The BYD’s headline-grabbing price-tag is by far its most appealing attribute. Yep, you can have one of these fully electric SUVs from $44,381, before on-road costs.
Yes, this will make it slightly more expensive than the MG ZS EV (which can be had from $44,990, drive-away) in some states, but as you read through this review I’ll outline several reasons why I think this Atto 3 is definitely worth a few thousand dollars more than its core rival.
While the Standard Range Atto 3 has a driving range of 345km (WLTP), which is still more (in the real world and on paper) than its ZS EV rival, the car we tested for this review is the Long Range model which grants an even better 420km range, for a reasonable increase in price to $47,381.
Take it from someone who has been constantly driving EVs of all different shapes and sizes for the last year and a half, it’s also worth a few extra thousand to stretch to the long-range version.
That 420km of range will leave you mostly range anxiety free, unless you live particularly far from a metro centre and don’t have the ability to install your own charging hardware.
On to features. The Atto 3 is impressive, and it needs to be as the Chinese brand brings many question marks around what it is and what it stands for.
Equipment is mostly identical between the two grades, but our Extended Range model comes with 18-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights, a 5.0-inch digital instrument cluster, synthetic leather interior trim in two-tone finish, a panoramic sunroof, wireless phone charger, a 360-degree view parking camera, ambient LED interior lighting, six-way power adjust for the driver's seat and four-way power adjust for the front passenger, with heated seats for the front two positions, as well as keyless entry and push-start ignition.
I’ve separated out the 12.8-inch touchscreen from the list because, like this car’s Tesla Model 3 rival, it deserves special attention.
Not only is it relatively huge, it’s also capable of rotating to a portrait orientation, has a slick built-in navigation system, and always-online connectivity.
It apparently supports Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, but our car hadn’t completed the software update required for phone mirroring. I have it on good authority from others it works fine in cars which have been updated.
On top of the always-online connectivity, the Atto 3 also scores some EV-specific features, like vehicle to load (V2L) charging which lets you use the charging port to power external devices, and two levels of adjustable regenerative braking.