BYD Dolphin Charging Guide: Charge times, speed and cost

BYD Dolphin Charging Station, Port and Plug Type

The BYD Dolphin charging port uses the CCS standard, which features a combined AC and DC inlet port. The top portion of the inlet is for the Type 2 connector, which is used for AC charging at home, work or at public chargers (e.g. shopping centre car parks).

For public fast/rapid DC charging, both the upper and lower sections on the inlet are used to support the high power output required. The Dolphin CCS charging inlet is located on top of the front right wheel arch.

The Dolphin can be slow, fast and rapid charged from public charging stations. In most cases:

• Slow charging requires a three-pin to Type 2 cable, usually supplied with the car.
• Public AC charging will feature a tethered Type 2 connector or may require a Type 2 to Type 2 cable.
• Rapid DC charging uses a tethered CCS connector which is part of the charging unit.

1. Find a public charging station for fast and rapid chargers

Your main options for finding public charging stations for the BYD Dolphin include:

• BYD in-built navigation which has a shortcut to search for nearby EV charging stations.
• Plugshare is the easiest way to find any public AC and DC electric vehicle charging station in your area. It displays a map and overall rating of each charger from check-ins and comments. The app can be downloaded on your phone.
• Use the charging provider’s app like Chargefox or Evie Networks to view the live availability of stations and check whether a stall may be out-of-action.

2. Connect charging cable to car

Driving up to the charger, ensure that your vehicle’s charging port, located on the front right, is nearest to the stall. This may require you to drive in or reverse into the charging spot.

Once parked, grab the appropriate charging connector type from the stall’s holster, open the Dolphin’s charging flap and any other caps, and firmly plug it into the vehicle.

3. Confirm charging has started

Use the charging provider’s mobile app or tap the RFID card on the stall to activate the charging session. You may need to press a start button on some charging stalls, too.

After a few seconds of communicating with the Dolphin, you can see the charging status via the station’s screen, the vehicle’s driver instrument display, or the BYD mobile app.

The time it takes to charge a BYD Dolphin will depend on: 1. the size of the battery pack and 2. the charging method.

The BYD Dolphin comes in two battery pack sizes:

1. 44.9 kWh for the BYD Dolphin Dynamic variant; and

2. 60.5 kWh for the BYD Dolphin Premium and Sport variants.

Level 1 and 2 Charging (slow)

Level 1 and 2 Charging refers to charging from a power socket or a mounted charger. This is typically done at home, work or shopping centre car parks.

The BYD Dolphin is capable of charging at a maximum of 7 kW AC with its single phase onboard charger. This means that using high speed AC charging outlets (often capable of up to 22 kW AC) at public charging stations will be limited to 7kW. The power supply in homes is generally single phase, meaning the maximum power you can draw from the onboard charger is ~7 kW.

BYD Dolphin Dynamic

Charging a BYD Dolphin Dynamic using a portable charger and a standard 10A power socket will take 19.7 hours. Upgrading the power source to 16A for a wall charger will reduce the time for a full charge to 6.4 hours.

BYD Dolphin Premium and Sport

Fully charging a BYD Dolphin Premium / Sport using a portable charger and a standard 10A power socket will take 26.5 hours. Upgrading the power source to 16A for a wall charger will reduce the time for a full charge to 9.6 hours.

Level 3 Charging (fast, rapid)

BYD Dolphin Dynamic

The BYD Dolphin Dynamic can support maximum DC charging of 60 kW DC, chargers with higher output than this will be throttled to this limit. Charging a BYD Dolphin Dynamic from 10% to 80% at a fast/rapid DC charging station can be done in as little as 38 minutes, providing 235km of range.

BYD Dolphin Premium and Sport

The BYD Dolphin Premium / Sport can support a maximum DC charging of 89 kW DC, chargers with higher output than this will be throttled to this limit. As per the charge test conducted below, the Dolphin has an average charge power of 77 kW over a charging session.

Charging a BYD Dolphin Premium / Sport from 10% to 80% at a fast/rapid DC charging station can be done in as little as 35 minutes, providing 300km of range.

It is generally recommended to limit the charging at rapid chargers to 80% to preserve battery health.

The times shown are only a guide only. Other factors that impact the the actual charging time of your car include: temperature, state of charge, charger compatibility. For a personalised estimates of the other variants use the zecar ev charging calculator.

The below tables show the estimated cost of charging the Dolphin Dynamic's 60 kWh battery at home using a standard flat tariff or a public fast DC charger.

Based on these figures, the Dolphin Dynamic's fuel costs are $4.17-$9.73 per 100 km, depending on the type of charging. In general, home charging provides the cheapest per kilometre cost and public rapid charging tends to be around double the cost (per charge and per kilometre). This compares favourably to an equivalent petrol car which would cost $15 per 100km, assuming $2/litre for petrol.

Use the zecar EV charging calculator to find the cost and times to charge any EV using any charge method. The results can be personalised for different electricity costs and the level of charge required.

The BYD Dolphin's battery pack uses the LFP chemistry. BYD recommends setting the charge limit to 100% for daily use.

The key advantage of LFP is the freedom to fully charge the pack to 100% every time with substantially less degradation concerns compared to other chemistries.

The BYD Dolphin is compatible with almost all portable and wall-mounted chargers. It comes with a portable charging cable, which can be used on any Australian domestic power point.

See my Charging Options 🔌

For faster charging speeds, you may want to consider a wall-mounted charger to reach the maximum 6.6 kW charge rate the Dolphin is capable of.

Home charging while taking longer will likely result in less degradation compared to fast charging

Electric Car Home Charging Guide

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The BYD Dolphin can be charged using all the major charging networks including some Tesla Superchargers and some select Tesla destination chargers.

Refer to this guide for all the key public charging providers including links to app downloads.

Excessive use of fast charging may accelerate the degradation of the battery due to the heat caused by fast charging.

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Yes, BYD Dolphin's can charge at some Tesla Supercharger sites. As of the latest update to this article, Tesla has opened up 30 of its 63 Supercharger sites in Australia to non-Tesla EVs.

Non-Tesla vehicles will be charged $0.79 per kWh for drivers of non-Tesla cars However, non-Tesla drivers can sign up to a $9.99/month subscription to reduce the cost to $0.66 per kWh.

➡️TRY: EV Charging Calculator

Tesla supercharger sites can be accessed by non-Tesla EVs via the Tesla apps.

• Download the Tesla app (version 4.18.0 or higher) for iOS or Android and create a Tesla Account.
• Select ‘Charge Your Non-Tesla’ and find your Supercharger site.
• Add your payment method, select a stall, unlock the adapter, plug in your car, and tap ‘Start Charging.’
• Select ‘Stop Charging’ to complete your session.

The BYD Dolphin is one of the EV models that features bidirectional charging. The V2L adapter that comes with the Dolphin can be plugged into the type 2 AC port providing up to 2.2 kW of continuous power to appliances.

The BYD Dolphin charging speed is considered below average compared to other electric cars. It provides below-average speeds for both AC chargers and DC fast chargers. Check out our fastest charging car list to see how the Dolphin ranks against its peers.

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