6 Months with a BYD Dolphin Premium

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By Kurt Conway, as advised to David Waterworth (with any additional notes from me in italics). Persevering with our series of owner reviews. You may examine my very own impressions of the BYD Dolphin here. Kurt tells me:

I’ve at all times been intrigued by electrical autos ever since Nissan launched the LEAF in 2011 and have at all times needed one for myself since I drove a Tesla Mannequin S P90D again in 2015 (that automotive was scary fast). I additionally love small hatchbacks for his or her practicality and their potential to slot in the smallest of parking areas, however there was no EV available on the market that suited my wants.

Come mid-November 2023, my final automotive, a petroleum 2016 Kia Rio was practically 8 years previous, nicely north of 100,000 km, and was beginning to fail terribly — a dodgy gasoline pump left me stranded in Damaged Hill, a blown radiator the week earlier than, and suspension that was beginning to squeak.

I requested Kurt what the prices had been and he advised me that the gasoline pump value AU$900 together with the towing, and the radiator was over AU$700. The suspension? Who is aware of? He anticipated that it could be round AU$1000 based mostly on his previous expertise with different vehicles. He removed it earlier than the suspension failed although.

As I mentioned, I’ve at all times had a eager curiosity in EVs and determined that I didn’t need one other petrol automotive, as I used to be getting sick of paying upwards of AU$2.30 a litre and nicely over AU$100 per week for gasoline.

My necessities for a brand new automotive had been that it’s a full BEV, have a minimal vary of 400 km per cost (as I do a whole lot of kilometers), have an LFP battery, and be a hatchback. I do a whole lot of kilometers not solely to commute to my job as a nurse, but in addition as a result of I’ve mates/family all through Australia and since I really like exploring this stunning nation.

So, in November of final 12 months, I put a deposit on a BYD Dolphin Premium (a automotive that I’ve been keenly fascinated by since its 2022 launch in China and constructive overview on the Totally Charged Present). After my state authorities incentive of $3,000 and free stamp responsibility (saving one other $1,400), the Dolphin value me $43,200 to drive away. My Rio was a comparative cut price at $13,900 to drive away once I purchased it in 2016.

Why the Dolphin, I requested.

To be sincere, the environmental advantages of going electrical, similar to decreased emissions and reliance on overseas/imported oil, are immense, however it didn’t issue into my option to buy an electrical car. The primary causes that I selected to go electrical had been: considerably decreased operating prices and vastly superior efficiency in comparison with the ICE equivalents to the BYD Dolphin.

After I initially noticed the Dolphin on-line, I believed, “Finally, an EV that ticks all of my needs in a new car,” with the bonus that it didn’t have a plain Jane black/gray inside, however relatively a cool (however not excessive) design that was color matched with the outside paint job.

After a inserting a deposit on the automotive, I went to a BYD showroom close to me in Western Sydney, New South Wales, for a test-drive. I used to be amazed on the automotive’s match and end, how good it was to drive, and the ability that it had for a small automotive, so I finalised the order and picked the automotive up two weeks later in mid-December 2023. BYD quotes the Dolphin Premium (the mannequin I selected) as having 150 kW and 310 Nm & being able to a 0–100 km/h (or 62 mph) in 7seconds. Though, I’ve personally managed 6.8 seconds. It was a lot enjoyable beating a V8 Holden Commodore (Pontiac GTO) in a drag race.

While the Dolphin is filled with heaps of tech, it’s actually easy to make use of and the voice instructions are nice and responsive for some settings which can be somewhat deeper within the menu, which implies no taking palms off the wheel while driving.

One other bonus of the Dolphin is that I can at all times cost its 62 kWh (60.5 kWh usable battery) to 100% with out worrying about battery degradation, as a result of its LFP chemistry and BYD’s superior battery tech. In truth, it’s beneficial to cost to 100% for battery calibration and state of cost proportion accuracy, very similar to with LFP battery outfitted Teslas.

With somewhat prompting, Kurt advised me of his journey up to now:

The primary month after taking supply was an attention-grabbing one — from being concerned about how a lot vary I had remaining, the place to cost, and studying all of the ins and outs of the software program, to wrapping my head round the entire completely different EV apps that I’d have to cost.

I’ve since discovered that A Better Route Planner (app) is nice at planning cost stops on lengthy journeys, PlugShare is invaluable for letting folks understand how lengthy you’ll be and for charger reliability, and Tesla’s Supercharger Community, while very dependable, can also be extraordinarily costly. Prices differ between 79¢ per kWh to 91¢ per kWh for non-Tesla drivers versus 65¢ per kWh for Tesla drivers.

Since selecting the automotive up in mid-December 2023, I’ve clocked shut to fifteen,000 km. I’ve been utilizing it day-after-day, not just for commuting and around-town duties, for which it excels, but in addition actually lengthy journeys into the outback NSW cities.

A kind of lengthy journeys within the Dolphin was Sydney to Damaged Hill (and again) to go to some mates (a complete of two,500 km). The semi-autonomous cruise management (ICA) was a godsend on this lengthy journey and took a whole lot of the stress out of driving. Though the system was somewhat twitchy at instances, like forcing me over the centre line, I’m certain this was principally to do with garbage roads in very distant, desolate areas of my house state of New South Wales, Australia, the place the space between main regional cities is anyplace from 270 km.

The Dolphin carried out significantly better than anticipated, and discovering a charger on the journey was actually a non-issue (because of the NRMA charging community and the Dolphin’s potential to make use of all variations of the Tesla Superchargers).

The native caravan park in Cobar was very happy to permit me to cost in a single day at certainly one of its powered caravan websites, which was nice, and saved much more cash.

The one level I used to be frightened about was between Cobar -> Wilcannia (arrived with round 20% remaining) and on the return journey Wilcannia -> Cobar, a 270 km stretch with completely nothing in between. As a result of coarse chip, sealed bitumen roads in outback Australia, and the truth that I usually carry a good bit of tenting gear on these journeys, financial system takes a little bit of successful and the utmost vary is roughly 320 km.

General, I’m very impressed and proud of the Dolphin. The software program is tremendous straightforward to make use of, the seats are extraordinarily comfy, and the general design is nice. My favourite design characteristic is how cool the rear taillights mild up at night time. One other bonus is that the automotive comes with a V2L adapter, which has come in useful while tenting and through a current blackout at house. I powered the fridge/freezer in house for 8 hours earlier than energy was restored (and solely used 1.5kWh or simply over 2% of the battery). I’ve no thought what prompted the blackout, however the V2L adapter saved me having to throw away a whole lot of costly meals.

The DCFC velocity is okay too (as much as 90 kW).

I actually like the truth that BYD hasn’t eliminated the entire buttons within the automotive’s inside to regulate a whole lot of the important features.

One of many advantages of proudly owning an EV that I wasn’t anticipating was that, since “refuelling” is free or very low-cost, I now exit on extra common, longer drives to discover our nice nation with out worrying concerning the excessive value of gasoline.

I additionally relatively take pleasure in chatting to non-EV homeowners while charging about EVs on the whole (not many have seen a Dolphin in my a part of Sydney). I usually get folks asking, “I’ve never seen one of those before?” or “Who makes that car?” or  “How far can it go on a charge? How much does it cost to charge? How quick is it?” To which I prefer to say: “It’s made by one of the world’s leading EV manufacturers, BYD in China, goes up to 480 km on a charge, and costs $26 if I charge at home.”

Any negatives in your 6-month expertise with the the Dolphin, I requested?

There are just a few negatives, nevertheless: the comparatively sluggish AC charging velocity of seven kW, no spare tyre (solely restore goop), substandard LingLong tyres, the ridiculous yearly servicing necessities for an EV, an excellent annoying visitors signal recognition system that must be turned off each time the automotive is turned on, and the silly placement of the wi-fi cellphone charging pad (which needs to be beneath the infotainment display as a substitute of a weirdly designed centre console).

General effectivity has been relatively superb, with 11.5 kWh per 100 km round city and 14–17 kWh per 100 km on the freeways (relying in velocity), and a lifetime common of 13.6kWh/100km.

My expertise thusly has confirmed that an EV can do every thing that an ICE automotive can do, however significantly better and cheaper.

What concerning the charging expertise?

Along with BYD’s provided trickle charger/EVSE (8 amps, 240V) that’s able to offering as much as 1.5 kW of charging, I bought a extra highly effective 15 amp /240V moveable EVSE, able to offering as much as 3.6 kW of charging and a Sort 2 (Mennekes) cable that permits me to make use of one of many many free public AC charging stations right here in Australia that require you to provide your personal cable.

As my home is 50 years previous and requires a meter-board improve and rewire earlier than I can set up a sooner, devoted EV charger able to supplying my automotive’s max AC cost charge of seven kW, I’ve been relying primarily on public charging stations close to work, that are free however inconvenient, or trickle charging at house till an improve is carried out and a sooner wall charger put in.

Even with the difficulty of not with the ability to cost as rapidly as I’d like at house, it’s nonetheless extra handy, and less expensive than having to go to a petroleum station 3 instances weekly.

The general value to cost for 15,000 km within the 5 ½ months I’ve had the automotive has been round AU$300, in comparison with a petroleum value of AU$2,150.

Would I’m going again to a petroleum car? No probability, even when the gasoline was free. The superior driving expertise that you simply get in an EV is simply too good.