BYD have launched the next in their line of EVs joining an ever growing market of affordable EVs in Ireland. The BYD Dolphin comes with a bigger-battery range, lots of in-car tech as expected and for the money the build quality is very good even if some of the touch points could be improved. It’s a really competitive small EV with incredible pricing.
The BYD Dolphin starts from €25,570 and will be available in four trim levels (Active, Boost, Comfort, Design) with the first trim levels to arrive in Comfort & Design models. Similar to the BYD Atto 3 we tested recently. The first cars to arrive will be the Comfort and Design trim with starting prices from €29,318 after state subsidies.
The Base version comes with a 45kWh battery averaging around 330 kms of range. Theres a 12.8” rotatating infotainment screen, vegan-leather upholstery and alloy wheels.
The larger Dolphin is powered by BYD’s own 60.4 kWh cobalt-free, lithium iron phosphate ‘Blade’ battery. This should give an estimated range of 427km (WLTP) with a 30% to 80% charging time of under 30 mins. It also charges slightly faster and comes with heated front seats and front parking sensors, a full-length pano roof, rear privacy glass and a wireless smartphone-charging pad.
The interior follows on from the Atto 3 with the adjustable portrait-to-landscape infotainment screen and function controls on the steering wheel, screen or voice control. The switches have a solid feel and user friendly layout. The odd door bins from the Atto3 are replaced by more useful cubby space. The infotainment itself is snappy and easy to read and navigate. It also handles most of the cars over the air updates.
The seats use vegan leather, with shoulder and back support to make it as comfortable as possible for a car this size. Rear passenger space is good due to the e-Platform 3.0 chassis and the seat backs split 60:40 to open up the 345-litres to 1,310-litres of boot space. The boot isn’t huge as mostly cabin space has been made the priority.
While it’s quick, it’s not a hot hatch, but driver involvement and dynamics are very good. Even still with 310Nm of instant torque it gets from 0-100 kp/h in 7 seconds.
There are lots of attractive on board features such as the panoramic sunroof with sunshade on top-of-the range models, twenty interior storage spaces and the ability to reverse charge using a 3.3kW external discharge unit for laptops, tablets or phones.