As part of the EV revolution, we will continue seeing new EV-only brands appear on the market – BYD is the most recent of these.
The Atto 3 has a lot to like about it, currently there are two models differentiated by their battery capacity. We had the larger battery version with a 60kWh battery giving up to 420km range, the smaller battery is a 50kWh unit with 345km of range.
The mechanical specifications are otherwise the same for both, front-wheel-drive, 150kW of power with 310Nm of torque and a 0 to 100km/h time of 7.3 seconds.
All those say that – as with most EV’s – the Atto 3 is a pretty nippy SUV. You don’t get Tesla neck snapping acceleration, but the engine responds almost instantly in EV fashion making for an enjoyable drive.
Likewise, the ride and handling are both strong points, with the only criticism being a lack of steering feel. Actually, the ride is way better than you might expect.
Often, this is a challenge for newer manufacturers to get right but the BYD felt at home whether round town, on the motorway or on the pothole ridden road over the Kaimai’s!
It is also an attractive fresh design both inside and out, BYD has escaped most of the EV makers usual fascination with out there cutting edge (read weird) design, rather it looks modern and fashionable.
The seats provide good comfort and support although we were not fans of the fixed integrated headrest which tended to push our head position further forward than ideal. The driver’s seat has six-way power adjustment.
Cabin-wise, the most dramatic feature is the large 12.8-inch central screen. This has a neat trick up it’s sleeve in that at a touch of a button, you can rotate it from the normal landscape to portrait orientation.
The large central screen provides access to most functions, frustratingly some key functions such as climate control can only be accessed via the screen and changing the temperature settings required three steps – not ideal in terms of driver distraction!
The driver gets their own five-inch display for driving information.
The Atto 3 has a comprehensive range of ADAS safety features, including Tyre Pressure Monitoring.
When we tested the Atto 3 it did not have Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, but these are being added by an OTA (over the air) update in Q4.
A few neat features that we appreciated were the dash cam function to the ADAS camera system (you need to supply an SD card); the wireless phone charger and a car to power system (so you can use the car battery to power a 240v appliance via a three-pin plug).
And speaking of power, the Atto 3 comes with a standard CCS port – the larger battery supports up to 80kW charge rate and the smaller 70kW.
We did find the estimated range read out somewhat optimistic.
We did a 254km trip from Auckland to Tauranga via the new Waikato Expressway. At the start, it showed 412km range and at the end 66km, so 350km of range was used on a 256km trip.
There were some challenges in terms of access to chargers, but this is a wider EV problem not a BYD issue.
Overall, we liked the Atto 3 and given the accessible pricing, this is a great EV that offers good load carrying and excellent driving dynamics.
