√2023 BYD Dolphin electric car price for Australia due next week

The BYD Dolphin from China will be Australia’s new most affordable electric car when orders open next week, its local distributor has claimed.

Australian details of the 2023 BYD Dolphin – including prices – are due to be announced next week after multiple delays.

And according to BYD’s local distributor EVDirect – after months of speculation based on overseas prices – the Dolphin will become the cheapest new electric vehicle in Australia.

A post on enterprise social media platform LinkedIn by EVDirect managing director Luke Todd confirms orders for the Dolphin are due to open next Thursday, 22 June 2023.

Mr Todd’s post says: “Australia’s most affordable, high quality electric vehicle of all time will be on sale.”

The current most affordable electric vehicles in Australia – by purchase price – are the MG ZS EV Excite small SUV and the GWM Ora Standard Range hatchback, both priced from $43,990 plus on-road costs.

However, the all-time cheapest electric vehicle sold in Australia was a batch of 50 BYD T3 vans made available in late 2021, priced from $39,950 plus on-road costs.

Previous estimates for the BYD Dolphin have ranged from “well under $35,000 plus on-road costs” – as claimed by Mr Todd in 2021 – to in excess of $45,000 plus on-road costs.

The BYD Atto 3 small electric SUV in showrooms since late last year is priced from $48,011 plus on-road costs in Standard Range trim, and $51,011 plus on-road costs in Extended Range form.

Other details of the new model – such as the model line-up, standard features and driving range – are yet to be confirmed, as well as how long after orders open customer deliveries will commence.

In New Zealand, there are two model grades – Standard Range and Extended Range – which are differentiated primarily by their battery and electric motors.

The Standard Range version uses a front-mounted 70kW/180Nm electric motor and a 44.9kWh battery pack, good for 0-100km/h acceleration in a claimed 12.3 seconds – and 340km of estimated driving range in WLTP lab-test conditions.

Meanwhile, the Extended Range model upgrades to a 150kW/310Nm electric motor and 60.48kWh battery – borrowed from the BYD Atto 3 Extended – good for 0-100km/h in a claimed 7.0 seconds, and 427km of estimated WLTP range.

Standard features in New Zealand include a 12.8-inch rotating infotainment touchscreen with Apple CarPlay, a 5.0-inch instrument display, synthetic leather-look upholstery, power-adjustable heated front seats, a panoramic glass roof, and a full suite of advanced safety technology.

There are 16-inch alloy wheels on NZ’s Standard Range model, and 17-inch wheels on the Extended Range.

As reported by Drive last month, BYD Dolphin hatchbacks for Europe and Australia are more than 200mm longer than Chinese-market examples due to a new front-end crash structure intended to earn the vehicle a five-star ANCAP safety rating.

However the Dolphin is yet to be assessed by ANCAP, and it will be marketed as “unrated” until the car is tested by the safety organisation.

More details of the 2023 BYD Dolphin are due closer to its price release and order-book opening date of next Thursday, 22 June.

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