BYD Dolphin Surf – Cheap, But What’s The Catch??
The one thing we don’t have enough of in the UK and EV world are small cars. And I mean proper small cars now, not ID3 level, tiny ones. The stuff that the UK’s kind of used for many decades and love to drive around in, especially on small country roads. This is a small car. It’s not very wide. It’s small. It’s cheeky. Is it any good? Hopefully, it is. But expectations are all relative, aren’t they? This is one of the cheapest EVs you can buy. So, we’re not expecting a lot, but sometimes that’s a good thing because anything that exceeds what you expect, then you have a a good experience. So, this is the BYD dolphin Surf. That’s not a trim level. It’s actually a different car to the BYD Dolphin. It’s not very wide, which finally we’re getting cars that are getting slimmer instead of wider. It’s um I’m not sure where to put it really, apart from in this green color, which makes it stand out. It’s a little bit Chinese. I’m going to use the phrase it is a bit Chinese. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. I’m just saying it’s I’m not sure where we’re going with the design language. It’s like the Daca spring. They’re not the nicest looking cars. In fact, some of them are ugly, but it doesn’t really matter because you’re not paying much for them. So, again, it’s that expectation. I think this is worth it. From the side, I’m getting a little bit certainly at this end and the way that this comes up of the BMW i3 just from the side, that’s kind of where it ends. But the fact it’s relatively tall, good headroom hopefully. And again, the fact it’s narrow means that they’re not pretending it’s a five-seater. This is just a four-seater. So, two seats in the back. And look, practicality seems to be a good kind of aim of this car. Look at the size of the rear door. I’ll show you the inside in a minute. And we’ve got normal handles. That’s again a bonus. And just short overhangs. I’m hoping we get good darty sort of small, not particularly powerful cars. It’s the stuff we’re getting we grew up on. Kind of like the uh the Citroen Saxoesque type of stuff. for if we go a bit newer. What did the uh the the young C2 the C2 C1 Anyway, that sort of thing. That’s what we need more of. And in electric form from the back, it’s quite mad. In fact, it’s it’s a little bit hot. Look at this spoiler. This the color helps. Again, I think in black it probably look a bit uh more muted. The boot, it’s surprisingly big. Again, it’s well packaged. So yeah, not a bad boot. And you have a decent well underneath as well for cables or whatever else you need. And you can put the seats down obviously. And for what I expect this to be, a second car, a local commuter car, it’s got the practicality where you need it. You could probably do a a small tip run for example, and certainly get your shopping there. But yeah, sometimes you just want a car, not not a a technology or a piece of technology, should I say. I just want something that that’s a car. It’s not pretending to be an Xbox. So, this is the inside of the BYD Dolphin Surf. Big logo there. And as you expect, hardwearing plastics. I can forgive that. Again, for the price, this sort of I mean, they feel okay, but they’re not exactly the best buttons I’ve had on the steering wheel before, but you know, it’s functional. And of course, you’ve got more hardware and plastics textured, so they can get away with a bit of that. It doesn’t feel bad, but it’s doesn’t feel high rent either. bit of a door bin. Not massive, but it’ll do. And this feels quite nice on what is a relatively specked up version. You got a bit of texture going on. Again, hardwearing plastic all over the dash. And there I I I I want to know. I’ve just got to know, Harry, what is it? Oh, that’s actually pretty big. Look, that’s massive. Joking aside, that’s pretty big. Yeah. And look at this. They know their audience. Young people. Yes. They tapered it up so you or angled it up should I say so you could see your phone whilst it’s charging. So instead of looking at the road you can look at your phone. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Now let’s turn her on by pressing this. Not bad. Not bad. Uh now I think we can pretty much sum this up in uh it’s a tablet. It’s an Android tablet that is okay to use. It’s reasonably quick to be fair and but you’re not going to use that. You can be straight into Apple Car. Exactly. Yeah. Apple CarPlay and whatnot. And look, actual buttons, so you can change this the modes between normal, eco, and sport. You know, it doesn’t feel too bad at all in terms of the build quality. You got some cup holders here and a nice really wide armrest. In fact, that for a driving position is fantastic because you’ve also got somewhere for this army here. And I always like cars where I can spread out a little bit. Yeah. The seats again, we are on a spec. Yeah, we’re a specup model. So that’s that’s you know to be clear sporty looking. It’s all right, isn’t it? Yeah, it’s not bad space-wise. I think it’s really good. It’s quite dark in here, isn’t it? You got you got no obviously sun roof or anything. Uh but you got tons of Look at that. You got loads of head room, you know. You got a couple of down there. And if I just look underneath, move my leg. You got even more storage. There we go. Underneath. It looks a bit odd from the outside from some angles, but inside it sort of makes sense, doesn’t it? But I don’t really care what it looks like. No, no. I think for the price it’s like And look at this. Yeah. Should I go in the back? Let’s go in the back of the car. Well, I can instantly tell from here that you got good headroom. It’s not bad. And the fact that again that they’re not sticking something in the middle kind of gives you a little bit more space in a weird way. Do you know what? It’s dark back here. It is quite dark, isn’t it? I think that the windows are quite shallow, aren’t they? Yeah. Yeah. And they’ve done right the right decision here of making it a two-seater. Uh you haven’t got that squashed person in the middle. Leg room. It’s it’s reasonable. I think the only thing that lets it down is there’s no real place to put a drink. And I can’t see any USBs. There’s a bit of storage here. Maybe I just can’t see them because it’s so dark back here, but I can’t I can’t obviously see any USBs. The one thing instantly that’s evident that we’ve already kind of mentioned and noticed is the width means that this is absolute doawle to park to do whatever you want in terms of day-to-day daily drivers as a second car duty sort of thing, which is what this is for. Do you know what I think this is missing as a small car? And it it does have an essence of this. He needs a handbrake for doing turns. Well, how else are you going to um appeal to the opposite sex? Exactly. Without that handbrake. Yeah. Um I mean, that’s how I got married. So, you know, it’s dirty. I wouldn’t say it’s the best thing I’ve ever driven, but it’s it’s, you know, it’s better than it should be. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And we keep saying this time and time again in this video alone, let alone in other videos, but it is absolutely the case that what you expect dictates whether you enjoy it. And look, that’s it’s quite comfy. It’s really the damping is really good, isn’t it? Yeah, this is this is You know what? This is a really good daily driver. And I know let’s get it out the way now. The Chinese element of it all. This is a car review. It’s about cars. Politics out of this. Yeah. Is on road. She’s bossy. She’s bossy. Yeah. You just keep on telling me to keep me eyes on the road when I am. Yeah. I mean, it’s not bad value, is it? This is one of the cheapest on the market at the moment. Is it cheap? I think after the Dac Spring, it is the cheapest road. So, it’s £18,650 you can get into one of these for, right? So, less than 19 grand list. That’s list. And there’s bound to be some uh some deals out there, isn’t there? I think actually we did look and there were some deals out there. It’s not bad. That is That’s quick. That’s 60. And again, this is a higher model. They’re not all the same. You know what? You could have some real fun in this, couldn’t you? Couldn’t you? You’re going to have to put some sticky tires on it. Recommend Michel. Yeah. Um, but I don’t think this is a bad little car. No. No. Seriously, with stickier tires, I could have some country road fun on this. Definitely. You could surprise a few cars. Some uh I don’t think they’ll do Pilot Sport fours and or fives in this version. Cross climates. Maybe the sports. Again, I don’t think they’ll do this size, but it’s got pickup. It’s got Wow. It’s got a bit of pork, hasn’t it, for the size of it? Yeah. Now, again, this is the higher end version. So, go back to the price. Let’s go back to the price. So, around 18 and a half is the entry. And that’s the what what size battery is that? That’s 30 kW battery. So, that’s what 100 100 miles on average maybe. It depends if you’re going to get four miles per kilowatt hour, maybe 100 120 on average. Yeah. 100 1110. Uh and then if you can go up then to a 43 kW battery and that’s £22,000, right? And they do that in the boost and the comfort. The comfort’s slightly more at £24,000 which I think we’re in today. Probably in today. Yeah, it’s got a lot of options, hasn’t it? This I would presume. Well, when you’re specking it, I’ve noticed this when I went online and thought, what would I pick? There’s other than color, there’s no options, right? So, you buy it like that, which is nice. I like that. Yeah, I prefer that personally. So, on the used market, these are already quite a good buy. You can get Oh, god. Yeah. 6 months old. 15,000ish for 25 reg. 15 grand for this in EV world is with the warranty it’s six months old it’s I mean there’s not much that comes close is there really that well no and and this is what we want whether you like the Chinese stuff or not the fact that we’re getting the cheaper end which is what we’ve been crying out for for ages well how many how many years were we doing these reviews and then people going they’re too expensive I can’t afford them here we go you know it’s I’m not saying this is everything but it’s not far off. The thing is as well is that I grew up and you certainly did as well with cars no bigger than this. Oh yeah. Mom, dad. Yeah, exactly. And this it could adequately do as a as a an only car if if you know if that’s what your budget is. This could be your only car. So 40 odd kilowatt hour. You’re getting what 140 odd miles on average. This is saying slightly more. I don’t know if you’re being optimistic, but this is uh we’re on 75% and it’s saying 140. Yeah. 146 miles. Yeah. Now we are in mildish weather. We got the heating on. I mean it’s what? It’s 12 degrees. So it’s not that warm, is it? No. So you know I’m going to say 130 to 160. Yeah. As an average for again 6 month old topsp spec one for 18. 18 and a half. That’s a bargain, isn’t it? And what’s that going to be like when it’s 2 years old? I believe it’s a six year warranty. It’s a bit odd. Is it a six? Yeah. I think it’s Is it 96,000? Just shy of 100,000 miles. So, I think this is you’re not going to see many of these going over that, are you? I can’t argue with the value. Can’t look. Even this feels okay. Do you know what? It’s no worse than what anything else you’d get at this range, whether it was a a petrol car or not, is it? You know, you’ve got cheap plastics. Well, it’s a cheapish car. It’s So, even the entry level, which granted is a smaller battery, 85 kW charging for them all and the small one’s got 93 horsepower for around town. That’s perfect. Yeah. It’s not It’s not It’s not going to light your pants on fire, but ultimately it’s pretty good. Wow. So, look at that. 30 40 and it’s 50 mph speed limit. So, it’s got some pork. I’m having a bit of a smile on my face cuz I expected quite frankly a bit a bit rubbish handling. I mean, it’s not fantastic. It’s not a hot hatch. No, that’s not got the got the performance of one. It’s like they say at me in terms of quick dirty, but when you push it a bit too much, the skinny tires don’t help. Um, and you know what? Over the last 50 miles, guess what I’m being averaging? What’s that? 4.7 miles per kilow. Wow. According to this anyway, that’s amazing. Not bad, is it? Yeah. So, I’m finding myself going BYD are relatively new to the UK. A lot of people again aren’t fond of the Chinese links with cars, even even though people like to buy Bolt Stars. Yeah. And Volvos, which are completely Chinese-owned and made in China. Um, I’ve got nothing against this. No, because again like your iPhone as a car, just as a car, it’s actually I’m not going to say it’s brilliant, but it’s very good value. Um, and given the fact that there’s almost nothing in this sort of price range that that much competition, is it? No, it’s it’s like there on its own. And then we’ve got what, like the Ford Puma and things like that. So, which would you go for? The Pummer or this? Because the Puma is going to be more expensive by about five grand, I reckon. But I do you know what the Yorkshire man in me is going I probably get this and save five grand. I mean it depends on you on obviously on the deals that are available at the time. But I think if you could save yourself five grand in cash you were paying for it in cash. I think this is a fair proposition. Sorry I’m just having a bit of fun. No no I think you’re right. Uh it gets to the point where when there’s a grand or so in a car you’re like I’ll go for the one I want. When it gets to four or five Yeah. Yeah. He buys on road. You know what? This has surprised me and it’s one of those where you the expectation was about there and it’s it’s been that it’s even more practical than I thought. Again, the packaging, the build is fine. I I can see I can see younger people wanting to buy this. Maybe maybe it’s your second car cuz they can afford it essentially. Yeah. Continue on. Look at that turning circle. That’s amazing. We’ve just turned around on a very narrow road into some little bit of traffic. That’s really good turning circle, hasn’t it? So, you’ve got that again that kind of say at me Volkswagen up city go sort of usability. Yeah. It’s a city car. I would probably ignore the 30 kWh version. So, what’s the cheapest? The cheapest 43 kW is is it’s a shade off 22,000 list price. And in modern terms, that’s good. But in reality, you’re paying probably a couple of grand minimum less for a new one. Or if you get a pre-registered six-month old one, like you said, what was it? The previous one 17 and a bit. Yeah. N 18. So telling 18. Yeah. And that’s for the higher spec one, too. It is. Yeah. That’s I mean that’s just that’s amazing, isn’t it? I didn’t want to like this if I’m honest because from the looks I’m like, not me. Yeah. You know, but I can’t fault it. You’re never going to look around when you lock it and go, that’s a good looking car. You’re never going to complain about it. You’re just going to wash it when you feel like it and go to the shops and back in and be done and it’ll never let you down. It won’t I would like to think so. Um, time will tell, I guess, with with the VD range. Yeah. Um, but heard anything untoward so far? No. Still new, I guess. Let’s wrap this up then. What food is this? Ooh. Do you know what this is? It’s cheese on toast. Basic. It’s basic, simple, but sometimes you really just want cheese on toast. A toasty. Yeah. Toaster. Toasty. Like like proper toasty machine toasty. Yeah. Cheese and ham toast. Welcome to the cheese and cheese and ham toasty. Cheese and ham toasty. I’m going to upgrade it. All right. Well, for the first BYD car on the channel. Yeah. In terms of value, if this was 25 Yeah. same price as a Corser. No. What would you go for? I I I wouldn’t be impressed with it. I’ I’d probably go for the Corser. Yeah. It’s a known entity. Yeah. I mean, there’s only one other thing I think that’s better value than this uh in in in that. Oh, hang on. Hang on. Hang on. Um membership. Aha, there we go. Actually, I was thinking of the Driving Own podcast, which is free. Which is free. Of course. That’s even better value. Exactly. No one can argue with that. No one can complain about the Driving Own podcast. They do. Even if it’s the worst thing in the world. Because it’s free. I can’t believe you’ve taken time out of your lives. Tell us how bad that bad podcast is. But no, um, thanks for watching guys. Thank you very much. See you.
The BYD Dolphin Surf (which is different to the BYD Dolphin!?!) is one of the cheapest EVs on sale in the UK. What’s the catch!?
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