BYD ended 2024 on a high, with three of the best-selling EVs and five of the best-selling PHEVs on the global market. The BYD Dolphin, in particular, was the sixth best-selling EV of last year. But with the insane popularity of crossovers and the threat of newer Chinese competitors, can the Dolphin maintain its position in the sales table in 2025?
Styling
The Dolphin sports the familiar BYD family look, with a floating roof and wavelike accents in the rear and down the side. The front end, on the other hand, is unique, with its inset headlights, which are echoed only in the Dolphin Mini, or BYD Seagull, as it is known locally.
It’s certainly a unique choice, and while it might not be to everyone’s tastes, at least it’s a clean design. The rear lights are also unique, looking like snazzy Cali-style pin-striping. The wheels, on the other hand, are fairly conservatively shaped, but a neat two-tone design makes them look lighter and sportier than they really are. I just wish they were a teensy bit bigger.
Overall, it’s an inoffensive and sleek shape, but the compact dimensions make the Dolphin look more like a ‘Seal’ than the Seal does. Still, it’s certainly more futuristic than its more retro-styled Chinese competitors, and fits in nicely within the BYD lineup.
Interior
The Interior of the Dolphin features the expected nautical forms of modern BYDs, with soft curves covered in soft-touch materials. There’s a split shelf design under the giant flippy screen, with a big jutting shelf hanging over a lidded lower box by the charging ports. There’s also an extra gadget tray under the center armrest, but neither pad features wireless charging.
The bucket seats are deep-dished and generous, with the door and center console wrapping around you to form handy elbow rests. It’s a relaxing driving position, but larger drivers might feel hemmed in around the knees. No such issues out back. The side buckets are deeply dished, but the center bench is not too uncomfortable to sit on for extended periods of time.
The trunk is the biggest surprise here, at 345 liters, it’s not quite as massive as in the Nissan Leaf, but it’s a far cry from competitors like the ORA 03 or JAC Ytterby. Only the Dongfeng Nammi comes close. The space is large enough to fit a weekend’s worth of baggage for a family of five with some creative packing, and there’s a big, firm tonneau cover on top of it that can take light cargo. No spare tire, sadly, but you do have an under-bed organizer that hides a can of tire sealant.
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Performance
On the other end, you get a tiny front bay that houses fluid bottles, fuses, and some electronics. Buried deep underneath, you'll find a small 94hp motor that sends drive to the front wheels. It’s good for 0-100kph in the 11sec range—depending on how many people are on board. A ways off from more powerful competitors like the ORA and Ytterby, but we never found this lacking in ordinary use.
Energy efficiency hovered in the 7-8km/kw range in mixed conditions, going up to over 11km/kw on highway jaunts at 80kph. The Dolphin claims 400km of range per full charge, but we saw closer to around 300km in our time with it. At least, with CCS2 as standard, it’s quite easy to find a charging point to plug into. Charging times are relatively quick, as things go, at about 7kW at a Level 2 mall charger and 62kW at Level 3, which means you can charge in about an hour at a service station quick charger.
Driving Impressions
True to its namesake, the Dolphin is light, agile, and likes to go with the flow. It is utterly inoffensive to drive, with little body roll or brake dive, and it generally goes where you point it. You get an optional ‘sport mode’ and a selection of steering modes, though the latter doesn’t really seem to do anything. The Dolphin does feel much zippier in Sport, and you can dial in more aggressive regenerative braking, but most owners will leave these settings alone.
Around town, the 195/50R16 Chao Yang Radials prove relatively quiet, only really complaining over big bumps. The short nose and narrow beam make threading through traffic dead easy, and BYD’s standard 360-degree camera can be turned on at speed for more precise lane-keeping, but you don’t really need it except when backing into really tight spots.
Extra Features
Aside from the 360-degree camera and basic cruise control, there’s not much else in terms of active driver safety systems. You don’t get adaptive cruise control or lane departure mitigation as on more expensive BYDs. Not that you really need it in something like this.
You still get the giant rotating touchscreen on the center console, equipped with Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, and a decent six-speaker system. You also get push-button door locks and ignition, but none of the fancier automatic starting and locking features of premium competitors from GWM and JAC.
Verdict
But while the Dolphin isn’t quite as high tech as the competition, you have to admire the brand’s focus on user-friendliness. While other brands try to mimic or even one-up market leaders like Tesla in terms of control automation, BYD provides a good mix of physical and touchscreen controls, to better ease people into the electric experience.
Sure, it might not be the most exciting EV hatchback, but it makes a case for being one of the most practical, trailing only the—rather expensive—Nissan Leaf in this regard. Add to that BYD’s reputation for making some of the best batteries out there, and it feels sort of like the EV equivalent of a Toyota Vios. A car that may not be on the cutting edge in terms of features or power, but one that guarantees hundreds of thousands of worry-free kilometers of motoring.
SPECS: BYD Dolphin 2025
Price: P1,398,000
Motor: Permanent magnet synchronous motor
Power: 94hp
Torque: 180Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Layout: FWD
Seating: 5
Score: 8/10
More photos of the BYD Dolphin 2025:
