BYD Dolphin Surf review

This is the Dolphin Surf's undoing. Performance is weak with the lower-power 89bhp motor, and we were in the heavier version (1,370kg versus 1,294kg for the smaller battery) so really felt the deficit. It's obviously fine in urban traffic, but if you're out on hilly country roads, you'll want more.

Still, look on the bright side. The lack of muscle means you can't drive anything but smoothly and economically. We got 4.5 mi/kWh on a mix of city, suburbs, country lanes and motorway. That corresponds to a real range very close to the WLTP figure.

For the same motor-related reason, you won't be troubling the traction, and there always feels to be plenty of tyre grip for the speed you're driving at, so things feel secure. The brakes too are stout enough.

The suspension's springs are stiffish. That makes it agitated at urban speeds. But it's not very well damped, so speed bumps get it pitching, potholes make the wheels shudder and an undulating B-road will have the body floating and corkscrewing. It doesn't need to be that way: would M'lud allow us to present to the jury exhibit A, the Citroën ë-C3.

What about bigger roads? Cruising and ADAS?

On dual carriageways it sits steady in its lane and isn't much blown about by winds. But you do hear the noise as it rushes through the air.

Full lane-centring adaptive cruise is unusual in a car this cheap. It works down to a traffic-jam stop-start crawl. But the way it 'helps' you steer is annoying – it's like driving on a Scalextric track, so you have to put quite a strong effort into springing the wheel away from the path it chooses, and when it releases you'll swerve noticeably. Except when it loses sight of the white lines altogether, which it often does.

Also there's an infuriating voice synthesiser that keeps telling you to pay attention to the road, even when you are. Every few seconds. Maddening. Maybe it's just in our spectacles. Anyway a swipe-down from the top of the screen lets you silence it, together with the speed limit warning (also wrong at times) and lane keeping assist.