BYD Dolphin vs Omoda E5

The Omoda E5 costs £2,870 more than the BYD Dolphin. On the headline specs that premium buys little measurable advantage - the two are closely matched on range, charging and space. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the BYD Dolphin comes out ahead overall.

The BYD Dolphin is £2,870 cheaper to buy. Running costs are almost identical - about £152 a year either way, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the BYD Dolphin comes out roughly £2,990 cheaper overall. These figures cover list price and home charging only - insurance, servicing, tyres and depreciation will move the real total.

EVcarsguide estimates a real-world motorway range of about 221 miles for the BYD Dolphin and 194 miles for the Omoda E5 - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The BYD Dolphin goes roughly 26 miles further between charging stops.

The BYD Dolphin is the easier car for tight UK car parks: it is 60 mm narrower than the Omoda E5. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 630 mm of total clearance for the BYD Dolphin and about 570 mm of total clearance for the Omoda E5. The BYD Dolphin also turns in a 1.4 m tighter circle, which helps with U-turns and multi-storey ramps.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 90% battery health for the BYD Dolphin and 90% for the Omoda E5. That is close enough that capacity loss should not decide between them. Both use LFP-type cells, which are happy charged to 100% every day. Both batteries carry a 8-year manufacturer warranty.