BYD Dolphin 2024 Australian Review | A Cheap EV: Should You Buy or Pass? | Drive.com.au

A city-friendly electric car with a big driving range and low asking price will appeal to many Australian urbanites. We crunch the details on the latest electric car to arrive in Australia.

00:00 BYD Dolphin
00:47 Pricing & Specifications
03:07 Interior
08:49 Baby Seat
09:41 2nd Row
11:11 Boot
12:33 Charging & Range
13:14 On-road Driving
17:40 Safety
18:05 Summary

#Dolphin #BYDdolphin #affordableEV
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[siewyongli]

I might be the only person who thinks the dolphin looks nice and cute

[davidtydeman]

I have driven an Atto 3 since October 2022. Very happy with my choice with no issues

[jcollishaw]

We picked our Dolphin up a week ago. The same model Premium reviewed here but in Pink for my wife. Pretty much agree with the review completely. Only things I’d say is I’d call it a CUV, it’s longer, wider and taller than a Mazda CX-3 with far more back seat space so I think that makes it a crossover. Around town it’s brilliant and the combination of LFP battery and better interior comforts made it our pick over the MG4. With the FBT exemption it’s also very cheap

[ricosun]

Very interesting battle in Aust between this car vs MG4. Comfort vs Driver's car. In China the BYD Dolphin out sales the MG4 more than 30:1

[lachd]

Just test drove one of these and came back very impressed. You do get a lot of car for your money in the premium version, it really does feel like a top of the range hot hatch

[attilavarga]

I like the BYD Dolphine better than the MG4

[hegemonersmith]

I’m in the market for an EV, and I found this review very balanced and helpful. Thanks.

[RobertScanlon]

You didn’t mention the voice assistant. To me that was one of the ways to bypass clunky menus and touch screen distractions. We bought the Ora and I was disappointed the Australian spec didn’t come with the voice assistant (the one I test drove in the UK did and it was great).

[peterarmstrong]

With tyres, mine in the uk were replaced to hankook as the linglongs were awful! I love my dolphin and prefer it over my old mg4 Kia Niro and cupra born. Oh and the 60 on the trip has achieved 6.4 seconds with the better tyres

[simonyzhang]

The saddest thing is that I bought it for 40k in Sydney but my high school mate bought it for RMB 110k which is about 23k in Aussie dollars.

[scottjboswell]

Bought a 2023 Corolla hybrid (ZR) in Jan, just sold it. Realised the complexities of having two drive systems (petrol and electric) means twice the maintenance of a single drive system. Was a nice car, but I also realise it will lose significant value as more electrics like this and the BYD Dolphin enters the market…. 5 years from now, the Corolla will not hold value when we are getting $30k electrics that only use $20/week in electricity costs (Corolla was still $40-$45 per fill)

I’d recommend avoiding the hybrids and considering either an electric, or holding your existing car for another 2 years. The market is about to change significantly.

[TeslaARM]

The SD card slot isn't for maps as you mentioned, you can play load music & videos from an inserted card. Unlike the chinese version, if the Dolphin came with the outward facing dashcam (you can purchase the camera module and fit it as the cable is already there) it records to the card if you had one inserted.

[stephenbaxter]

I can see the Dolphin crushing it in Fleet sales.

[coastalwombat]

Thanks for this. Pretty well captured the essentials with this balanced review. I felt a bit too snug in the front seats of the Dolphin and ended up buying an ORA despite a few missing features. However, I expect to see both the Dolphin and the MG EV4 competing for sales leadership in the smaller EV market segment.

[deleted.]

Jumped in one at chadstone. Was very impressed

[wy]

It’s actually not a ‘cheap EV’ but a fair priced EV. Australia’s EV prices are way inflated to the world’s largest and most competitive EV market there in China. Get the perspective right or be stuck at the bottom of a well.

[upyoursmindyourownbusiness]

Missed a big one the battery on this vehicle prefers to be fully charged. While the mg4s prefer to be changed to 80 percent and let's be honest your buying a battery that operates as a car!

[fishingwiththomas]

Looks to be pretty good. Probably compares more with the MG4 Essence grade than the excite.

[glennkiller]

My Mum just ordered a Premium Model.
In Coral Pink. They Seem like a Great Little Car.

[Flyingcircusclown]

I have been driving my Atto 3 for more than a year, heated seats and AC have been controlled via voice commands all the time.