Louth Motors: The BYD Dolphin - A most compelling proposition

By now the biggest car brand you’ve never heard of will be a bit more familiar on Irish roads. 1,264 BYDs have been sold up until the end of March from when they entered the market here in Ireland last year.

The runaway success of the Seal being a crucial factor.

Here we have the Dolphin which is a small family car that is all-electric as are all cars from BYD.

EV sales are down year on year from last year at about 15% when the overall market increased.

It looks like all the early adopters have adopted and the battle for the others will be harder and longer.

With BYD taking a sizeable chunk of sales it’s the other manufacturers that will be feeling the pinch and pain.

How will the Dolphin impact on sales here? Let’s examine that.

It has all the ingredients for the EV driver. 5- seats, 60kWh battery, 565 km range and a charging rate of 60 kW max.

I wish this was higher and closer to the 150kW available. It has what I feel is a killer price of €29,318 and is backed up by a 6 year 150,000kms general warranty with the battery protected up to 8 years.

The equipment levels are remarkably high and inside it has the full Tesla minimalist configuration with a large rotatable (a BYD thang) screen as well as a smaller one in front of the driver just above the steering wheel column which is shaped kind of similar to the ID Buzz I had recently.

You do get, thankfully, a few frequently used control switches underneath the central display.

BYD have moved away from trying to be different from other brands which they tried with the ATTO3 and have gone mainstream, peaking with the fabulous Seal.

In doing so with the Dolphin they have forgotten something. The exterior. It is the primary contact with the car and for me it is pretty uninspiring.

If AI was asked for a design for a small family car that is similar to others this is what you would get. It has no real external aesthetic that has you going “Wow, I want that.”

It is inoffensive with the correlation of being quite bland.

I feel BYD played it a bit too safe with the Dolphin. Mine had a two tone effect with the roof being a different which is some attempt to add a bit of sparkle.

Rear space is fine for two adults in the side by side battle as is behind the front passengers with the third seat for junior family members only.

That’s quite normal for lots of other cars this size and not a BYD dropped ball.

The rear passengers get the central storage usually given to the driver but that is made up by a quite large glovebox – a rarity these days. At the back you get a 345 litre boot that has two levels, when the rear seats are dropped this expands to 1,310.

I found the car misted up without some form of ventilation on and I’m sure my personal setting didn’t cause it.

The interior materials won’t have you complaining if you compare it to similar sized cars at the same price level – that is if you can find one.

Those were my only gripes and whilst easily correctable I can’t figure out why the car doesn’t have these already sorted.
On the road it is quiet. It performs well, as expected from an electric car, and when in Sport mode from a standstill it accelerated so fast that there was a bit of trye squeal.

You won’t be doing that as that takes too much from the battery – further is better than faster where EVs are concerned.
Bends were not an issue which is common enough in EVs with the weighted batteries fitted low down in the car.

The steering is normally light, but you do notice it improves to a heavier feel when you choose Sport mode.

Sport steering in Eco mode would be a nice option. The regenerative braking is quite mild and I miss the one-pedal driving that is such a good feature in EVs.

I never really comment on visibility as its usually fine, but I did remark that the BYD pillars do add a bit of extra width which are bigger than most.

Safety features abound warning you of your and others behaviour. Mandatory use of these is obligatory when you start the car so that you have to switch off those you want off every time.

The speed sign recognition is particularly annoying and intrusive. Beeps and bongs do not make for relaxed driving.

We get two trim levels here in Ireland called Comfort and Design with a price different of €1,874 that gets you wireless charging and a panoramic roof. I’d find the money and go for it.

What you don’t get is wireless Apple CarPlay or a heated steering wheel (a must in an electric car). And that’s about it.

The kit levels are off the charts and for the price and I don’t know how BYD are doing it.
Bottom line is that if you are happy with the looks, and I’m not entirely smitten, this is one of the most compelling electric cars on sale.

For the money it really is unbeatable offering quality, affordable and protected motoring.