BYD Dolphin Buyers Complain about Quality Issues
Recently, the unknown white particles floating out of the air conditioner outlet of BYD’s Dolphin model has caused some discussion. As a result, nearly 400 consumers in Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province went in a group to local regulators to complain about the Chinese electric vehicle maker.
As early as October, some BYD Dolphin model owners had posted on social media outlets that, during the use of their vehicles, white powdery particles floated out of the air conditioner outlets and adhered to the test tape. Many vehicle owners contacted the 4S shop, and were informed by the after-sales service staff that the air conditioner evaporation box was faulty and needed to be replaced.
On October 22, BYD said, “The fault is caused by the oxidation of air-conditioning pipes and can be eliminated by cleaning the air-conditioning system.” However, some media analyzed that the direct cause of powder is the evaporator aluminum flux coating, which may be a serious quality problem.
When replying to the investigation in Zhejiang on November 17, BYD said that they had entrusted two different authoritative testing institutions to try out the component parts. One of them reported that aluminum hydroxide accounted for 95% of the ingredients sent for inspection, while the other was still being tested.
BYD explained on November 18 again that aluminum hydroxide is often used in stomach medicine and is harmless to humanbeings. “The concentration of PM2.5 in the air inside the car is less than 50 μg/m3, which is far lower than the international safety standard. The powder usually settles naturally at the bottom of the car,” said the official. The company promised to provide free in-store inspections and free replacements of the evaporation assembly to consumers who have any doubts.
In October of this year, 25,336 Dolphin models were sold, exceeding 20,000 units for four consecutive months, and cumulative sales now exceed 180,000 units. Although the price of this model is only about 100,000 yuan ($14,054), it is the first model to adapt BYD’s e-platform 3.0 technology.
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Several features make BYD’s Dolphin model stand out, including a permanent magnet synchronous motor with a maximum power of 70kW or 130kW, a lithium iron phosphate blade battery, vehicle wheelbase of 2700mm, a battery life of over 400 km, and the DiLink intelligent network connection system, all combine to give the Dolphin model the advantage of besting fueled-vehicles in the same price range.
However, according to the information on the relevant complaint platforms in China, the Dolphin model has many problems such as delayed delivery, abnormal noises from the braking system, a lack of power and charging failures.
