BYD Dolphin undercuts MG4 by $100 to be Australia’s cheapest electric car

At 8pm tonight, orders for the all-new BYD Dolphin will commence with a starting price on the car sitting at $38,890 – and yes, that’s remarkably just $100 less than the MG4 that was announced just days ago.

We’ve got a real price war on our hands here, with the sub-$40k market now containing two EVs – something we’ve never seen before.

While the Dolphin is a smaller car – most representatively sized between a Toyota Yaris and a Corolla, the price puts it over the petrol models, but perhaps not quite the $15k premium we’ve seen before on EVs vs an ICE competitor.

BYD’s local agent EVDirect’s CEO Luke Todd said “We are proud to introduce an EV of such high quality and safety that is now within reach for more Australians. With state government rebates as high as $6,000 in Queensland, this makes the Dolphin Dynamic as low as $32,890 plus on-road costs. In some instances, this positions it at a lower price point than similar petrol-powered vehicles, a circumstance that has been unprecedented until now.”

When asked about the level of interest in the Dolphin since expressions of interest were launched a few weeks ago, Todd said “We’ve received an exceptional number of expressions of interest for the BYD Dolphin. As the vehicle goes on sale at the official launch on June 22nd at 8pm, we anticipate a substantial volume of pre-orders. Given BYD’s proven supply chain capabilities, we eagerly look forward to delivering many thousands of Dolphins, with shipments scheduled to begin in Q4 2023,”

The Dolphin’s 2700mm wheelbase makes it slightly larger than a Toyota Corolla, and with a five-seat capacity puts it right in that five-door hatchback category.

BYD claims a 345 litre luggage space with the rear seats up, that’s WAY more than the Corolla, so this thing is larger than it seems in the photos that’s for sure.

The 12.8 inch rotating touchscreen has Sat-Nav, Apple CarPlay and Bluetooth, while the car features a large panoramic moonroof, and heated seats.

Saftey wise, the Dolphin has Seven airbags, Autonomous Emergency Braking, Driver fatigue monitoring, Rear cross traffic alert, adaptive cruise and lane keep assist – it’s ticking a lot of boxes for the price.