First Test Drive in the Dolphin G DM-i: A New Kind of «Diesel»
With the Dolphin G DM-i, BYD is launching a compact car featuring plug-in hybrid technology and a range that was previously associated with diesel engines. Autosprint has already taken it for a test drive.
It’s incredible how quickly Chinese brands are currently growing in the Swiss market. Just last April, BYD launched three models here. The brand now has 31 dealers and plans to make its network even more extensive across Switzerland by the end of the year, expanding it to 55 locations. And the three models it launched with have long since grown to eight, allowing the brand to cover about 80 percent of the Swiss market.
BYD Is Gaining Significant Market Share
Now, with the Dolphin G DM-i, the brand is introducing its ninth model, and this 4.16-meter-long compact car is also available at an incredibly competitive price given what it offers. No wonder the Chinese brand is gaining massive market share—it had sold 3,332 vehicles by the end of July and has already reached a market share of 2.5 percent. Under the new Country Manager for Switzerland, Ferdinando D’Apice, this growth at BYD is likely to continue. It remains to be seen how sustainable and costly this will be for the Chinese company itself—and not just for its established competitors.
But back to the new Dolphin G, which BYD officials never tire of emphasizing was designed and built for Europe. It looks stylish, with its slim LED lights, recessed door handles, and continuous light strip at the rear. Compact on the outside (L × W × H: 4.16 × 1.83 × 1.57 meters) yet surprisingly spacious on the inside. After all, it offers 425 liters of trunk space; with the rear seats folded down, that figure jumps to 1,225 liters. That’s impressive, as is the stately panoramic sunroof in this compact car. The downside, however, is that this means headroom in the back isn’t all that great—but then again, we’d rather be behind the wheel than in the back anyway.
The electric motor and gasoline engine work together seamlessly
That’s because the nimble BYD is surprisingly fun to drive right from the start, and the 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine and electric motor work together flawlessly. Toggle switches allow you not only to choose between the Boost, Comfort, and Sport driving modes, but also to select the drive mode: all-electric or with additional power from the gasoline engine. But the software handles this perfectly, utilizing the 176 PS/129 kW and 210 Nm as efficiently as possible. Depending on the battery pack (7.4 or 18.3 kWh), the Dolphin G is said to offer a range of a whopping 1,020 or 1,040 km, 40 or 105 km of which can be driven purely on electric power. The larger battery can even be charged at a fast-charging station at up to 39 kW. And to ensure the battery is kept at the perfect temperature, the compact BYD features an active grille whose air intakes open and close as needed.
With all that modern technology and range, plus a head-up display, a large multimedia touchscreen, rear ventilation, and two USB-C ports, you’d think this front-wheel-drive car would be expensive. Far from it. Despite plenty of hard plastic, a thin-fabric trunk cover marketed as an ’advance,” and an absolutely annoying turn signal tone—which, as we’re told with a smile, can of course be customized through the system—many customers, and we included, are left scratching our heads. After all, the Dolphin G DM-i starts at just 26,490 francs.
