BYD Dolphin Surf (2023 - )

There’s always plenty of negativity about Chinese cars flooding the UK market these days, but there is one company that simply cannot be ignored and that’s BYD. It stands for Build Your Dreams and with outstanding global sales figures, it will be giving rival manufacturers nightmares.

Despite only launching in the UK two and a half years ago, the all-new Dolphin Surf is the company’s sixth model and it’s an absolute corker that’s bound to add to the already 25,000 BYD models on UK roads today.

The five-door, four-seat, electric supermini boasts dynamic styling, a richly-equipped interior, impressive driving range (on higher trims) and even drives well – all for a very reasonable price with the entry-level car costing just £18,650.

Customers can choose between trim levels called Active, Boost and Comfort with the entry-level car featuring a 30kWh battery for a combined driving range of 137 miles, while both the Boost and Comfort models gain the larger 43.2kWh battery for a range of 200 and 193 miles respectively.

We opted for the BYD Dolphin Surf in high-end Comfort trim for our test drive through the stop, start roads around Alexandra Palace in London.
 

The BYD Dolphin Surf is certainly a great looking supermini and has already scooped the award for World Urban Car for 2025.

Head-turning design cues include crisp lines with a floating roof, distinctive front light clusters with six angled light strips, a full-width light bar at the rear, BYD badging, rear privacy glass, pillars that resemble a dolphin’s tail and 15-inch alloys, increased to 16-inches on the test car.

Moving inside, the vegan leather seats offered power-adjustment so getting a comfortable driving position is quick and easy. They could also be heated to fend off the winter blues.

There is a modern feel with a clean dashboard, easy to operate switches for the drive selector and audio’s volume, plus the traditional BYD 10.1-inch rotatable infotainment screen that offers access to the many on-board features. Expect to find Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone connectivity, sat nav, a 360-degree camera plus wireless smartphone charging.

There are clever short-cuts to alter the temperature and outputs with three-finger swipes up and down or across the screen. This works well enough, although a dial would be easier and all the numbers for the temperature are a tad overcomplicated with L and H readouts.

Being a Chinese brand, there is of course a voice assistant. While it can be summoned by saying “Hi BYD”, you can alter the call-up command. This can help with all manner of tasks such as rotating the screen, returning to the home page and lots more besides.

Finally, a smaller display behind the steering wheel offers up all the important numbers, such as speed, battery charge levels and existing driving range.

Our BYD Dolphin Surf Comfort featured the larger 43.2kWh Blade battery with a single motor for front wheel drive. With 115kW of power and 220Nm of torque, it could complete the 0-62mph sprint in 9.1 seconds and has a combined driving range of 193 miles between charges. This increases to 288 miles of city driving where regenerative braking helps to recoup otherwise lost energy whilst slowing down.

As the car is billed as a city car, the launch of the BYD Dolphin Surf was London-based, so it’s impossible to say how the vehicle deals with more challenging twisting country lanes or motorways, but it was nice and accomplished in the city with sharp acceleration to nip in and out of the busy streams of traffic.

The visibility is great forwards and sideways, although the rear screen is quite small. Drive modes called Eco, Sport and Normal do sharpen up the handling a little, although we rarely got above 30mph. There are also two regenerative braking strengths called Standard and High that are controlled via the touchscreen. These didn’t seem to change the strength of the braking force, which in our opinion, wasn’t particularly strong as you lifted off the accelerator. And there is certainly no single-pedal driving function.

The other slightly unusual concern on a car that’s been designed for the city was the fairly heavy steering. We would have expected a lighter feel to make manoeuvring through the congested crowds a little easier.

Those minor gripes aside though, the BYD Dolphin Surf performed well and gained plenty of attention along the way thanks mainly to its dazzling Lime Green colour.
 

The BYD Dolphin Surf is a five-door, four-seater supermini which means it has to be able to comfortably accommodate occupants up front and in the back too. And, it does just that thanks to a fairly generously-sized cabin.

The car stretches 3,990mm in length, is 1,720mm across and 1,590mm tall with a wheelbase of 2,500. That results in a relatively spacious cabin for this type of car with ample space up front for a couple if six footers and room in the rear for two youngsters. Adults would struggle for legroom if the seats are pushed too far back, although it would be bearable for a short journey.

The boot can swallow 308 litres of luggage and that capacity increases to 1,037 litres with the 50:50 split-folding rear seats dropped flat. Elsewhere, there is a glovebox, a large open area beneath the centre console, door bins, front cup holders, seat back pockets and a wireless charging pad.

Speaking of charging, the smaller 30kWh battery can be boosted from 10 to 80 per cent in 30 minutes via a 65kW charger, while the larger 43.2kWh battery takes the same time using a faster 85kW charger.

Another plus point for the BYD Dolphin Surf is its Vehicle to Load ability enabling it to power up external sources, such as laptops, speakers and coffee machines. 
 

With one in every five EVs sold on the planet being a BYD, it’s fair to say the Chinese company is doing alright for itself. It has a reputation for delivering well-equipped and stylish models at a price that beats most rivals. And the Dolphin Surf is another example of that.

Prices start from just £18,650 for the entry-level Active trim, rising to £21,950 for the Boost and topping out at £23,950 for the Comfort version, as tested. Those prices put this car in direct competition with the Dacia Spring and Leapmotor T03.

Unfortunately, EV owners have had a number of their financial incentives withdrawn this year, making them liable for road tax for the first time. The initial 12-month cost is just £10 but then the standard £195 fee is chargeable after the first year. Additionally, cars costing in excess of £40 are now subject to a luxury car tax, although this will not impact BYD Dolphin Surf owners.
However, there will be more bad news from Christmas Day onwards for EV owners in London as they will no longer be exempt from Congestion Charge fees.

Although it’s far too early to predict the reliability of the BYD Dolphin Surf, it does feature Blade Battery technology which is renowned globally for its strength and safety. And for added peace of mind, the car comes with a comprehensive six-year manufacturer’s warranty, extended to eight years for the battery.

The car is launching with some very attractive finance offers too with our test car starting from a £279 deposit with monthly payments of £279 over four years. And our model sits in insurance group 14 which also helps to keep annual bills low.

Our venue for the UK launch of the BYD Dolphin Surf was the stunning Alexandra Palace in London. The building was opened back in 1873 and was regarded as the People’s Palace. This was the ideal venue as the test model is being billed as the People’s Car.

And it lives up to that hype with plenty of kerb appeal, bundles of on-board tech, plus a very attractive pricing structure. It’s certainly worth checking out if you are looking for value for money without scrimping on style or performance.

It’s just a shame that BYD describes its Dolphin Surf as being “designed for the big city and beyond”, yet we were unable to explore anything above 30mph on our test route.