BYD has just announced the pricing and specs of the all-electric Dolphin hatchback in New Zealand, a week after it opened up an expression of interest on the more affordable Dolphin hatchback.
The new pricing has surprised many current and future BYD customers in the country because it is higher than many hoped.
Like the variants heading to Hong Kong, it will come with two options:
- Standard (340 km WLTP estimate)
- Extended (427 km WLTP estimate)
The affordable Standard variant starts at the equivalent of $A46,250 and will come with a 44.9 kWh BYD Blade battery. Meanwhile, the Extended variant gets a bigger 60.48 kWh battery pack at a more premium $A51,810.
This has surprised many current BYD owners and future customers who were expecting the smaller to be the more affordable end.
One current BYD owner in New Zealand said:
“BYD Dolphin prices: $49,990 for Low range 45kWh. $55,990 for Extended range 60kWh. Seems too expensive!”
An Australian customer chimed into the conversation by saying:
“Wow I paid $49,990 for my extended range Atto. Expensive over the ditch.”
The prices announced were before any subsidies which for the Dolphin could shave another $A6,490 off the announced prices.
Diving into the specs, the Standard variant also comes with a small 70 kW motor while the Extended gets a bumped-up 150 kW motor.
This larger motor sounds similar to the one currently used in the Atto 3 in the right-hand drive Australia and New Zealand-delivered SUVs.
The motors help the Dolphin Extended get to 100 km/h from a standstill in around 7 seconds, which is quite respectable, while the Standard variant is over 5 seconds slower at doing the same sprint.
This base variant does it in 12.3 seconds, making it one of the slowest electric options on the market.
The expression of interest is currently open for customers in New Zealand with the first customer deliveries expected to start in September.
Australian pricing, specs and launch details are yet to be announced by BYD’s local arm but we expect that in the coming months.
BYD has done well in bringing an affordable ground-up electric SUV in the form of the Atto 3.
The Dolphin also helps the brand bring more options for customers to the market but with competition from giants like MG in the form of the MG4 also on the way, customers may go with a brand they recognise.
BYD Dolphin NZ Pricing & Spec Premiering on EVs & Beyond YouTube
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.