfaces.

The downside of this straight-line comfort is, of course, a gentle dialling back of handling prowess. But there’s little point endowing the BYD Dolphin with grip and agility when the steering – perfectly accurate enough, but somewhat lacking in feel and communication – leaves the driver with so little sense of involvement.

This isn’t to say the car lacks tenacity when cornering, just that it fails to reward when pushed beyond the bounds of reasonable family car progress. 

It’s also worth mentioning that the cars we drove were fitted with LingLong Comfort master tyres, but BYD says that all but the first few cars sold should sport Hankook rubber instead. This may well raise the car’s game when cornering.

As has become the electric norm, the car whines its way around the urban environment just noisily enough to attract the attention of those on board, but not loudly enough to warn the hard-of-hearing of its presence. Tyre roar and wind noise from the front pillars and door mirrors dominate proceedings as speeds rise.

The brakes are strong, as is the regenerative braking when you lift off the throttle, but it won’t bring the car to a standstill unassisted.

What will bring you quickly to a standstill in a frantic scrabble to turn the damned thing off, however, is the lane keeping assistance. It’s horrifyingly over-intrusive at all times and the off switch is buried so deeply in the screen menus you’ll need a lay-by and a picnic to get the job done.

The first BYD Dolphins to go on sale in the UK combine the larger, 60.4kWh battery with a 204PS electric motor.

This is BYD’s cobalt-free Blade Battery, which uses lithium Iron-Phosphate (LFP) as its cathode material. It has inherently excellent thermal stability and offers a much higher level of safety than conventional lithium-ion batteries.

310Nm of instant torque makes for a brisk getaway and the car will reach 62mph from a standstill in only seven seconds, and hustle on to a top speed of 99mph.

The powertrain has a tendency to whine at low speeds, but power delivery is smooth and unobtrusive thereafter. Four driving modes – Sport, Normal, Economy and Snow – do exactly what they say on the tin.

The BYD Dolphin is fitted, as standard, with a healthy array of safety and advanced driver assistance systems.

All models feature Forward Collision Warning, Autonomous emergency braking, Rear Collision Warning, Rear Cross Traffic Alert and Rear Cross Traffic Brake, as well as that awful Lane Departure Prevention and Emergency Lane Keeping Assist.

Further driver assistance is provided by Adaptive, Intelligent Cruise Control, a 360- degree panoramic camera, a Blind Spot Detection system, Electronic Stability Control, Traction Control, Hill Descent Control, Automatic vehicle Hold, Traffic Sign Recognition with Intelligent Speed Control and Adaptive front headlights with High Beam Assist.

The BYD Dolphin is not rated for towing and can’t be fitted with a tow bar.

Although only 4290mm long, the BYD Dolphin still manages to conjure a 2700mm wheelbase, which means there’s stacks of room in the back and six-footers will have no trouble sitting behind themselves.

The driving position gives no cause for complaint, with fine ergonomics abetted by electrically adjustable front seats and a healthy dollop of proper switchgear that resembles brushed metal Smarties tubes. These are sliced into tactile segments and stacked in two layers on the centre console.

Both front and rear seats are comfortable, with the former offering a good degree of lateral support.

A luggage compartment of 345 litres is just about acceptable. But the 60/40 split-folding rear seats collapse easily to create a far more respectable total volume of 1310 litres. Unusually for an electric car, there is no frunk into which you might lob the odd charging cable.

The BYD Dolphin’s interior build and material quality took us by surprise. It’s not what you might call premium, but it has been well thought out plus carefully detailed and nicely colour-coordinated with the car’s exterior hue.

There is a degree of scratchy plastic on display, but it’s inoffensive to the eye and soft-touch padding protects most of the areas you come into contact with.

Allied to that colour coding, one or two cheeky styling touches provide a genuine sense of character. For example, the outer air vents are connected across the full width of the dashboard by what resembles molten sugar pulled from the seaside rock-making process mid-stretch, and the air vents themselves are ringed in Friday night lipstick red.

The interior door handles, meanwhile, are styled on a dolphin’s flipper (yes really...), making them, alas, not great to use.

The upholstery is stitched together from something called vegan leather. We have no idea what it’s made from, but it’s hard to tell the difference between this and genuine cow hide – it feels and settles under you, just like the real deal. We wonder how durable it will prove, though.

Overall, then, this is a pleasing interior that has been painstakingly well built. The switchgear is wobble-free and solid in operation, the materials and finishes look and (largely feel) a considerable cut above this price bracket, while nothing creaks, rattles or groans.

BYD’s infotainment trademark is a centre console touchscreen able to rotate between landscape and portrait layouts, with different orientations better for diverse functions.

In the case of the BYD Dolphin’s 12.8-inch screen, this is an amusing concept slightly scuppered by the fact that neither Apple CarPlay nor Android Auto can support the portrait format.

No matter – or that only Android Auto will operate wirelessly – because the system clearly majors on processing power and is faster to respond than anything you’ll find in rival offerings. BYD also vows to bombard owners with over-the-air updates too, so things can only get better still.

That said, some fine-tuning wouldn’t go amiss here. Some of the screens are a mess of different fonts and too many menu layers hide important stuff away in the depths, such as how to switch off the dangerously over-intrusive lane keeping assistant.

For now, while we await the smaller battery option to reach the UK, the BYD Dolphin Comfort is the most affordable version on offer. At only £29,490, that’ll still set you back less than many manufacturers are asking for a far smaller electric car.

Even the top-of-the-range Design trim costs just £30,990 – the point at which the Peugeot e-208 range enters the fray. And the Volkswagen ID.3, is a further £4000 beyond that.

The BYD Dolphin undercuts the cheapest Vauxhall Corsa Electric and is only really challenged by the less well-turned out and less spacious MG4 in terms of value. It’s very well equipped, too – all variants come with the spinning touchscreen, LEDs all round and alloy wheels, and such creature comforts as electric seats and dual-zone climate control.

Yet to arrive in the UK, Active and Boost models have a 44.9 kWh battery with a 95PS motor for the former and a 176PS motor for the latter, while estimated WLTP ranges are 221 miles and 192 miles respectively. 

On sale now, slightly pricier Comfort and Design variants boast a gutsier 60.4kWh battery developing 204PS and offering an estimated WLTP range of 265 miles.

Our experience of the BYD Dolphin suggests that while the quoted WLTP range of 265 miles is not quite achievable, it isn’t too over-optimistic. The presence of a heat pump fitted as standard across the range will help avoid that figure falling through the floor in winter months. 

The 60.4kWh battery charges at a maximum of 88kW from an appropriately powerful DC source – perceptibly slower than most rivals. BYD claims 30-80% charging in 29 minutes, but competitors claim similar times starting from only 10%. However, 11kW AC charging is standard, so with a three-phase supply at home you’ll be fine.

As with all pure-electric cars, the BYD Dolphin is currently road tax exempt. This will change in April 2025, however, when all EVs registered since April 2017 will be taxed at £165 per annum.

The entry-level BYD Dolphin Active standard equipment specification includes 16-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights, rear parking sensors, heated electrically adjustable door mirrors, keyless entry and start, and vegan leather upholstery.

There are also electric windows, electrically adjustable front seats, a 12.8-inch rotatable touchscreen, voice control, a four-speaker DAB+ audio system, a comprehensive array of safety and driver assistance systems, a 7kW on-board charger, a heat pump and a Vehicle to Load (VtoL) function.

The BYD Dolphin Boost trim level adds 17-inch alloy wheels.

The BYD Dolphin Comfort trim level builds on the Active specification with 17-inch alloy wheels, a 360-degree camera, electrically heated and folding door mirrors, heated front seats, a six-speaker DAB+ audio system, front parking sensors and an 11kW on-board charger.

The top-of-the-range BYD Dolphin Design trim level adds to the Comfort specification with 17-inch tri-colour alloy wheels, rear privacy glass, a panoramic sunroof, wireless smartphone charging and four exclusive two-tone exterior paint finishes.