BYD Dolphin

@dloob - "Bigger battery model is 427km WLTP which is a bit disappointing, Tesla Model 3 with the same size CATL LFP battery is 520km."

Are you surprised? Tesla has the most efficient drivetrain in the business. The gap between those figures will be significantly bigger again on motorway range as the Tesla is far more aerodynamic. Not that either matters much, the cars don't compete.

Exactly the same battery and motor as the Atto 3, with a different body put on top of it. I went for the Atto 3 because i prefer the higher driving position but tbh the difference in price was difficult to justify really. When we replace our current remaining ICE we may well go for this.

Electrifying had a YouTube video up on the Dolphin last week and it's far bigger than I thought. It wasn't much smaller than an ID3 in their comparison.

I don't think that the Dolphin being substantially cheaper like for like necessarily means dumping is happening. Manufacturing in China is just cheaper due to lower operating costs and much higher levels of technology and innovation. European manufacturers have been living off their brand perception for a long time. With Kia/Hyundai and MG making huge inroads in the budget/value proposition market it is only a matter of time until "unknown" (to the West) brands are gunning it for the upper market as well. Comparing the likes of the Dolphin to a similar price Polo 1.0 poverty spec, there's just no comparison and that's on VW.

Kia/Hyundai are definitely a value proposition brand. They do not compete with the premium brands marketing luxury etc. The fact that you don't consider them a budget car off the bait just proves their progress. I would liken them to the likes of Skoda and Toyota, solid no thrills motoring.

MG is more budget orientated but even looking at the likes of MG4 you can see the development very similair to K/H so the EU players really have their work cut out. Hopefully there will be no market-intervention to screw over the customer.

I see MSL are sticking with their rip off €2k 'delivery' gouge on top on the advertised brochure price with the Dolphin as well as the Atto3 - and bear in mind metallic paint is standard so that's not part of it!

I get that, it's the magnitude of the gouge I have the issue with. The standard delivery rip off fee is €800 - 1000 yet MSL are lumping a whopping €2k onto the BYDs (and also including some crappy service pack). Seems to me that MSL decided that BYD's 'value' proposition was so strong that they'd exploit it by adding increased profit and hope noone notices the metallic is a free option (IIRC their Atto3 price listed included 'price includes metallic paint' or words to that effect). Problem is the price isn't really *that* cheap after the €2k is added on....

Has anyone else done a test drive or considered the Dolphin? Seems like it ticks a lot of boxes but will say the dual tone colours being forced on the higher spec is a bit annoying.

This looks reasonably priced, not as obnoxiously ugly as many EVs (the Leaf still being the only car on the market that would actually make me choose a Multipla ahead of it) and crucially imo the advertised range is high enough that I'd trust it to get me from North County Dublin to Galway without needing to stop and charge.

It's the first EV I've actually checked the dealers site for pricing. I'll still probably wait for a second hand one unless my ancient Golf gives up the ghost in the next 6 months but if I, as someone who's been sceptical of electric vehicles since they first hit the market (based on range and outlandish prices e.g. Teslas being comparably priced to a decent Mercedes/BMW ICE) am starting to look at them seriously, I reckon these could hit Octavia levels of popularity in the Irish market.

Yes I agree. It's more than likely people looking at Kias from a decade or more ago that are still stuck in the past about them.

As far as I know it was predicted pressure from Chinese brands that led the Koreans to move into the more premium space. I'd class them as sitting in the VW/Toyota quality at the moment, though VW seem confused and don't know where they want to be.

Yes I would say that was certainly one of there incentives but I think they have always had big goals anyway.

Jesus €25K seems a great price. Would be a decent option for a second car for many people.

It would be a good option for a main car for plenty of people too.

Cars have got much bigger and a lot of people don't need one the size they have.

Are those figures in anyway realistic though? I note the highway speed assumes a steady 110km/h whereas 120km/h would be more normal for Ireland and the Cold/Mild weather are real worst case/best case scenarios rather than a typical drizzly 15 degrees or so Irish day...

Best case won't happen either, you won't be sitting in car with no aircon on at 23 degrees outside

I presume this is something you get a feel for after a few months of EV ownership but I have to admit I'm finding it quite difficult to gauge how far you can actually go on a single charge based on the vagueness of the range figures....there's quite the difference between the best and worst case scenarios of 180km and 385km!

If the 180km worst case range for motorway driving is also based on the assumption that you'll travel at lower than the speed limit of an Irish motorway, is it possible the quoted "worst case" is actually over-estimated for normal Irish driving conditions? Or would driving at 120km/h have less impact on battery performance than the temperature variance of -10°C  and a more normal Irish 5-15°C ?

TBH, I'm looking at this a few years early as it's unlikely I'd be in the market for a new car next year. Realistically I'm probably hoping to pick up a Seal / Dolphin or something similar second-hand in 2025/2026. I'm just trying to educate myself on how I should view range figures. The most common long journey I do (half a dozen times a year or so) is about 230km with probably 200k of that being motorway so that's kind of the minimum range I'd find acceptable for me to switch to an EV. Anything longer than that is going to be a 3 or 4 hour drive where a break to charge wouldn't be as annoying since I'd be stopping for a coffee or a bite to eat anyway....

As stated the Dolphin is a suburb city car. If you're traveling to Galway its not really that.

The vast majority of new 75kwh plus vehicles fit your bracket use case hence I said you should not be concentrating throughly on range more on driving vehicles that fit this battery size.

Range isn't a concern if driving a vehicle of that size to Galway the odd time and charging it there. You'll get hung up on that too much.