BYD Dolphin EV Malaysia: Here’s how to watch the launch live on 27 July

[ UPDATE 27/7/2023 03:15 ] The official price of the BYD Dolphin EV in Malaysia has been revealed, starting from RM99,900.

===

BYD Dolphin EV is finally coming to Malaysia following its initial preview during the Malaysian launch of the Atto 3 last December. BYD Sime Darby Motors has previously announced that the launch will take place on 28 July but as it turned out, the unveiling will be taking place much earlier.

According to the BYD Malaysia’s Facebook and Instagram accounts which are different from those operated by BYD Sime Darby Motors, the Dolphin’s launch event will take place on 27 July instead. Not only that, the event will be broadcast online through a Facebook Live session.

Despite the difference in date, the social media posts by BYD Malaysia still referred to the same Registration of Interest page on BYD Sime Darby Motors’ website. As mentioned earlier, you can register for a test drive session with the Dolphin via the form.

BYD Dolphin specifications

It is unclear which Dolphin variants BYD will bring to Malaysia for the time being. Over in Thailand, the EV hatchback can be obtained either as a Standard Range model or the higher-end Extended Range variant.

The Standard Range version of the Dolphin is equipped with a single electric motor that is capable of delivering 70kW (95hp) and 180Nm of torque. BYD claimed that this variant can go from 0 to 100km/h in 12.3 seconds.

Running on a 44.9kWh BYD Blade battery pack, the Standard Range model also has a WLTP range of 340km. When it comes to charging, the EV relies on an onboard 7kW AC charger and it also supports DC fast charging at up to 60kW.

As for the Dolphin Extended Range, it comes with a much higher capacity battery pack of 60.48kWh which allows it to deliver an improved WLTP range of 427km. This variant also features a more powerful 150kW (204hp) electric motor with 310Nm of torque that helps it accelerate from 0 to 100km/h much quicker at 7 seconds.

Even though the Dolphin Extended Range has the same 7kW onboard AC charger as its Standard Range counterpart, its DC fast charging can support up to 80kW instead of 60kW. Furthermore, it is also equipped with multi-link suspension instead of a torsion beam setup.

How much the BYD Dolphin will be priced in Malaysia?

Since the Ministry of Investment, Trade, and Industry (MITI) currently prohibits new CBU EVs to be priced at under RM100,000 as per the Franchise AP regulation, don’t expect the Dolphin to be priced at the same level as Thailand.

Over there, the Dolphin Standard Range has a starting price of THB699,999 (~RM91,834) while the Extended Range can be obtained for THB859,999 (~RM112,857) over there. However, the EV should be priced at less than RM150,000 since that’s already creeping into Atto 3’s price point.

Not to forget, the Dolphin is a much small car than the Atto 3. Hence, RM110,000 to RM120,000 seemed like a good price range for the Dolphin Standard Range while the Extended Range should be around RM125,000 to RM135,000.

All should be revealed during the BYD Dolphin’s Malaysian launch on 27 July, so stay tuned.