6 Months with a BYD Dolphin Premium

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By Kurt Conway, as informed to David Waterworth (with any additional notes from me in italics). Persevering with our collection of proprietor evaluations. You may examine my very own impressions of the BYD Dolphin right here. Kurt tells me:

I’ve all the time been intrigued by electrical automobiles ever since Nissan launched the LEAF in 2011 and have all the time wished 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 means 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, effectively 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 have been and he informed me that the gasoline pump price 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 automobiles. He removed it earlier than the suspension failed although.

As I mentioned, I’ve all the time 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 effectively over AU$100 per week for gasoline.

My necessities for a brand new automotive have been that or not it’s a full BEV, have a minimal vary of 400 km per cost (as I do loads of kilometers), have an LFP battery, and be a hatchback. I do loads of kilometers not solely to commute to my job as a nurse, but in addition as a result of I’ve buddies/kin 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 concerned with since its 2022 launch in China and constructive overview on the Absolutely Charged Present). After my state authorities incentive of $3,000 and free stamp responsibility (saving one other $1,400), the Dolphin price me $43,200 to drive away. My Rio was a comparative cut price at $13,900 to drive away after I purchased it in 2016.

Why the Dolphin, I requested.

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

After I initially noticed the Dolphin on-line, I assumed, “Lastly, an EV that ticks all of my wants in a brand new automotive,” with the bonus that it didn’t have a plain Jane black/gray inside, however somewhat 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 full of heaps of tech, it’s actually easy to make use of and the voice instructions are nice and responsive for some settings which are a little bit deeper within the menu, which implies no taking arms off the wheel while driving.

One other bonus of the Dolphin is that I can all the time cost its 62 kWh (60.5 kWh usable battery) to 100% with out worrying about battery degradation, attributable to its LFP chemistry and BYD’s superior battery tech. The truth is, it’s really helpful to cost to 100% for battery calibration and state of cost share accuracy, very similar to with LFP battery geared up Teslas.

With a little bit prompting, Kurt informed me of his journey thus far:

The primary month after taking supply was an attention-grabbing one — from worrying 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 all the completely different EV apps that I’d have to cost.

I’ve since came upon that A Higher 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 range 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 by 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 buddies (a complete of two,500 km). The semi-autonomous cruise management (ICA) was a godsend on this lengthy journey and took loads of the stress out of driving. Though the system was a little bit twitchy at occasions, like forcing me over the centre line, I’m certain this was largely to do with garbage roads in very distant, desolate areas of my residence state of New South Wales, Australia, the place the space between main regional cities is wherever from 270 km.

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

The native caravan park in Cobar was more than pleased 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 nervous 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 typically carry a good bit of tenting gear on these journeys, economic system takes a little bit of a success and the utmost vary is roughly 320 km.

General, I’m very impressed and proud of the Dolphin. The software program is tremendous simple 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 residence. I powered the fridge/freezer in residence 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 precipitated the blackout, however the V2L adapter saved me having to throw away loads of costly meals.

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

I actually like the truth that BYD hasn’t eliminated all the buttons within the automotive’s inside to regulate loads of the important capabilities.

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 in regards to the excessive price of gasoline.

I additionally somewhat take pleasure in chatting to non-EV house owners while charging about EVs on the whole (not many have seen a Dolphin in my a part of Sydney). I typically get folks asking, “I’ve by no means seen a kind of earlier than?” or “Who makes that automotive?” or  “How far can it go on a cost? How a lot does it price to cost? How fast is it?” To which I prefer to say: “It’s made by one of many world’s main EV producers, BYD in China, goes as much as 480 km on a cost, and prices $26 if I cost at residence.”

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

There are just a few negatives, nonetheless: the comparatively gradual 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 site visitors signal recognition system that must be turned off each time the automotive is turned on, and the silly placement of the wi-fi telephone charging pad (which needs to be below the infotainment display screen as an alternative of a weirdly designed centre console).

General effectivity has been somewhat 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 a lot better and cheaper.

What in regards to 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 Kind 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 produce 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 quicker, 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 residence till an improve is carried out and a quicker wall charger put in.

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

The general price 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 price 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.