BYD Atto 3
The last couple of years has seen what’s felt like a new Chinese car brand hit the UK car market every other month, but BYD has actually been in the UK for years. You’d be forgiven for not noticing their products up until now but their brand can be found on trains, buses and pretty-much anything that needs a battery as they’re one of the world’s largest manufacturers. If you could open the bonnet of many Teslas and have a glance at their batteries, you’d find the BYD brand stamped on them.
The BYD range in the UK is expanding all the time, most of their models are named after sea creatures; Seal, Dolphin, Sealion, Blobfish etc – ok, the last one may not be entirely true. This is the BYD Atto 3 which, as far as we know isn’t a marine mammal and we’re not sure what happened to Atto 1 & 2 either. All BYDs are available as EV only, the Seal also comes as a hybrid SUV.
How big is the Atto 3?
This Atto 3 is built on BYD’s all-new electric platform which is highly adaptable and can be configured as FWD or AWD and can come as either an SUV or something altogether closer to the ground. The Atto 3 is, perhaps unsurprisingly a mid-size crossover. For comparison purposes it’s bigger than a Megane but smaller than an Enyaq – probably closest to a Kona.
BYD’s employed ex-Audi & Alfa design boss, Wolfgang Egger to make their products as desirable as possible but when you weigh-up Mr. Egger’s back catalogue that includes the Audi Q2 and the painfully pretty Alfa 8C Competizione, his influence isn’t exactly screaming you in the face.
Not overly EV
Looks-wise, the Atto 3 has shades of the first-gen Model Y, the Ford Kuga and the Smart #1. My particular bugbear with electric cars; removing most of their face because they don’t need a grille has been smartly disguised by placing a bar between the headlights and adding a bow-tie effect on the lower portion of the front bumper. The design of the Atto 3 isn’t quite as front-heavy, short bonneted as many electric cars and it’s all the better for it.
Plenty of toys inside
In contrast to the Atto 3’s relatively restrained exterior, inside there’s all manner of design elements to coo over and toys to play with. The oversized infotainment screen is designed to grab initial attention, and then keep your focus with its portrait to landscape rotation. The air vents look like giant coins in a holder, the door bins have three guitar strings to keep objects in and you can actually play a rough rendition of Smoke on the Water on them, should you so wish.
Some Amazon Echo-like speakers protrude from the doors and the door handles sit atop them. If you’re easily amused, and I am, watch first-time Atto 3 users try to fathom out how to get out.
Seating for five adults, not the largest boot
Seating for five fully grown people is pretty well catered for. We’ve definitely sat in less supportive front seats in cars that cost more but they’re not up there with the best in class either. Rear seat occupants get plenty of room and the view out is good thanks to a low glassline. They can also charge their phone via USB ports, regardless of spec. The boot could be more roomy as it’s not particularly big in any directions. It does boast the all-important under floor compartment to keep your charging cables tidy but a week away with the family would involve some light packing.
Two specs, one battery
Speccing your Atto 3 is a simple affair. There’s only one battery size to choose from (60kW), they’re all FWD so really it’s just the colour you want, of which there are four and one of two specs; Comfort at £37,695 or Design which is £39,695. Range is 260 miles in an ideal world which isn’t spectacular but isn’t tragic either and the good news is all Atto 3s come with a heat pump as standard.
Driving the Atto 3 is typically electric SUV i.e. quick acceleration and a bit of a Tigger-like bounce over bumps. I say quick rather than rapid as the Atto 3 produces just over 201bhp so 0-62mph comes around in 7.3s. The driving experience is more engaging than some electric cars but it’s still not exactly dynamic. The steering is fairly well weighted but lacks feedback and the brakes feel a little unresponsive until you get to the lower end of the pedal travel.
All Atto 3s come with 150kW DC charging capability so should you be lucky enough to find such a charge point, it’ll get you from 30-80% in a claimed 29 minutes. All Atto 3s also have VtoL so you can use the car like a giant power bank.
Should I buy an Atto 3?
The BYD Atto 3 starts at £37,695 which is getting on for VW ID.4 money and that’s some heady competition. What not a lot of people will realise, though, is that the BYD is actually quite far ahead in terms of technology, using what they call a ‘blade’ battery which is another name for a cell-to-pack battery. In layman’s terms this is the next gen of electric automotive tech, helping save weight and space; extremely important in an electric car. Whether this clever tech and its funky styling touches is enough to tempt you away from a more established brand remains to be seen.
By Ben Harrington
The BYD Atto 3 is available now, priced from £37,695. For full details go to: byd.com/uk
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