BYD Dolphin vs Vauxhall Astra

The Vauxhall Astra is £200 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 two land within £120 of each other - effectively the same to own. 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 191 miles for the Vauxhall Astra - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The BYD Dolphin goes roughly 29 miles further between charging stops.

The BYD Dolphin is the easier car for tight UK car parks: it is 90 mm narrower than the Vauxhall Astra. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 630 mm of total clearance for the BYD Dolphin and about 540 mm of total clearance for the Vauxhall Astra. The BYD Dolphin also turns in a 1.1 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 84% for the Vauxhall Astra. That gives the BYD Dolphin a modest edge in retained real-world range. The BYD Dolphin's LFP-type pack tolerates daily 100% charging, while the Vauxhall Astra's NMC-type pack lasts longest kept to about 80% for everyday use. Both batteries carry a 8-year manufacturer warranty.