BYD Dolphin Cargo e-Van electric
BYD Dolphin Cargo e-Van
The BYD Dolphin Cargo e-Van has 265 miles of official range. List price £29,358 excluding VAT.
Electric · small van (car-derived) · order books open
Dimensions
Price
Battery and range
Load
| Gross vehicle weight | Not yet verified |
|---|---|
| Payload | Not yet verified |
| Load volume | Not yet verified |
| Towing capacity (braked) | Not yet verified |
Charging
| AC charging (max) | Not yet verified |
|---|---|
| DC rapid charging (peak) | Not yet verified |
| Rapid charge time | Not yet verified |
Ownership
| Warranty | Not yet verified |
|---|
BYD Dolphin Cargo e-Van electric price changes
No list price change recorded for the BYD Dolphin Cargo e-Van electric since THRIVE first recorded its price on 28 May 2026.
List prices excluding VAT, from the manufacturer's own UK price lists. A date marked "recorded" is the day THRIVE took in a new price list that carried no date of its own.
THRIVE verdict
Strong range for a small electric van, but payload and volume are unverified and the price sits above the class median.
The Dolphin Cargo e-Van's standout figure is range: 265 miles WLTP puts it in the top quarter of small electric vans in our database, well ahead of the Citroën ë-C3 Van's 198 miles and the Ford E-Transit Courier's 201 miles. For operators doing long daily loops without charging access, that's a genuine advantage worth paying for.
That range comes at a cost: £29,358 ex VAT is above the median £28,600 for small vans, and it isn't on the zero emission van grant eligible list, so there's no grant to soften that gap against the Citroën ë-C3 Van at £17,550 or the Ford E-Transit Courier at £27,000. We also can't confirm payload, load volume or towing capacity, so those figures shouldn't be assumed in a buying decision yet.
Physically it's a small load bay: 1,250mm floor length, 1,018mm between the arches and 710mm height means one Euro or UK pallet fits in a single row, and nothing as long as an 8x4 sheet. It'll take pipe, timber or ladders up to 1.2m. Compare that with the Citroën Berlingo Van XL diesel, which offers a far bigger 3.9m³ body and 936kg payload for £24,420, for jobs needing bulk rather than range.
Best for
- long daily routes where charging stops are scarce
- light loads that fit a single pallet or short lengths of pipe or timber
Think twice
- confirm payload, load volume and towing capacity before ordering — not yet verified
- no zero emission van grant, and list price is above the small van median
- load bay too short for 8x4 sheet materials
Written 27 October 2026 from the verified figures on this page and the rest of the THRIVE database, and checked figure by figure before publishing. How we check
What fits in the load area
| Euro pallets (1,200 x 800mm) | 1, in a single row |
|---|---|
| UK standard pallets (1,200 x 1,000mm) | 1, in a single row |
| 8 x 4 sheets (2,440 x 1,220mm) | Too long for the floor |
| Pipe, timber or ladders | Up to 1.2m on the floor |
Worked out from the verified floor length 1,250mm, 1,018mm between the wheel arches, 710mm high. Counts use the width between the wheel arches for the whole floor, so they never over-count. Door openings are not in our data: check the rear and side door apertures before relying on a count. Goods stacked on a pallet can stand up to about 560mm tall, allowing 150mm for the pallet itself.
Electric or diesel?
How the BYD Dolphin Cargo e-Van compares with Citroën Berlingo Van Panel Van XL Diesel 100hp Manual Enterprise-Plus, the closest alternative across the electric line, for a typical working day.
Electric looks practical
- Range. 100 miles a day sits comfortably inside a planning range of about 186 miles, so an overnight charge covers the day.
- Energy. Charging at a small-business depot costs about 10p a mile against 16.4p for diesel: roughly £1,600 a year less at 25,000 miles.
- Price. The electric version lists for £4,938 more, which the energy saving covers in about 3.1 years.
How this is worked out
- Planning range is 70% of the official 265-mile WLTP figure, allowing for winter weather and a full load.
- Energy use 0.35 kWh a mile: THRIVE's typical figure for an electric van (this van's usable battery is not verified).
- Diesel 166.02p a litre excluding VAT (DESNZ, week of 26 October 2026); the Citroën Berlingo Van Panel Van XL Diesel 100hp Manual Enterprise-Plus's official 46mpg.
- Electricity: 28.59p/kWh at a small-business depot (DESNZ, excluding VAT), 26.32p at home as the driver pays (Ofgem price cap), 65.83p on public rapid chargers (Zapmap, excluding VAT).
- 250 working days a year. List prices exclude VAT and options; running costs exclude servicing, insurance, tax and residual values.
Indicative only: a guide to whether electric is worth a closer look, not a quote. For whole-fleet costs see fleet charging costs and van break-even.
Alternatives worth considering
- Direct competitorCitroën ë-C3 Van PLUS Electric 113hp Standard Range automatic£11,808 cheaper, 67 miles less official range.
- Direct competitorFord E-Transit Courier Van Trend 46kWh Electric Drive 136PS 1-speed auto£2,358 cheaper, 64 miles less official range.
- Combustion alternativeCitroën Berlingo Van Panel Van XL Diesel 100hp Manual Enterprise-PlusDiesel, 46mpg official, £4,938 cheaper.
- Direct competitorFord Explorer Van AWD 250 kWA similar-sized small van from Ford.
Chosen from published small vans in the THRIVE database with a similar load area; reasons compare verified figures only.
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Sources
2 documents: BYD UK, GOV.UK (Office for Zero Emission Vehicles)
- BYD UK, published 28 May 2026, retrieved 5 October 2026. Supports: load length (at floor), load width (maximum), load width between wheel arches, load height (maximum), overall length, list price (excluding vat), official range, test cycle. BYD UK media release 'BYD launches new DOLPHIN Cargo e-Van with class-leading electric range' (date from the attached release file 28052026-BYD-DOLPHIN-Cargo.docx); single UK version, no price list or spec sheet published; byd.com/uk has no Dolphin Cargo page; unlabelled as to floor/height ('maximum load length'), used as the single load length per dims rule
- GOV.UK (Office for Zero Emission Vehicles), retrieved 16 October 2026. Supports: zero emission van grant. GOV.UK 'Zero emission vehicle grants: vans' (read 16 Oct 2026): no BYD model appears on either the small-van or the large-van list. Field was blank.
About these figures
- Specifications verified: 16 October 2026, against the manufacturer documents listed under Sources.
- Latest source added: 16 October 2026, the last time a figure on this page was added or corrected.
- Verdict written: 27 October 2026. It uses only the verified figures here and the THRIVE database; every number in it is checked against those figures, and it is rewritten only when they change.
Specifications vary by trim, engine, battery, length and roof height; these are for the BYD Dolphin Cargo e-Van as named, a typical fleet specification. Range is the official WLTP combined figure; real-world range in winter or fully loaded will be lower. Check the manufacturer's current price list before ordering. If a figure here has changed, tell us on our corrections page.