There’s a decent chance BYD isn’t part of your vocabulary yet. Why would it be? It’s a Chinese-based company with an acronym as its name that focuses primarily on selling electronics and electric vehicles… in China. Sure, it’s got grips in a few countries, South Africa included, but we wouldn’t call it a household name. Yet, anyway. Stick around a while longer, and that’ll be changing. According to MyBroadband, BYD Automotive has plans to launch its cheapest EV — the BYD Seagull — in South Africa. You know, where electricity flows freely.
Only, it wouldn’t be dubbed the BYD Seagull. A trademark for the name “BYD Dolphin Mini” was recently spotted floating around on the Companies and Intellectual Properties (CIPC) database, and is currently pending approval. And if CarNewsChina’s report of ‘Dolphin Mini’ being an alternate name for ‘Seagull’ is correct, it seems almost certain BYD has something on the cards for South Africa.
How cheap is cheap, BYD?
The company’s Seagull is currently heralded as the cheapest EV on the market, anywhere. It’ll fetch anywhere between ¥73,800 and ¥89,900 in China, with a direct conversion putting it between R200,000 and R240,000. Until an official launch, there’s no telling what it’ll cost on South Africa’s streets. But if you’ve got ideas of paying R240,000 for an EV here, we’re sorry to burst your bubble.
Looking at BYD’s other car sold in the country, the Atto 3, should give us a good idea of the sort of mark-up we can expect when the Dolphin mini eventually lands. Known as the Yuan Plus in China, it carries with it a ¥140,000 starting price, converting to roughly R374,000. In SA, the Atto 3 goes for R768,000 — more than double its Yuan price.
Apply that logic to the Dolphin Mini, and we could be looking at a starting price of R400,000 and R480,000 for the Dolphin Mini. That’s without all of South Africa’s taxes adding to the cost, possibly bringing that figure up to just over the R500,000 mark. Hey, it’s still a far cry from South Africa’s reigning EV champ, the Ora 03, selling for R680,000.
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An EV for ants?
So what does roughly R500,000 get you in an EV? For one thing, a small, five-door, four-seater body that’s concealing the 55kW motor, according to CarNewsChina. It’ll top out at 135Nm of torque and can go from 0-100km/h in about 13 seconds. You’ll be spending most of that time heading to the nearest charger, with the 30.08kWh battery BYD’s stuffed in there that’ll net a range of around 305km at a time.
Fortunately, that’s the cheaper of the two models sold in China. If you’re willing to spend a bit more, BYD will shove a 38.88 kWh LFP battery in there that’ll be good for another 100km or so. You won’t be getting any front motor upgrades, with the higher-end of the two models hitting the same 0-100km/h speeds as its sibling.