BYD Atto 3 Evo review: Bigger battery, bigger motor – better car?

We find out if major changes beneath the skin can help turn the BYD Atto 3 Evo from a family SUV also-ran to class-leader

Back in late 2023 I attended the launch of the original BYD Atto. Held in a modest venue in the English countryside, it gave no indication of the head-spinning pace at which the brand would go from Chinese unknown to the UK’s sixth biggest car brand and the world’s biggest EV maker.

The Atto 3 of 2023 was an unremarkable C-segment SUV. Apart from some quirky interior touches and a competitive price it was thoroughly average.

But BYD doesn’t want to be average, so after just three years, the Atto 3 is getting an update. And this isn’t your usual “new headlights and a bigger touchscreen” affair. The Atto 3 has been seriously reengineered to make it one of the most powerful and quickest cars in its class.

The old 201bhp front-wheel drive setup has been binned in favour of a more powerful rear-drive one, or even more powerful all-wheel-drive version. There’s also a bigger battery for better range and updated technology. Plus the small matter of a new name. In reference to the scale of the changes this is the BYD Atto 3 Evo.

So has it evolved from an also-ran to class leader?

Design, interior and technology

Externally, you’d be hard-pushed to identify this as the new Atto 3 Evo rather than the original car. The front and rear bumpers have a new profile and slimmer side skirts aim to give a neater look. There’s also a new high-level spoiler and a redesigned diffuser element, plus some new wheel designs.

Despite the exterior changes you’d still have to say the Atto 3 Evo remains a fairly generic SUV.

Inside, however, it remains one of the more unusual cars in its class. There have been subtle updates which have toned down the gym-inspired ambience, but the overall attention-grabbing design remains. The door handles still have a barbell aesthetic, the air vents remain inspired by free weights and the guitar string-style door pockets remain to entertain kids and infuriate parents. However, the centre console is neater and the kettle bell-shaped drive selector has gone, with that function now managed by a column stalk. There’s also a new 8.8-inch digital instrument display. This is similar to that in newer BYD models and brings a much improved interface.

Beside that, the Atto 3 retains its 15.6-inch central screen but here as with other models BYD has ditched the pointless rotating feature and introduced a new user interface with Google facilities built in. This is an improvement on the outgoing setup but is still frustratingly clogged with menus, and while there are shortcut keys they are confined to a thin bar at the bottom of the otherwise empty screen.

Through clever reengineering of the car’s platform BYD has managed to unlock an extra 50 litres of boot space and add a 95-litre frunk, giving the Atto 3 Evo a total luggage capacity of 585 litres.

While there’s no such clever trickery to unlock more passenger space, the Atto 3 is still spacious enough to compete with the likes of the Skoda Elroq, Ford Explorer and Mini Countryman – all cars BYD holds up as rivals. An average-sized family of four will fit just fine. One small change in the name of comfort is a new seat design that ditches the one-piece backrest in favour of an adjustable headrest – a minor but welcome change.

Battery, motor and performance

While the visual changes are pretty subtle, there are big differences beneath the skin.

The old car’s front-mounted 201bhp motor is gone. In its place, entry-level versions of the Atto 3 Evo are equipped with a 309bhp rear-mounted motor good for a 0-62mph time of just 5.5 seconds. That immediately puts this “regular” model in the same arena as the Skoda Elroq vRS and inbound Kia EV3 GT.

Above that is an all-wheel-drive variant packing a massive 443bhp, 413lb ft and a 0-62mph time of just 3.9 seconds.

BYD is very keen to stress that this makes the Atto 3 Evo Excellence the fastest car in its class. The question is, who cares?

 

Nobody who drove the original Atto 3 thought “what this needs is 443bhp”. Yet, here we are. And the twin-motor version certainly pours on the pace with eye-opening vigour. It’s very easy to get to 60mph very quickly but beyond that the Atto 3 seems to oddly run out of urgency.

The brakes have a similar problem, engaging with a brutal initial bite before fading away slightly. Neither characteristic instills confidence to exploit that power and nor does the chassis. While there’s new multi-link suspension and retuned steering, the overall feeling is still largely lifeless, with artificially heavy steering and slow responses, plus a ride that never feels settled.

Frankly, it’s hard to see why you would choose the dual-motor model when there’s not much fun to be had exploiting its power. The single motor model is still plenty quick enough and comes with the benefit of a longer range.

Supplying power to the new motors is a new iteration of the BYD Blade Battery which boosts capacity from 60.5kWh to 74.8kWh. The single-motor Atto 3 Evo will now cover 316 miles on a charge, while the more powerful model manages 292 miles.

The facelift also marks a shift to 800V architecture, which means peak DC charging of 220kW.

While that puts the Atto 3 ahead of the pack, with a 10-80% top-up in 25 minutes, the overall range is still some way behind most of its key rivals, which offer well over 350 miles WLTP.

Price and specification

Like the rest of the BYD family, the Atto 3 Evo line-up is simple.

There are two models – the single-motor Design grade priced from £38,990, and the dual-motor Excellence AWD, which costs £42,730.

The Design is actually £740 cheaper than the outgoing model despite the major mechanical improvements and, on both models, the only paid-for option is £750 paint.

Every model gets 18-inch alloy wheels, adaptive LED headlights, heated front seats, 360-degree parking cameras and sensors, a heat pump, vehicle to load function and an array of high-power USB ports and wireless charging.

As well as the extra motor, Excellence grade adds a panoramic sunroof, heated rear seats and a head-up display.

Verdict

BYD said it listened to customers and the media when updating the Atto 3 to become the Atto 3 Evo.

That shows in the improved range and charging speeds along with some of the ergonomic and practical changes, all of which are welcome upgrades.

However, this is a hugely competitive segment and, despite its prodigious power, the Atto 3 is nowhere near as good to drive as its rivals, nor can it match them for driving range. If it were substantially cheaper, that might not matter so much, but there’s an awful lot of choice for very similar money, meaning the Atto 3 Evo still fails to stand out from the crowd.

BYD Atto 3 Evo Excellence AWD

• Price: £42,730
• Powertrain: Two-motor, all-wheel-drive
• Battery: 74.8kWh
• Power: 443bhp
• Torque: 413lb ft
• Top speed: 124mph
• 0-62mph: 3.9 seconds
• Range: 292 miles
• Consumption: n/a
• Charging: up to 220kW

Also consider

• Skoda Elroq: Better to drive and nicer to look at than the Atto. Most models are cheaper too, although the vRS is more expensive than either Atto 3 Evo version
• Renault Scenic: Doesn’t come close to the BYD’s straightline performance but is better value, packed with family-friendly features and offers class-leading range
• Volvo EX30: Oozes Scandinavian cool and is good to drive. Also comes with a bonkers 422bhp option and an even worse infotainment system than the Atto 3 Evo