Australia got a glimpse of one affordable electric hatchback at the Fully Charged Live show in Sydney earlier this month with the unveiling of the MG 4. Another may soon be on its way in the form of the BYD Dolphin.
The Dolphin is launching shortly in Thailand, another important right hand drive market which could give us a glimpse of what to expect if it decides to come to Australia later this year.
The news was shared on BYD River Thailand dealership’s facebook page yesterday, flagging that the standard model will sell from 799,999 baht, or around $35,000.
Image: BYD Dolphin in Thailand via Car2dayA poster with the launch offer was also shared for prospective buyers which showcased a purple Dolphin in the background along with all the key vehicle specifications.
The poster showed for the entry-level standard range variant of the electric hatchback that is offered with a 44.8 kWh battery pack.
The standard range battery pack delivers 410 km of NEDC range or over 300 km of range on the WLTP. That’s plenty for city driving or for shorter road trips.
Vehicle to load is also a feature that’s available with the Dolphin and can be used to power things when on the go, or in case of an emergency when backup power is needed.
For charging, a portable charger is included and buyers have the choice of installing a level 2 charger as well.
For the pricer of $A35,000, BYD is offering an 8-year 160,000 km warranty on the powertrain as well as roadside assistance.
Thai reservations have opened with customer deliveries expected to start by July this year. This would fit in well as BYD uptake takes off in the country.
This comes on the back of several milestones for BYD in Thailand. The first one is the 10,000 Atto 3 sales in the country since starting deliveries in 2022.
Over 10,000 BYD ATTO 3s Set Sail Towards Thailand!
10,305 orders for BYD's ATTO 3 have been placed since November 1st
BYD's 2022 total sales of passenger vehicles were over 1.86 million units, a YoY increase of 155.1%.
40,014 BYD ATTO 3s were exported in 2022 #ElectricVehicle pic.twitter.com/rS1iw4mvS4
— BYD (@BYDCompany) January 14, 2023
Then the next major milestone has been the start of an EV factory by BYD in Thailand itself. The construction of which began earlier this month and is expected to be operational by next year.
Celebrating the start of building our first overseas manufacturing base in Thailand.
This milestone also coincides with the delivery of our 9,999th & 10,000th #BYD ATTO 3
This marks another step towards accelerating global electrification & helping cool the earth by 1 ℃ pic.twitter.com/gQubIo9TDN
— BYD (@BYDCompany) March 11, 2023
In Australia, there have been multiple spottings of the BYD Dolphin testing around Australia as well and with the success of the BYD Atto 3 so far, there is plenty of pent-up demand for an even more affordable electric option.
One of the more recent sightings was in Sydney last month. At that time around it was a right-hand drive version that was spotted charging at a shopping centre.
More BYD Dolphin pics pic.twitter.com/IOajdIo1W8
— ARM (@13arm13arm) February 17, 2023
The Driven’s take: With an asking price of under $A35,000 in a large right-hand-drive market like Thailand, it’d be great for it to make its way to Australia before the end of the year. Its arrival would ensure there are more affordable options in the market.
That would ultimately allow many more drivers locally to make the switch from an ICE car to a quieter EV while reducing noise and pollution from the cities.
Riz is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.