BYD Dolphin Surf launched in Europe – slightly-longer Seagull, up to 322 km WLTP and 156 PS, RM108k-135k

You may know it as the Seagull or the Dolphin Mini, but it’s called the Dolphin Surf in Europe, where BYD has launched 22,390 euro (RM108k) Active, 25,390 euro (RM123k) Boost and 27,890 euro (RM135k) Comfort variants, Car News China reports. Early bird prices are 19,990 (RM97k), 23,380 (RM113k) and 25,880 euros (RM125k) respectively until end-June.

Interestingly, it’s actually notably bigger than the Chinese-market Seagull – wheelbase is the same 2,500 mm, but length, width and height are respectively 3,990 mm (+210 mm over Seagull, due to very-slightly-redesigned front and rear bumpers), 1,720 mm (+5 mm over Seagull) and 1,590 mm (+50 mm over Seagull).

The base Active has a 30 kWh battery that yields a 220 km WLTP range; both Boost and Comfort have a 43.2 kWh battery, but their ranges differ because the Boost shares the Active’s 88 PS motor (giving it the furthest range of the lot at 322 km WLTP), while the top-spec Comfort gets a 156 PS motor (so it settles for 310 km WLTP). All are front-wheel drive, sit on the e-Platform 3.0 and max out at 150 km/h.

These compare favourably to the Chinese-market Seagull (which is a lot cheaper, currently starting at around RMB60k, or RM35k), which has 75-95 PS motors, 30-38 kWh batteries and 305-405 km CLTC ranges. Also, the Seagull only charges at a max 6.6 kW AC and 40 kW DC, while the Dolphin Surf can swallow 11 kW AC, 65 kW DC (smaller battery) and 80 kW DC (bigger battery) – the latter gets you from 30-80% in 22 minutes.

Step inside and you’ll see the familiar 10.1-inch rotatable touchscreen (with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and ‘Hi BYD’) on a very swoopy dashboard. The boot holds 316 litres; fold the back seats for 1,037 litres. ADAS too, of course.

The Dolphin Surf has five seats, but Electrek reports that a four-seat version is coming in June to fight the Renault 5 and upcoming Volkswagen ID.2 with a 25k-euro (RM121k) starting price. We expect that to be a slightly more premium product.

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