Styling
With its smoothed-off appearance, there's no doubt the Dolphin G is one of BYD's family of Ocean vehicles. It has sleek light clusters at the front and a full-width strip of illumination to the rear, while the lower two specifications come on 16-inch wheels with the upper two trim-grades wearing a set of 18s instead. As ever, the styling of the BYD isn't particularly daring or standout, but it's certainly not an ugly car; it also helps that, for the first time we can remember on a mainstream Chinese vehicle, you can finally, finally pick some interesting colours for the G. OK, four of the six shades offered are grey, black and
two different whites, for some reason, but there's also lush Ocean Blue and then the eye-catching hue you can see in the pictures. It's called Orange Sunset and it's a pearlescent, and as far as we can ascertain it's likely to be the standard colour for the Dolphin G. Bravo, BYD!
Interior
As ever with budget carmakers hoping to break into new arenas of the automotive space, the BYD Dolphin G aims to offer a lot of equipment for not a lot of money, while also keeping interior plastics down to a careful cost. If we're honest, this is the BYD in which the affordability of the car is most obviously on display with its material finishing, as the upper surface of the dashboard and that shiny strip of almost reflective piano-black trim in the fascia are not the most high-quality items you'll ever encounter. Ditto the door cards.
But there are two screens for the interface, all models sporting an 8.8-inch digital instrument cluster and every Dolphin G bar the base-spec version coming with a 12.8-inch infotainment screen. Two things here: the entry-level hatchback has a 10.1-inch display; and from Comfort level upwards, the larger infotainment unit is enhanced with Google Built-In technology.
This means that, despite some usual annoyances with Chinese control mechanisms - not enough buttons, too much run through the central touchscreen, occasionally daft menu layouts/clustering and annoyingly over-zealous ADAS that can be tricky to turn off in certain instances - the Dolphin G's cabin feels suitably high-tech, even if the B-segment challenger's cabin isn't the greatest for overall tactility. Oh, and it lacks for any of the visually wacky zaniness of the bigger
Atto 3 Evo's passenger compartment, as well.
Practicality
The manufacturer is really keen to play up the Dolphin G's interior space, due to the fact it has a 2,610mm wheelbase. That is indeed long by the typical standards of this class, but maybe it's to do with the packaging of the PHEV running gear, we don't know - what we will say is that we don't think space in the back of the BYD is exceptional. In fact, it's average. Those of a taller persuasion will find leg- and headroom are only adequate, although smaller adults and children (presumably the key demographic identified to sit in row two) should be more than happy back there.
We're more praiseful of the Dolphin G's boot, which is sizeable for the class at 425 litres with all seats in use. Drop those down and a commendable 1,225 litres are on offer, so we're not saying the BYD Dolphin G is poor for packaging, not by any means. All we are saying is that, if you think you might be carrying, um, larger people in the back, something like a
Skoda Fabia,
Hyundai i20 or
MG4 EV Urban would be a better bet.
Performance
On the face of it, BYD's DM-i powertrain looks familiar. There's a reedy 95hp/120Nm 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine onboard, selected for its thermal efficiency and spending most of its time acting like a range-extending generator; it'll only turn the front wheels of the Dolphin G via an eCVT when the throttle loads are high.
This is accompanied by an electric motor, which does the most of the donkey work for propulsion and which provides the bulk of the power inherent in the petrol-electric drivetrain. Again, like other BYD DM-is, there are two battery sizes and two power outputs, depending on the spec of car chosen.
The issue is, while this might look like the same set-up that you'd find in the
Atto 2 DM-i, the
Sealion 5 DM-i or the lamentable
Seal 6 DM-i, it's not. BYD claims it's the 'version 5.0' of the tech, but if so, we're surprised this is the least torquey of the firm's PHEV arrangements when it comes to the electric side of things.
The e-motor here only makes 210Nm, whereas in other DM-i models it usually kicks out 300Nm. So while the Dolphin G has a system peak of 212hp, which looks mighty impressive for an everyday runaround in this class, it only develops that 210Nm as its maximum torque. The net outcome of this is that even the Comfort we drove, with the 'full' figures, didn't feel remotely quick or nippy. At more than 1.5 tonnes as tested, this is a not-particularly potent drivetrain moving a fairly heavy car, and it feels it.
And sounds it, as well. The 1.5 is coarse and introduces vibrations into the cabin when it's called upon so you'll want to avoid waking it. Although if you attempt to do precisely that in the Dolphin G by fully planting the throttle, it can take entire seconds (that's no hyperbole) to hook both e-motor and combustion unit together for full forward thrust. It's slow to respond and harsh to listen to in such circumstances, so you spend much of your time trying to surf around on electric power alone.
In fairness to the BYD, it manages this quite well and is reasonably refined if kept well within itself. But you'll want any version other than the base Active in order to maximise the electric running, as that car comes with a 7.42kWh battery pack and a max power output of 176hp for the money, giving it just a 25-mile zero-emission range. It's also limited to a peak of 3.3kW AC charging, too, which'll need two hours 48 minutes for a 10-100 per cent top-up.
The Boost and above cars, by contrast, all deploy an 18.3kWh 'Blade' LFP battery that'll confer fully 65 miles of EV range on the Dolphin G, while also bringing in faster AC charging (6.6kW, although the larger capacity means it takes six minutes longer to get the bigger-batteried models from 10-100 per cent state-of-charge than the entry-level BYD) - and, perhaps, more crucially, it comes with DC capability. Some BYD DM-is offer this, others don't (cough, Atto 2, cough), but here it can reduce a 10-80 per cent replenishment cycle on the hoof to just 26 minutes, thanks to a 39kW charging rate.
The WLTP testing procedure and the Dolphin G's PHEV nature mean it has some ludicrous official economy figures, but the 'depleted battery' claim of 62.8mpg looks more realistic. We only managed to get 49.5mpg from it on a fairly genteel 30-mile test loop, mind, but perhaps just a little bit more care from the driver and predominantly urban use on the electric portion of the drivertrain should boost the BYD's numbers somewhat in this regard.
Ride & Handling
We haven't yet driven any Chinese vehicle that rides superbly or which has magnificent steering, so you need to couch our assessment of the BYD Dolphin G DM-i within that critical framework. Even so, the low-speed ride is far too unsettled in this PHEV, while the handling doesn't really ever come alive thank to the numb primary interface that links the front wheels of the car to the driver's hands.
Far too often, the Dolphin G thumps and bangs through only modest-sized imperfections in the road's surface. It's a noisy and uncomfortable procedure when the suspension on the car takes big hits like this, and while we will concede the Comfort we drove was on the largest 18-inch alloys of the lot, they were still wrapped in 60-profile rubber - and BYD isn't making any pretence to being sporty in nature, either. So quite why the Dolphin G has such a brittle ride quality is beyond us.
Once speeds rise and the tarmac improves, so too does the BYD's overall comfort levels, although above 50mph there's a pronounced amount of both tyre roar and wind noise. So the standard of rolling refinement isn't magnificent with the Dolphin G, either.
As to the roadholding, there's grip and actually the BYD supermini has a surprisingly competent standard of body control. But both the inert steering and the sense of mass in the PHEV's form contrive to rob any enjoyment from the Dolphin G as it is hustling through the twisty stuff, so we would say it is clean and composed in the corners, and not much more than that. Still, will target buyers in this sector mind? Does anybody throw a, say,
Toyota Yaris about on a quiet B-road like they're a newly qualified 17-year-old driver again? Probably not, no.
Value
BYD's trim-level hierarchy in the UK is alphabetically ordered. The company offers Active, Boost, Comfort, Design and Excellence models, in the main, although this Dolphin G DM-i is the first to have a Sport variant - in this case, the range-topper and sold only in the blue or orange paint, with the option of an interior with matching highlights of the chosen body colour splashed about the place on the seats.
But with its DM-is, it's never entirely clear which trim grade is the one bringing the bigger battery and added power. Here, the Active has the smaller 7.42kWh collection of power cells, while all of the Boost, Comfort and Sport equip the 18.3kWh unit. Step up to the Atto 2 DM-i, though, and now the Boost is the small-battery car (7.8kWh), while the Comfort has the larger power pack. In the Sealion 5 PHEV, the Comfort now employs a 12.96kWh battery and the Design runs the 18.3kWh pack, yet going up to the Seal 6's level we're back at Boost (small) and the Comfort (big). And the Seal U DM-i? Bafflingly, the Boost and the Design have an 18.3kWh Blade, while the mid-grade Comfort deploys a 26.6kWh item. Make it make sense, BYD.
Anyway, a Dolphin G DM-i Active, to reiterate, has the small battery and 176hp. It also comes with 16-inch wheels, front and rear parking sensors with a reversing camera, LED exterior illumination, the 10.1-inch infotainment with Android Auto and Apple Play, automatic climate control, and the 8.8-inch digital instrument cluster.
Moving up to Boost, power rises to 212hp and the battery to 18.3kWh, while the infotainment is enlarged to 12.8 inches, and heated front seats, a heated steering wheel, an auto-dimming interior mirror, a 15-watt wireless smartphone charging pad, multicoloured ambient interior lighting and an uprated eight-speaker stereo system are added, among more - including vehicle-to-load (V2L) functionality.
A Dolphin G Comfort further equips a widescreen head-up display for the driver, a panoramic roof up top, vegan leather upholstery, electric adjustment for the driver's seat, a 360-degree camera, 18-inch alloys and Google integration for the infotainment.
The flagship Sport is mainly a styling exercise, with darker 18s in the arches, black badges, a two-tone interior cabin finish and suede centres to the seating panels.
Prices haven't been confirmed as yet, but a BYD representative at the launch indicated something in the region of £23,000 to £25,000 as a starting point wouldn't be out of the question, once the UK line-up has been fully confirmed.
Verdict
Arguably one of BYD's more convincing efforts yet, the Dolphin G DM-i's biggest selling point remains what we already knew about its technical make-up before driving the car: it's the only PHEV in this class. Now, you could argue that superminis don't need to be PHEVs, because people pick efficient and less 'faffy' petrol or hybrid versions if they travel longer distances in their small hatchbacks, or they pick one of the burgeoning number of excellent full EVs that are sprouting in this sector.
But it cannot be ignored that the Dolphin G is a reasonably attractive car, complete with some vibrant body colours (at last!), it comes with loads of standard equipment, it has a big boot and, if you don't ever extend it, then it's a perfectly pleasant vehicle to have to deal with. Throw in a good level of warranty and you can see the appeal.
For us, however, there are too many chinks revealed in its dynamic armour when you even in the slightest contemplate extending it, we're not convinced it's as roomy in the back as BYD seems to think it is, there a some minor question marks over its real-world efficiency (we'll reserve judgement here until we've tried it for longer back in the UK), and there are a few interior plastics that leave quite a bit to be desired. Thus, we can't wholeheartedly recommend it or proclaim it a new class leader, but it has certainly mixed up the B-segment game somewhat with its unusual choice of drivetrain - and if you want the cheapest new PHEV on the market, no matter what its body shape or size, then this looks like it'll be the ideal car for you.
