New BYD Dolphin Surf is the UK version of the Seagull EV

BYD isn’t just looking to bring premium SUVs and saloons to the UK with the Sea Lion and Seal – it’ll also look to compete in the electric city car class with the Dolphin Surf.

Continuing BYD’s maritime naming strategy in unapologetic fashion, the Dolphin Surf will essentially be a rebranded version of the Seagull – which has been available in other markets for several years. 

BYD’s executive vice president and European boss Stella Li recently revealed: “The Dolphin Surf is definitely coming to the UK.” And she emphasised that what we get won’t simply be a copy of the Seagull, either.

Li explained: “We need to make it more premium for Europe, so we will double the power to 130kW (175bhp).” That represents a significant increase over the Seagull’s 74bhp electric motor, although it is not yet clear if the Dolphin Surf will get a larger battery than the 39kWh unit in the Seagull. 

Plans for the Seagull to enter the UK market had already been confirmed by Ms Li on the eve of the Beijing Motor Show in 2024.

BYD has ambitious plans to achieve at least 10 per cent market share in Europe by 2030 and smaller vehicles such as the Dolphin Surf will be key to achieving this target. It won’t have the market to itself, though, and will compete for sales with the Dacia Spring, Leapmotor T03 and Citroen e-C3, as well as upcoming small electric cars such as the Volkswagen ID.1 and the revamped Renault Twingo.  

The Seagull is slightly smaller than a typical supermini, at 3.78 metres long. It has a single front-mounted 74bhp motor and comes with a choice of battery capacities, the larger of which (39kWh) delivers up to 252 miles of range under China’s less strenuous official tests. In BYD’s domestic market the car is priced, in base spec, from around £8,000.

It’s likely that the European Dolphin Surf version may change in design, shape and technology to meet European tastes. With regard to the Euro NCAP safety test, Li previously acknowledged that the cost of adding electronic safety systems to the model may ultimately mean that buyers have to accept a three or four-star score (rather than the full five) in return for a lower price. 

The plan to bring the Dolphin Surf to Europe is part of a wider strategy that will see BYD expanding far beyond its current Chinese manufacturing base. The company is currently setting up a factory in Brazil, and it is also constructing two European assembly plants, with a Hungarian facility due to open by the end of this year and one in Turkey following in 2026.

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