► BYD’s EV hatch priced from £26k with base Active
► 265-mile range on top models, excellent efficiency
► Roomy for its size and (mostly) good value
The Dolphin is Chinese firm BYD’s smallest offering of the three electric cars on UK sale in 2024 – below the Atto 3 SUV and Seal saloon.
In size terms, it’s within a hair’s breadth of the MG4 hatchback and is priced just as keenly, bettering the likes of the Vauxhall Corsa Electric or Fiat 500e despite being a larger and range-ier car.
We’ve driven the now-expansive range of Dolphin versions in the UK. Scroll down for the full debrief.
At a glance
Pros: Loads of kit standard, well-built interior, neat handling, spacious for its size
Cons: Base Active and Boost specs are harder to place, bongs a lot
What’s new?
BYD itself is pretty new in Europe, having only operated across the continent for the last two years or so. In the UK, the brand is expanding, offering this Dolphin as well as the Seal saloon and Atto 3 SUV (and potentially more to come besides).
Our first tests of the Dolphin focused on the Comfort and Design trims. But, as of September 2024, the range has expanded downwards to include a new entry-level Active and Boost version.
What are the specs?
The Dolphin is now fully available in the UK in four different specifications: Active, Boost, Comfort and Design. A, B, C, D – geddit?
The Dolphin in general is a pretty well-equipped car; every version has a 360-degree camera system, electric front seats, keyless entry and start, a large infotainment screen with navigation, Android Auto/Apple CarPlay as well as a tonne of safety equipment and a heat pump for better battery efficiency in cold weather.
Active, priced from £26,195 (and pictured in grey), is your entry into life with a Dolphin, differentiated by smaller 16-inch wheels and a torsion beam rear suspension (the rest get 17s and multi-link rear suspension). Active features a 44.9kWh battery pack and a 94bhp motor, taking 12.3sec to reach 62mph.
Boost, priced from £27,195, keeps the 44.9kWh battery pack but introduces a more powerful 174bhp electric motor, good for a 7.5sec sprint to 62mph.
Comfort, priced from £30,195, introduces the Dolphin’s larger 60.4kWh battery pack, as well as a 201bhp e-motor, dropping the 0-62mph time to seven seconds. Additional equipment here includes an upgraded audio system, rear USB-C port, heated front seats and auto-folding mirrors.
Design, priced from £31,695 (and pictured in blue/grey), is the flagship. As well as being exclusively available with two-tone paint schemes and colourful matching wheels, Design versions feature wireless phone charging, privacy glass and a panoramic glass roof.
Range and charging
As well as having a bit of a complicated spec decision to make, things don’t get much easier to explain when it comes to range and charging figures. So we’re going to go through them neatly, only highlighting the key details below.
Active
Max. claimed range: 211 miles
Max. AC charging speed (0-100 per cent): 7kW, 7h 18min
Max. DC charging speed (10-80 per cent): 65kW, 38min
Boost
Max. claimed range: 195 miles
Max. AC charging speed (0-100 per cent): 11kW, 5h
Max. DC charging speed (10-80 per cent): 65kW, 38min
Comfort
Max. claimed range: 265 miles
Max. AC charging speed (0-100 per cent): 11kW, 6h 12min
Max. DC charging speed (10-80 per cent): 88kW, 40 min
Design
Max. claimed range: 265 miles
Max. AC charging speed (0-100 per cent): 11kW, 6h 12min
Max. DC charging speed (10-80 per cent): 88kW, 40 min
What’s the interior like?
For a start, spacious. Those disappointed by the slightly tight rear legroom in an MG4 need look no further – the Dolphin can accommodate passengers well above 6 feet tall one behind each other with room to spare.
That space has to come from somewhere, and here it’s the boot. At 345 litres in capacity it’s reasonable, but it’s a tall-rather-than-deep shape and split by a removable floor panel under which you can hide the charging cables. There’s no frunk, sadly.
Up front the dash itself is quite low which makes the cabin feel airy, although the lack of height adjustment for the passenger seat may annoy some. Large windows and, on Design models, a massive panoramic roof help here too. The face of the dash is swathed in soft-touch plastic and vegan leather (which is also, basically, soft-touch plastic) though there are some notably cheaper materials on the doors, top of the dash and lower down, but it’s a real step up from the MG4. The door handles are modelled after a dolphin’s flipper, which is quite a nice touch. The enormous array of materials used inside look great when applied with one of the Dolphin’s bright colour schemes but going for black – the only choice with Active or Boost specs only – only seems to highlight just how many dashboard materials are used.
The dash is dominated by BYD’s trademark revolving touchscreen infotainment system. It’s a massive 12.8-inches on the diagonal and at the press of a switch will turn from landscape to portrait – with different orientations better for different use cases, BYD reckons. It’s a bit of a party piece but from our experience you’ll probably leave it in landscape most of the time. That’s partially because it blocks a small portion of the windscreen in portrait, and partially because Android Auto and Apple CarPlay can’t support this orientation.
The hardware and software onboard are the same as the Atto 3 and Seal, which is to say that it’s fully featured and responsive, if prone to a bong or two too many and rather menu-heavy for a lot of the car’s controls.
That said, the standard surround view cameras should be applauded for their high resolution that makes the urban cut and thrust a doddle. And having a set of physical buttons for key controls is welcome; the Dolphin has some for climate and car functions, including a physical switch for setting the amount of regen that the larger, posher Seal doesn’t.
What’s it like to drive?
Let’s talk performance first. Acceleration is smooth, with the base-spec Active feeling sluggish but not to the degree that its 12.3sec sprint time suggests – it’s perfectly reasonable for around town and urban areas where most of your time is spent whizzing from 0 to 30mph and little more than that. Step up to the higher trim levels, though, and you’re granted almost junior hot hatch-like punch.
Although a little firmer than the Atto 3, the Dolphin is still a comfort biased thing. There’s enough grip and there’s less body roll than you might expect for quite a tall hatchback. The steering is accurate and quite well weighted, but the Dolphin doesn’t feel as fun to chuck around as an MG4. Still good, but more of a sensible, buttoned-up kind of car here.
The flip side is that the Dolphin is a little less fidgety than the MG on imperfectly surfaced roads and deals with potholes and speed bumps with impressive compliance. It’s no magic carpet, with the torsion-beam Active models feeling a smidge less composed, but the Dolphin knocks the MINI Cooper Electric and Fiat 500e into the weeds when it comes to ride quality.
Coarser surfaces do generate some roar from the tyres, but not enough to prevent conversation at sensible levels, while wind and motor noise is impressively well contained. We also need to commend the brake pedal for its predictable responses, something that’s not a given even on expensive electric cars.
It’s not all good news, though. As impressive as the list of standard driver aids is, the Dolphin always seems to be making some sort of warning noise. Many of those can be turned off once and left off, but others will need to be switched off with every journey as BYD complies with General Safety Regulation 2 rules. A shame, really, as the lane keep and adaptive cruise felt relatively well behaved during our tests.
Before you buy
The Dolphin’s myriad specs present all sorts of questions regarding rivals. Base Active feels like a bit of a wonky one to justify; the similar size, price and range to the base MG4 SE make it pretty much level-pegging on that front. But compare the Active to the smaller electric Mini and Fiat 500e and the Dolphin comes out looking like a bargain given the extra space and standard equipment. The Boost feels like the weakest choice of the four by costing more, not having any significant new equipment and having less range.
Comfort spec feels like the best balance, offering the larger battery for more range, quicker charging capabilities, more equipment on board and undercutting an MG4 Trophy Long Range by around £2k.
Verdict: BYD Dolphin
The Dolphin’s spec options have gotten a little more complicated with the new entry-level options, with Active a better rival to the electric Mini Cooper and Fiat 500e than larger cars.
But the Dolphin is definitely worth a look. It’s a neat handling, robust and tidy car to drive, well-equipped and has competitive range and performance compared to cars of a similar size. The MG4 is a sharper car to drive, but BYD’s hatch has plenty on its side to win you over.
Specs are for a BYD Dolphin Active