BYD has been making waves in the EV space, and where there are waves ripe for surfing, there you will find dolphins ready to make a splash. I’m talking about, of course, the BYD Dolphin, which I’ve had the pleasure of driving a couple of times, and they’re no doubt among the most compelling EVs on the market today. Well-priced, well-rounded, and superbly practical in more ways than one, now we are looking at the new BYD Dolphin Surf.
This is made to be a smaller and way more affordable variant of the Dolphin range, aimed at folks with tighter budgets, and if you need a compact city car that’s easier to park and wind through the many narrow streets of a gigantic metropolis like London. Yet, it’s supposed to do all this without cutting too many corners. However, with a cheap starting price in the high teens, does the BYD Dolphin Surf perhaps make one too many compromises?
What Is The BYD Dolphin Surf About?
Not to be confused with the regular Dolphin, the Dolphin Surf is BYD’s most compact model among their UK and European line-ups. For reference, it’s about the same-ish dimensions as the Ford Fiesta, though the BYD Dolphin Surf is way more upright and boxy. This is a good thing, I’d say, when it comes to maximising your boot space and interior roominess, as well as general practicality, but more on that later, once we take a step inside.
For now, and keeping to the exterior styling, the Dolphin Surf is definitely more aggressively and sportily styled, with its narrow headlights and sharp angles all around. The angular bodylines and creases give it an angry look, for what is otherwise a rather tame and easy-going car to live with. Looking around it, the Dolphin Surf has an eye-catching floating roof design on the C-pillar, as well as a neat dot matrix pattern to complement it.
Next to that are the full-width LED taillights and a sporty, though quite pronounced rear roof spoiler, which may even help with aerodynamics, too. It’s a pretty bold-looking car, overall. Of course, when you move up from the base-tier Active trim to the mid-tier Boost and top-spec Comfort model, you gain a few noticeable distinguishing features that cosmetically set apart each and every model. Granted, it’s not a massive difference, though.
Visually, the only major change is with the wheels, going from a set of 15-inch rims, now up to a 16-inch set of alloys. Although, there are other welcomed upgrades here, even if you can’t see them, such as the inclusion of rain-sensing wipers, electrically foldable wing mirrors, and automatic on/off LED headlights. These might sound trivial, but for an attainable electric car (more on pricing in a bit), it’s easy to take these features for granted.
How Does It Drive?
The Dolphin Surf is built atop BYD’s e-Platform 3.0 architecture, and aside from their outstanding Blade Battery designs, this platform also includes an excellent EV powertrain. To be specific, it’s BYD’s 8-in-1 drive system, and it’s the world’s first such bit of componentry that’s been mass-produced. This beating heart at the core of the Dolphin Surf is basically every part of your car’s powertrain and propulsion system combined into one compact mass.
This lump means a lot to EVs, as it is way more energy efficient (it can further maximise your electric car’s range), and it makes greater use of space (better packaging results in more interior space). That said, for our testing, I thought I’d put the BYD Dolphin Surf through the wringer in its natural habitat and where it’s most comfortable – in and around the city, and other urban environments, where driving a compact car like this is second to none.
Unsurprisingly, and in a good way, too, the Dolphin Surf works really well, and its diminutive proportions make it feel and drive incredibly small and light. With so much nimbleness in tow, it darts around with a great amount of ease, and parking it is so easy. Plus, it has a quiet and comfortable cabin, making the all-new BYD Dolphin Surf a fantastic companion for all those boring commutes on the motorway, in addition to oft-stressful city driving.
For an affordable car, I’m also surprised by all the driver aids and safety systems that you get as standard. For instance, this new BYD Dolphin Surf comes packed with intelligent cruise control, automatic emergency braking, lane-departure assist, intelligent high-beam control, and loads more ADAS systems that keep a close eye on you while you’re driving. Speaking of safety, it has 6 whole airbags – another feature so easily taken for granted.
Aside from that, for even greater ease when you’re driving around the Dolphin Surf every single day and you’re spending hours commuting with it every week, the top-of-the-line Comfort trim nets you a 360-degree surround view camera system. For manoeuvring around tight city streets or for when you’re trying to park inside a narrow parking space, it’s always a godsend to have an unimpeded view all around you, and it is a really good camera.
What Is It Like Inside?
Step inside, and the BYD Dolphin Surf features a lot of tech and gadgetry in here, especially for an attainable EV. Up front and centre, and moving past that featureful instrument cluster, though it does look a tad cheaper than what you get in pricier BYD models, you’ll then find BYD’s signature gimmick, the rotating 10.1-inch infotainment system. This entire display, at the touch of a button, would rotate between a landscape and portrait orientation.
I could see this being pretty handy depending on what you’re doing. Most of the time, keeping that infotainment screen in landscape mode might be better, as it’s tucked neatly out of the way, but when you’re using the satnav, for example, portrait mode might allow you to see more of the road ahead of you. The rest of the Dolphin Surf’s interior is well-put-together, as well. You now get a comfy set of vegan leather seats and cushy upholstery.
That said, I quite like all those metallic buttons and switches, particularly on the centre console. They’re feel nice to use, and here, you’ll find your drive selector, the drive modes, a knurled volume knob, and some of your A/C controls, too. Otherwise, if you need to more readily adjust anything, it comes with voice control, so a quick “Hi BYD!” command should let you access most of your in-car functions without needing to take your hands off the wheel.
This very clean interior design and just the amount of kit that you get inside certainly allows the Dolphin Surf to punch far above its weight, and more so once you take into account how much it costs. Now, if you move up to the mid-tier and top-spec trim levels, you’ll get plenty of other interior goodies, on top of that. This includes an electrically adjustable driver’s seat, and on the flagship trim, you’ll gain a wireless charging pad for your phone.
In addition to that, you could get heated front seats, as well as a premium audio system that’ll come bundled with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. On that note, connectivity is the name of the game when you’re living with the BYD Dolphin Surf day-to-day. It has Over-the-Air (OTA) updates for keeping all that software up-to-date and refining the electronics, in addition to 4G connectivity, satnav included as standard, and more.
There’s even a smartphone app that you could pair with your Dolphin Surf that lets you remotely pre-condition the climate control. Speaking of, the new BYD Dolphin Surf is surprisingly practical for such a compact electric car, with ample legroom, kneeroom, and headroom for your rear passengers, relatively speaking, and more so for any electric car in this class, even after I move the front seats way back to fit my taller driving position.
Additionally, the BYD Dolphin Surf’s upright and boxy form factor lends itself to creating lots of space further in the back. At 308 litres, the boot is decently cavernous for such a small electric city car, and when you fold down those rear seats, your cargo capacity expands up to 1,037 litres. For extra storage elsewhere, there are a ton of handy cubbies and compartments throughout the cabin, including a hidden area underneath the boot floor.
The Experience
BYD is well-known for its electric powertrains and battery technology, which has been used in plenty of other cars outside of BYD, too. As such, it’s not a huge surprise that underneath the new Dolphin Surf, we find BYD’s game-changing Blade Battery. The latest generation of BYD’s EV (and even hybrid) batteries, which have evolved over the past 30 years, the world-class BYD Blade Battery has been proven to be one of the world’s safest.
Besides its durability, they’re also superbly dense packaging-wise, and BYD is able to pack a lot of energy in each one. Depending on the specific Dolphin Surf trim level that you’re looking at, you could get up to 203 miles of range (WLTP city), thanks to the potent 30.0 kWh battery pack in the entry-level Active model, or up to 200 miles of range (WLTP combined), courtesy of the upgraded 43.2 kWh battery in the Boost and Comfort models.
Those numbers are a bit deceiving, as BYD quotes both WLTP ‘City’ and ‘Combined’, but if you’re worried at all with how far you’re able to drive on a full charge, the larger 43.2 kWh battery pack is probably the ideal choice, allowing you to go the distance, at least by compact electric city car standards. Plus, with the Boost and Comfort editions, it also features fast-charging, which could top up your battery from 30% to 80% in around 22 minutes.
Though, if you’re going by more traditional measurements, like a 20-80% or 10-80% charge, we’re still looking at a mere 30 minutes for a charge, with a peak DC fast-charging rate of 85 kW. Furthermore, if you want and need to use your Dolphin Surf’s battery sort of like a big power bank, it has Vehicle-to-Load (V2L). With that in mind, you can plug in anything from power tools to coffee machines and games consoles, or even power a campsite.
BYD Dolphin Surf Cost
The BYD Dolphin Surf starts from an amazingly attainable £18,650, which gets you the Active model, and from there, you can step up to the Boost model for £21,950, as well as the Comfort edition, starting at £23,950. While you do gain a lot of upgrades and amenities when you’re spending more on the Comfort trim, the entry-level Active variant still gets you maybe 90% of the creature comforts and experience, but with a cheaper price tag.
Verdict
I could see this car selling by the bucket loads, and I’ve no doubt that loads of people might consider one just for the price. However, the new BYD Dolphin Surf isn’t just another cheap EV. On the contrary, it looks quite decent, has tons of features and amenities, drives really well, is super practical, comfy and easy to live with, and it won’t compromise your range, either. Ultimately, if you have a tight budget for an EV, I can’t recommend it enough.
Specification
BYD Dolphin Surf Specs
- Price: £23,950
- Engine: 115 kW motor & 43.2 kWh battery
- Power: 156 PS
- Torque: 220 Nm
- 0-62mph: 9.1 seconds
- Top speed: 150 km/h
- Weight: 1,465 kg
- Economy combined: 200 miles (WLTP Combined)
- CO2: 0 g/km