BYD will take the fight to the Volkswagen Golf GTE and Toyota Prius next year with its first bespoke European-market model: a plug-in hybrid hatchback called the Dolphin G.
The latest addition to BYD’s ranks is described as a B-segment hatchback and will effectively serve as a PHEV alternative to the Dolphin electric hatchback.
Technical details are thin on the ground, with the unveiling still some months away, but the Dolphin G is expected to be closely related to the Atto 2 DM-i, being roughly 4.3m long and 1.8m wide and using the same powertrain.
This PHEV version of the Atto 2 EV has a 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine and an electric motor up front and can operate either as a series hybrid (with the engine working as a generator) or a parallel hybrid (with the two power units combining to give maximum shove).
In the Atto 2 DM-i, this system produces a combined 259bhp and is capable of a claimed 156mpg, with the larger of two available batteries giving it an electric-only range of 56 miles.
It’s possible that a lower, lighter and sleeker hatchback using the same arrangement could improve on those figures.
BYD vice-president Stella Li stopped short of giving away any key details about the Dolphin G but did confirm that it would be the Chinese company’s first car designed for the European market, rather an adapted Chinese-market model, as its existing nine models are.
“There is not any market in China” for PHEV hatchbacks such as the Dolphin G, she said.
BYD will start building cars for the European market at its new factory in Hungary next year, beginning with the Dolphin Surf and Atto 2, and it’s possible that the Dolphin G could start following them down the line shortly after.
The Dolphin G is one of a wave of PHEVs being added to BYD’s fast-growing European line-up, joining the Seal U DM-i, Seal 6 DM-i and Atto 2 DM-i, as well as the incoming Denza B5 4×4 and Denza Z9 GT.
The firm is just weeks away from launching the new Sealion 5 DM-i SUV in the UK, and a DM-i version of the Atto 3 (BYD’s first UK-market car) will follow, likely in 2027.
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