2024 BYD Dolphin Review - EV starting from £26k!

See my review of the new EV BYD Dolphin that offers up to 265 miles range and models start from around £26,000 - one of only a handful of electric cars that new are priced from under £30,000. Top end model tested is just over £30k. I take a look around the car, examine the technology, try the interior for size and take it for a test drive.
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Brown Car Guy
#BYD #BYDDolphin #electriccar #ev #bev #zev #electricvehicle #carreview #electriccarreview #newcar #chinesecar #testdrive #roadtest
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[@kevindgillam]

A really enjoyable and ‘real life experience’ review. No BS, just stating the things as as you see and find them. Excellent. Makes me more relaxed about the deposit I have placed on the long range Dolphin. A big thanks 🙏 🎉😉👍

[@BrownCarGuy]

Glad you like the review. Enjoy the car!

[@peterarmstrong3853]

Great review! I have had mine since early nov and covered 6k. Performance is really good once the tyres are changed! Ling longs are terrible. I much prefer this over my recent cars which were a cupra born, niro and mg4. I was going to go for the xpower but after experiencing mg dealership back up and support I decided to go for byd. They have been brilliant and glad i chose them. In 2 years i will change to the seal.

[@netshaman9918]

I prefer Blue and gray than Black and grey for the interior ! Black and Grey is soooo boring ...^^ All cars have that, i want MORE colours !

[@fredfred2363]

Touch screens should be banned in cars. Just a bad idea as you need to look where your fingers are touching the screen while you're driving. Means you're not watching the road...

[@HowardKlein1958]

Wow those road test camera shots were very impressive 10:36 Very professional and especially the high shot, presumably from a drone.

[@BrownCarGuy]

Supplied by manufacturer 😉🤣

[@myfavoritethings4504]

Idonoo, it's complex looking both in and out. I will let uber have it. Thanks for sharing.

[@Peoplestariff]

Drove it today at waddeson manor launch event :)

[@AleDuke-fd5qz]

BYD is the future of EV

[@Stekopo]

@@leerubybritvic1990 Why are you spewing propaganda.

[@leerubybritvic1990]

@@Stekopo We have two electric vans in our yard going rusty.They are too dangerous to charge in yard.If you drive to Bristol you have to charge up 3 times.Electric vans it's not happening.

[@alphaomega1969]

Thats because they are not Chinese with latest BYD blade battery lol@@leerubybritvic1990

[@HowardKlein1958]

I've never spent more than £1000 on a car. Perfectly good low milage cars that last me years or decades. Never, ever, ever could i or would i spend all that money.

[@leerubybritvic1990]

We have trouble in London.Politions Trying to push exploding electrical vehicle's.The are very dangerous.We have two electric vans at work sitting in the yard going rusty .The range is 140 down to 90 miles when using demister in winter and heater.A trip from South East London to Oxford they had to charge up three times .Electric vans there not happening.They are also to dangerous to charge up in our yard.

[@bluefazer600]

Why are you watching a review of a new car then?

[@chriss4949]

@@leerubybritvic1990uneducated tosh

[@murz1384]

The low speed sound is a safety feature and not the manufacturer trying to fill in the sound for lack of it... it is also on the BYD Atto3

[@peterarmstrong3853]

It's now removed after the recent ota update

[@Kaylee911]

How annoying that you have to switch off lane assist every time. That would drive me crazy. I have to drive in middle of road sometimes to avoid all the potholes here in Cheshire.

[@iwilltellyouthetruth46]

I thought you was against EV’s

[@BrownCarGuy]

I'm not. What gave you that idea?

[@johnkay1821]

Would be interested if the lane keep assist stays off once vehicle is left switched off for 15 minutes and then reactivated ?

[@heliofarias2356]

Lamentável, a desinformação dessas pessoas que criticam os EVs , sem o mínimo conhecimento do carro elétrico atual !!! A BYD é a fornecedora da TESLA, que é o seu cartão de credibilidade!!! No mais o DOLFHIN é um carro com tecnologia de ponta e preço razoável, que te livra de todos os demais componentes que dão manutenção no carro a combustão!!! Resumindo, o custo benefício é ótimo e as histórias de carros pegando fogo é coisa do passado!!! Hélio de Curitiba/BRAZIL.

[@fredscratchet1355]

£26k. When it first came out they said it would be £15k. Not a bad difference is it.

[@decimal1815]

Starting price in UK at the moment is £30k

[@bshah4831]

You need to try the eboost variant of the Cupra Born if you want to try an EV GTI

[@frasermartin6728]

Intense!

[@I_am_BiG_Al]

I rented a car in benidorm and that lane change thing was annoying especially first when I didn't know it had it and the wheel moved from my hands

[@BrownCarGuy]

Agree. Yeah the systems appears to default to on, but you can go in the menu and turn them off as I show in this vid. Thanks.

[@petervaughan4591]

Hi, doesn’t byd have a bad rep in catching fire in China? I’m sure a couple of buses here in the uk have also gone up in flames so what’s going on with the batteries.

[@BrownCarGuy]

Explained in this video

[@synthmaker]

I've since videos with stats about BYDs catching fire in China, I don't remember the numbers exactly but it was a few hundred plug-in hybrids and zero pure EVs. BYD tends to report their sales in terms of NEV ( New Energy Vehicles ) which combines pure electric with plug-in hybrids, they do this to try to make their numbers look good when compared with the competition. I've seen from a few reports like from the country of Sweden that plug-in hybrids are by far the most likely to catch fire, followed by ICE cars and then pure battery electric which are by far the least likely.

[@BrownCarGuy]

@@synthmaker Indeed Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency says EVs are 20 times less like to catch fire. American Insurance Institute reveals 25 out of every 100,000 EVs sold caught fire, compared to 1530 Petrol cars out of 100,000 and 3475 hybrids out of 100,000. The problem is that EVs fires are more spectacular and almost impossible to put out quickly.

[@synthmaker]

@@BrownCarGuy Thanks for describing what I was trying to say in a much more accurate way. Great to see you follow the numbers and keep an open mind that allows you to arrive at unbiased conclusions. My experience since getting my EV is that there aren't any of the downsides that people keep talking about. The only downside that luckily I haven't experienced is that when an EV catches fire it's very hard to put out. Taking it as a package and considering EV fires are a lot less likely than in other types of cars, I still consider EVs to be far superior.

[@Peoplestariff]

Yes an ICE vehicle has never caught fire said no one / watch electric classic cars video on this

[@netshaman9918]

You are WRONG about VTOL : According to the technical sheet i have ALL versions have it. ^^

[@Horror-and-Weird-stories]

I recognise the village of Winslow. 🙂.

[@bydman5320]

Do you mean Wilmslow

[@Horror-and-Weird-stories]

@@bydman5320 no wilmslow is near Manchester. Winslow is Buckinghamshire. We go to a classic Citroen event in the next village of Little Horwood each year.

[@arisavvides1970]

The panoramic roof would be annoying if you don't like the sun beating down on you on a sunny day.Unless there's a pull blind attached that gives you an option like on BMW's sunroofs.

[@marketingwizdom]

There’s is a sunshade

[@catherinegrimes2308]

@@marketingwizdom Unfortunately, the sunshade takes up room in the back.

[@marketingwizdom]

The sunshade doesn’t take up much room

[@catherinegrimes2308]

@@marketingwizdom In the reviews that I have seen, tall people moan about the reduced head height caused by the sunshade. I think that it rolls up onto a drum and this intrudes into the cabin space.

[@marketingwizdom]

@@catherinegrimes2308 I think it does roll into a drum, butr the thing about the Dolphin is that it is much more spacious than you’d expect. I haven’t noticed any headroom issues with it. Will check next time I sit in one.

[@tonypacke6954]

I've no real interest in buying an electric car but when BMW are going to build their electric mini's in Oxford with a nice little package of funding by UK taxpayers, do you honestly think they are going to be able to compete with this cheap electric model.

[@malph9216]

The front seats looked a bit narrow. How were they for thigh support etc? I'm quite tall as well and need quite a roomy seat. Other than that, a decent effort on BYDs part.

[@BrownCarGuy]

By all means you should try them out before making any decisions. For my part, I had no issue with them at all, and even throwing the car around a bit lead to no concerns. But we're all differently shaped, so what's right for me, might not be for you. Let me know how you get on!

[@CampGareth]

I'm 6' 1" and wide and went to Everything Electric North to sit in all the EVs. Hyundai and Kia tend to have narrow seat bases, same with polestar. BYD's dolphin and seal were fine but the atto 3's back bolster pinched a little. It's hard to predict what's comfy so I recommend going to a car show and trying everything.

[@phillyphil1513]

sorry i may have missed it but whats the CurbWeight of this vehicle Brown Car Guy...? BRING IT...!!!

[@BrownCarGuy]

1658kg

[@phillyphil1513]

@@BrownCarGuy 👍

[@fwsbipu]

Esse carro é bizarro tá com a direção no lado errado

[@philabrahams383]

The question i have for Brown car guy and it's this why did you remove my post with the KZbin video link about BYD .?

[@HowardKlein1958]

KZbin often delete posts with links. It happens to me on all sorts of channels. I bet BCG has never even seen your post.

[@tonypacke6954]

@@HowardKlein1958 Yes your right, it has happened to me many times and now I don't bother trying to send a link. It's there when you first post but if you go back to the site 5 minutes later, it's gone. I don't know why they are removed, perhaps someone can enlighten me.

[@philabrahams383]

The thing is that it's a KZbin video link so why would they delete it?

[@leerubybritvic1990]

Post again with different language.The seem to have a automatic sensor.They delete my message if I use certain words.

[@barleyarrish]

So it's winter, your smart meter has shut down because the grid is overloaded, with smart heat pumps, smart fridge, smart everything. So you have not got a full charge and have to drive to work, jump in the car, demist the windows and melt snow, turn on the heater, the radio for road conditions. set off and run out No hazard lights? Scotish house builders have just told the scotish parliament that house building will slow down markedly due to the ban on gas boilers and the instalation of heat pumps because there is not enough electricity on the grid to operate the pumps. Where is the Electricity comming from? Renewables can only supply at best 6.5 % and need the support of gas, which of course will be gradually phased out, so even less electricity...

[@Richard482]

Where did you get 6.5% from?

[@devonbikefilms]

In my house it comes out of the Tesla powerwall 😂

[@barleyarrish]

@@Richard482 it would seem my reply was deleted, so, here it is again, Climate Realism by Paul Burgess = A U K National Scandal Exposed here on YT.

[@DigiDriftZone]

Fantastic review, just a comment on the range, for the £27,195 model, real world motorway range is 60 to 80 miles after a few years of ownership (depending on the weather) - Note, this is with pre-conditioning, less range without. Maybe an extra 10 miles or so if you're willing to damage the battery running it close to the edge. How did I get there? - so according to EV Database (with pre-conditioning) it's 110 to 140 miles at 70mph. It's important to set expectations though, that's on a flat road 100 to absolute 0% battery charge which is very damaging to the battery and not realistic. Manufacturers recommend keeping the charge between 10-85% which gives you around 82 to 105 miles range. But in the real world you need to leave an extra 10 miles or so to avoid crippling range anxiety (ideally more!), that brings you down to 70 to 95 miles. However, you also have battery degradation, after 3-5 years you lose another 10-15%. So your real range in this car is about 60 to 80 miles after a few years of ownership. As for the nail test, the demo is very impressive and seems incredibly useful, however in follow up testing, it was shown to actually be more likely to catch fire in real world situations - but it's not a huge difference in risk. It does mean slower charging though of around 40 minutes 10 to 80%.

[@Richard482]

An error with your calculations. Unlike Lithium ion batteries, an LFP or Lithium Iron Phosphate battery can be charged to 100% and run down to 0% without damage to the battery.

[@DigiDriftZone]

@@Richard482 That's not true, LFP are Lithium Ion batteries still, just with a tweaked chemistry and the cobalt removed (not for practical but political reasons). LFP batteries are relatively new so there is less information about their longevity, but we are already seeing a much higher failure rate and faster degradation with LFP batteries than ones built with cobalt, which is unfortunate as under lab conditions they did have significantly more recharge cycles. They are also not used in any "long range" vehicles due to their very poor energy density. There are other disadvantages other than the 30-50% increase in weight too, they are impossible to charge in the cold without preheating the battery leading to a doubling or tripling of charge time in winter (think 2 hours for fast charging), they also can't supply as much voltage in the cold leading to significantly impaired performance until the battery is warmed up (using significantly more energy than their cobalt counterparts). The charging to 100% is also a myth, this does indeed damage the battery, just very slightly less than other chemistries under lab conditions, we are yet to test this in practice but early indications are not good. Discharging to 0% is just not something you can do in the real world due to crippling range anxiety, most people leave 20-30+ miles spare before looking to charge (imagine you get stuck in stand still traffic) - I was being generous in my calculations, real world usable range is likely less, especially if you ever need to leave it parked in the cold.

[@Richard482]

@@DigiDriftZone "Since the LFP cells are not new, we already know they can be dependable and perform well as long as you use them according to the manufacturer's recommendation. Tesla recommends charging them to 100% on a regular basis or at least once a week. This surprised many people in 2021 when the first Teslas with LFP batteries started deliveries. The reason was that the battery management system needed this to calibrate since the voltage of LFP cells doesn't vary much with the state of charge. This also makes them less prone to degradation when they are charged fully. In the end, LFP cells have both advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, they have a lower energy density. Still, the fact that you can regularly use the full battery capacity partly compensates for this shortcoming. This allows Tesla Model 3 RWD to drive 272 miles (438 km) on a charge, which is still impressive. This is the EPA estimate, but driving the car faster on a highway can affect range. This is where the highway range tests offer more insight into how these batteries perform when the aerodynamics come into play."

[@DigiDriftZone]

@@Richard482 2021 is not new in your books? - this is certainly not long enough to know long term reliability in a vehicle use case and the degradation has been quicker than all other Tesla batteries which is worrying. There was also some user survey that showed around 8% of them since 2021 already had a battery replacement (!!). If you have an LFP battery and you charge it beyond 80%, you are damaging the battery. Not as much as if you charge it above 85 or 90% but you are. Search for "Puzzling reason why tesla misleadingly recommends charging the LFP batteries to 100%". Please stop doing this right now for the sake of the longevity of your battery, maybe this is in part why we are seeing such rapid degradation with these batteries. The Tesla Model 3 LFP only tested 188 miles at 70mph by Bjorn, a far cry of what it was advertised to do. There are reports from users now getting more like 160 miles a few years in with some battery degradation. Without preconditioning and with multiple stops in winter, some report as little as 75 miles of range (!!).

[@GarJaMi]

@@DigiDriftZone You're getting Iron mixed up with ion. Not the same thing at all...

[@xOriginalGamerOG76x]

Sounds great. Only one problem. I dont buy CCP. And neither should anyone else.

[@bgg-jp5ei]

100%

[@user-jv2tw1no8x]

It’s the old Huawei scenario with these manufacturers

[@fredfred2363]

Serpentza channel (winston) has done a very good video on BYD too.

[@Steve-gc5nt]

💯

[@avil8686]

​@@fredfred2363you believe him??😅

[@Steve-gc5nt]

£26k? 🤣

[@Peoplestariff]

Fantastic isn’t it ? :)

[@nigel.w]

The Active is very poor value and makes no sense.

[@LittleTrader968]

Dolphin, thats not a great name for a car, if it was "Thunderbolt electron quantum-leap" I would buy it. 🤣

[@BrownCarGuy]

Now THAT is a cool name! 🤣🤣🤣

[@marketingwizdom]

Oh please! Nooooo

[@peterjeffries75]

More utter nonsense from the EV sector. Why does any competent driver need all those settings? Do the windows roll right down, what's the real-world range on a hot or cold day? Glass roof, it doesn't open. The biggy, what its value in 12 months time? You can't get rid without huge loss you could be spending on petrol. BYD means Beyond Your Dreams. Financially it'll be Beyond Your Nightmares. No doubt the quality control will be poor. Issues abound in China with BYD and other makes that are fast going out of business. The question must be Shahzad...would you prefer that BYD or your old E30 325i? For me having owned two 325i's...its a no brainer for the BMW.

[@DigiDriftZone]

The £27k version only has around 60-80 mile real world range at 70mph. For me that's a deal breaker, all the other concerns are important but are secondary to this.

[@Richard482]

Build Your Dreams

[@leerubybritvic1990]

Electric vehicles are dangerous they explode in a big ball of flames.And the fire brigade have trouble putting them out.

[@bydman5320]

Clueless

[@NecroMorrius]

All new cars do these things mate.

[@stephendouglas-cr1mk]

Unsubscribed ton of stuff on the Internet about BYD cars imploding.

[@Displays.1234.]

It just looks cheap and nasty.....

[@Steve-gc5nt]

Half right.

[@wellwhatthen10101]

Now that you are sitting in the front you have no leg room in the back if that is your driving position. Forgot to mention that, com on do a proper review you cant make pig out of a sow's ear. Not one review have specs with a car full of people and a boot full of luggage. i bet you can reduce your range by 30% to start with and this is in good climate weather