What's the difference?
The camping world is so mad for forward-fold campers that it often forgets that, for a long time, the rear-fold, hard-floor camper were considered the 'In' thing.
That rings true for Sydney-based camper-trailer firm, Blue Tongue Campers, whose three hallmark campers are based on the forward-folding concept with an internal lounge. But it's the rear-fold, which quietly ticks along, almost in the background, which is still the most versatile, has the best storage and the best kitchen of the hard-floor campers. The Series 2 version has just been released so we took it out to see what's changed.
Back in 2010, Mitsubishi released Australia’s first mainstream electric vehicle (EV) in nearly a century.
That model, the i-MiEV, was a four-seater city-sized Kei car from Japan that cost $48,800, before on-road costs, or from roughly $70,000 in today's money. Little wonder it bombed. That was four times more than petrol-powered equivalents of the time.
Now, in 2026, the new BYD Atto 1 is the first EV sold here since the i-MiEV’s 2013 departure to be considered a four-seater city car.
It’s also the least-expensive EV money can buy, being even cheaper than many internal-combustion engine alternatives like the Mazda 2 and Toyota Yaris hybrid. The fact is, there’s nothing remotely near the Chinese supermini’s base price that’s electric.
But is the Atto 1 any good?
The Overland XR Series 2 isn't quite the perfect camper, there's a few little things in the set-up that preclude it from that. Still, at the price and with the features it gets as standard, it's a really good value trailer. It's comfortable, it'll handle off-road trips with ease, and it the kitchen is really quite good.
The BYD Atto 1 has already earned its place in history as the cheapest new EV ever sold in Australia. And the good news is that, on the strength of bigger-battery Premium version, it rarely puts a foot wrong as a city car, exceeding performance, efficiency, refinement and comfort expectations. The Atto 1 really delivers around town.
But the baby BYD’s price is too close to larger EVs with better range, while extended exposure reveals issues with seat comfort, touchscreen access/distraction, ADAS interference and nervous steering feel at speed. Australian road tuning is required to rectify these.
Still, as a cheap urban EV runabout, the Atto 1 Premium still (just) stands alone. A glimpse into the future, someday, all city cars will likely follow in the bold BYD’s footsteps.