BYD Dolphin became the safest Chinese car in Latin America

The BYD Dolphin officially became the safest car in Latin America by earning five stars in the Latin NCAP crash and safety test. It is also the first battery electric vehicle that scored five stars in Latin NCAP's history.

The BYD Dolphin is an electric hatchback launched in China in 2021. It reached Latin America in 2023, turning into one of the hottest sellers in Brazil. Previously, the BYD Dolphin designed for European markets earned five stars in Euro NCAP and Australian NCAP crash tests. In December, the Chinese variant of this hatchback became the safest Chinese car evaluated by Latin NCAP.

The BYD Dolphin evaluated by Latin NCAP has 7 airbags and the ADAS package as standard. The white car body of this hatchback is made of high-strength steel for 78.2%. So, it isn't a surprise the car scored that high in the New Car Assessment Program.

The BYD Dolphin scored highest in the Child Occupant safety segment, achieving 93.17%. The Adult Safety category got 92.6%. Results of the Pedestrian Protection and Vulnerable Road Users safety are 77.03% and 85.17%, respectively.

Latin NCAP representatives highlighted that the ADAS package of the car was assessed in frontal impact, side impact, side pole impact, whiplash, pedestrian protection, ESC, Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB) for Vulnerable Road Users (VRU), AEB City, AEB Interurban, Lane Support Systems (LSS), Speed Assist Systems (SAS) and Blind Spot Detection, achieving the five stars for the compact five-door hatchback.

"The Dolphin Plus showed, in general, good performance with stable structure and footwell areas and adequate to good adult chest protection in the frontal impact. The model also showed overall good protection in side impact and marginal protection to the chest in the pole impact, good child occupant protection, and good ADAS systems with the full volume of units fitted with them as standard," – mentioned in the Latin NCAP release.

The BYD Dolphin became the first Chinese manufacturer, and the first EV to achieve five stars in Latin NCAP. Therefore, it has officially become the safest Chinese car in Latin America. This assessment is valid for Brazil.

The safety of an EV depends on 3 factors: hardware, driver and software (ADAS). So you can't claim that an EV is safe just because of its hardware.