New BYD Dolphin and Citroën e-C3 vs MG 4

Here’s a shocker for you: if you look at our new car data, grab your calculator and punch some buttons, you’ll find that the average price of the 98 fully electric cars listed is a whisker over £59,000. Astonishingly, that means the posh and luxurious BMW i5 saloon currently represents the mean average cost for buying a new electric car outright, despite hardly being a car for the masses.

It’s enough to make you think that the concept of a ‘cheap electric car’ remains rather far-fetched in 2024. So, what if you’re dead set on an electric vehicle (EV) but don’t have a bottomless bank account? Well, don’t be disheartened, because things are getting better. A few car manufacturers are wising up to the fact that many would-be buyers have found EV ownership out of reach for too long, and they’re now clamouring to satisfy this market.

To find out exactly what a more modestly priced EV gives you for your investment, we decided to grab three prime examples and set off on the kind of weekend road trip that any family car needs to be able to cope with. We’d start by heading to Hayling Island Beach in Hampshire to see how they fare in town and on the motorway, and then meander across to the New Forest to put their practicality, driving manners and tech to the test. Heading back to London, we’d stop to top up our cars’ batteries, giving us a chance to check their real-world range and efficiency.

The contenders

If you’re a long-time reader of What Car?, you’ll understand why we picked the MG 4 as our benchmark. This Volkswagen Golf-sized electric hatchback has bagged our Small Electric Car of the Year title for two years on the trot, thanks to its pleasant driving manners, plentiful interior space and reasonably quick maximum charging rate (117kW), as well as its respectable 218-mile official range, courtesy of a 50.8kWh (usable capacity) battery.

But the real clincher is price. At just £26,995 in entry-level SE trim, it’s a cool £10k cheaper than such rivals as the Cupra Born, Renault Megane and Volkswagen ID 3. With savings like that, it’s easier to overlook the MG 4’s rather drab interior and glitchy infotainment system, and the fact that its parent brand’s reliability record is, well, rather chequered.

Or, rather, it was, but is that still the case now that there’s a new entry-level BYD Dolphin and an all-new Citroën e-C3 that actually undercut the MG 4?

Let’s start with the Dolphin. Name quirks aside (it’s part of BYD’s ‘Ocean Series’ that also includes the BYD Seal saloon and BYD Sealion 7 SUV), it’s not so different from the MG; it’s a similar size and promises a similarly roomy interior and a generous level of standard kit. The entry-level Active model that we have here packs a 44.9kWh battery and a 211-mile official range. It’s priced at a tempting £26,195.

The smallest price tag here, though, belongs to the Citroën. It starts at just £21,900, an even in range-topping Max trim (£23,690) it undercuts the MG and BYD by a significant margin, with your money buying fashionable SUV-inspired styling. Yes, the Citroën is designed to meet a modest price tag, but it doesn’t feel like a cut-corner affair; its interior has a surprisingly upbeat vibe. It also comes without a ‘made in China’ label, if that kind of thing matters to you.

With a relatively small battery with a 44kWh usable capacity, the Citroën has the shortest official range of our trio, at 199 miles, but that should be enough to cope with the routine errands of family life.

The motorway leg

With the fastest car here having a top speed of just 100mph, it’s clear that this trio isn’t designed for autobahn supremacy. But on the M25 – where breaking into even a gentle canter isn’t always guaranteed – they can hold their own with the usual ebb and flow of motorway traffic. If you’re in the BYD or Citroën, though, don’t bank on having a relaxing time.

In these two, conserving range while making decent progress means reading the road like a chessboard – anticipating each move around you to maintain your momentum. Drop to 50mph by getting trapped behind a lumbering lorry or a middle-lane hogger and you’ll find that it takes some time to get back up to your original pace. With no gears to shift and no
rev counter to signal exertion, there’s nothing to tell you that these low-powered EVs are straining, until you catch a glimpse of the range indicator nose-diving, as though to remind you that they’re not specifically built for long, fast journeys.

The MG, on the other hand, has no such trouble. Its electric motor pulls hard and feels as if it has a fair bit in reserve, making it the most reassuring high-speed cruiser. Like the BYD, it has adaptive cruise control as standard, and while this isn’t great for efficiency (we found our eyes to be more reliable at predicting the movement of traffic than the MG’s reactive system), it does reduce the driver’s workload in start-stop congestion.

Less relaxing, however, is the noise that all three cars drum up at motorway speeds. The MG stirs up plenty of wind noise around its windscreen pillars, while the Citroën generates the most tyre roar and the BYD counters with a persistent motor whine. So, while the MG is the quietest overall at 70mph, it’s hardly like driving around in a Rolls-Royce Spectre.

That said, the MG pulls farther ahead when it comes to ride comfort; it feels much more settled at higher speeds. Its suspension is soft enough to cushion expansion joints, yet taut enough to keep body lean in check over bigger dips and crests.

The BYD and Citroën, in contrast, err on the soft side, and while this is a pleasure on smooth Tarmac, it causes them to feel floaty over even mild undulations. The Citroën’s rear suspension also occasionally delivers a sharp thump over harsher ridges – reminding you that it’s not the most sophisticated set-up around.

Soaking in the surroundings

Cruising down the A3 in convoy toward Hayling Island gave us a chance to get familiar with our surroundings, and it didn’t take long until deputy reviews editor Neil Winn had a couple of complaints about the MG’s driving position. “With the steering wheel slightly offset to the left, a lack of lower back support from the seat and little in the way of thigh support, it doesn’t take long before the MG 4 threatens back ache on a longer journey,” he said.

Head of video Doug Revolta had reservations inside the Citroën, too. “The driver’s seat is high up, which is great for visibility,” he said, “but while I can see the digital dials over the unconventional, oblong steering wheel [an arrangement like Peugeot’s i-Cockpit layout], I find the wheel itself uncomfortable to hold. You have to turn your hands into claws to hold the thick rim.”

Reviews editor Will Nightingale, meanwhile, had fewer complaints inside the BYD. “You don’t sit as high as you do in the Citroën,” he said, “but you get a clear view over the low dashboard, the seats come with electric adjustment as standard and the steering wheel has more reach adjustment. It’s a solid set-up.”

Better yet, the BYD has an impressively constructed interior. The dashboard has a playful-looking design with rounded edges and a mix of materials, from gloss plastic to wetsuit-like fabric – a nod to BYD’s ‘ocean aesthetics’ design. Plus, every BYD gets an impressive 12.8in infotainment touchscreen that rotates between portrait and landscape at the press of a button – a trick (first seen in the BYD Atto 3 electric SUV) that is genuinely useful for customising the display to your liking. The screen itself is bright and quick to respond, and it’s leagues ahead of the Citroën’s and MG’s when it comes to the quality of its graphics.

By contrast, the Citroën’s infotainment is something of a letdown. Its 10.25in screen, while a respectable size, isn’t the brightest, with clunky software and limited media or navigation options. Meanwhile, the MG’s 10.25in display is fiddly to use, with tiny icons and a confusing layout that demands more attention than it should.

The Citroën makes up for its poor infotainment with quirky, charming design details throughout the interior. The fabric-covered dash, textured seats and motivational labels stitched into the door armrests add a distinctive flair. It even has physical air-con controls. If it weren’t for the cheap-feeling plastics used lower down, the Citroën would give the BYD a real run for its money.

The MG’s interior, on the other hand, is almost the antithesis of the Citroën’s approach; it’s businesslike, no-nonsense and a little dull, with reasonable materials that feel more airport conference room than cozy retreat. There are some clever touches, though, including the ledge for your phone; there’s no wireless charging pad, but there are slots on the sides so you can thread cables down to the USB ports below to keep things neat and tidy.

Lounging around

Our first proper pit stop at Hayling Island Beach gave us a chance to stretch our legs, grab some lunch, snap a few seaside shots and, crucially, size up the back seat situation.

Surprisingly, the deceptively compact-looking BYD turns out to be just as spacious as the MG, with generous head and knee room and enough space under the front seats for your feet. The flat floor in the back also means that whoever’s in the middle seat isn’t left struggling for somewhere to put their feet – an advantage over the MG, which has a sizeable lump in the floor. It’s also worth noting that the MG is the only one without a middle headrest – not ideal for comfort or safety if you’re frequently travelling five up.

The Citroën, meanwhile, is tighter in the back than the others, but only just. Taller folk will actually find it has the most head room of the three, but it’s short on leg room, so stretching out isn’t as relaxing. It’s also the narrowest inside, so elbow room is at a premium. Overall, all three cars hold up well as family-friendly propositions, but the BYD edges ahead.

It’s a similar story with luggage capacity. On paper, the Citroën has the smallest boot, at 310 litres, compared with the BYD’s 345 litres and the MG’s 363 litres. But all three can hold five carry-on suitcases below their parcel shelves.

That said, their boots are not all equally practical; the MG’s opening reveals the widest aperture and longest load bay, making it a breeze to slot in the five cases with room left over for softer items. The Citroën, with its narrower boot opening and shorter load bay, required a bit of suitcase Tetris but still left room on top for some soft luggage, thanks to its deep boot floor.

Meanwhile, the BYD had the least space left over but made up for it by being the only one with a height-adjustable boot floor – a handy feature for eliminating the sizeable load lip and making it easier to heave in bulkier items.

One missed trick, though, especially from the ground-up EVs like the MG and BYD, is the lack of a front boot. It’s the sort of feature you find on a Tesla Model Y, and it’s a shame neither of these two makes use of the extra space up front.

The cross-country jaunt

After a night in Lyndhurst, we hit the New Forest’s winding roads. With the area’s leisurely 40mph speed limit, it’s no place for supercars, but with tight bends, mixed surfaces and blissfully little traffic, it’s an ideal proving ground for budget EVs.

As it turned out, the BYD least rewards a keen driver. The standard-fit Linglong Comfort Master tyres are quick to surrender their grip, particularly on damp roads; push into a corner too quickly and the front end has a habit of washing alarmingly wide of your intended line. It would be better if the steering offered more feel to clue you in on what the front tyres are up to; alas, it’s vague and doesn’t weight up in a particularly natural manner. Factor in its soft, floaty suspension and the BYD feels all at sea on a country road.

On the other hand, while it’s rather short on motorway pulling power, the BYD has no problem making progress on a country road; its official 0-62mph time of 12.3sec suggests it might feel rather more sluggish than it does.

Likewise, the Citroën’s 111bhp and 10.4sec 0-62mph time aren’t figures to set your pulse rating, but it’s certainly nippy enough at lower speeds. However, its suspension gets upset by mid-corner bumps; this has the car’s tall body wriggling left and right like a spinning top trying to find its balance.

That said, the Citroën does offer more grip in bends than the BYD, and while its steering is just as numb, it’s a bit more accurate, making it easier to place the car on the road.

So, don’t expect to be racing out of bed on a Sunday morning for a spirited drive in either the BYD or Citroën. The MG, though, might encourage you to hurry your breakfast. With a 211bhp motor driving the rear wheels, it dashes from 0-62mph in 7.7sec – the kind of pace that was once more typical of hot hatches.

And the MG backs up its straight-line performance with pleasingly weighted, precise steering, decent grip and reasonable body control. It doesn’t lean too much through corners and feels settled even when you’re carrying plenty of speed.

Also, being rear-wheel drive means it doesn’t struggle for traction when you plant your foot. In fact, with the stability control switched off, a skilled driver will find it positively playful, with the rear end gently rotating through corners under power. We even like the brakes, which are smoother and more progressive than the spongy brake pedal in the Citroën and slightly grabby brakes in the BYD.

Charging on

To keep things fair, we agreed that once any of our cars dropped to a 20% indicated battery level, we’d peel off, find the nearest charger and charge up to 80%, as most people would probably do in similar circumstances.

It was no surprise that the Citroën, with the shortest official range, hit 20% first, so Doug ducked off the M27 and pulled up to a Gridserve public rapid charger. With these units capable of delivering power at rates of up to 350kW (more than three times the 100kW maximum that the Citroën can handle), it should have been a quick stop; 20-80% can theoretically take just 26 minutes and add 90 to 100 miles of range. But the Citroën wasn’t playing ball. It topped out at around 60kW, then dipped to 40kW, turning Doug’s ‘quick’ pit stop into a 38-minute wait.

Meanwhile, Will and Neil had pressed on for another 25 miles before the MG and BYD simultaneously dipped to 20%. The only snag? The nearest chargers – a row of Tesla Superchargers in Liphook – were another 15 miles away, which left the duo rolling in with just 4% left in their batteries.

At this point, Neil had reason to feel smug. Although the MG had gulped down more juice than the BYD en route, it benefits from a significantly faster charging rate: 117kW versus the BYD’s snail-paced 65kW. As a result, the MG hit a respectable peak charging speed of 80kW, while the BYD maxed out at just 40kW. By the time Neil had grabbed a coffee and fired off a few emails, he was ready to head back out onto the motorway, leaving Will on his tod with the BYD. He finally gave chase after a wait of around 52 minutes, a good 14 minutes longer than Neil’s stop.

The money

So, the MG proved both more enjoyable to drive  and less of a hassle to keep charged on our journey than either the BYD or the Citroën. But let’s talk numbers; how efficient were our EVs, and what did our trip actually cost?

In terms of efficiency, the BYD took the crown, sipping electrons at a rate of 4.0 miles per kilowatt hour (kWh), compared with the Citroën’s 3.7 and the MG’s 3.6. That means the theoretical real-world ranges of the BYD and MG are identical, at 181 miles, and well ahead of the Citroën’s 159 miles.

The BYD, then, should cost you the least in electricity bills. Will’s two top-ups (including the team charging stop in London to get us all back to 100%) totalled £37.25, compared with Neil’s £46.03 and Doug’s hefty £49.10 for the Citroën. Context is needed, though; Gridserve’s chargers hit you with a wallet-stinging 79p/kWh fee, compared with Tesla’s 53p/kWh. Had Doug used a Tesla charger, his bill would have come down to £41.85. It’s a reminder of the UK charging roulette; the cost depends on where you stop.

For perspective, if we had all topped up our cars at home, the costs would have dropped to £14.62 for the BYD, £15.22 for the Citroën and £16.14 for the MG (based on the current electricity price cap of 24.5p per kWh). And if you’re on an EV-specific overnight tariff of just 7p per kWh, you’ll make even bigger savings.

Charging costs are only part of the story, though. Discounts of up to £4521 are available on the MG if you’re willing to haggle, actually making it cheaper to buy outright than the Citroën. A smaller discount of £1466 is available on the BYD. However, the latter has the strongest predicted resale values, making it the cheapest to own over three years.

The BYD is the priciest if you choose PCP finance, though. On a four-year deal with a £3000 deposit and a 10,000-mile annual limit, it will set you back £357 per month, versus £314 for the MG and £303 for the Citroën.

That said, the BYD does have more standard kit. It’s the only car here with a 360-degree camera, electrically adjustable ‘vegan leather’ seats, a heat pump to bolster its winter range, and metallic paint. The Citroën isn’t far behind with heated seats, a heated steering wheel, a rear-view camera and wireless phone charging. Rear parking sensors and keyless entry are the only real luxuries you get with the MG.

As mentioned, MG doesn’t have a great track record for reliability, though; in fact, it finished last among the 31 brands featured in the most recent What Car? Reliability Survey. BYD is too new in the UK to have featured yet, but Citroën performed well, ranking seventh.

Our verdict

We started this test with a simple question: can you buy a decent, affordable family EV in 2024? The answer? A resounding yes. Our contenders are all reasonably well rounded, making them solid choices for any urban-based family.

The Citroën is keenly priced but, crucially, doesn’t feel cut-price. Its funky interior, generous equipment list and high driving position add a sense of sophistication. Plus, it’s the cheapest to finance monthly on PCP and proved impressively efficient in our tests.

However, the BYD is even more efficient and is predicted to retain its value better than its rivals, making it the cheapest to own over three years. Add in the plushest interior, the best infotainment and the most generous rear seat space and it’s a worthy option. However, a slower charging speed and less polished handling stop it from beating the Citroën and MG.

Ah, yes, the MG – our reigning Small Electric Car of the Year. MG has nailed the formula for a well-priced, family-friendly EV with this strong all-rounder. While its interior is a little drab and the equipment list modest, it excels where it matters most. Flexible performance, relatively rapid charging and a spacious interior make it a standout choice. It may not be quite as cheap as it was a few years ago, but it still represents fantastic value, especially in this entry-level SE trim.

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