The small BYD Dolphin was in the Czech Republic and we tested it. It’s not cheap, but it surprised me

When the word “cheap Chinese car” comes to mind, many people think of a poorly built box with questionable quality materials and passive safety roughly at the level of a can of beans. When the BYD Dolphin went on sale in Europe in the summer of last year from 30,000 euros (around 710,000 crowns at the time), few were worried that the brand was not represented in the Czech Republic.

I’m not a fan of its design and I approach cars from China with caution. However, when I got the opportunity to take a short ride in the dolphin at a presentation of electric cars from around the world, organized by the leasing company Drivalia, journalistic curiosity won out and I was holding the handle moments after the start.

What do I dislike about the way Dolphin looks? They are small front lights that, on the one hand, are not visible from the side at all, and on the other hand, together with the mask, it doesn’t quite look like the designers had planned for them from the beginning. Also, the front light signature does not correspond in the slightest with the intertwined lines of the rear.

The overall proportions of the car correspond to its category, it is a small urban hatchback, and the large areas on the sides make even the 17″ wheels look too small. However, I will not spare a comment about the brake lights – they are located only on the fifth door, they do not have a replacement pair in the bumper, as is common, for example, with Audi SUVs.

Rotating display? What for?

The interior of the dolphin can provide a “wow” effect in the form of an electrically rotating central display. I honestly have no idea what this thing could be so necessary for and why a display in one or the other orientation wouldn’t be enough. However, according to BYD, this function is so important that you can enter the command to convert from a vertical to a horizontal display or vice versa with a physical button on the steering wheel.

BYD Dolphin

Both displays, both the small one for the instrument panel and the rotating central one, will offer above-average resolution and display sharpness. The instrument panel provides a lot of information in a small space, so it is extremely difficult to find your way around it, but the speed or load of the drive train can be seen clearly and distinctly.

The load indicator also adds to the scale the current power or regenerative braking intensity in kilowatts. And when I finally find a way to toggle the display below the current speed, I learn that over the last 50km the average consumption was 15.9kWh/100km, an excellent number.

The displays have a light or dark display mode and a trick up their sleeve in the form of a very good camera system around the car. The central one has controls in its lower part, including a place to change the temperature in the car, but for how big it is, these “buttons” are very small and difficult to hit while driving. Even in the interior, more sensitive noses will perceive a slight unpleasant smell of plastic, at least for the first few months of use.

BYD Dolphin

As for roominess, it is of course adequate in the back seats, let’s say, for the length of the car, which is less than 4.3 meters, but I can’t complain in the front. The quality of the materials is also surprisingly good, and the sound insulation from the outside is also above average. However, I find it harder to see out through the A-pillars of the body because my eyes are exactly where they split in two, and I also don’t like the fixed headrest – it’s too low for my 184cm.

Mainly comfortable

The Dolphin has a 150kW electric motor, but don’t expect it to be a sporty hatchback in any sense. It has enough power for acceleration to easily spin one front wheel even in the dry, even with flexible acceleration from about 15 km/h. Due to the soft, almost rockingly adjusted suspension, it significantly lightens the bow.

BYD Dolphin

In this case, the soft chassis is not associated with excessive uncertainty or rattling on broken asphalt. In a corner with a lot of bigger bumps, the car can bounce a bit, but that’s mainly because I got it out of its comfort zone. The quiet and comfortable ride is perfectly fine and the dynamic stability is very impressive.

The lithium-iron phosphate battery has a usable capacity of 60.5 kWh, which together with low consumption can mean quite an impressive range. The WLTP standard says up to 427 km on a single charge, the car’s display shows about 320 km with a charge of about three-quarters. Unfortunately, the maximum charging power of 88 kW is below average today. An 11kW charger for alternating current is standard for electric cars today.

BYD Dolphin

Dolphin is thus an unexpectedly pleasant surprise. Of course, I didn’t drive it at night, so I can’t evaluate the brightness of the displays or perhaps the performance of the headlights. And also, with today’s basic price in Germany of less than 33 thousand euros (833 thousand crowns), it is hard to call it cheap. Still, country of origin aside, I can’t say it’s a bad car.