BYD Dolphin Malaysia: Here’s your first chance to test drive BYD’s new EV on 28 July

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

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BYD Dolphin EV will be available for the public to test drive almost immediately after its official launch event in Malaysia. This was confirmed by BYD Sime Darby Motors through BYD Cars Malaysia’s Facebook page and Instagram story.

The public test drive event will be taking place from 28 to 30 July at the Old Wing Open Car Park in 1 Utama Shopping Centre, Petaling Jaya from 10 AM to 10 PM. As reported before, the Malaysian launch event for the Dolphin will be on 27 July – just one day before the test drive event.

While the Dolphin test drive event area may not be as large as Atto 3’s launch event which took over the old runway in Bandar Malaysia, it is still similar in nature. According to the registration form inside the mini-site for the test drive event, the public can opt to have a casual visit or schedule a meeting directly with a Sales Advisor.

BYD Dolphin specifications

Over in Thailand, this EV hatchback can be obtained either as a Standard Range model or the higher-end Extended Range variant. At the moment, it is unclear which Dolphin variant BYD will release in Malaysia.

Equipped with a 70kW (95hp) electric motor that is capable of delivering 180Nm of torque, the Standard Range version of the Dolphin can go from 0 to 100km/h in 12.3 seconds. Running on a 44.9kWh BYD Blade battery pack, this variant offers a WLTP range of 340km.

As for the Dolphin Extended Range, it comes with a 60.48kWh battery pack that allows it to deliver a better WLTP range of 427km. With century sprint timing of 7 seconds, this variant is also noticeably quicker than its Standard Range counterpart thanks to a more powerful 150kW (204hp) electric motor with 310Nm of torque.

When it comes to charging, both of these Dolphin variants rely on an onboard 7kW AC charger. For fast charging, the Standard Range model supports DC fast charging at up to 60kW while the Extended Range can go as high as 80kW.

Not to forget, the Extended Range model comes with multi-link suspension instead of a torsion beam setup as per the Standard Range variant.

How much the BYD Dolphin will be priced in Malaysia?

In Thailand, the Dolphin Standard Range is priced at THB699,999 (~RM91,834) while the Extended Range goes for THB859,999 (~RM112,857). Looking at the pricing, especially for the Standard Range, you might be hoping that the Dolphin can be priced at under RM100,000 in Malaysia.

We hate to squash your hopes but it is rather unlikely to the current regulation set by the Ministry of Investment, Trade, and Industry (MITI). According to the Franchise AP regulation which applies to BYD, new CBU EVs can’t be priced at under RM100,000.

However, the EV should be priced at less than RM150,000 as that would already sipping into Atto 3’s territory. After all, the Dolphin is a much smaller car than the Atto 3.

With that, we believe that the Dolphin Standard Range will be priced between RM110,000 to RM120,000 and the Extended Range might be going for RM125,000 to RM135,000. So, stay tuned for the finalised price on 27 July and don’t forget to sign up for the test drive event right here if you want to be one of the first in the country to have a hands-on experience with the Dolphin.