China’s BYD Seagull is a ridiculously hot seller, in part, because it costs less than $10,000! Called the Dolphin Mini in other export markets, including Mexico, the version I drove is the larger, more sophisticated European version called the BYD Dolphin Surf. And while the subcompact electric hatchback I piloted cost three times what a Seagull costs in China, I enjoyed it and found it to be a great value. Here’s why.
BYD launched the Seagull on the Chinese market in 2023. Today, it is the best-selling BYD model in China. Each month, BYD sells about 34,000 units, so it is a very important car for the Shenzhen-based automaker.
On May 21, BYD launched the Dolphin Surf simultaneously in various European markets, including Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands. On that day, BYD invited me to a media event and a test drive. BYD made various changes to get the Dolphin Surf ready for Europe—the bumpers are a bit bigger, and the suspension has been stiffened.
Test driving the BYD Dolphin Surf
The Dolphin Surf is an anomaly in BYD’s lineup. The other BYD cars look good, but also a bit sleepy, especially compared to the bold designs of other Chinese carmakers.
The Dolphin Surf, however, is a sharp-looking little thing. It has small LED headlights that look kind of angry, but in a nice way. It has a steeply raked windshield, strong creases along the sides and hood, blacked-out pillars for a floating roof effect, and a stubby rear end with a sporty roof spoiler and a tiny rear window.
The Dolphin Surf is a subcompact car, at only 157 inches long, with a 94.5-inch wheelbase. Curb weight, depending on battery and motor, ranges from 2,798 to 3,009 pounds. My test car was the top-spec BYD Dolphin Surf Comfort, painted in lime great.
This is the standard color, which is cool. Boring colors like black and white cost €650 more [Ed Note: I love this. -DT]. Sadly, the interior is always done in black and gray, which is as exciting as it sounds. BYD doesn’t offer any other interior color combinations.
I drove the BYD Dolphin Surf in the Netherlands, where BYD has its European headquarters (but it announced last week that it will move its HQ to Hungary). Specifically, I drove from the heart of the port city of Rotterdam to Schipluiden, a picturesque village surrounded by meadows and greenhouses, where the locals like to go cycling and grumble about each other’s gardens. The route went through the city, over the highway, and along B-roads.
Speedy
The BYD Dolphin Surf is a front-wheel-drive car based on BYD’s E-Platform 3.0. In the Comfort model, the output of the electric motor is 154 hp and 162 ft-lbs. That’s quite a lot of torque for such a small car—pedal to the metal, and off it goes.
Merging on the highway and overtaking was surprisingly easy—addictive, even. I started overtaking other cars just for the fun of it. I hadn’t expected this—neither did other road users, left wondering about the little yellow car that left them in the dust. BYD says it’ll do 0–62 mph in 9.1 seconds, and the top speed is 150 km/h (93 mph). I didn’t do a timed test, but I believe those numbers are about right, even if they don’t communicate how agile the BYD feels.
The Dolphin Surf handles well for a small EV. I drove it rally-style over the typical narrow canal-side roads in the Schipluiden area, with bridges over the canals and into the villages. Again, surprisingly sporty.
BYD says it has stiffened the suspension for European markets, where folks like a stiff chassis, which has worked very well. I drove a Seagull in China two years ago, and there, the suspension is tuned more for comfort. However, while the stiffer suspension is great for spirited driving on B-roads and for overtaking trucks, it’s less enjoyable on older highways, where the road imperfections are a bit too noticeable.
Range & Charging
The Dolphin Surf Comfort has a 43.2 kWh Blade LFP battery. The platform features Cell-to-Body (CTB) technology, where the battery pack is fully integrated into the chassis floor. According to BYD, the car has a combined WLTP range of 310 kilometers (193 mi) and a combined electricity consumption of 16 kWh/100 kilometers (3.9 mi/kWh).
During my test drive, I achieved an average consumption of 13.9 kWh/50 kilometers (2.2 mi/kWh). Weirdly, that’s the best I could measure, because the consumption meter in the car only looks back 50 km, instead of 100, which is the common standard. The max DC charging speed is 85 kW; the 10–80% charging time is 30 minutes, and 30–80% takes 22 minutes. AC charging takes five hours with a max speed of 11 kW.
Interior
The interior color may be a little boring, but the quality is top-notch for the segment. Everything is well put together, and the materials look and feel very nice. There is some hard plastic, but only in less visible places like the door bins and storage compartments.
The car has faux-leather seats that are a tad too flat, with integrated headrests. Many Chinese automakers fit such headrests to save costs, but for taller drivers in Europe it could be a deal-breaker.
The steering wheel is relatively large—I like that a lot. I’m not a fan of the tiny-wheel trend in China.
The Main Screen
Every Dolphin Surf comes with a 10.1-inch touchscreen. The screen has a cool feature: With a click on the screen or a button on the steering wheel, it rotates from landscape mode to portrait mode, and back — similar to a Fisker Ocean.
It’s nice to fool around with once or twice, and from then on, you may never use it again. The screen has a wide bezel, which looks a tad old-school. The same goes for the staid graphics—nothing fun going on. BYD is more boring in this regard than, for example, Dongfeng or Smart. However, the screen is responsive, quick, and easy to navigate. Wireless Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and Spotify come standard. The built-in “Hey BYD” voice assistant has a soothing female voice and proved genuinely helpful for adjusting settings like climate and audio volume.
Oddly, the system is English-only, which means it struggles with Dutch place names and radio station names. BYD said it will fix this soon via an OTA update. That’s nice, I guess, but why didn’t BYD fix it before launch? The navigation map appeared to be incomplete. Funnily, for example, it didn’t know the restaurant where BYD held the media event, so I had to use Apple Maps via Apple CarPlay to get back there.
A 7-inch digital cluster behind the wheel displays essentials like range and speed in a retro-digital font with colorful graphics. The BYD is further equipped with a 4-speaker audio system, DAB radio, a WiFi hotspot, and a 15-watt mobile phone charger.
A nice design detail is the metal-finished button panel below the screen, which includes the drive selector on the left, the fan speed, and a large volume knob.
Four Seats Only
The Dolphin Surf is classified as a four-seat car, but the rear compartment is rather spacious—I could easily sit behind myself. My kids would easily fit in there as well, even for a longer journey, but they might get bored because BYD didn’t put any USB ports in the back, so when the Nintendo’s battery dies, it’s game over.
Fortunately, at the front, the car has USB ports and a 12V socket. Interestingly, it also has a slot for an SD card. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen one of those — nobody uses SD cards anymore, neither in Europe nor in China.
The luggage space is not very big—it holds 10.9 cubic feet, or 36.6 cubic feet with the rear seats folded down. The space is just large enough for one suitcase or some groceries. The tailgate is quite narrow with a high loading sill, so getting heavy stuff in isn’t easy. The Dolphin Surf doesn’t have a frunk.
Safety
The Dolphin Surf is a Chinese car, so it’s loaded with sensors and driving-assistance systems, including ACC with Stop & Go, AEB, DDW, ELKA, FCW, and LDA. The passive safety set is impressive as well. It comes as standard with a total of six airbags—driver and front passenger, side curtain airbags, and side airbags in the front seats.
Price and Competition
The top-spec Dolphin Surf Comfort that I drove starts at €26,690 ($30.2K). But you can get one for much less.
The base model is called the Dolphin Surf Active—it has 88 hp/175 Nm and a 30 kWh battery, and sells for €22,990 ($26K) — range is 137 miles on the WLTP cycle. The best choice is probably the model in the middle, the Dolphin Surf Boost, for €24,990 (~$28K). It has the 88 hp motor combined with the larger 43.2 kWh battery, and it offers about 300 km of WLTP range.
The BYD seems like a good deal—lots of car for the money—but the subcompact EV segment is getting ever more crowded in Europe. Funnily enough, most of the competition is Chinese or China-made, including the Dongfeng Box, the Leapmotor T3, and the Dacia Spring. Other competitors are the Citroën ë-C3, the Fiat Grande Panda Electric, and the Hyundai Inster.
I like how the Dolphin Surf drives and how it looks, and it has a decent price. It would be a perfect commuter machine, and fine for short weekend trips. In short, it would be a super second car. So yes, I would buy one if I ever needed an extra car. As a main or only car, its range and space are just a bit too limited for my driving style and lifestyle. But I’m sure many people would disagree, and I bet BYD will sell quite a lot of Dolphin Surf hatchbacks in the Netherlands and throughout Europe.
Random comment about how great it would be if Stellantis sold the Citroën ë-C3 here.
Oh wait, Trump hates the French too. Never mind.
And what is a nonce, and why is mine invalid?
The European version has been changed, compared to the Chinese one, not only in the suspension as Tycho mentions. I think it’s also a tad bigger, among other changes.
I wouldn’t make much of the price, though – in Brazil (a country not known for cheap car prices – a Mustang GT Performance costs nearly US$ 100k here) the Dolphin Mini costs about US$ 21k. It’s the top selling EV in the country, moving more than 2 thousand units monthly. It’s becoming popular with rideshare drivers, for obvious reasons – BYD even launched a five-passenger version here to cater to this market.
I think BYD set a price that they think Europeans can afford to pay. If they were able/allowed to sell in the US it would be a totally different story.
Lastly, I hope they bring the stiffer suspension to the Brazilian version. The main complaint about the Dolphin Mini (as it’s called here) is that, as its suspension is too soft, it jumps too much when facing potholes and speedbumps – of which we have plenty…
In Chile it starts at just $17k USD.
It looks like a $10k car and with the specs to match, so I would think this thing will be a tough sell. For all the grief the Leaf gets, it still looks like the better deal.