• Top-spec model is nippy
• Ride is comfortable… mostly
• Brilliantly manoeuvrable in town

Electric motors

You get three tiers of performance in the Dolphin Surf. The base-model has a 30kWh battery and an 88hp electric motor, which gives the car an 11.1-second 0–62mph time. Above that is the Boost. It has the same motor but a larger 43.2kWh battery – but the added weight of the extra cells dulls the car’s 0–62mph sprint to 12.1 seconds.

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The top-spec Comfort model is far sprightlier. You get the same battery as the Boost model but a 156hp electric motor. That trims the Surf’s 0–62mph time down to 9.1 seconds. The upshot of this is that it’s far faster off the line, allowing you to get the jump on other cars at the traffic lights. This is the only version of the car we’ve tried so far.

What’s it like to drive?

• It’s not a driver’s car
• But it’s easy to live with…
• … and it’s a doddle in town

Perfectly acceptable. It’s not as entertaining as a Leapmotor T03, primarily because it has wider tyres, more grip and a more sophisticated safety suite. It feels like a far newer car to drive, which is either brilliant or disappointing depending on how much you enjoy the mechanical experiences of driving.

The steering system is reasonably well-weighted, offering just enough feedback to inspire confidence on a fast A-road. The handling is far less nervous and much more predictable than the overly light and slightly wayward setup you get from the Dacia Spring. Yes, the Spring is cheap, but I could justify spending an extra £4,000 on for the added safety.

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Unsurprisingly, the BYD Dolphin Surf is most happy in town. It has a turning circle of less than 10 metres, which makes it the ideal tool for threading through narrow streets. It can carve around mini roundabouts and T-junctions with ease – and it can almost do three point turns in alleyways. I also haven’t been so unbothered about kerbing a wheel in a multistorey car park since my old Mini was on the road.

My biggest criticism of the car is its brakes. BYD has prioritised regenerative braking to try and eke the maximum number of miles from the Dolphin Surf’s small batteries – but that means the discs don’t feel like they engage until the pedal is hovering above the carpet. That’s alarming in an emergency.

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It also doesn’t ride quite as well as Leapmotor T03. It’s far from being uncomfortable, but the damping has a firmer edge to it. That means it doesn’t float over bumps as easily, which is a bit annoying when you’re hammering down the motorway.