MG4 vs BYD Dolphin 2024 comparison review: Two of the cheapest new electric cars, but which is best?

Very good comparison! I am living in Thailand where Chinese EVs are the only feasible option. I looked first at the MG4 because I like its style and RWD. But I did’t feel comfortable and it missed some comfort features. The Dolphin is far more comfortable and has better specs (in Thailand). I also prefer its LFP battery which I can always charge to 100%. It is not as pretty as the MG4 but I am very happy with my decision (8 months, 18,000 km).

[@AhmadS-nm8ky]

BYD better than mg4

[@gfabie4901]

What about air conditioning strength? A huge factor here in SEA.

[@Garezinator]

Thank you for mentioning safety! That is the most important thing I look at and no other reviewer mentions it. Far more important than how the headlights are shaped for example.

[@dolphindave3037]

The NMC battery on the MG is what swayed me to the Dolphin. The MG is also limited to a charge of 80%, reducing the advertised range (Not one comparison by motoring journos has mentioned this difference). The LFP battery on the BYD is also environmentally friendlier due to no cobolt being in the chemistry.

[@TB-up4xi]

It's is only a recommendation to keep the charge between 10% and 80% for most of the time for an NMC or NCA battery as this slows down degradation, if you don't need to use 70% of your battery between charges on a regular basis this is irrelevant. It is perfectly fine to charge an NMC battery to 100% for longer trips so there is no reduction of the advertised range. Most of the time on a long trip though you'll find that only charging both the NMC and LFP batteries is the way to go, not because it harms the LFP battery but because it takes as long, or longer to get from 80% to 100% than from 10% to 80% charge.

[@dolphindave3037]

@@TB-up4xithat's like saying, it's only a recommendation to service your car regularly to maintain life expectancy of the car... if charging an NMC battery to 100% regularly results in increased battery degradation, my point is simply that shouldn't this be part of the comparison?

[@johnnyonline]

​@@dolphindave3037Charging to 100% is generally fine. Leaving it at 100% is where issues can arise. If you're mid journey you're good to go.

[@TB-up4xi]

@@dolphindave3037 It's not nearly the same equivalency - and I didn't say charge it regularly to 100% either - if 90% of the time you travel less than 70% of your range and 10% of the time you could benefit from a 100% charge to start a long trip then having an LFP v NMC makes no difference.

[@dolphindave3037]

​@@TB-up4xi Okay... I see your point. Personally a battery chemistry devoid of cobalt is a plus for me.

[@Neutrinum]

This is the best car review i've seen so far. You mentioned like the most important factors of an ownership! Well done, sir!

[@ecologiadederecha4844]

I own the dolphin, have no regrets.

[@billsomerville1426]

Actually bought the dolphin 51kwh because neither my mother in law or sister in law could access the low seats in the MG4 over the extremely wide sills. We’re not all young and athletic.

[@MGriff-q1i]

The Dolphin is aimed at a different market. Similarity of price just is logical but the short version is “if you want bling, gimmicks, don’t care about handling and don’t mind terrible tyres, get the Dolphin. If you want better driving dynamics, and much less emphasis on bling, the MG4 is better for you.”

[@CampGareth]

You can replace tyres easily. I prefer to think of it as a luxury small car vs a cheap family car. A honda E vs a Vauxhall corsa.

[@James-BB70]

In the UK at least, the Dolphin now comes with decent tyres. I think the MG4 looks better on the outside, headlights are more 'bling' 😅

[@budawang77]

You can't compare LFP to NMC. LFP has more durability (cycle life) and more real world range as you can charge to 100% all the time.

[@TB-up4xi]

LFP is more durable - but it's almost a moot point, the NMC battery should last 300,000km and the LFP around 1 million - is 300,000 km going to outlast the rest of the car? probably yes. You can charge an NMC battery 100% for road trips but you'll find that you want to charge both the LFP and NMC to 80% as it takes as long or longer to charge from 80% to 100% as from 10% to 80% so the vast majority of the time on road trips you'll find yourself charging to around 80% anyway regardless of the battery chemistry. Unless you intend using more than 70% of the NMC battery's range between charges regularly, keeping the charge range between the recommended 10% and 80% (to slow down degradation) is pretty much irrelevant and an occasional charge to 100% makes no difference.

[@budawang77]

@@TB-up4xi Thanks for the clarification. Good points.

[@Digwind]

When I sat at the back of the Dolphin I was like wow that's spacious.

[@MaxThompson-hq3ve]

No doubt you should have used the MG4 Essence 64 for this review, so much better equipped than the Excite 64, we took delivery of our new 2024 build MG4 Essence two weeks ago in Qld, cost us 47K driveaway, the Dolphin used in this review is only $463 cheaper driveaway in Qld, $46537.

[@gfabie4901]

Best side by side review. Thanks!

[@stephenodonohue9876]

50km of range added per hour at your local shopping centre as you shop (which is probably within 5km). Sounds good to me... especially if it's free.

[@gordonshaw3245]

Apples and Oranges, should have used Essence 64.

[@BrunoVieiraDS10]

Hey! Just whatching you right now at my Dolphin's screen, wich has the youtube instaled. Right from Curitiba - Brazil. This car is also a meteoric sucess around here. Excelent channel yours! Congrats!! 👍👍

[@LaBambaCL]

lucky you have 2 nice choices! canada has no chinese brand ev's :(...thus few choices, high prices.

[@davidcartwright5591]

I love the description of “ artificial leather “ seats , let’s call it for what they are , Vinyl .. I know many other cars employ this synthetic material , but in my opinion it 1970’s esq .

[@TB-up4xi]

It's not nearly the same - Vinyl or more properly Polyvinylchloride - is material made from petrochemicals. Modern synthetic leathers like Tesla uses are made from wood fibres for the contact / surface material (TENCEL) - the backing materials are normally rayon which is made from cellulose recovered from plants. Something like Ultrafabrics Ultraleather (Telsa seats) uses no petrochemicals in its production.

[@MGriff-q1i]

PK Leather is not dead cows. That means it is preferable.

[@metricstormtrooper]

​@@MGriff-q1iI and most people eat dead cows, I have no problem with sitting on dead cow peal, what the hell should we do with the skin from them otherwise, and don't spout the " they farm cattle just for the leather rubbish" .

[@LaBambaCL]

@@TB-up4xi there must be something else to make the tesla seat waterproof. it cant be all wood.

[@michaelhoolahan5717]

configurable shortcut buttons for the mg4 are on the wheel

[@misubisu]

I don't recall 'one pedal driving' coming up in this review. The BYD not having it is a deal breaker for me.

[@sasanshamsuldini3213]

Who gives a dang about heated seats in Australia??

[@smc9291]

Haha!

[@MrChanitha]

People in Canberra. 😅

[@innoslucky8817]

Byd can make it sell like a beetle, if they play well internationally...

[@markuc]

Should've included the GWM Ora in this test. That car is similarly priced and probably underrated.

[@Isz2134]

For short people 😂

[@AhmadS-nm8ky]

prefer dolphin becaus LFP battery, more comfortable

[@elthamtreehugger5320]

BYD’s big mistake is selling via a local reseller. This middleman bites deep into buyer wallet and service charge. And some ridiculous warranty T&Cs because of the reseller. Otherwise, they would be selling at much higher numbers everywhere.

[@metricstormtrooper]

The larger screen is a downer for me, i want buttons and a small screen when i buy a new ev. Synthetic leather is just Vinyl.

[@sasanshamsuldini3213]

If they would still be here in 7 years time I would buy these brands

[@kosmokramer9502]

Those energy consumption figures for the Dolphin are absolutely false. Around town my Dolphin Premium uses 12.9kWh per 100km and on freeway runs it’s an avg of 14.8kWh per 100km.

[@phangmoh]

I think you shoot some b-roll that you can use the voice from the main video to voice over like when you are talking about the bottle compartment on the main video but ain't showing them.

[@shankarbalan3813]

The Chinese EVs are somewhere else entirely in terms of what they offer

[@Matthew-yc6nx]

How's it feel to be 0.50 RMB richer?

[@mvnorsel6354]

It is not illegal to praise products from the P.R.C.

[@noodlefoo]

You shouldn't have chosen Excite 64 for this comparison, its interior features are just too lacking in comparison. Should have chosen Essence 64 instead.

[@kallekas8551]

Errr…I honestly thought you were joking, I Googled them… they exist…

[@ItsJonesy777]

The interiors are the same.

[@noodlefoo]

@@ItsJonesy777 What about Essence 64 has PU leather and fabric seats, better 6-speaker audio, driver 6-way electric seat, front seat heating, auto-dimming mirror, wireless smartphone charging?

[@reframeservices]

The title is misleading. There is a difference between cheap and cheapest. Cheap means affordable compared to other cars.

[@davidwadsworth1080]

I tjink the ng4 essence 64 is the winner at time of commenting. 39k and 10yr warranty

[@Jatinderjay]

For hatchback almost $45000 is crazy😮😮

[@metricstormtrooper]

That's mostly made up of excess profits by the importer and dealers.

[@lifes_magic_moments]

I think the Dophin is way better. That range statement that you made is incorrect. The Dophin is much better.

[@marcc.490]

Mg4 is my first choice.

[@electricdiesel1993]

MG4 should be fit for King Charles or give that MG4 a present for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

[@redjohn20001]

I own ths MG4, I have no regrets.

[@olajuyigbesegun2049]

Really!! I am thinking of getting one too.

[@user-fr5pl1zf5f]

Reviewer says there are no shortcut buttons in the MG4 but then proceeds to contradict himself 10sec later 😂

[@electricdiesel1993]

Nah public transport is cheap and safe enough for anyone despite disadvantageous bus delays but be patient at the gridlock; MG4 become an ironic rwd family electric car 😕 when ironically cheap yet old-fashioned falcon/commodore rwd sedans were history.

[@colonelccccc]

Cheapest but you don't test the cheapest models? What a joke of a review.

[@DONALDRANASINGHE]

Byd better because it is a front wheel drive car

[@CocoChris13]

front wheel drive is worse than rear wheel drive...wake up

[@Checkmate025]

Personally, the MG looks more upmarket with clean interior, and beautiful design than the Dolphin. The Dolphin has loads of plastics.. and a somehow a childish design

[@Isz2134]

Silly comment. Great interior with quality plastic parts well fitted. Delusional comment

[@bobhebblewhite1685]

ev is dead.

[@kallekas8551]

Throw your money away…🧑‍🦽

[@RonGabriel]

Thanks for the advice

[@mvnorsel6354]

I was going to visit the dealer, but now, no way. Thanks.

[@kallekas8551]

@@mvnorsel6354 High insurance, low resale, short life. The list is endless…🕺