There is an ever-growing list of EVs for new vehicle buyers to choose from, but this year our award winner is most definitely a Greenfields winner.

This year was the first time we had encountered the BYD brand as it took its place among vehicle manufacturers of much longer standing pedigrees.

In fact, it was the brand’s first drive into this market which gave it a good foothold on the award. The Atto3 had nothing to compare itself to from its own stable and it was the surprise and delight factor that a car could come from a brand we didn’t know and perform as well as it did.

The Atto3’s EV performance is excellent, and we wouldn’t want to take away from that because that is, after all, the point behind the award.

In saying this however, the BYD is astonishingly well thought out, very well specified and is remarkable inasmuch as it has landed and epitomised its market segment on its first try!

Typically, we would expect a brand of BYD’s relative anonymity to deliver a product which is pretty good considering… but the Atto3 is so much better than that. This is an EV which looks, feels and drives like it has already made its bones in our market.

And yet, it is so fresh and innovative in its design, and so full of deliverable promise in terms of its EV characteristics – range and ease of charging with the ability to power elements of its owner’s lifestyle thanks to its vehicle to load capacity – as well as looking and driving like a medium SUV should.

In terms of its drivability, the Atto3 delivers the goods, and this is no glib statement. EVs have to overcome impediments which ICE vehicles can cover up because of the nature of the petrol or diesel engines.

As a manufacturer, it is possible to not pay so much attention to metallic creaks and squeaks, but an EV does not allow that level of latitude.

In layman’s terms, this would be described as ‘how well the vehicle is put together’ and the Atto 3 is as robust in this regard as any long-standing quality automotive brand.

We appreciated BYD’s points of difference when it came to the Atto3 as well: the rotating central screen, the full light bars across the front and rear and the intriguing interior which reiterates the ‘freshness’ of the vehicle’s design. 

The BYD Atto 3 then is a truly electrifying ‘out of the blue’ vehicle which is the perfect ambassador for the brand