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Oct 19, 2023

2023 BYD Dolphin EV First Drive Review: Could It Swim In the U.S.?

Related Video China-based BYD doesn't sell cars in the U.S., but chances are you already own its products. BYD is the world's largest supplier of rechargeable batteries, plus it makes the guts for

Related Video

China-based BYD doesn't sell cars in the U.S., but chances are you already own its products. BYD is the world's largest supplier of rechargeable batteries, plus it makes the guts for many mobile devices. The company also makes cars—EVs and PHEVs—and last year it made half a million more cars than Tesla, impressive considering said cars aren't (yet) sold in the States. We've been curious about the cars branded with the backronym Build Your Dreams, so BYD invited us to São Paulo, Brazil, for the local launch of its low-cost EV, the Dolphin.

How low-cost? Try R$149,800, which, for those who don't have the Brazilian Real exchange rate on a home-screen widget, is just under $31,000. To put that in perspective, way down among Brazilians (where coffee beans grow by the millions), a basic Jeep Renegade (1.3T 4x2) starts just under $26,000, while Toyota's Corolla Cross starts just over $33,000. (And if $31K sounds cheap to you, the Chinese-market Dolphin starts at the equivalent of $16,300.)

The Brazilian press reveal was presented almost entirely in Portuguese, a language we happen not to speak, but with a little assistance we gleaned the following facts: The Dolphin is a 94-hp, single-motor, front-drive EV that gets to 60 mph in just over 10 seconds. Its 44.9-kW battery delivers 252 miles of range on the wildly optimistic NEDC cycle—so, it would be less on the EPA cycle—and the center screen plays video games and karaoke. We were sure the karaoke thing was an error in translation, but no—BYD demonstrated it for us. (Having experienced São Paulo traffic, we understood why this is such a vital feature in Brazil.)

The next day we were whisked off to BYD Dahruj, one of several BYD dealers in São Paolo, for a test drive of the Dolphin. Here we had one of those car-commercial moments: The dealer led us to a snazzy little Dolphin with alloy wheels, an orange stripe, and a multicolor faux leather interior. We said (in English), "This is nice, but can we see the $31,000 version?" Pause for translation, then the answer: "This is the $31,000 version."

The Dolphin is a one-box subcompact hatch, similar in dimensions to Chevrolet's Bolt EV, with Hyundai Ioniq 5-like body-side creases and a front end that bears a vague resemblance to the first-generation Lincoln MKX. The dash layout reminds us of the Volkswagen ID4 electric SUV, with a small screen atop the steering wheel and a larger one—huge, actually—in the center. In common with other BYD products, the motorized screen rotates between portrait and landscape. On the amaze-the-neighbors scale, this beats the stuffing out of Rivian's power-adjustable air vents.

The Dolphin's interior is a carnival of colors and textures, way the hell nicer than we were expecting from a low-cost EV sold in what is politely referred to as a "developing market." We're not talking Rolls-Royce levels of luxury; the seats on our test car were upholstered in a fake leather that reminded us of the vinyl used on baby furniture. But the colors on the seats are terrific: off-white with a white-and-orange pattern, blue trim, and orange piping. The dash is a mix of gray and brushed-silver plastic, trimmed with a padded echo of the baby-furniture seat upholstery. The center console is a nifty, soaring affair with room for a purse underneath and storage trays, USB ports, and cupholders up top. Some of the plastics feel cheap—not unforgivable in such an inexpensive EV—but there is quality in the movement of the switchgear, with the notable exception of the volume knob.

The cabin feels narrow, but there's plenty of headroom, and the back seat is significantly roomier than it has any right to be in a car this size. The controls are simple and sensible. Contrary to what we assume are most Americans' expectations, the whole thing felt particularly well screwed together, at least when the car was standing still.

What impressed us most, though, were the screens. We've seen lots of cars, some very high-end, that have jerky, stunted animation, irksome for infotainment and inexcusable on the instrument panel. Not the Dolphin: The graphics are crisp and clear, and everything on the center touchscreen moves with Apple-like smoothness. When we rotated the screen from portrait to landscape—which we did about a thousand times—the display rearranged itself into a layout better suited for that orientation. (We eventually settled on portrait view for navigation and landscape for everything else.)

We suppose we shouldn't be surprised; BYD is, after all, an electronics company. In the case of its cars, though, it goes way behind that: BYD makes every single part of the Dolphin except the tires and the window glass. If you know how much content in most cars is made by suppliers, you'll understand that's quite an accomplishment.

Still, the Dolphin is a car, not a home entertainment system (the line certainly continues to blur), and we wanted to see how it drove.

Disclaimer: São Paulo, though it has many positive attributes, is a lousy place for a test drive. The traffic makes Los Angeles look like Manhattan—Manhattan, Kansas, that is. The roads feel like they've been maintained with dynamite, with potholes big enough to hide a house. This was not going to be our typical Los Angeles or Detroit evaluation, although the lousy pavement might make our Michigan contingent feel at home.

The Dolphin switches on with a button, and drive is engaged with a rotary switch on the center stack. Lifting off the brake, we're greeted with a muted wail that sounds like an alien dial tone. It's the pedestrian warning, which starts abruptly and seems unnecessarily loud inside the car. It also lowers in pitch as the car accelerates and rises as the car slows, which is kind of weird. Thankfully, it shuts off (again, rather abruptly) as the Dolphin accelerates past a jogging pace. Speaking of sounds, the turn-signal clicker sound is the dink-kop-dink-kop of a General Motors product of the 2000s.

The Dolphin isn't particularly quick, not even by inexpensive gas-car standards, but it has the torquey feel typical of EVs, albeit in a low-calorie serving. There are two regenerative braking modes, "standard" and "larger," though neither feels particularly large. The steering is one-finger-light and light on feel, although it does jitter over some of the most alarming bumps. The suspension, however, does a heroic job of smoothing the ride on this moon-awful pavement. We managed to find some almost-smooth streets in a ritzy neighborhood where we snuck off to shoot video, and here the ride was surprisingly compliant and comfortable. Still, we heard quite a bit of rattling on the bumps, which made us question our initial assessment of the Dolphin's build quality.

Cornering? We can't tell you, owing to a lack of corners. Dynamically, the Dolphin didn't feel like it would set our hearts a-pumpin', but from what we saw of the roads, we gather Brazilians value comfort and maneuverability over chassis balance. Our guess, based on driving the Dolphin and a couple other BYD models, is that the Chinese will likely follow the same path as the South Koreans: Sorting out the dynamics will take some learning—or some hiring of Germans. (That said, BYD has built a supercar that can jump in place with a wheel missing, so maybe things will stay in-house.)

You might be wondering about the Dolphin name; we sure were. BYD USA president Stella Li explained that BYD divides its cars into subbrands. The high-end cars are in the Dynasty series, named after Chinese dynasties: Han, Qin, Yuan, Tang, Song. Lower-cost cars are in the Ocean series—Dolphin, Seal, Seagull, Frigate (and apparently Song, as well; no one said it was a perfect system). As long as they don't call it the Marlin, we're good.

All in all, the Dolphin is a compelling package. Sure, the car is a little small as far as American tastes go, and the range is a little short, but it's a city car designed for markets very different from ours. What surprised us was the fit and finish (aside from the rattles), the bright and cheery interior, the way the suspension dealt with Brazil's post-apocalyptic pavement, and how well the electronics worked.

Will we see the BYD Dolphin in these United States? As the Magic 8-Ball would say, "Outlook not so good." BYD has no immediate plans to sell cars in the U.S. (though it does sell electric buses here, which it manufactures in Lancaster, California), plus it has its hands full with Latin American launches. Even when—er, if­—BYD cars come stateside, the Dolphin is an unlikely candidate. BYD has other products, like the Han electric luxury sedan and Song PHEV SUV, that would be better suited to our market. The Han, in fact, is already on sale just below America's southern border, with BYD just kicking off sales to consumers in Mexico.

Why, then, did we bother writing this review? Because the BYD Dolphin tells us a lot—not just about what BYD vehicles are like, but what impact a company like BYD, which manufactures nearly all of its own EV components (including the batteries), could have in the U.S. The cost of EVs is a concern for a lot of American buyers, and if the Dolphin represents what BYD can deliver for $31,000 (never mind $16,000), the rest of the industry had better brace itself.