The BYD Dolphin is the best car purchase of 2024, concluded the AUTOBEST jury, which includes 32 journalists from as many European countries (only 31 voted, due to the unanimous exclusion of Russia shortly after the invasion of Ukraine, the act that originated an endless war). In the gallery of champions, the electric compact succeeds the Renault Austral. This is the first Chinese victory in this election organized since 2002.
At the end of the rigorous and lengthy selection process, which includes tests on the Teesdorf circuit, highway, and roads near Vienna, Austria. And after all the votes were counted, the BYD Dolphin scored 20,057 points, 334 more than the second-place finisher, the new generation Hyundai Kauai. The vote for the Chinese car represented 25.88% of the total score, while the Korean rival achieved 25.44%.
In the 2024 AUTOBEST, two more finalists: Fiat 600 and Jeep Avenger. The former ended up as the fourth most voted new car, receiving 24.0% of the available points, and the latter finished in third place with 24.68%. Among the factors that contributed to the victory of the BYD Dolphin, a model available for sale in Portugal with prices starting at €29,990, are comfort, overall quality, and excellent driving experience, qualities that are complemented by the spacious interior, standard equipment, and technological tools, especially in terms of connectivity.
Recently, the BYD Dolphin also received the maximum 5-star rating in crash tests conducted by the EuroNCAP consortium. The compact sedan is based on the e-Platform 3.0 technical architecture and has a lithium iron phosphate battery with a capacity of 60.4 kWh, which allows for a range of up to 427 km between charges. The top version, with 204 hp, accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 7 seconds and has a maximum speed limited to 160 km/h.
Michael Shu, General Manager of BYD Europe, expressed great satisfaction with the title. “We are very proud of this award. We have been recognized by an extensive panel of professional jurors. And this distinction will certainly increase the attention and interest of consumers… We want to differentiate ourselves and make electric mobility increasingly accessible,” said the representative of the Chinese brand, who will receive the award during the next spring, at the 23rd edition of the AUTOBEST Gala, to be held in Luxembourg.
The AUTOBEST jurors, in the final of the 2024 election, also voted for the winners of other awards. David Richards (SPORTBEST), CATL Shenxing battery (TECHNOBEST), Lotus Hyper OS (SMARTBEST), and Citroën ë-C3 (ECOBEST) were the winners. Continental, with the Detectable Jacket, won the SAFETYBEST, a distinction that is always very special due to its importance for safety.
THE SELECTION AND VOTING PROCESS
The selection and voting process in AUTOBEST, as in most elections that reward the best new cars presented each year, is carried out in stages and over several months. The start, necessarily, is the selection of the finalists, an individual process with a golden rule: only models available for sale in the majority of European countries and with prices before taxes up to €30,000 are admitted. This is followed by a meeting for the exchange of opinions, case-by-case analysis, and, finally, the names of the candidates for the title of “best buy” are determined, which must be unanimous. The rules do not impose a maximum number of admissions, but only four finalists were chosen… A difficult unanimity, considering the diversity of the jury panel and the quantity/quality of the proposals on the table, but not impossible. I am a fan of a different methodology, as I consider it more democratic (secret voting), but I am fine with these rules of the game!
Then, individually, until the meeting in Austria, all the jurors had to test the finalists, which happened in parallel with their daily work. Thus, at the end of November, they were well prepared for the final test in Teesdorf, where the finalist brands also had the opportunity to present the competing models and clarify any remaining doubts. Curiosity: by decision of the manufacturers, we only drove electric cars on the test circuit. The most surprising case was Hyundai, which has more versions in the Kauai range…
The Teesdorf complex is not a racing circuit, but rather a test center for defensive and safe driving instruction, thus providing the required conditions for exploring the limits of the four finalists. For example, we simulated evasive maneuvers and emergency braking on dry and wet surfaces, tested reactions to aquaplaning, experimented with chassis behavior and electronic assistance. It was a busy day that allowed us to gather a lot of information.
Finally, after returning home, two weeks to fill out the voting form with 13 evaluation parameters, some more objective than others. Each juror distributes a maximum of 2500 points, which they do freely, according to the criteria they value and always considering the reality in which they live (equipment, distribution network, and maintenance costs, for example, are not the same in all countries). The regulations only impose a maximum difference of 250 points between the first and third places and prohibit awarding zero points to a car. Then, all the points are added up and the winner of AUTOBEST is determined.
