For anyone that is after a more indepth long-term review this might help below. Done about 4000km in the Dolphin now so have some handy insights if you're interested. Just found this vid fairly cursory (like a normal 1 day review) be good to dig a little deeper and learn the real ins and outs about the car so.... Suspension The suspension is dialed in a little "bouncy". It's a pity they didn't dampen it more. It soaks everything up beautifully, but just in a slightly pogo-stick kind of way. Most people won't notice, but it's slightly irritating when moving from many Euro brands that seem to have a more controlled movement. Tires The LingLong tires are a bit rubbish. They are a cost saving so are made of hard compound rubber. Because of this it's difficult to get power down as they slip. Now in winter in NZ they're to be used aggressively with caution. Replacing these with something like Michellin PS5's etc will improve the pickup on acceleration and traction in general Traction Control The traction control is strange, as it allows you to wheel spin to a good amount of time before it reigns things in. Unlike say a Skoda which is overly aggressive with not allowing the wheel to spin at all, this is on the other end of the scale. Be great if they tweaked the software a bit to allow a little less slip to keep things under control a bit. Lack of some auto features The lack of an auto-tailgate and auto-windscreen wipers is a shame. The first I can live with as closing a boot isn't too bad and cheaper if it fails. But auto-wipers are a shame as these are really useful and allow you to concentrate on driving rather than fiddling with the stalk. With all the other tech I was surprised to see this missing. Fogging of interior windscreen BYD's have a weird process where the aircon "purges" all the air inside it into the interior cabin once you've locked the doors. This is great for the aircon filter as it gets all the moisture out. However, all the moisture goes into the interior and foggs up the interior windows until they're dripping with water. Very painful to clean this up on frosty mornings. On some Atto models they've now done a software update to vent to outside the car instead, but for many Dolphin owners we're still waiting on this. Temporary solution is to lock, then unlock, then lock the car which resets it so it doesn't purge. Doors slightly fill with water on slopes The bleed holes on the undersides of the doors are slightly inboard, so if you park on a hill, when you open the doors a good amount of water comes out of the bleed holes as the door becomes horizontal therefore releasing the "corner collections" of water. Slightly disturbing when it first happens, but not unusual in cars. Just wish they'd put the drain holes more in the corners so it drains better on hills. Info screen a bit clunky It's getting better, but often things are hidden in submenus a bit. Be good if they rationalised this a bit. Some of the safety features are annoyingly persistent and you have to make shortcuts to dig down into menus to get to them to turn off. However, to BYDs credit, they have improved this with every OTA update. Less intrusive, more subtle bongs and blings, and now the auto-traffic speed warning can permanently be switched off if the user wants. Steering Steering is a little vague, but like most common cars. Along the lines of a Skoda with it's feel, but not as nice as a VW or old school Mazda where you can "feel" the road. Not a precise car to drive, but again most people don't care about that or even know what I'm talking about. Depends if that's you or not. Some Earlier models have rust issues Only the very first gen of BYD cars brought into NZ had some issues with rust. To BYDs credit they've fixed those customers cars for the most part, and they now have quality control pretty well dialled. But just bear that in mind when buying secondhand for thos 1st gen models. No Frunk There's not too much space in the front as they've pulled the cabin out as much as possible to get interior space. That's great, but they could have provided a frunk/ front storage area still with the space they have. There's aftermarket ones you can buy, so many people have retrofitted, but BYD probably could have stamped out the same plastic mold and screwed that in there to provide a space for cables and the like. BYD Support BYD support seem pretty good so fair in NZ. In terms of they seem to quietly listen to their customers and make software changes accordingly. However not as open as say Tesla in letting you know what's coming up, and detailing features etc. Pretty standard car company stuff really. Unfortunately you still have to go through a dealer, unless privately buying. Hope that helps anyone out there. Overall it's a fantastic car despite above and as said gets better with every OTA update. Totally agree with the rest of Nicola's review in terms of features and incredible space on inside etc. Recommended! :)
@@Mububban23 perfectly fine if driven normally, yes. 90% of people won’t notice any difference between these and premium tires. Only if you drive in a “sporty” way or on steep, wet, rubbish streets (like in Wellington, NZ) will you notice some slipping. Then the traction control will kick in and sort it out.
Bought one of these in Australia- GBP 23,580 for the top spec model drive away. Agree with her comments, great city car with very few issues. Latest OTA now about to be released with wireless Apple CarPlay (although my wired connection works fine). Will finally allow TSR (speed) recognition to be turned off permanently, instead of a using a short cut, plus added short cuts for temp and fan speeds. One item missed - at least in Australia, the Dolphin works with Tesla V3 and V4 Superchargers, so removes any concerns about crap third party chargers when travelling long distance. Two very minor things I also don't like - front vent reflection on the windscreen, and the luggage cover looks a bit fragile. I drive the the car in 'normal' not sport, but set the steering to sport to give a more direct feel. High regen setting works fine, I like using a brake pedal, as this makes it feelmore like driving a normal ICE car. I easily get 450+ km around town, charge it at home every week or two. With the LFP battery, you can and should charge to 100%.
Had mine since early January this year now in the UK, great run around car, commuting to train-station. Motorway journeys are a breeze in this car. Full charge last about two weeks if you stay off motorways. Charges fast on 50Kw chargers, about 40 mins. Great car and the APP works for those icy mornings. I preferred this over the MG due to the tech, more spacious. In the summer the battery last a lot longer to, 2hr motorway journey and lost about 30%. Also the BYD customer support are rapid response.
@@RedBatteryHead Because there is on average more 50KW chargers around then super charges. Yes it charges a lot quicker when i use the super charger. Even on a home charger left overnight on 7KW its fully charged.
@@panjialfian4487 Have you tried? You have to be very lucky for VPN to not be blocked. Also its illegal. Good luck working in a work camp for using TH-cam. Same goes to foreigners albeit in practice the punishment might be less severe (and they could have their private setup vpns if they acted in advance)
The best thing about the car in my opinion is the size. you can sit very comfortably on the back. It's hella fast! nice range, not very heavy compare to other EV's . Can't go wrong with this car.
i've had mine since January and it's brilliant. I manage 240 miles out of a charge (city / parkway driving). I managed 86Kwh charge yesterday - it was hot and nobody else at chargers. Just had another update to fix even more bugs. and add web browser / karaoke
Everybody mocks the rotating screen but the one big thing in portrait mode is the sat nav, l would always have it portrait mode as it easier to follow your routes
Cheapest than Malaysia is selling Dolphin at £16570 .. Malaysia don't allow import ev car selling below £16570 (RM100000) to protect local car Brands market ( proton & perodua )
@@derekwampum8861 u can't compare like this because china government heavy subsidies ev car & car is made in China..Let say example like durian in Malaysia selling 1kg at rmb 50 , export to china become 1kg rmb 150-200 🤣
I'm visiting East Malaysia right now and great to see a number of BYD and Oppo Cars appearing here! Chinese EVs will revolutionise the fight against pollution and emissions in loads of countries outside Europe and US 🙏
Love the new innovation and affordable price. I honestly don't care who makes the car as long as price competitive, safely, and great quality. If China can make a better car compare to Japanese or other countries....Good for consumers.
Regarding the indicators. The sound when you have brand mode on is fantastic for indicators. Very, very soothing and musical. I am not too keen on the slow vehicle noise (which is whenever it drops under 20mph, which is very annoying given all the 20 villages around me) but I keep it because of the indicator noise. So much better than the clicks. I do wish you could mix and match it, so have the hum with the musical indicators. As it stands, we have named our car 'cornetto' since it's pink and purple and sounds like an ice cream truck! I recommend the lighter interior. It makes the car feel even more spacious and bright inside. We have also gotten quite close to 80kw when charging once when we did a long road trip with it. Most of the time though it is our short journey car. Managed 3 weeks without a charge so far as it is very economical for just dotting about locally
Some dodgy dolphin puns aside (🙄) you never fail to amuse and delight with your reviews, Nicola - thank you for being 'you'. Having said that, £31k for just an alright city car is NUTS...! And, whilst the range does indeed start at £25,495 that entry-level Active model, with only a 94hp motor, is likely to feel very underpowered, I'd imagine...!
"£31k for just an alright city car is NUTS...!" Its competition is the VW Golf which, depending on what spec you get, costs £25-34K so it is market competitive. It is a decent car, could be better, but good enough for 90%+ of its target market
honestly, 94HP in an EV is perfect except for overtaking on the motorway. my 136hp horsepower corsa-e spins its wheels and rips from everything at the lights aside from other EVs, honestly I wish the Corsa-e started at 75hp like the petrol one did to make it cheaper
@@justinstephenson9360 a valid point - I was recalling Nicola's description of it being a city car, rather than appreciating it's more like the family-sized Golf. So, yes, I take your point - as a 'family-sized' EV it's bang-on-the-money. Thanks for the clarification 👍
@@Mobile_Dom you might well be right - my experience was my previous 109hp Leaf which was so-so and my current 170hp BMW i3 which is spot-on for performance.
I've had the same one in the video for 6 months and I'm loving the car! BYD needs to improve the software issue that doesn't register all my settings, especially the ADAS one, which I have to change every time I restart the car!
I went for a long drive this week - 3 hours each way. On highways and using the cruise control most of the time, it really did do the distance advertised. I think this is because the computer uses the regen every time it has to slow. During normal driving it's less - probably 75-80% of the advertised rate. I took it to a charger rated at 60kw and it charged at 33.something. An hour to charge the 50% I had used in the initial drive.
@ I don’t hear a US launch for BYD any time soon. BYD is opening a plant in Hungary, which will get around the tariffs in the EU, but I doubt Hungary will supply BYD’s to the US of A.
I ll buy it on the forthcoming days. Anyone who seeks a good deal, it is sold for 18000 pounds (19900 euros) in Greece, including the government subsidiary which is 6 to 9000 euros. I dont know why ByD has chosen Greece to offer a killer price but since it exists I will use it. I hope not to let me down.
yeah that seems like prettymuch exactly my impression when I test-drove one. The binggs and bongs were more pronounced than on this video. In nz, the equivalent mg4 is slightly cheaper so the biggest problem with the dolphin is that the mg4 exists and is better for just slightly less.
In UK the MG4 is not slight cheaper, the Dolphin low spec comes with all the tech you need except pana roof, wireless charging and colour choices, where as the MG, you need to go up to top trim to get all the goodies which makes the car a bit more expensive. Not gonna lied the driving experience on the MG is better due to rear wheel drive and slightly bigger car. However the BYD battery is better and the interior, display and software speed are much better than the MG. So it depend on what people prefer, since the Dolphin is aim for people that just want a cruiser instead of driving experience.
yeah, if the mg is dearer, the maths would math different. (the essence 64 is a grand cheaper than the 2nd spec dolphin here. we can't get one with the sunroof at all) For me, most of the extras that the base dolphin gets, other than the heatpump, are things I don't care about, but if you do then they change the maths too. I thought the interior better on the mg, myself: the seats are incredibly comfortable, I prefer solid plastic to the wetsuit stuff, and the buttons feel more robust... that might differ in different markets too. though wider, the mg is a hair shorter so only a tiny bit trickier to park. I do appreciate the better longer lifetime of the lfp battery in the dolphin long range for sure, though both will outlast the respective cars. like I said, the biggest problem here is the mg exists. I would definitely consider the dolphin if the bongs didn't make it totally unusable for my GF due to sensory issues. in the end it's different strokes right? ppl buy both cars here too even with the mg4 being cheaper.
you Nicola, are so fun to watch! this car is THE new blaze among uber drivers here in Brazil, with the 44,9 kWh version being sold for not so much more than a full spec VW Polo. that ice cream truck creep noise is hilarious!
I need to plug my phone into my Ioniq 5, I prefer it. It is always charging. And the car I rented recently that connected 'magically' also 'magically' disconnected right when I needed the directions most. COPPER connections FTW!
At 12:10 you say you've not seen it hit 3.9 miles per kwh yet at 9:37, you show the screen saying 25.4kwh per 100 miles for the total average which is about 3.93 is it not? or am I missing something?
We've had our Dolphin for a couple of months now and are really happy with it as a budget daily driver. The range is fine and the driving experience is good. On the downside, I totally agree about the bloody parcel shelf which seems to have a life of its own and drives me nuts. Also why on earth is the dashcam missing and the software disabled? In other countries the camera and software are in place, in some other countries you can buy and fit the BYD camera and everything works. Why make it so difficult for us in the UK? A simple software upgrade to allow the 360 camera to record to the SD card would be better than nothing...
All the wiring and softweare is there for the dashcam, you just need the canera and a SD card. I will get this at the next dealer service but really not a high priority.
I have to admit I was a bit disappointed by this video. The majority of information is available on all the other videos talking about the space in the back, rotating screen, panoramic roof, etc. From a long-term test, I would expect deeper insight than you didn't get the WLTP range. What range did you get? How has it coped with family life? The details in the software issue was the most indepth reporting.
I hope they will add on the next update to allow us to choose which signal sound or pedestrian sound individually. I prefer the ice cream van sound at low speed but still prefer the traditional clicky signal sound. Lets clarify the sunblind closing. It will automatically close when you lock the car, I think thats what Nicola trying to say instead of turn off.
🤣🤣🤣🤣 That has helped a lot. I've been keeping an eye on the BYD, specially a long term review like this. The puns were ace (apart from the sushi one) 🤬 Other than that, thank you very much.
With that ice cream vehicle sound you can sell 2 ice creams with 2 chewing gums for bloody 9 pounds - no cash. Watch out for this brilliant little girl, though. 🎉😂
How about the reliability of the suspension system? and outer body condition. As far as i know japan made vehicles body and.suspenstions.parts are very strong and durable.
The not one, not two, not three, but ALL FOUR springs which snapped in half one after another all within the first 5 years of ownership of my wife's old 2009 Nissan Versa would indicate otherwise. I think in recent years Chinese auto quality have risen while Japanese have stagnated and even gotten worse.
Unfortunately not anymore, excuse being design and aerodynamics, proobably more to do with cost cutting but brands like MG and Hyundai have bought theirs back mid production run on models like the MG4 and Ioniq 5.
Lane assist on the mG4 is dangerous as is the front collision assist. They go off but you have to do it every time you drive! CarPlay also sucks. But the rest of the car is fabulous.
I'm disappointed not to have received a reply to my question. I have been 'in discussion' for several months with BYD about the tyres and they are adamant that the LingLong tyres are perfectly adequate. But here we have a review car fitted with Hankook tyres. Come on Nicola, tell us why it has Hankooks.
An entertaining review, thank you. BYD have definitely got the pricing right. Given a bit more time I bet they improve the annoying bits. If this drives up the standards older car manufacturers have to meet to compete, then I am all for it.
ehhh 19 puns? Thanks for the fun Nicola 🤣 (and think again, is a Dolphin a fish or a . . . . . 😉) We had the Dolphin Design for an hour, in the Netherlands (€37.000 starting prijs). We loved the car and almost bought it. Alas, the dealer asked a bit to much for it. So, we bought the Citroën ë-C3 Max..
For comparison 31K pounds converts to $55K Canadian dollars so here you can get a model Y for over $1K less and a model 3 for over $5K less.. Also here there are many other EVs in the same price range or less.. BYD Dolphin is not available in Canada..
Nicola, no, it's not flipping cheap. Many people would have difficulty affording this price. Let's be honest, because electric cars are relatively new, we are veing ripped off. Ice cars are more complex. Would i assume they should take more work to assemble, etc. So why the higher price and not just a few quid but thousands.
I love mine! Had it since Nov and covered just over 10k. Average 4.2m/kWh. 0-60 timed at 6.2 with tc off. Very underrated performance and shocks a few cars!! Best EV I've had considering I've had the MG4, cupra born and Niro. Oh and the air vent glare is annoying 😂😂 and ensure the crappy ling longs are replaced!!!!
I don't belive your 0-62 time claims. There is not a single video on YT showing this kind of performance measured with external tools (racebox, draggy). I've seen 6,91 from Bjorn, which is still very nice but nowhere close to 6.2. Driving Enthusiast got even worse results @ 7,17s : th-cam.com/video/9KMRXbywARM/w-d-xo.html.
@@andrzejz4218 this was from the on board timer.also that reviewer has no clue how to launch it... It takes practice and not just to floor it. There are a few videos sub 6.5
@@peterarmstrong3853 Thanks for the reply! Send the links to these sub 6,5s. videos IF they are measured with racelogic/draggy or other pro equipement. Incar/onboard is cheating or - if you are Chinese - let's say "optimistic".
Every manufacturer needs a 'Joe Mode' like Tesla with the ability to turn down the volume on turn signal clicks and other warning chimes. It will be interesting to see if BYD makes it to North America.
Shame really, as they make great cars, and although deemed good enough to make certain Tesla models and share their battery technology with them 🤔It's not gonna happen with the government actively blocking Chinese imports to protect the U.S market.
IMO, the two-tone paint just doesn't work on this car, it looks odd, and merely accentuates the weird shape. It reminds me of folk who are tall but rotund, trying to fit into a suit they've had for decades, bulging belly, stressing buttons.
@@mctennys shipping is hardly going to increase prices. China ships all over South East Asia and prices are much lower than the UK even if you include VAT. I think BYD is trying not to rock the boat too much or punitive tarrifs will be added on like the EU and US is about to do. Even the Tesla Model 3 sells for less than 25k in Asia.
Weird efficiency is that bad driving at 50mph. If it has eco mode try that. I get around 5 miles per kwh in city heavy driving on my bolt here in bay area. But weather also plays a factor. use of AC or heat would bring down the efficiency as well. Still 3.9 miles per kwh is not crazy for a car at this size.
Good job, I would have liked more details on the energy consumption you got. I tried this car and discarded it because of the subpar charging and not great steering feel. Still holding my money probably for a Renault 5
That's difficult information to get from a BYD. You can get lifetime efficiency and efficiency in the last 50 miles but there's no efficiency-since-last-reset.
I don't know how it is in England, but here in asia the price drops really significant.. maybe it's because there are loads of competition.. Cherry, Neta, VinFast, GWM.. etc. so many.. what I'm worrying is, if somewhat we wanna sell it in the future (and buy a newer EV), it's practically like a used old android phone price.. once it's become obsolete, maybe after 3-4 years.. it worth like shite.. in the "old days" of ICE cars, a 10 year old car still worth to buy, or worth to sell..
I have the atto 3 I don't use regen I hate it the car gets so much better range if you don't use regen, just let the car coast like a fossil car,and using cruise control on the motorway just eats your battery powering all the self drive mechanisms and equipment
Enjoyed the puns..... was waiting for a reference to 'Flipper' - but I guess that just shows my age. That charging speed is pants..... Just finished a weeks holiday in my MG4 and covered about 700 miles, so charged a few times. In the heat, it was maxing at around 120kw charge rate, which kept my stops to a reasonable 20 minutes or so. In cooler weather, I've seen 150kw on the MG....
I feel that you glossed over the most important information for an electric car. If it gets much less range than advertised and it also charges much slower, then it should be a deal breaker. I don't usually spend 45' at the services every 150 miles. Who does that???
It’s a good looking little car. But it’s not a car I’m after, it’s a small electric camper. The smallest of them is based on the Vauxhall Combo Life Electric and is known as a Wheelhome Vikenze III.
It depends on how it's driven. You can go up to two weeks without charging. If you are interested, go to your local dealer and take it for a test drive.
I test drove the Dolphin at everything electrical Harrogate. Got caught out when I stopped at traffic lights and applied the handbrake..when I tried to set off the car wouldn’t move..I hadn’t noticed it had automatically gone into neutral when I applied the handbrake. Why is it designed to do this? No automatic car I’ve ever owned does it! Nothing worse than sitting at traffic lights with ya foot planted on the brake blinding the driver behind with your intensely bright led brake lights specially at night!
Tesla3 has 3 modes when stopped at junction - Hold which as suggested hold the car where you stopped, Creep which creeps slowly forwards, Roll which basically means it’s free to move, so if on a slope it will roll in direction of downhill! Most people choose Hold, it makes most sense.
@@shroomyesc Potentially it's a requirement of the UK's automotive free trade agreement with the EU that we match their tariffs. I imagine it won't be confirmed until after the election though
It’s a pity that the top option of 2025 BYD Dolphin is sold at 13800 GBP (129800 RMB) in China, yet 31000 in UK! 比亚迪2025款海豚正式上市售价9.98万元起 7月8日，比亚迪2025款海豚正式上市，新车共推出4款车型，售价区间为9.98万-12.98万元。 与此同时，比亚迪海豚也迎来了它的第70万辆下线。
For anyone that is after a more indepth long-term review this might help below. Done about 4000km in the Dolphin now so have some handy insights if you're interested.
Just found this vid fairly cursory (like a normal 1 day review) be good to dig a little deeper and learn the real ins and outs about the car so....
Suspension
The suspension is dialed in a little "bouncy". It's a pity they didn't dampen it more. It soaks everything up beautifully, but just in a slightly pogo-stick kind of way. Most people won't notice, but it's slightly irritating when moving from many Euro brands that seem to have a more controlled movement.
Tires
The LingLong tires are a bit rubbish. They are a cost saving so are made of hard compound rubber. Because of this it's difficult to get power down as they slip. Now in winter in NZ they're to be used aggressively with caution. Replacing these with something like Michellin PS5's etc will improve the pickup on acceleration and traction in general
Traction Control
The traction control is strange, as it allows you to wheel spin to a good amount of time before it reigns things in. Unlike say a Skoda which is overly aggressive with not allowing the wheel to spin at all, this is on the other end of the scale. Be great if they tweaked the software a bit to allow a little less slip to keep things under control a bit.
Lack of some auto features
The lack of an auto-tailgate and auto-windscreen wipers is a shame. The first I can live with as closing a boot isn't too bad and cheaper if it fails. But auto-wipers are a shame as these are really useful and allow you to concentrate on driving rather than fiddling with the stalk. With all the other tech I was surprised to see this missing.
Fogging of interior windscreen
BYD's have a weird process where the aircon "purges" all the air inside it into the interior cabin once you've locked the doors. This is great for the aircon filter as it gets all the moisture out. However, all the moisture goes into the interior and foggs up the interior windows until they're dripping with water. Very painful to clean this up on frosty mornings. On some Atto models they've now done a software update to vent to outside the car instead, but for many Dolphin owners we're still waiting on this. Temporary solution is to lock, then unlock, then lock the car which resets it so it doesn't purge.
Doors slightly fill with water on slopes
The bleed holes on the undersides of the doors are slightly inboard, so if you park on a hill, when you open the doors a good amount of water comes out of the bleed holes as the door becomes horizontal therefore releasing the "corner collections" of water. Slightly disturbing when it first happens, but not unusual in cars. Just wish they'd put the drain holes more in the corners so it drains better on hills.
Info screen a bit clunky
It's getting better, but often things are hidden in submenus a bit. Be good if they rationalised this a bit. Some of the safety features are annoyingly persistent and you have to make shortcuts to dig down into menus to get to them to turn off. However, to BYDs credit, they have improved this with every OTA update. Less intrusive, more subtle bongs and blings, and now the auto-traffic speed warning can permanently be switched off if the user wants.
Steering
Steering is a little vague, but like most common cars. Along the lines of a Skoda with it's feel, but not as nice as a VW or old school Mazda where you can "feel" the road. Not a precise car to drive, but again most people don't care about that or even know what I'm talking about. Depends if that's you or not.
Some Earlier models have rust issues
Only the very first gen of BYD cars brought into NZ had some issues with rust. To BYDs credit they've fixed those customers cars for the most part, and they now have quality control pretty well dialled. But just bear that in mind when buying secondhand for thos 1st gen models.
No Frunk
There's not too much space in the front as they've pulled the cabin out as much as possible to get interior space. That's great, but they could have provided a frunk/ front storage area still with the space they have. There's aftermarket ones you can buy, so many people have retrofitted, but BYD probably could have stamped out the same plastic mold and screwed that in there to provide a space for cables and the like.
BYD Support
BYD support seem pretty good so fair in NZ. In terms of they seem to quietly listen to their customers and make software changes accordingly. However not as open as say Tesla in letting you know what's coming up, and detailing features etc. Pretty standard car company stuff really. Unfortunately you still have to go through a dealer, unless privately buying.
Hope that helps anyone out there. Overall it's a fantastic car despite above and as said gets better with every OTA update. Totally agree with the rest of Nicola's review in terms of features and incredible space on inside etc. Recommended! :)
well i can't see how this channel can be profitable based on views, the money has to come from somewhere....
Did you ever feel the LingLong tires were unsafe? Or perfectly fine if driven gently and not sportily?
@@Mububban23 perfectly fine if driven normally, yes. 90% of people won’t notice any difference between these and premium tires. Only if you drive in a “sporty” way or on steep, wet, rubbish streets (like in Wellington, NZ) will you notice some slipping. Then the traction control will kick in and sort it out.
Agree with most of it ... I have covered 15k. I have fitted a frunk which I purchased from Australia. Ling longs were swapped within a week!!
@@peterarmstrong3853 Fitted a drunk from Australia?! 😂 Best comment.
Love this car. I have been using for 1 year. Still majesty and more love into it. Very practical good car. 😊
As a Croatian I prefer Chinese BEVs only.
Bought one of these in Australia- GBP 23,580 for the top spec model drive away. Agree with her comments, great city car with very few issues. Latest OTA now about to be released with wireless Apple CarPlay (although my wired connection works fine). Will finally allow TSR (speed) recognition to be turned off permanently, instead of a using a short cut, plus added short cuts for temp and fan speeds.
One item missed - at least in Australia, the Dolphin works with Tesla V3 and V4 Superchargers, so removes any concerns about crap third party chargers when travelling long distance.
Two very minor things I also don't like - front vent reflection on the windscreen, and the luggage cover looks a bit fragile.
I drive the the car in 'normal' not sport, but set the steering to sport to give a more direct feel. High regen setting works fine, I like using a brake pedal, as this makes it feelmore like driving a normal ICE car. I easily get 450+ km around town, charge it at home every week or two. With the LFP battery, you can and should charge to 100%.
Thank you. This provided more detail than the video.
£10k more in UK! Ripoff Britain
Nice looking at atto 3 hindustan south.
the soft luggage cover is to protect pedestrian in collision
Do you know when that OTA will come to the UK?
Had mine since early January this year now in the UK, great run around car, commuting to train-station. Motorway journeys are a breeze in this car. Full charge last about two weeks if you stay off motorways. Charges fast on 50Kw chargers, about 40 mins. Great car and the APP works for those icy mornings. I preferred this over the MG due to the tech, more spacious. In the summer the battery last a lot longer to, 2hr motorway journey and lost about 30%. Also the BYD customer support are rapid response.
Why only taking 50kW max?
@@RedBatteryHead Because there is on average more 50KW chargers around then super charges. Yes it charges a lot quicker when i use the super charger. Even on a home charger left overnight on 7KW its fully charged.
What range you get ?
I've done 200 miles on one charge on the motorway in my atto 3 (same size battery as the dolphin)
I’d rather watch Nicola than the England game
Less chance of falling asleep 😂
She is lovely
Lol I'm double screening
What England game?
wrrr
“Want it faster, you’ll have to find a Dolphin friendly tuner” 😂😂😂 brilliant!
THE most entertaining car reviewer 👍👏
lol - now imagine being Chinese and unable to comment on this since TH-cam is basically banned there.
@@hagestad They can if they want. TH-cam is not pushed to them. But could you kindly explain this pun to me? I didn't get it.
@@hagestadbut you can use VPN lol 😂. Such a western mindset
@@panjialfian4487 Have you tried? You have to be very lucky for VPN to not be blocked. Also its illegal. Good luck working in a work camp for using TH-cam. Same goes to foreigners albeit in practice the punishment might be less severe (and they could have their private setup vpns if they acted in advance)
@@hagestad lol - I don't have to imagine that I am a Chinese living in China, and I am now replying to your comments!
The best thing about the car in my opinion is the size.
you can sit very comfortably on the back. It's hella fast! nice range, not very heavy compare to other EV's . Can't go wrong with this car.
The fact that Nicola can take a pretty boring, midrange car and make an entertaining review out of it is a sign of her genius.
wrg,idts
Who is she? I mean, yes she is entertaining, I ust thought she must be one of the better youtubers
I bet she could make a VW ID3 seem interesting too. The Dolphin is obviously a much better car than the ID3
i've had mine since January and it's brilliant. I manage 240 miles out of a charge (city / parkway driving). I managed 86Kwh charge yesterday - it was hot and nobody else at chargers. Just had another update to fix even more bugs. and add web browser / karaoke
Do you recommend byd atto3 or mg zs ev we are getting g kona type creta ev much less range tourqe tha byd even mg .
Everybody mocks the rotating screen but the one big thing in portrait mode is the sat nav, l would always have it portrait mode as it easier to follow your routes
Have both a BYD ATTO3 and a Seal performance. Love them both and zero faults in 16K km and 7K km
My Dolphin cost just £12000 here in Thailand brand new and after l sell my old car £1500 it’s works out at £10500 so a absolute bargain
My dolphin only cost £8000 in China
Cheapest than Malaysia is selling Dolphin at £16570 .. Malaysia don't allow import ev car selling below £16570 (RM100000) to protect local car Brands market ( proton & perodua )
@@calvick980 That's double the price in China
@@derekwampum8861 u can't compare like this because china government heavy subsidies ev car & car is made in China..Let say example like durian in Malaysia selling 1kg at rmb 50 , export to china become 1kg rmb 150-200 🤣
@@derekwampum8861 our petrol price is RMB 3 per litre 😆😆😆😆😆
I can see the Porpoise of it , and Nichola never got in a flap once 👍👍👍🤣🤣
😂😂😂😅
I'm visiting East Malaysia right now and great to see a number of BYD and Oppo Cars appearing here! Chinese EVs will revolutionise the fight against pollution and emissions in loads of countries outside Europe and US 🙏
Hindustan south too. Waiting for facelift atto 3
Malaysia have selling 3k++ unit of BYD car in 2023.. around 30%++ of ev vehicles market
Love the new innovation and affordable price. I honestly don't care who makes the car as long as price competitive, safely, and great quality. If China can make a better car compare to Japanese or other countries....Good for consumers.
Regarding the indicators. The sound when you have brand mode on is fantastic for indicators. Very, very soothing and musical. I am not too keen on the slow vehicle noise (which is whenever it drops under 20mph, which is very annoying given all the 20 villages around me) but I keep it because of the indicator noise. So much better than the clicks. I do wish you could mix and match it, so have the hum with the musical indicators. As it stands, we have named our car 'cornetto' since it's pink and purple and sounds like an ice cream truck!
I recommend the lighter interior. It makes the car feel even more spacious and bright inside.
We have also gotten quite close to 80kw when charging once when we did a long road trip with it. Most of the time though it is our short journey car. Managed 3 weeks without a charge so far as it is very economical for just dotting about locally
By far one of THE BEST car reviews!
Some dodgy dolphin puns aside (🙄) you never fail to amuse and delight with your reviews, Nicola - thank you for being 'you'.
Having said that, £31k for just an alright city car is NUTS...!
And, whilst the range does indeed start at £25,495 that entry-level Active model, with only a 94hp motor, is likely to feel very underpowered, I'd imagine...!
"£31k for just an alright city car is NUTS...!" Its competition is the VW Golf which, depending on what spec you get, costs £25-34K so it is market competitive.
It is a decent car, could be better, but good enough for 90%+ of its target market
honestly, 94HP in an EV is perfect except for overtaking on the motorway. my 136hp horsepower corsa-e spins its wheels and rips from everything at the lights aside from other EVs, honestly I wish the Corsa-e started at 75hp like the petrol one did to make it cheaper
@@justinstephenson9360 a valid point - I was recalling Nicola's description of it being a city car, rather than appreciating it's more like the family-sized Golf.
So, yes, I take your point - as a 'family-sized' EV it's bang-on-the-money.
Thanks for the clarification 👍
@@Mobile_Dom you might well be right - my experience was my previous 109hp Leaf which was so-so and my current 170hp BMW i3 which is spot-on for performance.
Well, you kept my attention through the entire review, great job!
I've had the same one in the video for 6 months and I'm loving the car! BYD needs to improve the software issue that doesn't register all my settings, especially the ADAS one, which I have to change every time I restart the car!
I went for a long drive this week - 3 hours each way. On highways and using the cruise control most of the time, it really did do the distance advertised. I think this is because the computer uses the regen every time it has to slow. During normal driving it's less - probably 75-80% of the advertised rate.
I took it to a charger rated at 60kw and it charged at 33.something. An hour to charge the 50% I had used in the initial drive.
So real world range about safe to say 200 miles
‘That’s dolphin click for left, that’s dolphin click for right’ 😂😂😂
I want BYD to expand to Czechia, Slovakia, Romania, Slovenia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia.
And US please.
@ I don’t hear a US launch for BYD any time soon.
BYD is opening a plant in Hungary, which will get around the tariffs in the EU, but I doubt Hungary will supply BYD’s to the US of A.
I'm afraid it can't be sold in Lithuania, given the current relationship between the two countries.
@@Flyingaceful It is abandon by US government...
@ I learnt that BYD is now in Estonia, so it shouldn’t be a problem for BYD to enter Latvia and Lithuania.
I ll buy it on the forthcoming days. Anyone who seeks a good deal, it is sold for 18000 pounds (19900 euros) in Greece, including the government subsidiary which is 6 to 9000 euros. I dont know why ByD has chosen Greece to offer a killer price but since it exists I will use it. I hope not to let me down.
yeah that seems like prettymuch exactly my impression when I test-drove one. The binggs and bongs were more pronounced than on this video. In nz, the equivalent mg4 is slightly cheaper so the biggest problem with the dolphin is that the mg4 exists and is better for just slightly less.
In UK the MG4 is not slight cheaper, the Dolphin low spec comes with all the tech you need except pana roof, wireless charging and colour choices, where as the MG, you need to go up to top trim to get all the goodies which makes the car a bit more expensive. Not gonna lied the driving experience on the MG is better due to rear wheel drive and slightly bigger car. However the BYD battery is better and the interior, display and software speed are much better than the MG. So it depend on what people prefer, since the Dolphin is aim for people that just want a cruiser instead of driving experience.
yeah, if the mg is dearer, the maths would math different. (the essence 64 is a grand cheaper than the 2nd spec dolphin here. we can't get one with the sunroof at all)
For me, most of the extras that the base dolphin gets, other than the heatpump, are things I don't care about, but if you do then they change the maths too. I thought the interior better on the mg, myself: the seats are incredibly comfortable, I prefer solid plastic to the wetsuit stuff, and the buttons feel more robust... that might differ in different markets too. though wider, the mg is a hair shorter so only a tiny bit trickier to park.
I do appreciate the better longer lifetime of the lfp battery in the dolphin long range for sure, though both will outlast the respective cars. like I said, the biggest problem here is the mg exists. I would definitely consider the dolphin if the bongs didn't make it totally unusable for my GF due to sensory issues.
in the end it's different strokes right? ppl buy both cars here too even with the mg4 being cheaper.
@@masterofthepinkside The bings and bong is gone in the car after the latest update and have wireless carplay too.
@@badboy250984 Well said, imho both cars are worth cross shopping, It's great to have a nice choice.
you Nicola, are so fun to watch! this car is THE new blaze among uber drivers here in Brazil, with the 44,9 kWh version being sold for not so much more than a full spec VW Polo. that ice cream truck creep noise is hilarious!
I need to plug my phone into my Ioniq 5, I prefer it. It is always charging. And the car I rented recently that connected 'magically' also 'magically' disconnected right when I needed the directions most. COPPER connections FTW!
Got my dolphins last Friday
At 12:10 you say you've not seen it hit 3.9 miles per kwh yet at 9:37, you show the screen saying 25.4kwh per 100 miles for the total average which is about 3.93 is it not? or am I missing something?
We've had our Dolphin for a couple of months now and are really happy with it as a budget daily driver. The range is fine and the driving experience is good. On the downside, I totally agree about the bloody parcel shelf which seems to have a life of its own and drives me nuts.
Also why on earth is the dashcam missing and the software disabled? In other countries the camera and software are in place, in some other countries you can buy and fit the BYD camera and everything works. Why make it so difficult for us in the UK? A simple software upgrade to allow the 360 camera to record to the SD card would be better than nothing...
I wonder if there are third party parcel shelves. I've heard the Dolphin's is bad because it doesn't clip in to anything.
Regulations for the Software. Compliance to UK Motor rules.
All the wiring and softweare is there for the dashcam, you just need the canera and a SD card. I will get this at the next dealer service but really not a high priority.
@@Roblox-editz-4-u I was told that for some unknown reason the cabling was missing from the Dolphin.
@@The_BeeBopper Interesting! Might be different in Oz versus the UK though.
since the big software update and with the warm weather I got 89kW charging yesterday on my dolphin
Can't realy go wrong with this. Only wish we could get it States side
Carplay is now wireless
Appreciate the 1st person review. It's helpful.
I have to admit I was a bit disappointed by this video. The majority of information is available on all the other videos talking about the space in the back, rotating screen, panoramic roof, etc. From a long-term test, I would expect deeper insight than you didn't get the WLTP range. What range did you get? How has it coped with family life? The details in the software issue was the most indepth reporting.
What's the porpoise of the dolphin puns?
What range are you getting if not the 265? Like you I have a heavy right foot and thinking about getting a dolphin 🐬...
Awesome for the inform ! Thx
I hope they will add on the next update to allow us to choose which signal sound or pedestrian sound individually. I prefer the ice cream van sound at low speed but still prefer the traditional clicky signal sound. Lets clarify the sunblind closing. It will automatically close when you lock the car, I think thats what Nicola trying to say instead of turn off.
🤣🤣🤣🤣 That has helped a lot. I've been keeping an eye on the BYD, specially a long term review like this. The puns were ace (apart from the sushi one) 🤬 Other than that, thank you very much.
12:18 Horrible reflection. Yes, exactly. Any solution for that?
With that ice cream vehicle sound you can sell 2 ice creams with 2 chewing gums for bloody 9 pounds - no cash. Watch out for this brilliant little girl, though. 🎉😂
How about the reliability of the suspension system? and outer body condition. As far as i know japan made vehicles body and.suspenstions.parts are very strong and durable.
The not one, not two, not three, but ALL FOUR springs which snapped in half one after another all within the first 5 years of ownership of my wife's old 2009 Nissan Versa would indicate otherwise. I think in recent years Chinese auto quality have risen while Japanese have stagnated and even gotten worse.
BYD dolphin has been out for a while in the chinese market. Does anyone have information around BYD reliability over the 150 000k miles mark?
Hello. Does it normal to have 1 light on reserve?
Ling longs are fine wet or dry in normal driving. Will upgrade when they wear out.
Hi Nicola, you can change indicator sound in these, well you can in an Atto 3. I assume it will be the same system DNA.
does it have auto dimming rearview mirror?
great review - but are rear wipers not a common and mandatory part of any car?
Unfortunately not.
Unfortunately not anymore, excuse being design and aerodynamics, proobably more to do with cost cutting but brands like MG and Hyundai have bought theirs back mid production run on models like the MG4 and Ioniq 5.
No rear wiper on Tesla3 ☹️
@@sue.Hoo123 Sedans typically don't have rear wipers (although they probably should I got annoyed with the lack of one when I drove a Rover 75)
@@sue.Hoo123 There are no indicator stalks on the new Model 3 either and we all know how wonderful that idea is.
Wow. Id like to see a 3 month evaluation of the byd seal.
Great review as ever u make me laugh. The thing with the boot my vauxhall mokka does that .
Lane assist on the mG4 is dangerous as is the front collision assist. They go off but you have to do it every time you drive! CarPlay also sucks. But the rest of the car is fabulous.
That rubber thingy that comes off near the boot door? The clips may have came off. Should be to be able them fairly easy
Well, I'm going to be this guy... we have a Dolphin. We live in the countryside. And we are getting 272 miles. Sorry hun 😂
A bonkers review. I won’t be buying one but I enjoyed the review. 😆
I noticed you have Hankook tyres on the car. Did the dealer remove the original LingLong tyres?
I'm disappointed not to have received a reply to my question. I have been 'in discussion' for several months with BYD about the tyres and they are adamant that the LingLong tyres are perfectly adequate. But here we have a review car fitted with Hankook tyres. Come on Nicola, tell us why it has Hankooks.
@@Geoff.Turner I complained late last year and had mine replaced
Hello I am looking at getting one on these can someone tell what the real life range of this car please 🙏 many thanks
An entertaining review, thank you.
BYD have definitely got the pricing right. Given a bit more time I bet they improve the annoying bits. If this drives up the standards older car manufacturers have to meet to compete, then I am all for it.
ehhh 19 puns? Thanks for the fun Nicola 🤣 (and think again, is a Dolphin a fish or a . . . . . 😉)
We had the Dolphin Design for an hour, in the Netherlands (€37.000 starting prijs). We loved the car and almost bought it. Alas, the dealer asked a bit to much for it.
So, we bought the Citroën ë-C3 Max..
Are you happy with your ec3? I'm thinking seriously about it.
For comparison 31K pounds converts to $55K Canadian dollars so here you can get a model Y for over $1K less and a model 3 for over $5K less.. Also here there are many other EVs in the same price range or less.. BYD Dolphin is not available in Canada..
Brilliant review 👏 love it 😀
Nicola, no, it's not flipping cheap. Many people would have difficulty affording this price. Let's be honest, because electric cars are relatively new, we are veing ripped off. Ice cars are more complex. Would i assume they should take more work to assemble, etc. So why the higher price and not just a few quid but thousands.
I think she means, cheap on finance and it is.
Different colour bonnet gives off Replacement but couldn't find same colour vibes. Looks better from behind but don't a lot of us!
I love mine! Had it since Nov and covered just over 10k. Average 4.2m/kWh. 0-60 timed at 6.2 with tc off. Very underrated performance and shocks a few cars!! Best EV I've had considering I've had the MG4, cupra born and Niro. Oh and the air vent glare is annoying 😂😂 and ensure the crappy ling longs are replaced!!!!
I don't belive your 0-62 time claims. There is not a single video on YT showing this kind of performance measured with external tools (racebox, draggy). I've seen 6,91 from Bjorn, which is still very nice but nowhere close to 6.2.
Driving Enthusiast got even worse results @ 7,17s : th-cam.com/video/9KMRXbywARM/w-d-xo.html.
@@andrzejz4218 this was from the on board timer.also that reviewer has no clue how to launch it... It takes practice and not just to floor it. There are a few videos sub 6.5
@@peterarmstrong3853 Thanks for the reply!
Send the links to these sub 6,5s. videos IF they are measured with racelogic/draggy or other pro equipement. Incar/onboard is cheating or - if you are Chinese - let's say "optimistic".
Every manufacturer needs a 'Joe Mode' like Tesla with the ability to turn down the volume on turn signal clicks and other warning chimes. It will be interesting to see if BYD makes it to North America.
Shame really, as they make great cars, and although deemed good enough to make certain Tesla models and share their battery technology with them 🤔It's not gonna happen with the government actively blocking Chinese imports to protect the U.S market.
Are you quoting 265 WLTP ?
is there regenerative braking.like with Atto3?
Go to the 11:00 mark, she mentions it there
@@steve_787 I've been through this. Thank you🤗😊
Comments here are genuinely 👍. I have learned a lots.
IMO, the two-tone paint just doesn't work on this car, it looks odd, and merely accentuates the weird shape. It reminds me of folk who are tall but rotund, trying to fit into a suit they've had for decades, bulging belly, stressing buttons.
1:44 ~ What I dislike about this car is that, when you indicate to turn right, the left indicator flashes.😉
These sell for 16k in Hong Kong!
Right, even cheaper in China. 31k in England? what’s going on over there?
@@mctennysstate sponsored + shipping & tariffs
@@mctennys shipping is hardly going to increase prices. China ships all over South East Asia and prices are much lower than the UK even if you include VAT. I think BYD is trying not to rock the boat too much or punitive tarrifs will be added on like the EU and US is about to do. Even the Tesla Model 3 sells for less than 25k in Asia.
@@mctennys no single gov can get over ... GREED...
@@mctennystariff, meaning you pay two times as expensive
I love this car
Long term review after 3 months ? how long will it last 18months??
You wish..
Buy or lease this car considering what resale value it will have after 5 years?
Weird efficiency is that bad driving at 50mph. If it has eco mode try that. I get around 5 miles per kwh in city heavy driving on my bolt here in bay area. But weather also plays a factor. use of AC or heat would bring down the efficiency as well. Still 3.9 miles per kwh is not crazy for a car at this size.
Good job, I would have liked more details on the energy consumption you got.
I tried this car and discarded it because of the subpar charging and not great steering feel.
Still holding my money probably for a Renault 5
That's difficult information to get from a BYD. You can get lifetime efficiency and efficiency in the last 50 miles but there's no efficiency-since-last-reset.
In Oz paid 10k extra to get the base (Dynamic) Seal. Was a stretch but worth it. So might be worth the wait to be available in Europe?
I don't know how it is in England, but here in asia the price drops really significant..
maybe it's because there are loads of competition.. Cherry, Neta, VinFast, GWM.. etc. so many..
what I'm worrying is, if somewhat we wanna sell it in the future (and buy a newer EV), it's practically like a used old android phone price.. once it's become obsolete, maybe after 3-4 years.. it worth like shite..
in the "old days" of ICE cars, a 10 year old car still worth to buy, or worth to sell..
totally agree with you!
This channel deserves a million subscribers
Why is the charging so slow? Just 60-80kW?
I was wondering the same thing too. The MG4 can charge 140kw, and it's cheaper.
I have the atto 3 I don't use regen I hate it the car gets so much better range if you don't use regen, just let the car coast like a fossil car,and using cruise control on the motorway just eats your battery powering all the self drive mechanisms and equipment
Enjoyed the puns..... was waiting for a reference to 'Flipper' - but I guess that just shows my age. That charging speed is pants..... Just finished a weeks holiday in my MG4 and covered about 700 miles, so charged a few times. In the heat, it was maxing at around 120kw charge rate, which kept my stops to a reasonable 20 minutes or so. In cooler weather, I've seen 150kw on the MG....
‘Flipper it into reverse’ was one of the first puns!
@@nicolahume ah. Missed that one - but there were so many 😭
hey i thought it was starting from $14k, how come this car costs over 30k? can anyone pls elaborate?
Tariffs
@@hughmarcus1 oh is this due it being Chinese? Or does UK government have tariffs on all new cars?
@@user-bk5xo1gj7k It is starting from 12k GBP, in China yes, but there are costs for BYD to ships there and all the custom fee, tariff, obviously.
Why the roads in UK is that THIN?
It comes with autopilot and FSD full self driving at that price is insanely very good, Holy shit! Excuse my language
I feel that you glossed over the most important information for an electric car. If it gets much less range than advertised and it also charges much slower, then it should be a deal breaker. I don't usually spend 45' at the services every 150 miles. Who does that???
The cheap finance deals, warranty and dealer back up make up for your minor issues
It’s a good looking little car. But it’s not a car I’m after, it’s a small electric camper. The smallest of them is based on the Vauxhall Combo Life Electric and is known as a Wheelhome Vikenze III.
So what milage do u get.
It depends on how it's driven. You can go up to two weeks without charging. If you are interested, go to your local dealer and take it for a test drive.
Dolphin looks very good.
I love how she seems to avoid saying “fully charged” in the last second 😂
I test drove the Dolphin at everything electrical Harrogate. Got caught out when I stopped at traffic lights and applied the handbrake..when I tried to set off the car wouldn’t move..I hadn’t noticed it had automatically gone into neutral when I applied the handbrake. Why is it designed to do this? No automatic car I’ve ever owned does it! Nothing worse than sitting at traffic lights with ya foot planted on the brake blinding the driver behind with your intensely bright led brake lights specially at night!
Safety measure
There is a anti roll feature (in Seal anyway) that once you stop you can take foot off brake. Took a little getting used? to.
Tesla3 has 3 modes when stopped at junction - Hold which as suggested hold the car where you stopped, Creep which creeps slowly forwards, Roll which basically means it’s free to move, so if on a slope it will roll in direction of downhill! Most people choose Hold, it makes most sense.
@@jvoric apply 'auto hold.' No need to apply handbrake.
@@Geoff.Turner but does that leave the brake lights on ? Blinding the eyeballs of the drivers behind!
This lady can make anything as interesting as an exciting cricket game! Fun to watch her. You got a new sub.
Is that £26,000 in June or in July after the additional EU taxes have been added?
I wouldn't be surprised if BYD doesn't even touch their prices. They have the margin to leave things as they are
Those wouldn't affect the UK though, would they? I at least don't see why they would but maybe I'm wrong.
@@shroomyesc Potentially it's a requirement of the UK's automotive free trade agreement with the EU that we match their tariffs. I imagine it won't be confirmed until after the election though
@shroomyesc They have already said the European taxes will directly affect the UK.
So 3 months is now a long time 🤔
It’s a pity that the top option of 2025 BYD Dolphin is sold at 13800 GBP (129800 RMB) in China, yet 31000 in UK! 比亚迪2025款海豚正式上市售价9.98万元起 7月8日，比亚迪2025款海豚正式上市，新车共推出4款车型，售价区间为9.98万-12.98万元。 与此同时，比亚迪海豚也迎来了它的第70万辆下线。
So long and thanks for all the fish!
I am driving a dolphin in Singapore
I was annoyed by the puns at first, but then when "hooks" and "sushi" came out, I was won over. Very dark. ^_^
NICE CAR 😊😊😊