The BYD Dolphin has all the hallmarks of a small electric car that will do very well in the Irish market; competitively priced, good range, comfortable to drive, and is loaded with tech and spec.
The new fully-electric Dolphin from China’s BYD (Build Your Dreams) is available here for just under €30k – which gets it off to a good start against rivals such as the Volkswagen ID.3 and MG4.
And it will soon get even cheaper, with the smaller 44.9kWh battery ‘Active’ and the ‘Boost’ Dolphin models arriving in Ireland shortly, priced from €25,570 and €26,507 respectively.
For now though , BYD is selling its ‘Comfort’ (€29,318) and ‘Design’ (€31,192) versions here. Both come with a 204hp electric motor, 60.4kWh battery and a quoted range of up to 427km – although expect a range closer to 400km, which is still pretty impressive.
My range-topping Design model came exclusively with 17-inch ‘tri-colour’ alloys, wireless smartphone charging, a panoramic glass roof, dual-tone exterior paint, and rear privacy glass.
It also had front parking sensors, a six-speaker audio system, and front heated seats (the Comfort also gets these).
Another standard element is a 3.3kW external discharge ‘vehicle-to-load’ facility which can be used to charge accessories and power external devices.
Chief amongst the interior features is a 12.8-inch central rotating touchscreen featuring a 360-degree panoramic parking camera. This houses all of the car’s infotainment and settings, but there is still a few physical dials in there, too.
Charging wise, the Design (and Comfort) version has an 88kW DC charging system, which will get you a 30 to 80 per cent battery top up in under half an hour.
Inside, this five-door hatchback offers an abundance of occupant space, with generous legroom for rear passengers.
It has ergonomically designed sports seats and headrests made from vegan leather. Front seats have six-way electric adjustment for the driver and four-way electric adjustment for the front passenger.
Rear seats split 60:40 allow its 345-litre boot to expand to 1,310 litres when both seats are folded flat.
All models come equipped with forward collision warning, autonomous emergency braking, rear collision warning, rear cross traffic alert and rear cross traffic brake, lane departure prevention and emergency lane keeping assist. Adding to this is adaptive cruise control and intelligent cruise control.
