BYD Dolphin G Lease Deals
Compare live BYD Dolphin G lease deals below from an independent, whole of market broker. The Dolphin G is a DM-i plug-in hybrid hatchback, not an electric car, with up to around 65 miles of electric range from its 18.3kWh battery. The fully electric hatchback is the BYD Dolphin and the electric city car is the Dolphin Surf.
Three Dolphins, Two Powertrains
BYD now sells three cars called Dolphin, and they are not variations of one model. Worth clearing up before you compare anything.
The Dolphin is a fully electric family hatchback with 265 miles of range. The Dolphin Surf is a smaller fully electric city car with up to 200 miles.
The Dolphin G, this page, is a plug-in hybrid. It has a 1.5 litre petrol engine alongside its electric motor and battery, so it can run on electricity for daily journeys and on petrol for long ones. If you were looking for an electric Dolphin, this is not it.
Why Lease the BYD Dolphin G?
The BYD Dolphin G does something genuinely unusual: it brings plug-in hybrid technology into the supermini class. BYD describes it as the smallest plug-in hybrid on sale in Britain, and the segment has essentially had no plug-in hybrid option before now.
The reason that matters is packaging. Plug-in hybrids need room for an engine, a motor and a battery, which is why they have mostly appeared in larger cars where there is space to hide all three. Doing it in a hatchback of this size is the achievement.
The powertrain pairs a 94bhp 1.5 litre petrol engine with a 161bhp electric motor. On the larger battery it offers around 65 miles of electric range and a combined figure of roughly 646 miles, which means a small car that will do the school run on electricity and still cross the country without stopping.
BYD Dolphin G Trim Levels
Active
The entry version, and the odd one out. It uses a much smaller 7.42kWh battery for around 24.8 miles of electric range, and records 29g/km of CO2 as a result.
Boost, Comfort and Sport
All three use the larger 18.3kWh Blade battery, giving around 65 miles of electric range and dropping CO2 to 9g/km. They differ from each other on equipment rather than on powertrain, and all reach 62mph in 8.3 seconds.
Boost at minimum. The jump from Active to Boost is not a trim upgrade, it is a different battery: around 24.8 miles of electric range becomes around 65, and CO2 falls from 29g/km to 9g/km. For a company car driver that CO2 difference alone will outweigh the change in rental. Above Boost you are buying equipment, so choose on kit.
Leasing the BYD Dolphin G
Leasing suits a car this new. The Dolphin G is the most recent addition to BYD's range and effectively creates its own niche, which means there is little history to judge future used values against. On a contract hire agreement that uncertainty belongs to the funder rather than to you.
The honest drawback is the usual plug-in hybrid one, and it bites harder in a small car. A Dolphin G that is never plugged in is a supermini carrying the weight of an engine, a motor and a battery, and its fuel economy will be worse than a conventional petrol hatchback of the same size. Without somewhere to charge, this is the wrong car.
For company car drivers 9g/km on the larger battery is the figure that matters, because benefit in kind is calculated from CO2 and electric range. That is very low for anything with a petrol engine. Company car tax rates are set each tax year and do change, so ask your accountant to confirm the current bands before ordering on business contract hire.
Why Lease a BYD Dolphin G with LetsLease?
Compare the latest BYD Dolphin G leasing offers with fixed monthly payments and flexible contract options.
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BYD Dolphin G Leasing FAQs
It is a plug-in hybrid, despite sharing a name with two fully electric cars. The Dolphin G uses BYD's DM-i system, combining a 94bhp 1.5 litre petrol engine with a 161bhp electric motor and a battery. The fully electric Dolphin is a separate model, as is the smaller Dolphin Surf. If you want an electric BYD hatchback, the plain Dolphin is the one to look at.
Three different cars sharing one name across two powertrains. The Dolphin is a fully electric family hatchback with 265 miles of range. The Dolphin Surf is a smaller fully electric city car with up to 200 miles. The Dolphin G is a plug-in hybrid hatchback with a petrol engine on board and around 65 miles of electric range on the larger battery. Check which one a listing refers to before comparing monthly figures.
It depends which trim, and the gap is large. The entry Active uses a 7.42kWh battery for around 24.8 miles. Boost, Comfort and Sport all use a much larger 18.3kWh Blade battery for around 65 miles, with a combined petrol and electric figure of roughly 646 miles. That is why Active records 29g/km of CO2 while the other three record just 9g/km.
Boost at minimum, because the step up from Active is a different battery rather than just more equipment. You go from around 24.8 miles of electric range to around 65, and CO2 falls from 29g/km to 9g/km. For a company car driver that CO2 difference is likely to matter more than the difference in monthly rental. Above Boost, Comfort and Sport share the same powertrain, so choose on equipment.
BYD describes it that way, and the claim is reasonable because the supermini class has had essentially no plug-in hybrid option until now. The reason is packaging: fitting an engine, an electric motor and a usable battery into a car this size is difficult, which is why plug-in hybrids have generally appeared in larger cars where there is more room to hide the components.
No, and this matters more in a small car than a large one. A plug-in hybrid that is never plugged in carries the weight of an engine, a motor and a battery while only using two of them, and its fuel economy will be worse than a conventional petrol supermini. If you have no way to charge at home or at work, a petrol hatchback or a full hybrid will cost you less to run.
Very good on the larger battery. Benefit in kind is calculated from CO2 emissions and electric range, and at 9g/km with around 65 electric miles the Boost, Comfort and Sport versions sit in a low band for a car with a petrol engine. The Active, at 29g/km with around 24.8 miles, sits higher. Company car tax rates are set each tax year and do change, so confirm the current bands with your accountant before ordering.
LetsLease is a broker, not the lender. Your agreement is placed with one of the major UK leasing funders, including Lex Autolease, Novuna, Ayvens and Santander, and that funder owns the car and holds the credit agreement. We source the deal across the market and manage the order through to delivery, with the same consultant looking after it throughout. Because funders price the same vehicle differently, access to several is what allows a broker to improve on a single lender's offer.