BYD ATTO 2 REVIEW: THIS SMALL ELECTRIC CAR IS NOT AS GOOD AS YOU’D EXPECT – NOR AS CHEAP
If you’ve any doubts about just how fast BYD, the Chinese energy storage, battery and car maker, has grown, consider that its first car to go on sale in the UK was in March 2023. The company is now the UK’s fastest-ever growing car maker, with more than two per cent of the market.
From a standing start two and half years ago, it now has 88 dealers, a swanky new HQ in Uxbridge and an eight-strong line-up of electric and hybrid cars, with a premium and a luxury brand waiting in the wings.
Bono Ge, BYD’s genial UK boss, started this momentum 12 years ago from a grotty flat in Shepherd’s Bush, studying the 14-page Transport for London (TfL) requirements for the capital’s buses. He sent the specifications to BYD in China but Ge had to oversee six months of rework for the prototype to meet the TfL spec. It was, he says, a valuable lesson in delivering “what your customer wants”.
I ask Ge about the tariffs slapped on Chinese car makers in America and Europe; is he concerned that punitive UK tariffs won’t be far behind? His reply is guarded.
“I think the UK [has] always remained a really open country,” he says. “The people here are open-minded, the policy is fair and you can see we’re doing a lot of localisation.” That’s the new office, a battery centre and partnering with bus maker Alexander Dennis.
This car, the next step in BYD’s onslaught, is a high-riding crossover. It joins a packed field. At the top end are the Volvo EX30, Mini Aceman, Alfa Romeo Junior, Ford Puma Gen-E and Kia EV3. Then consider the Fiat 600e, Renault 4, the cheap and cheerful Fiat Grande Panda, or the Jeep Avenger 4xe and Dacia Duster. The Hyundai Inster and Renault’s cute R5, although slightly smaller, might also be considered alternatives.
The electric bits
With BYD’s patented “blade structure” for the lithium-iron-phosphate battery, the Atto rides on the company’s e-platform 3.0, which means the car’s floor is also the cover for the battery, with a frame-like structure around the LFP Blades. Suspension is MacPherson strut at the front and a torsion beam set-up at the rear. Drive is to the front wheels.
The 174bhp/214lb ft, 51kWh Boost tested here weighs 1.57 tonnes, has a 99mph top speed and does 0-62mph in 7.9sec, with a range of 214 miles in the WLTP cycle (I achieved 190 miles) and accepts up to 82kW DC fast charging. It costs from £30,850.
The £34,900 Comfort has a more powerful 201bhp/228lb ft motor, a 64.8kWh battery, a 261-mile range and, strangely, the same top speed and acceleration as the Boost. It accepts 155kW in DC fast charging, which means it will charge from 10-80 per cent in 25min, compared with the Boost’s 38min.
Using an 11kw street-type AC charger, the Boost will be brimmed in 5hr 42min, the Comfort in 7hr 12min. Both have heat pumps as standard to help prevent winter range diminishment, as well as a vehicle-to-load function that can power external devices at up to 3.3kW.
What’s it like?
Large, comfortable and boring would be the pub explanation. It’s styled a bit like the larger Atto 3 (similar narrow LED headlights, a full-width rear light bar and 17-inch wheels) yet is 145mm shorter and a bit slimmer.
The seats are comfy and wide especially in the rear, where there’s room for three across with leg and head room to spare. The boot is large at 450 litres with the 60/40 split rear seats in place and 1,340 litres with them folded.
Faux leather (plastic) covers most of the cabin and just about passes muster, but some of the hard plastics feel shoddy and cheap. Visibility all round is good and the turning circle of 5.25 metres is useful in town, if far from taxi-like.
So far so good, although some might find the minimal-buttons, maximum-touchscreen approach challenging. There are permanent tiles for the heating and ventilation and entertainment systems at the bottom of the screen, but they’re not comprehensive. Some of the other functions, such as turning off the aggressive lane-keeping and often inaccurate speed limit warning systems involve several button pushes. In addition, the slightly creepy driver monitoring system is loud, intrusive and unnecessary.
On the road
At 30mph on urban roads, the Atto 2 feels like much of the opposition in that it’s comfortable, brisk and easy to drive, with lots of steering assistance, even if it is a bit softly sprung and clattery over bumps. The accelerator and brake pedals are well modulated, even though there aren’t any steering-wheel paddles to increase the regeneration braking.
On a motorway it’s a similar story, although the interior gets quite noisy and there’s a marked refusal for the car to settle, particularly at the rear where there is a continual heaving and jolting, as well as crashing over expansion joints.
Twenty minutes at 70mph also saw the efficiency fall to a whisker under 3m/kWh, which indicates a long-journey, high-speed range of about 150 miles.
On A- and B-roads, traction is at a premium and the tyres spin at every wet T-junction. The body control is vague and feels underdamped. The Atto 2 rolls and pitches into corners, shifting uncomfortably on undulating roads. Broken road edges cause passengers’ heads to bob from side to side, yet the tall tyres (60 per cent aspect ratio) still crash over potholes and bumps.
In short, the ride and handling fall apart outside of urban conditions and at quite modest speeds; it feels as though the engineers didn’t spend too long setting up the car for Europe. Given the creditably low kerb weight, the Atto 2 should be better than this.
On the plus side, the motor control is good, there’s plenty of performance despite the dynamics. However, the driver modes of Eco, Normal, Sport and Snow Fields only mildly change the steering weight and throttle mapping; it’s best left in Normal.
The Telegraph verdict
Adequate rather than sparkling, with poor dynamics, the Atto 2 is dull to drive and look at. It is also expensive. The deal, which consists of a six-year/93,750-mile warranty, zero per cent financing, PCP payments which start at £339 a month with £339 down and five years of free servicing if you order in September, seems superficially attractive.
But there are better cars in this class which you should look at before you leap into this BYD.
The facts
On test: BYD Atto 2 Boost
Body style: five-door, five-seat 4.31-metre crossover hatchback
On sale: autumn – Comfort by the end of the year
How much? £30,850 (£34,900 for Comfort)
How fast? 99mph, 0-62mph in 7.9sec
How economical? 4.2m/kWh (WLTP Combined), 3.72m/kWh on test
Electric powertrain: 51kWh (useable) LFP blade battery in the floor driving an AC permanent-magnet synchronous motor, front-wheel drive with step-down gearing
Range: 214 miles (WLTP Combined), 190 miles on test
Maximum power/torque: 174bhp/214lb ft
CO2 emissions: zero at tailpipe, 26.2g/km well to wheels
VED: £10 first year, then £195
Warranty: six-years/93,750 miles manufacturer warranty, eight years on drivetrain and battery
The rivals
Renault 4, from £26,995 minus £1,500 EV grant
Based on the all-conquering R5, this family B-class EV is aimed at recalling the original R4 of 1961. Beautifully realised, with a lovely combination of ride and handling. With a 52kWh lithium-ion battery, the 247-mile range provides just enough practicality.
MGS5 EV SE long-range, from £31,245
A 64kWh battery giving a range of 298 miles in this long-range form means the MG has a degree of practicality lacking in rivals. Drives well and is far from bargain basement, but the ADAS systems are intrusive and the interior lacks polish.
2025-10-09T11:56:10Z
