Lower-cost EVs are mostly coming from Chinese brands or China-built models such as the Dacia Spring. Great Wall Motors’ Ora, another Chinese brand, has launched the compact Funky Cat in Germany and is planning to expand to other European markets. At the same time, Citroen has cut the price of its e-C4 compact as competition heats up.
Brugal did not give a sales target for BYD in Europe. According to Dataforce, BYD sold 4,040 cars in the region last year, nearly four times more than the 1,068 sold in 2021. BYD sold 512 cars in Europe this year through February, compared with 186 in the same period in 2022.
Sales of the Dolphin have already started in China, but the European version will be 190 mm longer, at 4,290 mm, with a 2,700 mm wheelbase. It is on the same BYD 3.0 platform as the Atto 3.
The Seal, which is 4,800 mm long, is a potential rival of the Tesla Model 3, which is about 4,700 mm long. It has an 82 kWh battery that offers a range of 570 km. It was revealed in Europe at the Paris auto show last October.
Brugal said the Dolphin will be BYD’s entry model in Europe, although the brand sells several smaller models in China.
The Dolphin and the Seal feature a version of BYD’s “blade” battery technology used in the Atto3. BYD makes its own batteries using cheaper lithium iron phosphate chemistry, which generally offers more durability and safety, but less power density, than other lithium-ion technologies.
According to BYD, the Seal is the first vehicle to use what it calls cell-to-body technology, which fully integrates the BYD blade battery into the vehicle structure to increase safety.
The battery structure is 10 mm thinner and slightly lighter than existing technology, helping improve the car’s aerodynamics, said Veijie Zhang, BYD’s head of R&D in Europe.