BYD prices the BYD Dolphin EV at $38,890 in Australia

Gee, I wonder how they came up with that price point? It’s a mystery we may never solve.

BYD has announced — as you probably worked out, you can read a headline and everything — that the BYD Dolphin will cost from $38,890 when it goes on sale in Australia in the fourth quarter of this year.

It was only a couple of days ago that MG announced the pricing for the MG4 Excite 51 at $38990, $100 more than the BYD Dolphin. I’m certain if asked they’d deny it, but that pricing certainly seems… close.

BYD’s being a touch coy about which model battery that will buy you, mind you — its official release doesn’t list that specification, and the local web site merely has an expression of interest form for the BYD Dolphin.

In the European market, it lists a model of the Dolphin good for up to 427km of combined WLTP range, while in New Zealand it has a model with a claimed 340km WLTP range as well as a flagship 427km WLTP model. Based on the New Zealand dollar, the smart money says that it’s the former that you’ll get for your $38,990.

Not that it’ll be $38,990, mind you; depending on where you are rebates may apply bringing it lower, but as it’s a “before on-road costs” figure, you’d also have to factor in registration and insurance costs — at which point the $100 between the MG4 and Dolphin may well become moot.

Lead image: BYD