Chinese electric vehicle (EV) giant BYD will soon sell its smallest vehicle in the United Kingdom, and while that means it’ll be built in right-hand drive for the first time, it’s unlikely we’ll see it in Australia any time soon.
Known as the Seagull in China, the mini EV hatch will be marketed as the Dolphin Surf in the UK. It has already been sold as the Dolphin Mini in markets like Mexico and Brazil since early 2024.
UK outlet Autocar expects the Dolphin Surf could cost less than £20,000 (A$40,913) when it goes on sale later in 2025, which means it would undercut local small EVs like the Fiat Grande Panda and Citroen e-C3 in that market.
However, it likely won’t beat the market’s current cheapest EV – the Dacia Spring, priced from £15,000 (A$30,676).
In the UK, the larger Dolphin is priced from £26,195 (~A$54,000).
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In Australia, the cheapest Dolphin Essential costs $29,990 before on-roads, making it our market’s cheapest EV.
The managing director of BYD’s local distributor EVDirect, Luke Todd, recently told CarExpert the company would not be going lower, meaning the Seagull is likely still off the cards.
“I think the price of $29,990 is the sharpest the current technology and the current environment allows us to do,” he said.
Despite acknowledging he “would love to see a product under $25,000”, Mr Todd said it was important all BYD models sold in Australia came with the backing of a five-star ANCAP safety rating.
“People ask ‘when is the Seagull coming?’, and the reality is it’s not built to be able to achieve the Australian five-star [safety] rating right now,” he said.
The Chinese-market Seagull previously had no active safety technology available, while some versions even lacked front-side airbags.
To remedy that, BYD recently revealed an update for the Seagull in China which could result in a potentially greater safety rating.
Along with revised front and rear styling, the Seagull Intelligent Driving Edition receives a suite of BYD’s latest advanced driver assistance tech known as God’s Eye C, with features like adaptive cruise control, autonomous emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring, lane-keep assist and rear cross-traffic assist.
The Seagull in China costs between 69,800 yuan and 85,800 yuan, or around A$15,000 to A$18,600.
The Dolphin range, meanwhile, opens at 99,800 yuan, or around A$21,700, though the base model there lacks many of the features fitted to the entry-level Australian-market Essential.
The Seagull is BYD’s smallest car and measures just 3780mm long, 1715mm wide and 1540mm tall on a 2500mm wheelbase, making it 185mm longer than a Kia Picanto on a 100mm longer wheelbase. The Seagull also has a kerb weight of between 1160kg and 1240kg.
It features a 55kW/135Nm electric motor and either a 30.08kWh LFP battery that supports 30kW DC charging, or a 38.88kWh LFP BYD Blade battery that supports 40kW DC charging, with CLTC range figures of 305km and 405km respectively.
Compared to the Dolphin, the Seagull is roughly 500mm shorter and 200mm narrower, while weighing around 400kg less. The Hyundai Inster measures up similarly to the Seagull but is still roughly 80mm larger in most key dimensions.
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