CarBrandLogos archive · BYD · 2021

BYDDolphin

A cheap electric hatchback engineered properly, which is why Europe took it seriously.

Photo: User3204 · CC BY-SA 4.0

The story

A defining chapter in BYD history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the BYD Dolphin, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

The Dolphin, on sale from August 2021, was the first car on BYD's e-Platform 3.0 and the opening model of its Ocean series, sitting alongside the Dynasty range. Under Wolfgang Egger — previously head of design at Audi and Alfa Romeo — it was given a soft, friendly five-door hatchback body that made no attempt to look expensive.

BYD EA1 001 · JustAnotherCarDesigner · CC BY-SA 4.0

Design and engineering

What mattered was underneath. The platform integrates the Blade battery into the body structure, combines motor, transmission and power electronics into a single unit, and adds a heat pump, giving a small car respectable efficiency and a flat, roomy floor. It launched as a subcompact for China and grew slightly for its 2023 international rollout into the compact class, with front-mounted motor and front-wheel drive.

2021 BYD Dolphin EV · User3204 · CC BY-SA 4.0

In production

The Dolphin became one of BYD's core export products, built in Shenzhen and Changsha and, since 2024, in Rayong, Thailand — the company's first overseas passenger car plant. In Europe it undercut the established small electric cars on price while matching them on equipment, which is precisely the outcome European manufacturers had spent several years warning about.

BYD Dolphin IAA 2023 1X7A0280 · Alexander-93 · CC BY-SA 4.0

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

2021–present

Body

5-door hatchback

Technical specification

The Dolphin, in detail.

Production: August 2021 – present
Class: Subcompact car (B-segment; B, China; 2021–2025) ; Compact car (C-segment; C, Global; 2023–present)
Body style: 5-door hatchback
Layout: Front-motor, front-wheel-drive ; Front-engine, front-wheel-drive; Front-engine, front-motor, front-wheel-drive
Transmission: 1-speed A/T
Designer: Under the lead of Wolfgang Egger
Assembly: China: Shenzhen, Guangdong; Changsha, Hunan ; Thailand: Rayong (BYD Auto#TH; BYD Auto (Thailand), 2024–present)
Manufacturer: BYD Auto