BYD Dolphin hatchback - Interior & comfort

First things first: the BYD Dolphin starts from just over £26,000, so you can’t expect it to feel plush and premium throughout. That said, the textured materials do just enough to disguise some of this car’s cheaper trim – mostly on the dashboard and doors.

BYD says the design of the Dolphin – like the name – is inspired by the ocean. There’s a curvy cubby on top of the dash and the interior door handles are designed to look like flippers. The styling – both inside and out – won’t be to all tastes, but we’re glad to see some bold paint colours on the options list, even if lilac wouldn’t be our first choice.

The seats and steering wheel come trimmed in a vegan leather alternative and as such, feel soft to the touch. There’s not much adjustment for the driving position, however, and the seat bases lack support. No issue around town, but this could be troublesome on longer journeys.

Infotainment and navigation

The BYD’s infotainment system will be a key selling point for this budget EV. Every car gets a 12.8-inch screen that you can rotate 90 degrees from portrait to landscape and vice versa. It’s a bit of a novelty (we just left it in its widescreen format) but to offer this even on the entry-level Comfort is quite a feat.

The system itself is punchy and responsive – it’s obviously powered by a grunty processor – so navigating the menus isn’t too much of a chore. That said, the setup could definitely be more intuitive; we ended up defaulting to the standard-fit Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which is a big bonus for those who like to use their phone’s menus on the move.

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Options

As it stands, the only options for the BYD Dolphin are paint colours and interior trim. The Dolphin Comfort comes with four exterior finishes and three interior themes – including a polarising pink and grey option – while the top-spec Dolphin Design throws two-tone paint into the mix, as well as tri-colour wheels.