BYD releases owner manual for lowest cost EV in Australia, indicating deliveries are close

BYD has become a well-known brand amongst the EV community here in Australia thanks to its strong selling first electric SUV model, the Atto 3.

BYD has also teased a smaller city hatchback electric car, the Dolphin, which is officially launching at SeaWorld in June. Now the Dolphin Owners handbook has been published online, indicating that the first customer deliveries are near.

At the SeaWorld launch, the Dolphin became Australia’s cheapest EV with a starting price of $38,890 for the base Dynamic trim. This variant is powered by a smaller 70 kW motor which is paired with a 44.9 kWh battery pack. 

The next level up is the Premium variant which starts at $44,890 and comes with a more powerful 150 kW motor. This variant is also paired with a larger 60.48 kWh battery pack offering a range of up to 427 km of WLTP range.

The 192-page document outlines key areas owners should be aware of and gives a sneak peek into various parts of this electric city hatchback. Key areas covered in the manual:

• Safety
• Instrument Cluster
• Controller Operations
• Using and Driving
• In-Vehicle Devices
• Maintenance
• When Faults Occur
• Specifications

Dimension-wise the Dolphin comes in at 4,290 mm in length, 1,770 mm in width and 1,570  mm in height. This makes it very similar in dimensions to its main rival, the MG4 hatchback which has recently started deliveries to first local customers.

On the delivery times, the BYD website shows the September/October delivery timeframe for the Dolphin Dynamic and Premium variants.

Last month The Driven gave the first impressions of the Dolphin after various examples were sent to experience centres around the country. Since then, hundreds of potential Dolphin customers have had a chance to be up close to the vehicle. 

Some of The Driven’s readers have also been out to the BYD experience centres to check the new Dolphin and the feedback so far has been overall positive. Many have wanted to test-drive one which is likely to occur in the coming weeks.

With the owner’s manual available to current and future customers in our local market, the official first deliveries can’t be too far. We look forward to test-driving the new Dolphin and sharing what it brings to the affordable EV segment in Australia.