BYD Dolphin range test

For Thailand: My daily drive is 50% urban and 50% highway (max. 110 km/h) with about 120 km per day. My average consumption after 20, 000 km is 138 kWh/km. My practical range is about 380 km. But I seldom make long trips and I charge every night at home.

[@bjornnyland]

138 kWh/km is extremely high! :P

[@camneilsen8234]

Maybe the decimal point is broken!

[@youxkio]

You probably meant 138Wh/km.

[@gadgetgasspoll]

Is that a train or a car

[@JSM-bb80u]

It should be 13.8 kWh/ 100 km

[@alvalio860]

For a price of 14000€ in China it's an acceptable option for a car. The price in Europe is way too high in my opinion.

In Thailand it is about 22,500 Euros. Please note, that Chinese versions differ from the export models.

[@torotomika1911]

Exactly, it's more than double that price here. I thought that if it was half the price it would be a great option. Many people are looking for a car in that price range here.

[@justinseau]

In Australia it’s from ~AUD$39,000 before tax. About the same price range of MG4 and a bit above GWM Ora, the cheapest EV in the market. For comparison Tesla Model 3 RWD is AUD$55,000 before taxes.

[@Jajalaatmaar]

I don't get why BYD prices its cars so high. Especially the supposed to be budget cars. Xpeng pricing seems way more aggressive (G6 now under the model Y price in the Netherlands, all options included, even advanced autopilot and promise of FSD).

[@Lewis_Standing]

The top spec versions are very nice, seems way better quality than typical small European hatches

[@ZurOhki1]

5:43 It gets worse, the BYD software displays *charging* speeds in horsepower too. A wall outlet charges my Atto 3 at 1.8 horsepower.

[@Woof514]

HP is non SI unit for power. I don't understand why people are shocked? 1HP=1,34 kW. It's unusual, but not incorrect (check USA, Brits and their units)

[@jihangaban]

you need to change theme on instrument cluster to see outside temperature

[@Michael_st.a]

Hello Björn, I come from Germany but I rarely drive faster than 120 or 130 with my Model Y SR. I like the way you speak, this mix of English and German.

[@davidwatson22]

Many thanks for testing the Dolphin Been looking forward to this. It was one car I was interested in, and we are supposed to be getting a dealership in Nottingham. But have been a bit concerned with all the bad media reports lately concerning BYD cars in china.

[@rolandoespina7444]

Had mine for a week and mostly do urban driving. Brilliant car to drive and actual distance range is bang on.

[@catherinegrimes2308]

I'm from Derby and am thinking of getting the Dolphin. It seems to be a good package and seems to tick most of the boxes that I am interested in. My existing car is a 10 year old Nissan Note and it could be a good replacement for it. I drove it at the Everything Electric show in Harrogate a few weeks ago, it was easy to drive and that is important for an old git like me. I drive past the BYD dealership in Derby about once a week and there have been BYD cars outside for a few weeks, there was a "Coming Soon" poster up but that was removed and half of the building has been painted. It looks like the dealership (Pentagon Motors) will be selling Vauxhall and BYD cars. According to the Pentagon Motors website the Derby and Nottingham dealerships are open. The Nottingham one is in Arnold, I bought a used Austin Maestro from that garage in the 1990s and had to take it back to be fixed because I couldn't close the hatch properly. So much for it being checked in the workshop. Why not do a search on "BYD Nottingham" and you can see the webpage. I would recommend waiting a bit before buying one. I contacted my LV who insure my Note and they didn't insure Dolphins so it may be worthwhile waiting. According to The Electric Viking, BYD should be launching Version 2 of the Blade Battery in August and I heard a rumour that could be used in existing car models, the Seal will be using that battery. While I like the car I am not a fan of the colour schemes and wish that they did normal colours. The only one that I really like is the Skiing White with Urban Grey (the same colour as real dolphins) and they don't seem to do that one anymore. I will contact the Derby dealership about that point. According to The Electric Viking, there have been reliability problems with BYD cars but that only affects the hybrid cars. I recommend that you look at some videos from people in Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines who have had Dolphins for some time and see what they think of them. On the whole people like them.

[@bipolar7853]

Love your audio reviews ! You know more about sound than many speaker reviewer...

[@simchadanielburstyn2137]

Thanks for the honest review. I'm waiting for delivery on a dolphin. From the test drive, it was much better than the MG4 or the Geely - I think because of the front wheel drive, but also the shifter being a linear rocker rather than the mg's twisty thing or the Geely's stick on the stem (what is this, my first car? a 1963 Ford Fairlane, BTW, got stolen after a week). Looking to install a frunk for left hand drive...

[@madsdgdhg]

I'm surprised you never got to test the BYD Seal. Hopping it comes soon. Cheers

[@bjornnyland]

Soon

[@dingxiong8604]

The seal is a car from a few years ago, and it has fallen behind

[@BrianNedry]

​@@bjornnylandwhen are you able to test some more Zeekr models? Interested to see your thoughts on the 007 especially.

[@sherlock_backs]

Man, these things are everywhere in my country (Uruguay) same with the Atto and Han, i mean, Teslas in a lot of countries are wayyy too expensive, specially compared to the US and some european countries.

[@iawdw]

Hola, I'm interested - how is the general status of the electrification of cars in Uruguay?

[@sherlock_backs]

@@iawdw Im not sure on the stats, but the overall feel is that its just getting started, gradually Taxis and Buses are getting replaced, mostly with BYDs or hybrid Yutongs, lots of weird stuff, the most common cars you see around are either Dolphins, some crazy Mg4, Seagulls and Attos, maybe a seal from time to time and other weird brands that honestly look pretty bad quality, but sadly yea, this country is very thirsty on cars, and most are ICE

[@sherlock_backs]

@@iawdw A lot of Bestune NATs? i knew the ICE bestune cars but didnt knew they manufactured that one, there are lots of these, from outside it looks like a pretty good family van, seems to be around 29000 USD, BYD D1s (a lot), Geelys, JAC? i heard these are not good and not even safe (the Es-1), Riddaras now, Chery SUVs, NETAs? i saw a bunch of those cars, they look horrible and not really of high quality and they arent exactly cheap. Sorry for the long text but checking now i just realized how many chinese EVs we have around, i see like 2 Teslas per year and only in rich neighbourhoods, so you get the idea, for some reason they are way too expensive, sometimes doubling the price of a BYD Seal.

[@sherlock_backs]

What is even a BAIC Eu5? looks like a VW clone, a van called DAYUN? Dongfeng which is quite literally a fucking renault Kwid... Lol, Maxus, Maple, Letins, Kaiyis, Honzon Nezhas?, FAWs, insane

[@iawdw]

@@sherlock_backs thanks for the inside! German car makers and (their) politicians tell us Germans that many countries will still be buying fossils after 2035. This is clearly false, but it's interesting to hear that there's evidence that China is in many places grabbing market share from VW and the likes. I fear that European car makers could try to force markets like mine and yours to take their fossil cars when they won't be able to sell them in China and the US anymore.

I can confirm that Autosteer and Lane Keep Assist don’t work properly. Generally all ADAS elements are little bit too sensitive. You can see the outside temperature when you change the layout. The seats are really great. The Dolphin is not perfect but a good all day car.

[@marcoseirik]

Having the instrument cluster fixed to the steering column, and thus being adjusted together was also done in the Porsche 928, from 1977.

[@AaronStarkLinux]

I'm thinking of buying it, but I will go for the base trim, I don't need all that tech. I will be only driving around the city.

[@kornel02]

Comfort is less spec but same battery, motor, ... Somewhat cheeper

[@AaronStarkLinux]

@@kornel02 Yes, that's what I heard. They are usually the same battery and motors for all the trims for the European market. However, I heard about a new lower trim with smaller battery that has been on sale in China for a while and that one might be coming soon to Europe.

[@kornel02]

@@AaronStarkLinux Basically there are 4 trims... In EU only the top 2 are avail at the moment as far as I know. I have the Comfort... Cannot be happier with the car. Price performance, range, comfort, . Even doing longish (400-700 km) trips without any problem... Done about 8300km in 3,5 month...

[@Mgoblagulkablong]

Huge waste of money. Why pay this much more compared to a much less expensive Citroen eC3 that's built in europe??? Or why not buy a used EV, you can get used BMW i3, Smart Forfour EV, VW Up EV, etc. for ~€10k, used Honde e, Mazda MX-30 EV, Mini EV, etc. for ~15k etc

[@yulusleonard985]

lol base trim is something like 70hp engine? You will always want max trim.

[@vhol93]

Finally BYD back in the channel, nice nice nice ! Looking forward to the SEAL !

[@NoInfoFound]

11:47 It is cool that it includes an onlyfans option.

[@braveintofuture]

😂

[@CampGareth]

The top trim of this car is avaliable in my country for £289/mo with £289 up front and 0.5% APR for 4 years, it seems cheap. I'm considering replacing my 2013 Leaf Tekna with it for better range but that audio system seems like a step down :( I'll be interested to see the interior review and your thoughts on comfort Bjorn.

[@Lewis_Standing]

Go sit in one, they are really nice. The UK comfort spec is very good

[@CampGareth]

@Lewis_Standing I sat in one briefly at Everything Electric North, it was comfy and the cameras were great (360 is a must). Maybe I'll book a test drive and try out the audio, comfort over speed bumps etc

[@CampGareth]

Coming back to this comment, I have a top trim Dolphin and it is far better than the Leaf. The soundsystem is better not worse, the leaf's subwoofer did nothing it seems! I miss auto wipers and the manual speed limiter though, adaptive cruise control is not safe for use on UK suburban roads, it gets scared too easily and brakes.

[@braveintofuture]

The main takeaway for me from this video: there is a horse power hour

[@DouglasJMark]

Thanks 🙏 Would love head to head videos of BYD vs Tesla based upon the market categories they compete in. I wonder how the higher end BYD models could compare to Tesla. Everybody thinks the Chinese car companies will do what the Japanese ones did back starting in the 70s or the Koreans in the mid 80s. Both were so good at first as well. Lotsa love to all ❤❤❤

[@PJWey]

Love the Alarm test for Bluetooth was in front of the MG dealer, MG4 enjoys this “security” feature too. 🎉😅

[@rjbiker66]

They had to extensively modify the Chinese domestic market Dolphin so it could pass european crash standards. Added some extra length to the front of the car.

But still quite expensive. The same export version costs in Thailand only about 22,500 Euros.

[@rjbiker66]

Not much more for the Dolphin in australia

[@leventecsernus-lukacs7963]

Comfort version costs 32.290 eur in Hungary... but I ordered one because of the gasoline price. 1.5 eur/l. despite the expensive price as an eastern european, it will pays off

[@EenYouTubeGebruiker]

@leventecsernus-lukacs7963 €1.50/L expensive? O boy, you've clue how expensive it can get over here in the Netherlands. €2.00-€2.20/L. Driving an EV isn't cheap either. Especially when having to rely on public charging. Through all kinds of playing with taxes government is doing their utmost best to keep them comparable. It will still pay off though, because less maintenance and people will keep remaining access to all roads, because downtown more and more zero emission zones will be implemented. I don't know which of the two going to have the most reliable energy supply upcoming winter. The Netherlands has to rely on the global market relying on OPEC, the restarting of the Chinese economy and possible Russian sabotage, Hungary is fully energy reliant on Russia which in itself is a pretty unreliable factor, because of energy blackmail and possible EU sanctions.

[@zineddinereda705]

have you reviewed the SEAL ?

[@bjornnyland]

No

[@camneilsen8234]

​@@bjornnyland I have bought a new Seal in Australia,our first electric vehicle and we like it ,look forward to your review 👍🏻

[@ezquimal]

How are the most efficient electric today and how have the most range?

[@Bo-electric]

So not using auto steering and set the temp 2-3 degrees higher and the car seems to be just fine. Then we have the warranty that I don't know anything about. Just as an example: the new e c3 fron Citroen has 5 year/100 000 km warranty. Then there is the cost of service, yes it's kind of silly on an ev but for the warranty you have to service the car, in Sweden anyway. And yes I know that Tesla doesn't have a to be serviced for the warranty.

[@LePerlashez]

33990 € starting price here in France. I don't see how Chinese manufacturers are going to compete with local car manufacturers or with Tesla with such high prices. Oohh oohh wait a second, I think that BYD has left the chat 😂

[@TueChristensenDK]

"Local" car manufactures in the EV market being Renault Megan electric? How any competitors are there actually in the mid-sized cars with medium range (to exclude cr*p like e-UP etc)

[@zes7215]

nah, idts, it's your anti-dumping bs. also, byd sells yangwang well, ceptuxuaxeuropex, any perfx any worth infix nmw

[@TueChristensenDK]

@@zes7215 given the current ongoing issues with extra tariffs its not as such bs. I am legit just wondering. European EVs in this range being c3-e, renault megan e-tech, id3 and I guess Jeep avenger (?!?)

[@Luis-xr9ye]

If @Bjørn said “It’s ok car” it means “es ist nicht gut”

[@offom]

Hi from Sweden Björn, can you also test the new Mini Cooper and Countryman please, also maybe older Cooper EV?

[@UCMpDwp7VEfKXRH3NyAW7kuj]

people are demanding for Chinese auto, actually BYD sells a lot of better and expensive in China than VW even BMW i3 is on big sale, cheaper than BYD HAN but still can't beat BYD

[@Blasterxp]

What does the coffee icone do?

[@bjornnyland]

Driver attention warning: off

[@Blasterxp]

@@bjornnyland thanks!

[@carreviewsgentz8268]

Bjorn,, when is byd seal coming to u?

[@bjornnyland]

Later

[@camneilsen8234]

17:36 i thought my eyes were going funny ,it was just the vibration of the camera lol

[@RunarKjeldsberg]

The dolphin is e-fish-ant

[@Lucas-nh2mk]

In my country is 30.000💵

[@andrew7455]

People buy BYD because Blade battery is the best.

[@Mgoblagulkablong]

lying propagandist

[@attilavarga3151]

This is the car I would most like to buy

[@TheLeaderr]

This car with maxed out options in China costs like 16000 euro... It's one of the cheapest EVs you can get...

[@JiajuChen]

BTW for the price you obviously don’t get latest flagship chip on the car, so like Geely, ui and software system performs very differently across different cars.

[@Dan4096]

I set off my wife's Born alarm in the garage by accessing Car Scanner while it was locked

[@sargfowler9603]

I just can't get past the face of the Dolphin. It looks like a 90s car from the front especially with the two-tone paint job. The price is just silly in the UK too at £30K. You can get an MG4 for £7K less and it's a much better car.

[@kornel02]

You will not get the same spec for the same money I at the MG4. Check it!

[@ianrobertson1952]

MG is very plasticky and shit software

[@dgurevich1]

I still think the mg4 is a closer competitor to vw id3

[@HeikoElectric]

This car is waaaaay to expensive for what it is! Should be under 20.000€ to be competitive...

[@kornel02]

Price performance is very good! You have to see it alive!

[@CanisoGaming]

This looks like if modern hyundai and old kia had a baby 😂

[@americannumber2]

you run only fans?

[@Giskard_Reventlov]

In Japan: outside temperature is indicated on the small screen. I consistently get 12kw/100km, or 500km range 0 to 100. Speed limits are low here and the car comes with Bridgestone tires standard. It seems to have a very efficient powertrain, but perhaps less than ideal aerodynamics for high speed. BYD speakers are pure shit, cheap rental cars have better audio! My only real complaint about the car.

[@SandwichMitGurke]

Horse power hours 😂 also great: cumulative average energy consumption (?!)

[@pr7049]

It got very bad review on finnish comprehensive winter test.

[@reynoldichi1090]

Now i know what speed i should cruising for reach destination.

[@adasha1417]

Does this car have famous BYD multi link suspension? Also known as tofu suspension.

[@cedarcanoe]

This BYD looks like a BMW i3 homage

[@andrewmutavi590]

5 on the sound,better than distorted loudness

[@4baertjes]

I taught it was a little early for Christmas, but then I listened again and Bjorn was talking about "crispness". I understand what he means 🙂

[@raghuramkalyanam]

If it has v2h capability i will use it as solar battery! 😅

[@kornel02]

V2H? It has V2L (load)...

[@raghuramkalyanam]

@@kornel02 still a good option i guess

[@ottkardi5657]

11:49 Did you say you run OnlyFans?😆

[@ziggyyo]

Yep, that’s a running gag 😁 It means: Air Condition (AC) Off

[@bjornnyland]

OnlyFans is technically correct since we're only running the fans and the AC is off. Mana cars even show "fan only" as an option.

[@cowkmetyiu]

true. there is no way for BYD BEV. there are other obviously more competitive and wiser options in the European BEV market.

[@michaelketley1252]

Underwhelming.

[@easy08154711]

No Trailerhitch, sheet!!

[@jayhoughton558]

Suddenly I’m not so excited for BYD cars. So many weird things in the software. Wrong units etc. And the sound of the door closing sounded unbelievably cheap. Sells well cause it is cheap I guess.

[@liuty]

If you were referring to the door closing sound in the video, it's bc of the stormberg bottle. Software is weird tho

[@runescapemasters123]

Honestly what did you expect from their cheapest offering?

[@kevins718]

Chinese cars always have a good sounding door thump. But i agree, there are so many limitations with the software

[@ziggyyo]

The „wrong“ units was probably a joke. It’s just funny to be able to select „horse power“ instead of kilowatts in the GUI 😁 …resulting in the display of „HP h“ instead of kWh

My Dolphin has a good built quality and the door sound is oh for such a small car. The software needs some improvements, indeed. But I don't have wrong units.

[@kjlovescoffee]

8:24 If you didn't have low social score before, you do now 😂

[@Luis-xr9ye]

@bjørnnyland you have to talk about the poor regen braking of the dolphin

[@jasonw98]

So terrible that I instantly felt relieved in a Kona

[@capadosio]

Much smarter buy than going for an id3...

[@LoneWolf-wp9dn]

the byd dog

[@s.kxx1956]

The poor mans atto 3

[@bjornnyland]

Atto 3 = poor man's car Poor man's Atto 3 = poor man's poor man's car

[@ianrobertson1952]

I think it's better than the atto 3

[@Luis-xr9ye]

Poor mans iD3

[@pip5461]

Unfortunately, like most Chinese electronics, which are not known for longevity. Will their EVs last as long as the ICE cars...?

[@ianrobertson1952]

has 8 yr 160k km warranty on battery

[@pip5461]

@@ianrobertson1952 That's reassuring to hear, however, the cost of maintenance after that period and secondhand value is still a cause of concern.

[@DigiDriftZone]

174 miles range in summer, more like ~100 miles in winter after a few years of battery degradation, yikes that's bad.

[@Mrback2k9]

Tesla for the win 👽

[@binflydushy]

Never buying a car that recommends Shareholders to vote against a Anti-Harassment and discrimination law for their employees on their own IG page. Tesla is like a dictatorship

[@pilotandthecity8527]

This car looks so ugly. Like a Chinese Car from the 90's . Just my opinion. The interior is black and looks very depressing. The front is, let's say, strange. Apart from this, the failure to stop after "auto steering disconnect " is almost a reason to forbid this car to be sold like this. Not good!

[@kevins718]

Well, Hyundai also let go of the steering assist when they did not detect any input and crash

[@nemoralia-]

Byds definitely have the worst software and UI in the industry

[@ianrobertson1952]

Rubbish it's up there with the tesla no laggy screen even the maps and navigation are good

[@nemoralia-]

@@ianrobertson1952 yeah u gonna tell me a software that can’t even get the language right is a good software 👍🏻 new energy for the win

[@tridruankham2657]

❤❤❤

[@galapagos6522]

Ok, but it’s really ugly

[@RedAbsent]

BJORN comments: Sending data to China, LOL😅, While runing ONLYfans.

[@tridrean]

❤❤❤