After reviewing many Kia and Hyundai Korean EVs during the last year the BYD Dolphin is the first non Korean electric car that I have borrowed to review.
I am a retired senior in my early 70s and have driven ICE cars for almost 50 years on 4 continents.
Manual Ford Anglia and Renault 12 in East Africa, Honda Civic station wagon in North America, Volkswagen Polo in the Irish Republic and for over 30 years Fords, Holdens, Toyotas, Mitsubishis and Mazdas in Australia. I have recently been introduced to EVs by my son and am considering buying one after having reviewed half a dozen EVs.
I picked up the BYD Dolphin Premium (WLTP range of 427 km) on 8 Dec for a 7 day trial loan. I drove 271 kms over the week, which would average out to about 14,000 km per year.
It took me a few minutes to get the hang of the controls.
The start button is located to the left of the steering wheel, almost horizontal, and seems hidden! The gear selector however feels unique, it is a rotary dial located below the infotainment touch screen allowing drivers to select between D (drive), R (reverse) and N (neutral). The drive modes of Eco, Normal and Sport are located next to the rotary dial.
The infotainment screen can be positioned in portrait or landscape mode, again a bit different. My preference was landscape.
The cruise control button is on the left of the steering wheel with the rocker switch next to it to adjust speed. A very handy location.
The instrument cluster of the car is quite different from the Hyundais and Kias I’ve reviewed. A small five inch panel located just above the steering wheel displays vehicle speed, battery level and estimated range, energy consumption, traffic speed limits and tyre pressure.
The sound system on the Dolphin is good. The cordless Android Auto feature is very useful and made using Waze navigation very convenient. No cables to get in the way! The display font for Waze is quite large and useful when wearing single vision prescription sunglasses.
I had to remind myself constantly when driving the Dolphin that it was not a one pedal drive car, unlike the Korean ones that I have driven previously.
So I had to use the physical brake pedal like I would driving my Mazda 3.There are 2 levels of regen, standard and high. If you’re wondering how that compares with one pedal drive cars, it’s about half as strong at best.
Sliding a finger down and also sideways on the infotainment panel allows access to the quick settings options of the EV. This includes brightness, volume control, Bluetooth etc a very useful feature.
The car has a very small boot which can be made deeper for tall suitcases by removing the floor panel. There is no frunk. There are lots of “pockets” for storage in the front section of the car for your phone, keys, water bottles etc. A well thought out design!
The front bucket seats are very comfortable and there is lots of leg room for rear seat passengers even in the centre as the car has a flat floor. The car designers have traded off more legroom for rear passengers for a smaller boot.
The driver’s forward view is impeded by the large front windscreen pillars and the resulting blind spot is most inconvenient. Likewise 2 of the rear seat headrests next to the doors block rear vision as well.
I immediately noticed the roll in the car going over speed bumps, the suspension felt soft. The car has enough torque though and acceleration is excellent for my purpose, I’m not a petrol head!
To test the energy use of the Dolphin I did a return trip to Pitt Town and Riverstone from my home in Holsworthy on the M5, M7 and local country roads in the north west of Sydney metropolitan, a total of 117 kms, with a few stopovers.
The odometer when I left home was 1276 km and 1393 km on return. I started the trip at 80% battery charge and finished off at 54%, and the instrument panel showed usage of 12.6 kWh per 100 km on my return home. This is quite economical. I was using air conditioning for the majority of the trip as it was a Sydney summer day.
I charged the car using my 10 amp home electric socket and solar array. The car comes equipped with an 8 amp charging cable. And therefore I did 271kms of driving over the week at minimal cost to me. Please note that my feed in tariff is currently only 4 cents per kWh.
If most of your driving is in Sydney metropolitan and surrounds the cheaper and slower to accelerate base model BYD Dolphin Essential is a good option especially as it’s available for $29,990 plus on road costs. The range is 340 km WLTP which is 87km less than the Premium.
EDITORS VIEW
It’s easy to understand why over 3000 Australians purchased a BYD Dolphin in 2025 as it is small, efficient and easy to drive in urban areas.
I’ll let you know 5 things I think potential buyers should know about the BYD Dolphin Premium small hatchback electric car based on my one week test driving around Sydney. 1 thing I explain is why the Dolphin can achieve superior efficiency in Winter if you live somewhere 🥶❄️ like Canberra or Tasmania. Includes commentary on my impression of the EV overall during a 100km/hr motorway test drive.
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