The Dolphin uses BYD's Blade lithium-iron-phosphate pack, the most durable mainstream EV chemistry — tolerant of full charging, slower to degrade, better with heat than nickel chemistries. A two or three-year-old Dolphin measuring in the low nineties is entirely normal.
The thing to get right is which one you are looking at.
The packs Australia got
| Variant | Years | Usable kWh | Claimed range | Real-world consumption |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dynamic | 2023–2025 | 44.9 (46.0 gross) | 340 km | 16.9 kWh/100km — modelled |
| Premium | 2023–2026 | 60.5 (62.0 gross) | 427 km | 17.7 kWh/100km — measured, Australia |
A 15.6 kWh difference between two cars both advertised as a BYD Dolphin — a third of the smaller pack again.
Why the Dynamic needs measuring
Run the arithmetic. 44.9 kWh usable at roughly 17 kWh/100 km is about 264 km real-world on a healthy battery, against a 340 km claim. At 90% State of Health, about 238 km. At 85%, about 224 km.
That is still a good city car. But it is a long way from 340 km, and a buyer planning any regular trip beyond the suburbs should know the real number before they commit rather than after.
The Premium has considerably more headroom, and the Australian measured consumption figure of 17.7 kWh/100 km gives roughly 342 km real-world — more than the smaller car's claimed range.
LFP, and the charging habit that reverses
LFP packs behave differently from the nickel chemistries in one way that confuses buyers: regular charging to 100% is good practice, not bad. The battery management system needs a full charge periodically to recalibrate its state-of-charge estimate, because LFP's voltage curve is so flat in the middle.
So "I always charged it to 100%" is reassuring on a Dolphin and would be a yellow flag on a nickel-chemistry car. It is also worth knowing that a Dolphin which has never had a full charge may report a less reliable figure than one that has.
Warranty position
8 years or 160,000 km, 70% capacity guaranteed, transferable, backdated to every BYD sold in Australia since August 2022. Among the clearest in the market. Full terms: BYD battery warranty in Australia.
What to check before you buy
Dynamic or Premium — 44.9 or 60.5 kWh usable
Measured State of Health and cell voltage spread
Whether the car has had a recent full charge, for reporting accuracy
Real-world range at current capacity, particularly on the Dynamic
Capacity data verified 13 September 2026. The Premium's consumption figure is a measured result from the Australian Automobile Association's Real-World Testing Program; the Dynamic's is an EV Database estimate.