BYD has only been selling cars for two and a half years in the UK, yet the Dolphin Surf is its sixth new model. After the BYD Seal U DM-i, it’s the best car the brand makes.
It’s a true supermini in size – a little smaller than a Ford Fiesta – but thanks to the EV packaging it has much more passenger space inside.
The tech list is impressive, too. You get much of the same kit that bigger BYDs get, including the brand’s signature rotating screen, so you can choose either a landscape or portrait layout, although it defaults to landscape when Apple CarPlay or Android Auto are at work.
You can decide if it looks cute or not – we think it looks better in the metal than in these pictures – but where it can be tricky to get small cars with short wheelbases to ride nicely, the Dolphin Surf rode over the broken surfaces and speed humps of our test route really well. We were impressed by the ride quality and the refinement, too, while performance is good enough for the car to feel nippy enough. Even the standard stereo sounded okay.
Most buyers will ignore the entry level Active car with its 137 miles range. For an extra ten pounds per month on a PCP you can get the Boost model with a 200 mile range and a few more bits of kit. Unless you really want to knock a few seconds off the 0-62mph time and insist on powered seats, we’d not bother with the Comfort trim.
The biggest problem the Dolphin Surf has, though, is the quality of the competition, with the likes of the Renault 5, Fiat Grande Panda and Citroen e-C3 all costing similar money to the bigger battery Dolphin Surfs.
However, a six year warranty does give you more peace-of-mind with the BYD.
How we tested
We joined BYD’s mega-launch of the Dolphin Surf in North London, taking it on streets that we knew well – over plenty of speed humps – stopping in the supermarket car park, trying the car in the front and the back, filling the boot and giving all the tech a thorough testing.
BYD Dolphin Surf: From £18,650, BYD.com
Independent rating: 8/10
- Pros: Bags of space, loads of kit, comfortable drive, competitive finance offers
- Cons: Only seats four, air-con not climate control, no rear wiper
BYD Dolphin Surf specs
- Price range: £18,650 to £23,950
- Battery size: 30kWh / 43.2kWh
- Maximum claimed range: 200 miles
- Miles per kWh: tbc
- Maximum charging rate: 85kW
Battery, range, charging, performance and drive
Unless you’re paying cash and are on a strict budget, we’d swerve the entry-level Active model with its 30kWh battery and 130 mile range. Not that it’s short on kit – every model gets a generous roster of tech and luxury gadgets – it’s just that the Boost model will only cost you ten pounds per month more over four years on BYD’s PCP finance.
Both the Boost and top-spec Comfort trim get a 43.2kWh battery, but with motors with different outputs. The Boost is oriented towards range – it’ll claim a maximum of 200 miles – while the Comfort adds a little more performance with 0-62mph in 9.1 seconds, a whole three seconds quicker than the Boost model. The Comfort still manages to claim a decent 193 mile range, though.
Maximum charging speeds for such a small, affordable car are pretty good, with 85kW for the bigger battery (with a 10 to 80 per cent charge taking 30 minutes) and 65kW for the smaller battery with the same 10 to 80 per cent time.
What we liked most about the Dolphin Surf was its mature driving manners. The ride is impressive, even over the broken streets and speed humps around our North London test route, while the steering felt nicely weighted, too.
It’s an easy car to drive, too, with good visibility and easy controls, although the brakes on our test car felt a little bit spongy – we’d have rather had a bit more of an instant reaction from a push of the brake pedal.
While the acceleration is hardly brisk, but just about nippy enough around town, what’s more important is the impressively small turning circle, which is handy for parking and manoeuvring around town.
Interior, practicality and boot space
The Dolphin Surf has a surprising amount of space inside. You can fit a six-foot tall passenger behind a six-foot tall driver, which is exactly what we did. The Surf is only a four-seater, though. There are only two seat belts in the back, although three abreast might be a bit tight. The flat floor makes the back seats feel more spacious, though.
Up front, access is easy and the vegan leather (we guess that means plastic) seats are comfortable, and while there are plenty of hard plastics on the dash, there’s some soft touch materials across the middle and on the doors. Everything looks good, too – the Dolphin Surf is part of BYD’s Ocean Series so the interior lines are wave-like.
The door bins are a decent size, there are two cup holders in the centre console, which also has storage underneath. The drive selector is on the dash rather than in between the front seats, while there’s no separate parking brake – it gets applied automatically when you select park.
Like all the other doors, the rear hatch opens wide for easy access with total space above and below the false floor totalling 308 litres – not far from what was on offer in a Ford Fiesta. The rear seats split and fold easily, too.
Technology, stereo and infotainment
BYD’s 10in infotainment screen is one of the Dolphin Surf’s many highlights. Apart from the clever rotating party trick (which won’t work if you’re using the wireless Apple CarPlay or Android Auto), the usability is impressive.
Not only do you have ‘hey BYD’ voice control – which you can personalise with different ‘wake’ words – you can control the heating and ventilation with three fingers dragged up and down to alter temperature or left and right to alter fan speed.
The only problem is that it’s air-con rather than climate control – the latter would allow you to set a desired temperature, and the system would automatically adjust to suit. Instead, we found ourselves constantly fiddling temperatures and fan speed to get the right levels.
You can personalise the row of fast keys across the bottom of the screen – you’ll need to do that to get easy access to the rear demister, which you’ll need to rely on as, bizarrely, there’s no rear wiper.
The digital driver display is a bit odd too, with the speedo shoved over to the side and a scrolling display in the middle showing efficiency, average speed and time driven. We’d much rather have a large speedo in the centre.
Whatever model you choose, you’ll get some impressive kit that includes adaptive cruise control, rain-sensing wipers, auto headlights, the ability to use your phone as your car key and wireless phone charging, too. While the stereo is limited by the number of speakers, it actually sounds okay.
Prices and running costs
With the vast majority of buyers opting for finance, list prices aren’t as important as they were. Even so, BYD has gone for a headline-grabbing £18,650, although that’s for the 130 mile range Active model few people will buy.
That’s because it’s only ten pounds a month cheaper than the £21,950 Boost model, which will cost £279 a month after a £279 deposit on a four-year 3.9 per cent APR PCP deal. The Comfort model costs £23,950 which puts it up against more talented and even bigger rivals, while that model will cost £309 a month with £309 down on the same terms.
We registered a reasonable 4.5 miles/kWh efficiency on our test route in a Comfort-spec car, meaning that model’s 193 mile range should not only be achievable, but beatable if you use the car mainly around town.
BYD Dolphin Surf rivals:
FAQs
How long does it take to charge?
This small, affordable car offers impressive charging speeds: 85kW for the larger battery and 65kW for the smaller battery, both reaching 10 to 80 percent in 30 minutes.
How much does it cost - is it worth it?
On a monthly PCP for £279 a month with £279 down, the mid-spec Boost model looks to be a good deal. But there are similarly talented small EV superminis that also have good finance deals on them.
What’s the battery and main warranty like?
The main warranty of six years is impressive, while the eight-year battery cover is par for the course.
Why trust us
Our team of motoring experts have decades of experience driving, reviewing and reporting on the latest EV cars, and our verdicts are reached with every kind of driver in mind. We thoroughly test drive every car we recommend, so you can be sure our verdicts are honest, unbiased and authentic.
The verdict: BYD Dolphin Surf
The BYD Dolphin Surf is a talented little car with a grown-up feel. We like the drive, the tech and the space. Judge it by the monthly payments rather than the list price and £279 down with £279 a month over four years looks hugely competitive. But it has entered a market brim-full of talent and charm, which will make life tough for the little BYD.
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