BYD Dolphin Surf Review

Introduction

BYD has been making waves since it arrived on our shores.

The Pun is very much intended as it's brought a range of ocean-themed names along with a fleet of seven cars to the UK so far – one of over a dozen Chinese manufacturers currently trying to crack markets far from its homeland.

While the thought of driving Chinese motors may not be something many of us have had to consider before, the preconception that they are unfit for purpose no longer holds true.

Yes, if you bought a Chinese car 20 years ago, it’s probably something you’d be remembering for all the wrong reasons.

But now times have changed.

Even better news: BYD is considered by many to be the most successful Chinese automaker to have come to the UK so far in terms of the quality of its cars.

Today, however, presents a significant challenge, as BYD has launched a new model aiming to be one of the most affordable electric vehicles available for lease.

Until fairly recently, the words 'cheap' and 'electric car' were a contradiction in terms – there was simply no way to make one cost-effectively enough to be able to lease it super-cheaply.

However, several have now managed to achieve the feat, including Dacia, Hyundai, and another Chinese newcomer called Leapmotor, with the Spring, Inster, and T03 models, respectively.

The BYD car in question is called the Dolphin Surf – although it shouldn't be confused with the similarly named BYD Dolphin, which is an entirely different model and a touch larger than the Dolphin Surf.

So, with this new vehicle, will BYD abandon some of the values it’s stuck by when trying to cut costs?

We have taken one out on the road to find out.

At A Glance

One thing BYD can’t be accused of is boring designs – most of its cars look good. The Seal saloon, for example, appears to have taken heavy inspiration from a Porsche Taycan.

Happily, the Dolphin Surf follows suit.

While it lacks any resemblance to a Porsche, the front still looks menacing, with pointy headlights sitting atop the bonnet, a lower trapezoidal grille, and a large black panel that resembles a frown of aggression.

At the sides, there's some cladding around the front wheel arches, and it then reaches out up into the bodywork in the lower third of the doors before resuming around the rear wheel arch.

The rear side windows, too, look unique, tapering inward towards the back of the car, with the gap between them and the rear windscreen filled with a black piece of trim, as if the main bodywork has been carved up.

At the back, there’s a sizeable roof spoiler, a horizontal light bar just beneath the windscreen and a large blank space with a crease running across the centre of the boot lid.

It looks striking, funky and sporty – possibly only one step down from a ‘warm’ hatch.

Yet again, BYD has demonstrated why it's out in front in terms of car design from this glut of new Chinese manufacturers.

Key Features

The BYD Dolphin Surf is offered in three trim levels.

The entry-level Active model comes with 15-inch steel wheels, a 10.1-inch electrically rotatable infotainment touchscreen featuring Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, DAB radio, voice control, vegan leather seats, and a seven-inch digital instrument display.

The Mid-level Boost has 16-inch alloys, rain-sensing wipers, and an electrically adjustable driver's seat.

The top-of-the-range Comfort model features a 360-degree surround-view camera, wireless phone charger, power-folding door mirrors, automatic LED headlights, and heated front seats.

All Dolphin Surfs are front-wheel drive, and the amount of power on offer depends on the trim level you pick.

Active and Boost come with an 87PS electric motor (although, as we'll cover shortly, the Boost gets a larger battery), while range-topping Boost nearly doubles that to 154PS.

Range & Batteries

The entry-level Active model achieves a range of 137 miles from its 30kWh battery.

That compares with a 43kWh battery in the mid-range Boost, which can travel 200 miles.

The range-topping Comfort features the same 43kWh battery, but due to its increased power, this reduces the range to 193 miles.

Of course, real-world range depends on your driving style and ambient temperature, as well as other factors. So, if you’re achieving around two-thirds of the quoted figure, that’s roughly about in line with expectations, as a general rule.

Performance & Drive

Given that the entry-level Active model only has 87PS, you might be pleasantly surprised to hear that 0-62mph takes 11.1 seconds, as we had expected it to be even slower than that.

Admittedly, it is a full second slower – 12.1 seconds – if you opt for the mid-range Boost model, thanks to its larger, and therefore heavier, battery.

While these times might be more impressive than the power output suggests, it's still painfully slow and beaten by the majority of rivals.

If this doesn't meet your needs, you can reduce the time to 9.1 seconds by opting for the flagship Comfort trim, which is what we're testing here.

Even though this model isn’t amazingly fast, it still feels sufficiently brisk, offering reasonable levels of acceleration.

However, the power feels even more accessible at low speeds, providing a more substantial shove up to about 20mph.

As a result, the Dolphin Surf feels especially at home in slower, urban environments, zipping about around suburbs and tight backstreets with aplomb while providing enough sprightliness to dart in and out of traffic on ring roads.

As for the overall driving experience, it's a mixed bag.

Ride comfort feels decent around town, but as speed increases, it becomes slightly bouncy and unrefined, lacking composure and grip, with noticeably more body roll around corners than many similarly sized foes.

You will probably be fine on smooth motorways, but around roads whose surfaces have seen better days, the Dolphin Surf struggles a bit despite feeling reasonably agile.

The Surf's steering is well-weighted, feeling lighter when tootling about, but becoming heavier at around 40mph, which improves your confidence around corners.

However, it's not especially engaging to drive and falls short of living up to the athletic, eager playfulness that its body shape suggests.

Overall, it’s not bad, but unless you want to feel frustrated, you’ll need to opt for the top-of-the-range model for its extra power. As for its handling, its sporty looks aren't reflective of its dynamics in practice.

Charging

The Active model charges at a maximum DC charging speed of 65kW.

That is not quick by today's standards, but as the batteries aren't that big either, you can achieve a 10-80% top-up in around half an hour.

As the name suggests, the Boost ups the charging rate to 85kW, meaning it takes the same amount of time to achieve an equivalent top-up despite the larger battery size.

The Boost’s figures are also the same for the top-of-the-range Comfort model that we’re driving.

Running Costs & Emissions

As an all-electric car, you won’t need to worry about fuel consumption or CO2 emissions.

Small hatchbacks aren't what most people think of in terms of company cars, but the Surf will be as attractive as any other electric car, given the Benefit In Kind tax rates are as low as can be.

Road tax isn’t free anymore, although you’ll at least get the first year for just £10.

In terms of reliability, BYD, as a manufacturer, is still new, making it difficult to gauge its dependability accurately; however, initial data is encouraging.

Servicing intervals are every two years or every 20,000 miles, whichever comes first.

Interior & Technology

When you step inside the Dolphin Surf, it’s immediately clear you’re in a cheap car – but BYD has done a great job of making it look attractive.

There are some softer surfaces and fabric finishes, but much of it is made of more rigid plastics, which have clearly been chosen for their affordability.

It seems unfair to criticise this, given the price point of the car – BYD has had to do something to keep costs down, after all – especially given it's gone to a lot of effort in terms of its overall appeal.

The steering wheel is nicely designed, featuring thumb indentations, a flat bottom, and a generous amount of silver, including a double-spoke at the base. Even the multi-function buttons look satisfying to press.

There is a large piano black circle housing BYD’s logo in the middle of the wheel, too.

The dashboard is divided into three sections – the top and bottom are dark grey, while the middle is a whiteish light grey.

It is the same story with the seats, where the outer bits are the latter colour and the rest of it dark grey.

The 10.1-inch infotainment screen sits on top of the dashboard like a tablet and, given it’s not the largest by today’s standards, it’s disappointing to lose so much space to rather thick black borders around the outside.

Nevertheless, the system housed within it is reasonably good, offering clean and attractive graphics, a responsive interface and a fairly intuitive menu layout – it’s certainly better than some of its competitors.

The screen can also be rotated electronically, allowing you to view it in portrait mode if you prefer, although Apple CarPlay and Android Auto require it to be in landscape

mode to function correctly.

The seven-inch digital instrument display is on the small side, but it's reasonably good, offering plenty of helpful information, although it's not very customisable.

Frustratingly, the climate control is operated via the infotainment touchscreen rather than through physical controls.

Although the shortcut buttons to various air conditioning menus are always visible at the bottom of the screen, the icons are small, making it a bit of a hassle to use on the move.

Overall, there’s a hint of style over substance, but BYD has done a great job of making a bargain-basement interior look worthy of a higher price tag, even if some of the materials give the game away.

Practicality & Boot Space

Not many small cars offer electric seat adjustment, but that's precisely what you'll get in the BYD Dolphin Surf, as long as you avoid the entry-level model.

It certainly makes finding a comfortable driving position simpler, and there's ample travel in both the seats and the steering wheel. However, adjustable lumbar support isn't offered, even as an optional extra.

Visibility out of the front isn’t the best, as, even though the windscreen pillars are relatively thin, the door frames protrude significantly from the sides. However, at least the windscreen is large, and the pillars are swept back.

The rear isn't great at all, though, as the entire rear side window tapers inward, significantly limiting your over-the-shoulder visibility, which is further hindered by the shallow rear windscreen and the large roof spoiler.

A rear-view camera and rear parking sensors help mitigate the problem on all trim levels (our top-of-the-range Comfort model comes with a 360-degree camera).

Inside, there’s a sufficient amount of legroom and headroom, but you do feel a bit hemmed in, partly thanks to the width of the centre console. However, at least that helps to separate you from a fellow front-seat occupant.

In the back, there’s a surprising amount of space, with good headroom despite a slight slope in the roofline and enough legroom, thanks to the front seats being kept on the thin side.

This is still a small car, though, so if you know you'll regularly be carrying taller passengers in the back, it's worth trying out before you lease.

It is also worth remembering that this is only a four-seater car – there’s no middle seat – but the two that are there, as well as the front passenger side, have Isofix points for child seats.

The boot capacity measures 308 litres, a figure that includes the space underneath the floor – although you're likely to use some of that room to store charging cables.

It expands to a handy 1,037-litres if you fold the rear seats down.

As it’s a four-seater, the rear seat split is 50:50, right down the middle.

There isn't a massive amount of additional storage elsewhere, given that the door bins aren't the biggest. However, BYD claims there are twenty separate places to keep your belongings – the cubby in the centre console is a decent size.

But, once you’ve put a couple of drinks in the cupholders and (if you’ve got the top-of-the-range Comfort trim) are using the wireless phone charger, there isn’t much room elsewhere.

Safety

The BYD Dolphin Surf hasn’t been crash-tested by Euro NCAP yet. However, six other BYD vehicles have been previously tested, and all of them scored a five-star rating.

The slightly larger Dolphin (not to be confused with the Dolphin Surf we’re testing) is likely the most comparable.

It scored 89% for adult occupants, 87% for children, and 79% for safety assists when tested in 2023.

The Dolphin Surf features automatic emergency braking, a driver monitoring system, a tyre pressure monitoring system, intelligent adaptive cruise control, emergency lane keep assist, intelligent power brake, and intelligent speed limit control.

You also get lane departure assist, forward collision warning, and traction control as standard on all models, along with rear parking sensors.

The Active and Boost models come with a rear-view camera, while our top-of-the-range Comfort test car features a 360-degree surround view camera instead.

Options

There is no options list on the BYD Dolphin Surf.

Once you’ve picked your trim level, the only choice is whether to opt for the default body colour, lime green or pay extra for one of the other three.

The alternatives are white, light blue or black.

Rival Cars

There are plenty of rivals to the Dolphin Surf, vying for a piece of your wallet.

Citroën offers the e-C3, while we've also recently seen the exciting relaunch of the iconic (and now all-electric) Renault 5, complete with its modern-day funkiness.

The Dacia Spring is one contender for those on a budget, as it’s dirt cheap to lease – even compared with the Dolphin Surf – but lacks equipment.

If you’re happy to go with a new brand, Leapmotor offers the T03, although it doesn’t have the sophistication of the BYD. However, like the Dacia, it’s cheaper.

Other cars worth considering include the similarly priced Hyundai Inster and the Fiat 500e.

Verdict & Next Steps

If you're looking to lease a budget-friendly electric car, the BYD Dolphin Surf is likely a strong contender.

Admittedly, the ride comfort isn’t great, it’s not as exciting to drive as its athletic outlines suggest, and it’s impossible to mask the cheapness of the interior materials.

Despite this, BYD has done a great job making the cabin look nice; plus, it's packed full of technology as standard, is quite roomy for such a small car, achieves a respectable range in higher trim levels and offers reasonable performance.

Yes, compared with the entry-level model, you could lease a top-of-the-range Dacia Spring, spec it out with every optional extra and still have enough change to go on a two-week all-inclusive holiday.

But, even with all that added, the Dacia is still relatively no-frills to BYD’s generous equipment levels – plus, the Dolphin Surf is bigger and looks more appealing.

So, if financial sensibility and value for money are your main priorities, BYD is putting up one heck of a fight.

Where to next?

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**Score based on Select’s unique meta score analysis, taking into account the UK’s top leading independent car website reviews of the BYD Dolphin Surf.

**Correct as of 07/11/2025. Based on 9 months initial payment, 5,000 miles annually, over a 36 month lease. Initial payment equivalent to 9 monthly payments, or £1,439.82 (Plus admin fee) Ts and Cs apply. Credit is subject to status.