For anyone out there who still thinks BYD sounds like a firm of dodgy claims solicitors here's a quick heads-up. 

BYD stands for 'Build Your Dreams' and is the moniker and marketing ethos behind a Chinese multinational intent on shaking up the establishment with its burgeoning line of predominately electrically powered vehicles.

We've already driven the Atto 3 SUV, which in truth, is an impressive, if unremarkable machine, but the model that is far more likely to make European manufacturers sit up and take note is the cutely named Dolphin hatchback. 

The Dolphin is powered by a 60KW battery and uses a 204hp electric motor to deliver a junior hot hatch-rivalling 0-62 sprint time of just 7.1 seconds and an official WLTP range of 265 miles when driven more sedately.

Employing the company's flexible platform, which uses its patented blade battery pack construction as part of the chassis, this arrangement is claimed to substantially improve torsional rigidity, with the associated benefits for ride, handling and crash integrity. It's an impressively high-tech manufacturing approach but of more interest to prospective buyers and user-choosers is the Dolphin's sticker price. Although not officially confirmed yet, an entry-level Dolphin is expected to start at just £27,000.

The maximum charge rate the Dolphin's battery can accept is 88Kw, although BYD has massaged the charging time somewhat, claiming a 30 to 80% charge can be achieved in under 30 mins, whereas most manufacturers quote charging times between 20 and 80%. To be fair, this means it should still take little more than a leisurely slurp of brown stuff and a cursory glance at your inbox before hitting the road again. 

Given our initial drive was limited to a billiard table-smooth Spanish race track, it's difficult to predict with any certainty exactly how the Dolphin will cope with the mish-mash of surfaces that constitute the UK's highways and byways. That said, even driven sedately we couldn't help but notice a fair bit of body lean and a certain reluctance to change direction, so we suspect the Dolphin may end up as more of a battered asphalt absorber than a feisty roundabout rascal. 

As with any EV, with no combustion engine rumble to mask matters, a crucial factor is how well external interlopers are masked. The Dolphins we drove did seem to generate a fair bit of road noise and a bit more motor whine than we'd ideally like but not significant enough to set any alarm bells ringing.  

Inside the Dolphin's driver interface looks and feels a wee bit leftfield. The dash is dominated by some swoopy horizontal panels and a quartet of circular air vents, while the door pulls are said to resemble dorsal fins, we kid you not. While the heating and ventilation are taken care of by a standard-fit heat pump, pride of place goes to the large 12.6-inch infotainment screen, which can rotate between portrait and landscape layouts. We're guessing once it's set you probably won't ever employ this unless you're implored to do so by your young'uns to wow their mates. To be fair, the usability of the system is pretty straightforward, and it is quick to respond to inputs although you may find some of the smaller icons tricky to hit when driving.

If you're only going to use your Dolphin for commuting then space shouldn't be an issue as there's enough room for four adults to travel in reasonable comfort, plus there's a fairly decent 345 litres of boot capacity which can be boosted to 1,310 litres by folding the rear seats. 

As we alluded to earlier, perhaps the Dolphin's biggest incentive will be its price point. With a sticker price similar to a basic MG4, while offering considerably more range and equipment as well as being considerably cheaper than the likes of a Vauxhall Corsa Electric or Volkswagen ID.3, the Dolphin could well make a splash when it arrives in the UK later this year.