BYD Dolphin Review 2024

Any family hatch buyer with even half an eye on impending legislation about fuels and low emissions zones should have the BYD Dolphin in their thoughts. It's very good value, solidly made, and well kitted out. Plus it has a good driving range. Only a limited dealer network (for now) might temper our enthusiasm.

The cheapest BYD Dolphin, which is the Active trim model, has a very appealing lead-in price. However, it's also a bit on the slow side for anyone who uses their car more than just about town. The quicker Boost model addresses this but with a shorter driving range, which would lead us to the Comfort trim as the best bet as it's cheaper than the top-line Design but has a 265-mile driving range and plenty of kit.

The key EV contenders for the BYD Dolphin have to be the MG4 and Volkswagen ID.3, as well as the EV version of the Peugeot 308 and the Vauxhall Astra Electric. You might also consider the Citroen e-C4.

It's impossible to ignore the Volkswagen Golf in any discussion of family hatches, or the Ford Focus. And if you're feeling a bit flusher with your budget, there's the Hyundai IONIQ 5 and Kia EV6 to consider.

Keen pricing often comes at the expense of a dip in quality, but that's not the case with the BYD Dolphin. Every button and surface has a weighty feel and solidity that gives you the sense it will stand up to the rigours of daily life very well.

Much of this feeling comes from the clever mix of materials that BYD has incorporated into the cabin, so there are no bare, cheap plastics on display. Couple that to doors that close with a decent thunk and it feels like a car from the upper end of its class.

The infotainment screen in any BYD model is one of the car' party tricks as it can rotate through 90-degrees. You do this either with the on-screen icon or the steering wheel button.

Why bother with this? Well, BYD reckons humans like to use the 12.8-inch screen in different views for different things. When using the radio or music menus, the landscape orientation makes this easier, while the upright portrait setting makes it easier with sat-nav. It might sound like marketing blurb, but our experience says it does work and it's something you get used to switching between very easily and quickly.

It would be even better if the menus of the Dolphin's infotainment were a little easier to navigate. As with all tech, you get used to the quirks of where certain features are and how to get to them, but we do feel it could be more intuitive.

The screen itself responds in good time to the touch of your finger, but it's a shame there are no physical buttons for the heating controls - this is all done through the screen and takes that bit longer than seems necessary. On the plus side, the Dolphin comes with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, so pairing with your smartphone is simple. An oddity of this, though, is you can only use Apple CarPlay with the screen in its landscape setting.

Cabin space is an area where the BYD Dolphin has a good lead over most its rivals. Taller drivers and front passengers will discover loads of room for their heads, legs, and shoulders, and there's plenty of adjustment in the driving position to cater for drivers of all sizes.

The front of the Dolphin's interior is dotted with lots of places to store small and large items. Stashing your phone, water bottle, purse, sunnies and any other paraphernalia is easy.

Move into the back seats and you find just as much room for two adults as in the front for knees, elbows and heads. However, space for your feet is limited underneath the front seats, which can enforce a slightly sideways seating position if the car is packed with adults. However, kids won't notice this and the middle seat in the back is fine for children, plus all Dolphins come with Isofix mounts in the outer rear chairs plus another in the front passenger seat.

Lift up the tailgate and you reveal a boot that is a regular rectangle shape with not much intrusion from the wheelarches. The load sill is a bit higher than ideal and its curved sides means loading bigger cases involves a bit of jiggling. However, 345-litres of space is about average for this class and with the 60-40 split rear bench folded down you have up to 1310-litres of space to play with.

The BYD Dolphin measures 4290mm long, 1770mm wide and 1570mm high.

BYD offers two batteries in the Dolphin, starting with a 44.9kWh one in the Active and Boost trims. Its coupled to an electric motor with 95- or 176PS respectively, with the more powerful version trading some driving range for its added performance. With the 95PS model, 0-62mph takes a slow-feeling 12.3 seconds, while the 176PS motor improves that to 7.5 seconds.

For the Comfort and Design trims of the BYD Dolphin, you get a bigger 60.4kWh battery and a 204PS electric motor. Together, this ups driving range and lowers the 0-62mph time to 7.0 seconds, though top speed remains the same 99mph as the Boost. Active versions top out at 93mph.

While there are electric cars on sale with a longer range than the BYD Dolphin, there are not many in this segment or at this price point. That makes the Dolphin a strong contender for any family hatch buyer looking to go down the EV route.

With the entry-point Active model, it can cover a claimed 211 miles on a full charge. With the same battery, the more powerful Boost trim offers a 195-mile range, trading some driving distance for its greater performance.

With the Comfort and Design trims, you get the more powerful motor and bigger battery, so performance is increased along with driving range. On a full charge, these two claim a 265-mile capability, and we've found BYD's claimed driving ranges to be much more accurate and achievable than most EVs.

Beyond the usual electric motor whirr and audible low-speed alert of all EVs, the BYD Dolphin is commendably quiet and refined in all circumstances. It's especially good around town where you cruise about in near silence.

At higher speeds, a little wind and road noise can be heard, but it's more of a background sound than anything that disturbs the cabin's occupants. At motorway pace, we found it easy to carry on our conversation without resorting to raised voices or turning up the volume when listing to the radio.

BYD makes a lot its battery testing and safety, and Euro NCAP agrees as it awarded the Dolphin a full five-star rating. It scored strongly across all tests, with vulnerable road users looked after better than most cars can muster.

Every BYD Dolphin comes with twin front, side and curtain airbags, Isofix child seat mounts in the back and front passenger chair, tyre pressure monitoring, and eCall. You also get rear parking sensors, 360-degree view and reversing camera on all models, though only the upper two trims have front parking sensors.

The rest of the BYD's safety kit reads like something from a class above as every model has adaptive cruise control, blind spot detection, front and rear cross traffic alert, and intelligent speed limit control. Every version of the Dolphin also comes with lane keep assist, automatic emergency braking, lane departure warning and prevention, driver fatigue warning, and traction control.

The BYD Dolphin has not been on sale long enough to get a full picture of its reliability. However, the company has been making and selling EVs for much longer than its been a presence in the UK and Europe, and it's also outdone Tesla in sales on occasion, so the signs are very good for the Dolphin.

Like most EVs, the BYD Dolphin's insurance groups are a bit higher than for its petrol, diesel or hybrid rivals. As a result, the cheapest Dolphin to get cover for is the Active model that sits in group 23. The rest of the range reside in groups 31 to 33, so premiums will be higher than for an equivalent petrol-powered Ford Focus or Volkswagen Golf.

You'll pay the sum total of zero for road tax for the BYD Dolphin. Like all electric cars, it doesn't cost anything to tax at the time of writing, but that is due to change in 2025 as the government looks at how to apply this levy to EVs.

The BYD Dolphin comes in four trims, starting with the Active that has 16-inch alloy wheels. It also has a smaller palette of exterior colour options to the Comfort or Boost models, albeit with metallic paint included and it has the same black and grey synthetic leather upholstery.

Active models also come with high beam assist, electric door mirrors, and electrically adjusted front seats. There are also electric windows all round, plus the 12.8-inch rotating infotainment screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, sat-nav, and the ability to work it using voice commands. There is also a plug in the Dolphin so you can charge up devices using a three-pin socket.

Move up to the Boost trim and you gain 17-inch bi-colour alloy wheels and an 11kW onboard charger in place of the Active's 7kW charger. Besides the Boosts more powerful motor, that's it for upgrades over the Active.

When it comes to the Comfort model, you get the bigger battery and more powerful motor, as well as more exterior colours to choose from. There are electric folding door mirrors, heated front seats, and one-touch operation for the electric windows. Other upgrades include front parking sensors, six sound-optimised speakers for the stereo, and USB ports for rear passengers.

At the top of the pile is the Design model with its twin colour combos for the paint. This trim also comes with a panoramic glass sunroof, tri-colour 17-inch alloy wheel, and rear privacy glass.