BYD Atto 3 long term test: report 2

The car BYD Atto 3 Run by Chris Haining, sub-editor

Why it’s here To find out whether an unfamiliar brand can show established names a thing or two when it comes to comfortable, practical and cost-effective electric motoring.

Needs to Cope with a long motorway commute, accommodate an active lifestyle and be easy to live with day to day

Mileage 1765 List price £38,990 Target Price £38,990 Price as tested £38,990 Official range 260 miles Test range 200-234 miles

2 August 2023 – A matter of taste

Imagine going on popular TV cooking show Masterchef and presenting the judges with a toasted cheese sandwich. That’s kind of what’s happened with the BYD Atto 3. To stand out among the culinary giants, a dish has to be something out of the ordinary, especially when the talented Kia Niro EV and Smart #1 are the competing cooks, and, at first glance, the delicacies they’ve prepared look a bit more polished and mouth-watering than the Atto 3’s grilled bread and Red Leicester.

Perhaps, though, as a chef with relatively little experience in the UK electric car kitchen, BYD was wise not to be too ambitious with presentation. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with it; it’s perhaps a little more derivative than the Niro EV and #1, with hints of Cupra Born in the trim aft of the rear  windows, a silhouette that recalls the Jaguar E-Pace and full-width rear lights with a Mercedes-Benz EQC flavour, but it’s nothing you’d look at in disgust and have the waiter send back. In fact, I quite like how understated it is. But then I really do enjoy a cheese toastie.

The thing is, though, BYD seems to have much more imagination when it comes to fillings. In fact, inside, the Atto 3 couldn’t be more different from what rivals serve up. You notice it before you take a seat, with items in the door pockets secured not by solid plastic, but guitar-like strings, on which one can almost play Deep Purple’s Smoke On The Water.

Elsewhere, because I’m more at home eating baked goods than pumping iron, the interior’s ‘gymnasium’ theme is a little lost on me; I reckon the gear selector looks less like a kettle-bell handle and more like a airliner’s throttle, but the air vents, cast in cold, solid metal (and supposed to look like dumbbells), feel fantastic to touch.

Similarly, the squidgy, off-white fabric that swaddles much of the dashboard feels great on my fingertips, even if it looks a bit like the sinew you might find when slicing a steak. But, hey, what could be better to put in a grilled sandwich?

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