BYD Dolphin Surf is a small, simple £18k motor packed with things that please… it knocks its rivals out the park
I'M a big fan of small and simple cars because I like value for money more than I do screens and gadgets.
This BYD Dolphin Surf is small and simple.
4
4
Just press and go.
It's value for money at £18,650.
And yet it's got a rotating touchscreen and all those gadgets thrown in anyway.
Where's the catch?
I can't see one.
It knocks a Dacia Spring and Leapmotor T03 out of the park because it's a proper car for not much more and it's comfortably less than the already brilliant-value Renault 5.
Finance from £269 a month with £269 deposit. Or £199 a month with about £3k deposit.
It'll cost pennies to run.
I reckon many will be bought as second cars but end up being the one owners use the most.
Dolphin Surf has four seats, three with ISOFIX anchor points for the kiddlywinks, and a surprisingly practical boot that'll swallow the Friday big shop.
Properly comfy seats by the way. Made of 'vegan leather' whatever that means.
Big drink holders. Phone storage tray.
Apple CarPlay. Reversing camera.
Adaptive cruise control for your out-of-town runs.
All things that please and all included in the price.
You can even use your little BYD bud as a mobile power bank – running everything from party lights to a fridge.
Now I should spell out that Dolphin Surf comes in two battery sizes.
The entry-level Active gets you a 137-mile battery by the WLTP test and a big enough e-motor to keep you swimming in quick traffic.
Then there's the £22k Boost nudging 200 miles from the 43kWh battery.
'BRIM THE BATTERY'
Both use lithium iron phosphate (LFP) chemistry for higher levels of durability and safety.
So you can 'brim' the battery every time without depleting it.
Both roll on Hankook tyres. Another positive.
Even the lime green paint job is free.
How safe is it? It's engineered to attain a four-star safety rating.
The body uses 68 per cent high-strength steel and the car is brimming with anti-crash gear.
The car will be made in Hungary soon – and avoid tariffs.
I told you BYD would quickly chime with UK drivers and the Chinese are already outselling Honda, Citroen, Fiat and more.
There are a load of plug-in hybrids coming next, including a junior SUV and a pick-up truck called Shark.
4
4
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Will HMRC's digital initiatives make customers' lives any easier?
SIR – You report (June 12) that HMRC is to stop sending letters to customers. A year ago I was encouraged by HMRC to start using its app. I duly downloaded it and tried to log in but was refused access, as I needed to provide proof of identity – specifically a passport number or driving licence. I am in my eighties, my driving licence has been revoked owing to my poor eyesight, and my passport has expired as I no longer travel abroad. My only valid means of identification is my bus pass, which is not accepted. The alternative was to contact HMRC by phone. After holding on for an hour, I gave up. Meanwhile, HMRC continues to tax my pension with impunity. George Kelly Buckingham SIR – My mother has dementia. She has none of the documents required to establish her identity and access HMRC's online systems. I have power of attorney, but am not allowed to use these systems on her behalf, so am forced to spend hours on the phone and send letters that never get a reply. HMRC has taken more tax than is due for two years. I am told by the telephone operatives that my mother does not need to file a tax return, but that is the only way to get a rebate. Is HMRC setting out to confuse customers? Gillian Courage Cheltenham, Gloucestershire SIR – HMRC is to stop writing to taxpayers, except when demanding payments. It already refuses to speak to many of us on the phone. It took my wife 10 months to get a reply to a letter she wrote last year; this meant being incorrectly charged interest, which she had to appeal against. A year earlier, only two figures on the assessment form sent to me were recognisable. A five-minute phone call could have resolved the problem, but this was not possible. In both cases, we resorted to sending letters higher up the organisation. This did the trick. E R Dring Tadworth, Surrey SIR – Yesterday morning I received an email from HMRC (having opted out of receiving post) telling me that there was a new message in my account. I duly logged in. The message informed me that I would receive a statement – in four days' time. What was the point of this? Clare Morgan Alderley Edge, Cheshire SIR – Following the news that a phishing scam led to the loss of £49 million, a spokesman for HMRC blithely declared: 'Our customers suffered no financial loss.' This reflects the myopic thinking of the Civil Service. Of course customers suffered a loss: the money cannot now be spent on what it was collected for. Des Morgan Swindon, Wiltshire
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Any pride women felt about Rachel Reeves being the first female Chancellor has been flushed down the U-bend of spend, spend, spend
Labour has always had a woman problem and now it has the woman problem to end them all. Quite how Rachel Reeves has risen through their muppet-rich ranks without trace – to be fair, she did lie on her CV – and became Chancellor of the Exchequer is one of the mysteries of the age. Yet here she is, this mistress of mediocrity, wrecking the economy without a care in the world. Armed with only her boxy separates, freshly ironed fringe and a faint grasp of economics, Rachel from Accounts marches ever onwards in her mission to improve life for the 'ordinary working people' in this country. Whomsoever they might be. It is certainly not me. Is it you?
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
After 50 years I have finally given up smoking... and it's transformed my life in the most surprising way: ALEXANDRA SHULMAN
Rushing to my local garage the other day to fix an urgent tyre issue, I was met by the rich, heavy scent of the mechanic who came to help. Not petrol, diesel or oil, but, it turned out, the ambergris, jasmine and cedar scent he always wears. Maison Francis Kurkdjian, to be precise, which he buys from Selfridges at £480 a bottle.
