BYD Dolphin vs MG MG4 vs GWM ORA: Australia's Cheapest Electric Hatchbacks Compared

Dolphin against MG4 was our fourth most-viewed comparison this fortnight and Dolphin against ORA was in the top twelve, which makes this the cheap end of the electric market and the segment where the most first-time EV buyers land. It is also the segment where the specification traps are worst, because two of these three nameplates are currently sold in two quite different bodies at the same time.

Everything below comes from our own database, sourced from each manufacturer's Australian material. Where we hold no figure, it says so.

The prices, and why they are unusually comparable

All three brands quote drive-away pricing on at least part of the range, which is a gift for comparison purposes. A drive-away figure already includes registration, stamp duty and the rest, so unlike most new-car comparisons you can put these numbers next to each other without mental arithmetic.

The BYD Dolphin Essential's $28,888 is a promotional drive-away price running from 15 September to 15 December 2026, against a $29,990 list before on-roads. That makes it the cheapest way into a new electric car on this list, and probably in the country, but it has an end date. Use our fuel cost calculator to see what any of these save against the petrol hatch you are replacing, because at this end of the market the running-cost saving is a large fraction of the purchase price.

The trap: two of these are two different cars

This is the part that catches people out, and you will not see it in a brochure.

The GWM ORA is currently sold in two bodies. The older one is 4,235mm to 4,254mm long, carries a 57.7kWh battery, has a 228-litre boot and holds a five-star ANCAP rating from 2022. The newer one is 4,471mm long, carries 58.3kWh, has a much more useful 362-litre boot, charges at 120kW rather than 80kW, and is rated to tow 750kg where the old car is rated at zero. But we hold no ANCAP rating for the newer body at all. That is no data rather than a bad result, and it is exactly the kind of thing to establish before you sign.

The MG4 is in the same situation. The Essence 43 and Essence 54 are 4,395mm long on a 2,750mm wheelbase with a 382-litre boot and five-star ANCAP results from 2025. The Essence 64 and XPower are 4,287mm on a 2,705mm wheelbase with a 350-litre boot, and the Essence 64's five-star rating dates from 2022. We hold no ANCAP rating for the XPower.

The practical upshot: do not assume the more expensive MG4 or ORA is the newer car. In both ranges the cheaper variants are the newer body with the more recent safety rating and the bigger boot, while the pricier ones are the older body with more battery. Which you want depends on whether you value range or recency, but you should at least know which one you are being sold.

Charging is the real separator

At this price point, DC charging speed varies more than anything else, and it is the spec most likely to annoy you later.

The MG4 Essence 64's 154kW is more than two and a half times the Dolphin Essential's 60kW. In practice that is the difference between 25 minutes and 35 minutes on a highway stop, and a bigger gap again on a partially depleted battery.

If you charge at home overnight and rarely drive beyond 300km in a day, none of this will ever matter to you. If you plan to do intercity runs, it is the first spec to check. Our range calculator shows what cold weather and highway speed do to these WLTP figures, which is where a 316km car becomes a genuinely short-legged one.

Space, and the 228-litre problem

The older GWM ORA's 228-litre boot is the smallest figure in this comparison and one of the smallest we hold for any on-sale electric car. For context, the MG4 Essence 43 offers 382 litres, 68 per cent more, in a car of similar footprint.

• MG4 Essence 43 and 54: 382 L, or 1,266 L folded
• GWM ORA, newer body: 362 L
• BYD Dolphin: 345 L, or 1,310 L folded
• MG4 Essence 64 and XPower: 350 L, or 1,165 L folded
• GWM ORA, older body: 228 L, or 858 L folded

The Dolphin has the best seats-folded figure at 1,310 litres despite a mid-pack seats-up number, so it is the most useful of these for the occasional big load.

On towing, the newer ORA is rated to 750kg braked and the MG4 to 500kg. The BYD Dolphin and the older ORA are both rated at zero, which means not approved to tow at all, not simply unrated. If you need to pull even a small box trailer, those two are out.

Warranty, where MG wins outright

MG covers the MG4 for ten years or 250,000km, with seven years on the battery. That is the longest vehicle warranty in this comparison by three years and the longest we hold for any car in this segment.

GWM offers seven years with unlimited kilometres on the ORA, which is arguably better than MG's for a very high-mileage driver since MG's 250,000km cap would be reached in ten years only at 25,000km a year. BYD offers six years or 150,000km on the Dolphin with eight years on the battery, the shortest vehicle cover of the three.

So which one?

Buy the BYD Dolphin Essential if the lowest possible price is the whole point. At $28,888 drive-away it is the cheapest new electric car here and the battery warranty is the longest at eight years. Understand what you are accepting: 340km, 60kW charging, no towing at all, and 12.3 seconds to 100km/h, which is slow enough that you will plan your merges. The promotional price ends 15 December 2026.

Buy the MG MG4 if you want the best all-round ownership case. The ten-year warranty is genuinely category-leading, the Essence 43 is the most efficient car here at 129Wh/km, and the Essence 64 charges at 154kW, faster than anything else in this comparison by a wide margin. Just be clear which body you are buying, because the cheap ones are the newer car with the 2025 safety rating and the bigger boot.

Buy the GWM ORA if you want unlimited-kilometre warranty cover and the newer body's practicality. The longer 4,471mm ORA is a much better car than the one it sits alongside: 362 litres instead of 228, 120kW charging instead of 80kW, and a 750kg tow rating instead of none. Before you commit, ask GWM directly about its ANCAP status, because we hold no rating for that body and you should not assume the older car's 2022 five stars carry across.

Compare any two directly on our Dolphin against MG4 and Dolphin against ORA pages, or see everything under $40,000 in our electric listings.