As the EV (Electric Vehicle) segment gains traction in the Philippines, we have individuals who swear by the use of electric power as the way of the future today in to go mobility. With more and more brands offering electric vehicles (or electric-enhanced vehicles), EVs are definitely going to be part of our country’s motoring landscape from now on. A brand that has been in the electric vehicle ballgame for quite some time is BYD. But it is not a new player in the local motoring scene.
My first up-close encounter with the BYD brand was in the 2015s with their Qin model, a plug-in hybrid compact car, that made me think that electric power can have its advantages in the automotive scene. The Qin being named after the first imperial dynasty of China, was my baptism of volts and amperes so to speak for electric powered vehicles. 
It was a comfortable car with a handy feature at car washes and parking lots for me. Then it was followed by their BYD E6, which was a fully electric compact MPV. It planted my notion that EVs could also perform if set up right. I had visited an autocross practice sesh with the E6 that time and did a few “test” runs in the autocross layout before they ended the practice session. Finding out that it was impressively quick through their layout…in a bone stock electric MPV!
Fast forward to today. where I find myself behind the wheel in the BYD Dolphin, one of their offerings that adopts the Marine Aesthetics design language. 
The design ethos is also used in the other Ocean Series models of BYD. The Dolphin is an all-electric subcompact car. A vehicle that has a space footprint of 4,125mm(L) x 1,770mm(W) x 1,570mm(H). Wheelbase is 2,700mm with a wheel track of 1,530mm front and rear. 
Just a little bigger than the sub compact ICE that I’m used to driving for the past 8 years. Weight is 1,405kg and a ground clearance of 120mm.
For moving the Dolphin around, a permanent magnet synchronous motor that makes 95ps and 180nm of torque is used. Though there are bigger outputs of 177ps and 204ps motor variants outside of the Philippines, but just as the saying goes…”with great power, greater (power) consumption follows”. 
We make do with the 95ps electric motor and respectable 405km range. For reference, that’s roughly two trips going to Clark International Speedway (CIS) and one trip heading back to where I live. A distance of 321km, I’d prudently save the remaining 84km range to go around searching for a charging station. I guess its inherent in me to have a buffer. Heck, I even do it in my ICE powered vehicles. Range anxiety is real for me. LOL! The onboard juice is provided by BYD’s proprietary Blade battery technology. The lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery capacity is 44.5kwh.
Speaking of available charging points. At present, the number of public charging points are growing, albeit slowly. Yes,there are charging points in the malls but that is not always 100% convenient for 100% of the EV users. It’s a chicken or the egg predicament that needs to be addressed before EV sales can multiply exponentially.
Now going back to the BYD Dolphin, the interior is well thought out. Every button, every switch falls within easy reach of the driver. There is a slight learning curve to where and what the controls do but that’s true for every new vehicle you get into. Learning which does what before driving into the sunset is just being sensible.
Although the Dolphin’s interior is predominantly made of plastic, it is textured plastic so as to make the touch surfaces look and feel premium. Dominating the center of the dashboard is a 12.8-inch screen that you can rotate from landscape and portrait position any time at the touch of a button. But I prefer having the screen in landscape mode, portrait mode obscures some of the outward view from my sitting position. 
Directly below the screen is a cubby tray for your thingamabobs. In front of the tray are knobs and switches that control the transmission, vehicle modes, climate controls. 
And further below that is the center console with the ports for connecting your smart devices (a USB type-A and a type-c). A 12-volt power supply socket with a capacity of 120 watts sits alongside it. Also, there seems to be an SD card slot for the navigation’s memory card.
Moving backwards on the center console, we find storage space and the center beverage holders. We also find buttons that control the Traction Control, Parking Brake and Auto Hold systems of the car. 
One nice detail I discovered was the part where you usually rest your arm on the center console, it doubles as your RFID card holder so that it’s within very easy reach when you need it. Rounding out the center console is beverage holder for the rear passenger/s, as well as a USB type-A port for smart devices.
I counted a total of seven beverage holders around the interior, in the doors and center console, that should be enough to have a full complement of five including the driver.
The steering wheel is leather wrapped, has buttons for cruise and audio controls. The steering wheel is D-shaped for more legroom when pointed straight ahead and is just the right size. The adjustable tilt helps in finding the right driving position for you, but the absence of telescopic adjustment makes it a little difficult finding the sweet spot. 
Speaking of driving positions, the driver and passenger seat is electrically adjusted so you’re not limited to the detents for adjustments. And with that, my only gripe with powered seats, it takes so long to adjust into position.
Overall, the interior is importantly comfortable with the leather seats and the controls within easy reach. The rest of the interior is straight forward. The black and tan interior has a minimalist theme going on and it works for me.
On the performance side, the BYD Dolphin has predictable driving dynamics, enough that it drives practically like an ICE powered vehicle minus the engine noise. You have ECO and SPORT driving modes in which I found the latter mode more suited to my driving style. The modes differ in throttle response and electrical consumption of the onboards systems mainly but the driving dynamics stay very similar through both modes. The go pedal’s response is quite instantanuous in SPORT mode and predictablely weighted steering wheel makes for a fun little car. 
The BYD Dolphin is not a sports car flat through the corners, but it’s close, very close. More of a function of all the heavy bits of this car is down below on the floor. Acceleration is a “snap of your fingers” quick, you get power and torque right off the line. I believe the Dolphin has potential in the aftermarket scene after a few mods. There is rumored to be Dolphin Sport from BYD with a bigger wheel/tires combo, an aggressive body kit and other bits. Just goes to show you how much potential the Dolphin has in the car scene.
The BYD Dolphin has been in the market for quite some time. The public might be familiar with the Department of Energy (DOE) and Meralco’s fleet of BYD Dolphins roaming the streets in Metro Manila. The latest fleet of BYD Dolphins now in the Metro is found in Valenzuela City’s Police. Majority might ask why our team got to test late with BYD? Our answer is simple: almost all cars are in pristine condition when being lent out to us, we wanted the test unit to be as high mileage as possible so any first few months of wear and tear we can see it for ourselves.
Our schedule for our test drive was only a few days and boy did we do everything. From parking in tight spaces, not using the usual expressways, and we even did a mountain cruise up in Tanay. Being an electric vehicle has its perks with the “No Number Coding” Republic Act No. 11697, also known as the Electric Vehicle Industry Development Act (EVIDA). Under this law, electric and hybrid electric vehicles are exempt from the coding scheme.
The BYD Dolphin is available at a price of Php 1,398,000 and has 2 color variants the Cream White and Urban Grey.
As BYD Cars has a reputation of being one of the best in the market but customers need to drive and experience every feature the car has to know that it’s worth the money spent.
BYD Cars are officially distributed by AC Mobility in the Philippines. AC Mobility is part of the Ayala group of Companies and is the country’s first end-to-end mobility provider.