BYD Dolphin review

Rapid charging can happen at up to 60kW for the small battery or 88kW for the big battery.

Unsurprisingly, given the near-identical hardware, the Dolphin drives much like the Atto 3, which means it’s softly sprung to the point of floatiness. The Dolphin's shorter sidewalls mean it's slightly less absorptive in town, but this is sill sacrifices plenty of body control for a comfortable ride. Certainly don’t expect dynamism. In dry conditions at least, the Linglong Comfort Master tyres cling on surprisingly gamely, but the steering is light and numb and mid-corner bumps can make it feel all at sea. Nomen est omen…

With the same 201bhp motor as the Atto 3 motivating less weight, the Dolphin is plenty sprightly and the 7.0-second 0-62mph time felt easily achievable. So far we've only driven the long-range model.

201bhp is also enough to give the front tyres a workout. If you get on the power hard in a corner, the driven wheels can scrabble a bit, but the traction control manages to keep things orderly. Again, wet condition might change things, as it does in the Atto 3. Then again, the Dolphin suffers from far less torque steer than the Atto.

In short, if you don’t push it to the limits (and few owners will, I dare say), the Dolphin drives fine. Some other annoyances remain however, such as the lack of a strong regen mode, the mushy brake pedal, and the fairly big turning circle.

Inside, the Dolphin is only slightly less wacky than the Atto 3 but still looks smart and generally feels well finished, especially for the price point, although there is quite a strong chemical smell.

The driving position is fine and has a good range of movement on the electrically adjusted seats, although they lack lumbar support and tilt adjustment.

Certainly there’s no doubting the Dolphin’s practicality. There are plenty of trays and cubbies up front, including one just underneath the central touchscreen that’s very useful for a phone or glasses.

Meanwhile, rear leg room is ample for tall adults and the 345-litre boot is impressive for a small hatchback. A variable-height boot floor is standard.

The tech on board suffers from the same quantity-over-quality issue as the Atto 3. The rotating 12.6in touchscreen is crisp and responds well, but the interface has too many sub-menus and doesn't use its generous acreage to best effect. The climate controls are hidden in a sub-menu, which is just not acceptable.

Adaptive cruise control with lane following is standard and works okay, but there are much smoother systems out there. Being new for 2023, the Dolphin also has bongs and a spoken message berating you for going over what it thinks (but often isn’t) the speed limit. It’s annoying and hard to turn off. Button, please!

So is the Dolphin about to shake up the small EV market? Well, a look at the pricing suggests that it might just be able to.

The Active model costs £25,490, but we would avoid it for its torsion-beam suspension and lack of power. A £1000 extra gets you the Boost. The Comfort, with the bigger battery, is £29,490. And the fully loaded Design is £30,990. Apart from the MG 4 EV, whose slightly dour interior suggests it's courting a different buyer, anything else available for this price is either considerably smaller or has a considerably shorter range.

Speaking of range, for this size of car, it's very good indeed. In our road test, the Atto 3’s efficiency indicator proved very optimistic, so we will take our Dolphin test car’s claimed 4.1mpkWh (which would translate to 249 miles of range) with a pinch of salt. Still, 200 miles should be comfortably doable.

BYD says it wants people to buy its cars because they love the style and individuality, rather than because they’re cheap. As it stands, however, the Dolphin lacks the polish – in its multimedia, its chassis, and some of its interior materials – to really impress, but its pricing is actually looking attractive enough that a lot of its flaws might be excused.