It is the car brand that has become the biggest seller of electric vehicles (EVs) in the world – yet many people will struggle to recognise the name. Now Chinese company BYD (it stands for “build your dreams”) is on a mission to get more UK consumers to snap up its “affordable” vehicles.
It is one of the latest Chinese companies to hit the UK car market, claiming its prices are competitive and launching three vehicles since it arrived here last year.
But while the average UK driver may not be able to tell one of its Dolphin models from an Atto 3 or a Seal, the company is the largest EV manufacturer in its home country, and now very much has Europe in its sights.
Greg Fairbotham at Zoom EV, which specialises in EV leasing and car sharing, says increased competition will lead to more people going electric on the roads. “And that has to be seen as a good thing,” he says.
So what should we know about BYD? And how does it stack up against its rivals?
What’s its track record?
For the last 10 years it has been China’s largest EV manufacturer and made 3.02m vehicles in 2023. Late last year it surpassed Tesla as the world’s largest manufacturer of electric cars.
It has been a rapid rise for the Shenzhen-based company, which started out making mobile phone batteries in 1995, and later moved into cars. It has been backed by US investment billionaire Warren Buffett since 2008. Its ambitious goals include plans to sell about 800,000 cars annually in Europe by 2030.
It tells the Observer that it sold 1,100 cars in the UK from March to the end of December last year. Figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show 248 of its vehicles were sold here just last month. The company says that, at present, 24 dealers around the UK stock them.
Perhaps the biggest advantage it has is that it makes its own batteries, as well as many other parts.
Parts shortages across the industry have dogged other manufacturers recently and resulted in lengthy repair times for consumers.
Steve Fowler, editor of Auto Express, says no other car manufacturer has the same level of control.
“The issues we have had with parts shortages in recent years – such as microchips – is not a problem for BYD,” he says.
Are its cars any good?
There are three models on sale in the UK: the Dolphin (which starts at £30,195), the Atto 3 (from £37,695) and the Seal (from £45,695). Reviews have generally been positive, but with reservations. According to Steve Huntingford of What Car?, the vehicles are “good, rather than great”.
“Right now, the main reason to buy one is because you want something a bit different to the norm,” he says. “However, while the cars are impressive enough in isolation, in each case there are some rival models, from better-known brands, that are even more capable, and available for the same money, or less.”
The small Dolphin hatchback has been compared to the Peugeot e-208 and the Vauxhall Corsa Electric, while the Atto 3 is similar to SUVs such as the Hyundai Kona Electric and Kia Niro EV. Meanwhile, the Seal is more of an executive saloon, like the Tesla Model 3.
“The Seal – the best of BYD’s current cars, with a four-star What Car? rating – costs from £45,695. The thing is, you can have the Tesla Model 3, which is actually an even better car in most respects, for £39,990,” says Huntingford.
But those prices could potentially drop, says Auto Trader’s Erin Baker, because in China the price of the Atto 3 is significantly less than in the UK.
“They can drop their prices a long way from where they are at the moment,” she says. “Even if you account for exporting those cars and putting in place a retail environment in the UK to sell them, they’ve still got a huge margin to capitalise on. So they can really aggressively break their cars in a way that hurts European manufacturers big time.”
While not the cheapest, Fowler says they offer a good deal: “It’s the thing that a lot of people will be surprised about. It’s the old thing of offering a lot of car for your cash.
“The BYD Dolphin, for example, is a spacious car. It’s bigger than a Vauxhall Corsa and costs slightly less, but it has all the luxury and safety equipment you get as standard that you might not get with other ones.”
What about insurance?
Recently, drivers of electric cars have had problems getting competitively priced insurance. While generally drivers around the country generally have faced premiums rising by more than 50%, EV owners have often had to contend with even bigger rises.
A Tesla owner saw his insurance go up from £1,200 a year to £5,000. Others have seen their insurer simply drop out of the market. As many EVs have expensive features, the cost of repairing them has had a knock-on effect on premiums.
Zoom EV says that because electric cars are relatively new, there is not enough data to enable companies to assess risk, leading to higher quotes.
Fowler tested what it would cost to insure a BYD Seal for a 55-year-old man living in Buckinghamshire looking for a comprehensive policy. He was quoted £1,541 as the cheapest option. Insuring his Skoda Yeti, under the same terms, comes in at about £300, he says.
Look out for others
BYD is not the first, nor will it be the last, big Chinese car manufacturer to enter the UK market. In the first three months of last year, the MG4 was the second-best selling EV behind the Tesla Model Y. But while MG is one of Britain’s most famous brands, it has been owned by Chinese firm SAIC since 2007.
Meanwhile, another Chinese brand, Omoda, is expected to launch in the UK in March with petrol and electric vehicles. “There are four or five Chinese brands coming to the UK this year,” says Baker.
Such is the expected push that analysts at bank UBS believe that one in three EVs will originate from China by 2030.
