Road tested By Hugh Maguire.
The new BYD Dolphin Surf is the latest smart new EV from BYD (Build Your Dreams) the Chinese car manufacturer that is making its presence felt in Europe with some really good new cars.
The new Dolphin Surf is not a derivative of the original Dolphin model but a completely different smaller and more affordable unashamed city car.
With prices starting at just €17,985 the new Dolphin Surf aims to offer city dwellers a budget EV that although the least expensive model in the BYD range lacks nothing in terms of creature comforts.
There are three trim levels to choose from, Active, Boost and Comfort. This weeks road test is the Comfort model.
So how does it look?
The BYD Dolphin Surf is quite well styled for a car measuring just four metres long. The short bonnet and high rising rear tail give it a purposeful stance. Its quite angular but overall the shape is appealing. The Lime Green of the test car pictured is the only standard colour, any of the other three, Black, White or Blue cost extra.
What’s it like inside?
The Smart Key offers keyless entry and start and once inside you are greeted by a bright and surprisingly roomy cabin. The cabin is dominated by a 10.1 inch central screen which rotates at the push of a steering wheel mounted button to be either landscape or portrait……. A neat but practical party trick.
The overall look and feel is quite good. Sure there are plenty of hard touch cheaper plastics about but nevertheless they are in the less easy to see places and in general the cabin of the Dolphin Surf feels of better quality than its price point might suggest. The one piece heated front seats look and feel very comfortable and the centre console boasts a few user friendly rocker type switches for some functions though sadly most including climate control operate through the touchscreen. My major complaints are really that the driver display is really too small and some of the digits therefore harder to read, some almost impossibly so. Equally the graphics for the climate control and other functions in the main screen are too faint and again hard to see. There is an annoying reflection from the dash on sunny days and the two centre cupholders are too big to hold a standard water bottle without it falling over. Finally the annoying regularity of beeps and bongs to announce you are in a new speed zone or have exceeded the speed limit by 1km/hr are very annoying added to which the voice that continually tells you to focus on your driving because you needed to prod the touchscreen endlessly to change for example the cabin temperature is equally annoying.
The cabin surprisingly seats four in comfort with great headroom due the high roofline. The boot however is very small.
What’s under the bonnet?
The entry level model has a small 30kWh battery while the other two models have the larger 43.2 kWh battery as here. Quoted range is 310km however I as with all EV’s it did not achieve that. I managed a range of 219km leaving just 20km before a recharge was needed. With more city driving I’d expect closer to 250km is a reasonable expectation of range.
How does it drive?
Its quiet and refined and handling is reasonable. There is quite a bit of body roll in corners and the suspension is quite soft. It is by no means an involving car to drive but more a way to travel comfortably from A to B.
Hugh’s Verdict.
The BYD Dolphin Surf is a good little town/city EV. Its nippy, quiet, very manoeuvrable about town, easy to park and fits in small spaces. On the open road its quite good too and its excellent packaging with that surprisingly roomy interior means it can transport four in comfort. Its nearest rival is Hyundai’s excellent new Inster but the Dolphin Surf is up to the challenge. The Comfort model tested here costs €24,113.