BYD Dolphin vs Mazda MX-30

What's the difference?

It’s about time for a change. Since the beginning of the EV era, Tesla has been the dominant name, and not without good reason.

Tesla made electric cars popular, cool, and above all, accessible. To this day, the Model 3 and Model Y remain excellent purchases in their respective categories.

And yet, the tide seems to be turning. Many buyers haven't been thrilled by Elon Musk's antics, how popular the Tesla brand has become or maybe they never liked the look and feel of Tesla to begin with.

For those prospective EV buyers, it looks like BYD is set to be the next big thing in electric cars.

Offered at a far more accessible price-point, the Chinese brand still stands out with its distinctively styled vehicles and innovative features.

And the new car we’re looking at for this review, the Dolphin hatchback, could be the one to elevate the brand to the levels of popularity and recognition Tesla currently enjoys.

At the time of writing, it was also the most affordable electric car you can buy in Australia. But is it more than that? Read on to find out.

Mazda’s MX-30 is an odd one. It’s Mazda’s third small SUV and its first production electric car, yet it wears the brand’s MX sports car prefix and originally launched as a combustion mild hybrid.

Of course, Mazda is no stranger to automobile enigmas, with left-of-field rotary choices in its past, and its semi-combustion SkyActiv-X engines showing a different take on the future, but can the brand’s innovative nature help make its first fully electric car a hit?

I drove an MX-30 E35 Astina shortly after its Australian launch to attempt to unravel its mysteries. Will it find its place in an increasingly busy EV marketplace? Read on to find out.