BYD’s Next Dolphin Surf Gets Bigger, More Powerful, and Gains a LiDAR Sensor

BYD released the first official design sketches of its next generation Seagull this week, and based on the regulatory filing that surfaced alongside them, this isn’t just a facelift. The car is bigger, stronger and packed with more tech than the model that’s currently sold in Europe as the Dolphin Surf.

Zhang Zhuo, general manager of BYD’s Ocean series sales division, posted the sketches on Weibo this week, followed by interior images on Thursday. Neither set shows the car in full, but between them they confirm a reshaped nose with trident shaped lights front and rear, a cleaner overall silhouette, a bigger infotainment screen, a new two spoke steering wheel with control knobs on each side, and a row of physical buttons beneath the air vents replacing some of the current model’s touch controls. BYD hasn’t shown an instrument cluster in any of the images so far, which could mean the car drops one entirely in favour of the central screen.

How Much Bigger Is It

BYD is calling it the Great Seagull, following the same pattern it used for the Great Tang and Great Han, both larger versions of existing Dynasty series models. A Chinese regulatory filing with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, spotted last month, confirmed the dimensions.

That’s an extra 425 mm in length and 150 mm in the wheelbase, enough to close a lot of the gap to the regular BYD Dolphin, which measures 4,290 mm globally. BYD itself is positioning the Great Seagull as sitting between the current Seagull and the sportier Dolphin.

The electric motor jumps from 55 kW (75 hp) in the current Seagull to 95 kW (127 hp) in the Great Seagull, a bigger increase than the size difference alone would suggest. BYD hasn’t confirmed battery specs for the new car, but sources close to the filing point to two FinDreams built LFP packs, 30 kWh and 39.2 kWh, giving a CLTC range of roughly 320 to 420 km. CLTC figures run noticeably higher than what European buyers actually see on the WLTP cycle, so the real world equivalent is more likely somewhere around 260 to 340 km. I’ve covered why that gap exists in my breakdown of WLTP versus CLTC testing, and it’s worth keeping in mind before comparing these numbers directly to any European spec sheet. In China, the Great Seagull will go up against the Geely E2 and the GAC Aion UT, both of which compete in the same small hatchback segment.

Design sketches aside, undisguised spy shots of the Great Seagull surfaced online earlier and revealed something the official images haven’t shown yet: a roof mounted LiDAR unit. That’s a notable step up for a car positioned as BYD’s cheapest model, and it points towards an upgraded driver assistance package, potentially a version of BYD’s God’s Eye B system, replacing the basic driver assistance setup found on the current Seagull/Dolphin Surf. Zhuo confirmed the car’s name and a launch window at the Chengdu Auto Show last month, saying the Great Seagull will go on sale in China before the end of 2026. Pricing hasn’t been announced.

Will Europe Get It as the Next Dolphin Surf

BYD hasn’t confirmed a European launch, but there’s little reason to think it would skip one. The current Seagull sells in Europe as the Dolphin Surf and in some markets as the Dolphin Mini, and it’s become one of BYD’s most important cars on the continent. It currently starts around €20,000 before incentives, so a larger, more powerful successor would likely land somewhere close to that figure, possibly nudging toward €25,000 and closer to the Volkswagen ID.Polo, depending on which battery and trim BYD brings over first.

Whether it keeps the Dolphin Surf name in Europe hasn’t been confirmed either. It will be interesting to see whether it can match the current model’s success, given how much competition has built up in the same segment across Europe since the Dolphin Surf first arrived.