And I have to admit, I’m going to be a little reluctant to see it go.
The Dolphin Surf is one of those cars that can look fairly unassuming on paper, but starts to make a lot more sense once you actually spend some time with it.
For a small EV, it feels surprisingly solid and well built. There’s a reassuring weight and sense of substance to it, rather than it feeling like a cut-price city car. That’s particularly impressive given its relatively compact dimensions.
It also has a 5-star Euro NCAP safety rating, which adds another layer of reassurance for anyone considering it as a daily driver or family second car.
I was testing the top-of-the-range Comfort, priced at £23,975, which comes with a pretty generous level of equipment for the money.
That includes:
360° cameras Full LED headlights Heated seats Wireless phone charging 43.2kWh battery 193-mile WLTP range
There’s also an entry-level version from £18,675, with a 30kWh battery and a 137-mile WLTP range.
So, on paper, it certainly looks like an interesting proposition for anyone looking for an affordable electric car.
But the big question with any EV is how it performs in the real world.
Efficiency
This was probably the biggest surprise of my week with the Dolphin Surf.
On my usual Eco City Loop test, it achieved more than 7.5 miles per kWh.
That equates to a theoretical range of around 325 miles from the 43.2kWh battery — obviously well beyond its official 193-mile WLTP figure, and not something you should expect to achieve in every situation, but it does demonstrate just how efficient the car can be in the right conditions.
More importantly, on a longer weekend trip over mixed roads, it was also easily matching its WLTP figure.
And that wasn’t under particularly favourable conditions.
There was heavy rain, and I had the air conditioning running to keep the windows clear, so it was encouraging to see the real-world range holding up so well.
For a small EV primarily designed with urban and suburban driving in mind, that makes it considerably more usable for longer journeys than you might initially expect.
Behind the wheel
The Dolphin Surf is also a pleasant car to drive.
It rides nicely, feels composed and doesn’t have the overly light or insubstantial feel that you might expect from something in this class.
It’s obviously at its best around town, where its compact size makes it easy to place on the road and manoeuvre into tighter spaces.
But it doesn’t feel out of its depth when you head onto faster roads.
That versatility is important because, while a small EV might spend most of its life doing short trips, you don’t necessarily want a car that becomes a chore the moment you need to travel further.
The Dolphin Surf doesn’t give me that impression.
Charging
Charging is another area where it punches above its size.
With charging speeds of up to 80kW, it’s considerably more versatile than its dimensions might suggest.
That means it isn’t restricted to being purely a home-charging, short-hop vehicle. With access to suitable rapid charging, longer journeys are perfectly realistic too.
Of course, charging performance and journey times will depend on the charger, battery temperature and other conditions, but having that capability gives the Dolphin Surf a useful degree of flexibility.
Any negatives?
There are a few things I’d change.
The most obvious one for me is the lack of a rear wiper. It’s one of those omissions that you might not notice immediately, but becomes much more obvious when you’re driving in typical British weather.
I also found the DAB radio occasionally needed changing to another station and then back again before it would play.
That’s not a deal-breaker, and hopefully something that could be addressed with a software update, but it was noticeable during my time with the car.
Those are fairly minor complaints, though, particularly when you consider what else the car offers.
The verdict
After a week, my overall impression is a very positive one.
The Dolphin Surf is small, efficient, well equipped and surprisingly substantial to drive.
It makes a compelling case for anyone looking for an affordable EV that will spend most of its time around town but isn’t completely compromised when a longer journey comes along.
The efficiency was particularly impressive, and the fact that it could match its WLTP range in real-world mixed driving — even in poor weather — certainly increased my confidence in it.
It’s also a good reminder that you don’t necessarily need a huge battery and a huge car to have a genuinely usable EV.
The Dolphin Surf feels like a car designed around what many people actually need from a small electric vehicle: easy urban driving, low energy consumption, plenty of equipment and enough range and charging capability to make the occasional longer trip perfectly manageable.
So, after a week, would I have one?
I think I might.
And that’s probably the biggest compliment I can give it.
