BYD Dolphin vs Renault Megane

The Renault Megane costs £1,800 more than the BYD Dolphin. For that premium it adds 41 miles more WLTP range, 55 kW faster peak rapid charging and 76 litres more boot space. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Renault Megane comes out ahead overall.

The BYD Dolphin is £1,800 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 £1,800 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 255 miles for the Renault Megane - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The Renault Megane goes roughly 34 miles further between charging stops.

The two are within 2 mm on width, so neither is meaningfully easier to thread into a tight space. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 632 mm of total clearance for the Renault Megane and about 630 mm of total clearance for the BYD Dolphin. The BYD Dolphin also turns in a 1.0 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 Renault Megane. 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.