2023 BYD Atto 3 Crossover Review
What's a BYD Atto 3 and should Irish buyers care?
Atto 3 is first BYD to be sold in Ireland – and there’s plenty more where that came from.
Review
In a surprise for most in the country, Motor Distributors Limited (MDL) – the current importers for the Mercedes brand – announced earlier this year that it had signed an agreement with a massive Chinese car company to bring its cars to Ireland. And it’s happening at breakneck speed. The brand in question is BYD, which stands for Build Your Dreams, and while that might suggest that the company is an unknown start-up, it is actually one of the most established and successful marques in China. What’s more, last year it overtook Tesla to become the world’s largest manufacturer of electric cars. That’s what it will focus on for the Irish market, starting with the Atto 3.
What’s a BYD Atto 3?
The technically-named Atto 3 (it refers to the smallest measurable amount of time – an attosecond – and the e-Platform 3.0 underpinning it) is a modest-looking five-seat, five-door crossover. It’s a little smaller than the likes of the Skoda Enyaq and Nissan Ariya in most directions and is closer in size to the Kia Niro and Hyundai Kona.
At the time of writing, pricing has yet to be confirmed, though with the Irish-market launch imminent and sales promised by the summer, buyers won’t have to wait too long before they find out.
Despite its newness, don’t expect BYD to focus on bargain-basement pricing, as it wants its cars to be seen as alternatives to the established premium options. To that end, the Atto 3 promises to be particularly well-equipped.
Is the interior any good?
While the neat exterior of the Atto 3 doesn’t rewrite the rulebook of automotive design, its interior is rather more noteworthy. It has a few style quirks that we’re not sure about, but certainly make for talking points, such as the door ‘pockets’ that use red strings in a guitar-like appearance, or the unusual air vents with their chunky adjustment dials. There’s decent space in the car, though, and it feels well put together for the most part.
A tactile steering wheel in front of the driver sits ahead of a compact standalone digital screen for the instruments, but all eyes will be on the central touchscreen. It’s big for a start – measuring 12.8 inches across the diagonal, and the graphics are notably crisp and modern. Indeed, the interface turns out to be excellent, with fast response to touch and an intuitive layout for the various menus. Uniquely, when you press a button on the steering wheel, the display rotates through 90 degrees, which makes it even easier to follow navigation instructions, for example.
How well does it drive?
Modestly, in a word, though in a polished manner. It does everything well without being outstanding in any one area. The Atto 3 is commendably quiet, and the suspension does a decent job of absorbing rough road surfaces and bumps while keeping the body level and under control through a sequence of corners. Keen drivers won’t be impressed by the lifeless steering or brakes, but it’s a perfectly capable car in normal driving conditions.
The Atto 3 is powered by a front-mounted electric motor putting out up to 204hp and 310Nm of torque, which is more than adequate, and as it’s not as heavy as some electric SUVs, it puts in a respectable 7.3-second 0-100km/h time. In real-world driving, this time indicates that the Atto 3 will feel nippy in an urban environment, though it is quite at home on the open road, too.
To that end, BYD quotes a range of up to 420km from the 60.5kWh battery pack. It can be recharged at up to 80kW on public DC chargers, or 11kW on three-phase AC.
In summary
First impressions of the BYD Atto 3 are good. It’s best described as an unassuming looking car, but its interior is more than a little interesting and it’s as good on the road as anyone needs it to be. A longer test drive on Irish roads will tell us more about its range and ability, but for now, we just need to wait on the pricing to judge it against its potential rivals.
What else is coming from BYD?
To begin with, there will be three BYD dealers in Ireland – two in Dublin and one in Cork. The network will rapidly expand, however, in line with the range of cars available. Hot on the heels of the Atto 3 will be the Dolphin, a good-quality C-segment hatchback that uses the same electric powertrain.
Then comes the BYD Seal, something completely different. This is a four-door sports saloon in the same vein as the Hyundai Ioniq 6, BMW i4 and Tesla Model 3. It will be offered in rear- and all-wheel-drive guises with up to 530hp and a quick drive at the European launch event suggests that it’ll be an exciting car to own.
There are plans for the European line-up to expand to a total of nine different models in time. We’re not sure yet if they’ll all be coming to Ireland, but you can be sure that Irish buyers will soon be very familiar with the BYD brand.