BYD Atto 3 Review & Prices

The Atto 3 is BYD's longest-standing model in the UK, a comfortable electric SUV that’s easy to drive around town and features a funky cabin, but the boot and back seats are tight compared to alternatives - and it’s no longer the value-for-money champion it once was.

Think of it as the primary school football squad, which used to win matches with ease. Moving forward to secondary school, however, there are now some far more competent teams in play.

See, other brands have come ahead in leaps and bounds, so the Atto 3 is up against some phenomenal small SUVs such as the Skoda Elroq, Kia EV3 and Nissan Leaf as well as the stylish Renault Scenic E-Tech and futuristic Hyundai Ioniq 5.

Every alternative we’ve mentioned is better looking than the BYD, too. The Atto 3 isn’t an ugly car, with sweeping headlights, an intricate light bar at the back and even some curves thrown into the mix, but it looks massively generic compared to the spaceship-like Kia EV3 and the crisp Skoda Elroq.

BYD Atto 3: electric range, battery and charging data

Range: 261 miles
Efficiency: 4.0 mi/kWh
Battery size: 60kWh
Max charge speed: 88kW
Charge time AC: 9hrs 42mins, 0-100%, 7kW
Charge time DC: 44mins, 10-80%, 150kW
Charge port location: Right front
Power outputs: 204hp

You’d think you teleported into another dimension when you step through the doors, however, because the Atto 3’s cabin is simply outrageous. There’s just no other word for it.

It’s almost as if a jellyfish had designed the dashboard, which ebbs and flows around the rotating 12.8-inch (15.6-inch optional) infotainment screen and over a ribbed lower panel that wraps around onto the door cards. The door pockets are made of string and resemble a guitar, while the oversized gear selector and twisty door knobs are more aerospace than they are automotive.

The infotainment system is a bit annoying to use, however, compared to the European and Korean alternatives - no matter how responsive it is to your inputs. Interior quality doesn’t feel up to par either, though the two-tone leatherette upholstery is sleek and pleasant to the touch.

There’s only one battery for the Atto 3, which offers a claimed 264 miles of range to a charge, a figure that puts it far behind similarly-priced alternatives.

Range aside, the Atto 3 is a very easy car to live with around town. You get decent forward visibility, light steering and a tight turning circle - all while absorbing bumpy roads with ease. It gets up to motorway speeds easily, too, but when you get to a cruise you’ll notice a lot of wind noise. Take it easy on a country lane, as the BYD tends to wallow its way around corners, which is hardly confidence inspiring.

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This is where the Atto 3 loses real points, because while it’s generously equipped as standard it lacks in range and driving manners compared to the latest bunch of stellar - and cheaper - alternatives.

The entry-level Comfort model costs almost £38,000 and comes equipped with 18-inch wheels, LED lights, a panoramic roof and a 12.8-inch infotainment screen. At that price you can have a top-spec Nissan Leaf which is near enough equipped the same, has a posher interior, is far better to drive and can travel around 100 more miles to a charge - and with around £1,500 spare, too. It’s a no-brainer.

Design trim is slightly better equipped with heated and cooled front seats, a larger 15.6-inch infotainment screen and faster 11kW charging capacity versus the Comfort’s 7.4kW speed, but at almost £40,000 it isn’t worth the extra outlay.

The Atto 3 is comfy and manoeuvrable around town, but motorway runs are far too loud, and winding roads are no fun

In town

The Atto 3’s suspension is nice and soft, so around town it irons out lumps and bumps in a very comfortable fashion. Forward visibility, thanks to the low-set dashboard, is very good although if you have the screen in portrait mode it gets in the way a bit, but the small back window means that the view rearwards is much less impressive.

There is a reversing camera, but it’s too easily caked in road grime, and doesn’t have its own washer system. The image is high-quality though, and there’s a useful 3D all-round view, as well as a ‘transparent bonnet’ view should you need to pick your way over rocks or something, even if it’s hard to imagine any Atto 3 driver heading seriously off-road. Meanwhile, the fat front windscreen pillar means that your view into corners and junctions isn’t great.

It’s easy to manoeuvre; the steering is light, and the 10.7-metre turning circle means that flitting around tight roundabouts and pulling U-turns isn’t much of a problem. However, the ‘woooo’ of the pedestrian warning hum, made so that people can hear the car coming, is a constant low-speed companion and makes it sound like you’re being followed by the souls of the undead. It’s a bit eerie.

On the motorway

The Atto 3’s 204hp electric motor makes getting up to motorway speeds a piece of cake; it picks up smartly and accelerates briskly. However, there’s a big problem when you get above 60mph and that’s wind noise. There’s lots of it, especially around the wing mirrors. It’s like being on holiday in a caravan on a Welsh clifftop.

Efficiency is okay, but no more than that. We averaged 3.3 miles per kWh on our test against BYD's claim of 3.8 miles per kWh, which equals a real-world range of 190 miles, against the claimed 260-mile range. It’s not the worst, but you might expect better from a company that makes lots of noise about having started as a battery manufacturer, and which designs and builds all its batteries in-house.

On a twisty road

There is a sport mode for the BYD Atto 3, which you activate with a little toggle switch on the centre console. However, it doesn’t actually seem to do anything other than light up little green ‘SPORT’ letters in the instrument panel. No sharper steering. No more oomph from the electric motor. Just…why?

That soft suspension, which works so nicely around town, is much less welcome here as the Atto 3 just never seems to settle down properly. It’s constantly moving about, like someone trying to walk on hot sand on a beach holiday, and it makes for an uneasy sensation on bumpy roads.

There’s an odd feeling with the regenerative braking too, where if you press the brake pedal lightly and then lift off the brakes, the braking effect seems to continue for a couple of seconds. There’s quite a bit of throttle delay too.

The steering is very light and remote. It’s almost like steering the Mars Rover by remote from Houston. It’s a shame, as the Atto 3 actually corners quite well by medium crossover standards, it’s just that there’s no communication from the road to the steering wheel, so you never quite trust it. An MG S5 EV is way better to drive.

It is at least quite quick. The Atto 3 will pretty easily equal, even beat, its claimed 7.3sec 0-60mph time, even with a little touch of wheelspin, if you floor it from a standstill.

The Atto 3 is generally practical, but bootspace and rear headroom are lacking compared to some of its EV SUV alternatives

The front of the Atto 3’s cabin is packed with storage solutions; a space under the front armrest, a pair of big cup holders in front of that with an adjustable base and a storage space in front of the gear selector with a wireless phone charger built in. The glovebox is decently sized, and there’s a useful open storage area under the centre console where you’ll also find USB sockets  — one of which is a very powerful 60-watt Type C socket — and a 12-volt connector.

It would be a crime not to mention the door pockets, which are reasonably big but come with four elastic strings to hold things in. These strings look like a guitar, and BYD has styled the door panels and stereo speakers to amp that effect up; the strings are actually taut enough that you can strum them and pick out a bass-line. Odd, but also oddly enjoyable if you’re bored in traffic.

The front seats are comfy but strangely, although they’re electrically adjustable, there’s no lumbar support adjustment which could spell backache on long drives.

Space in the back seats

Space in the back of the Atto 3 is mixed. There’s lots of room for legs, knees and feet and the flat rear floor helps if you’re trying to squeeze someone into the centre rear seat. Headroom is a bit too tight, though, especially with the panoramic glass roof, which comes as standard. Conversely, the roof helps a bit if you’re trying to go three-abreast, as opening the sunblind actually offers the person sat in the middle an inch more headroom. It’s a bit of a squeeze even so; the Skoda Elroq is a better bet for rear seat space.

However, there are some handy seat-back pockets which are subdivided so that there’s a big space for a tablet or a magazine, and then two smaller parts for phones or sunglasses. Another bonus are the coverless ISOFIX anchor points (with more ISOFIX points in the front passenger seat), so it’s easy to click baby seats into place. The guitar-string door bins make another appearance in the back (an encore, perchance?), but imagine what will happen when your kids realise they can be plucked…

Boot space

The Atto 3’s 440-litre boot is decent, but the MG S5 EV gives you an extra 10 litres for considerably less cash, while the Kia EV3 has 30 litres more than the BYD. At least the Atto 3 out-points the Peugeot e-2008 and Vauxhall Mokka Electric's respective 408 and 310 litres. On the upside, the loadspace is square and flat, and there’s no load lip so it’s easy to get heavy, bulky items in and out.

The rear seats fold almost totally flat, and while there are no handles in the boot to tumble them forwards, it’s easy enough to lean in and flick the release catch. There are no retainers for the rear seatbelts though, so they’re bound to get caught or stuck behind the seatbacks. Oh, and the low-set boot release button gets covered in road grime, so you’re going to end up with messy fingers.

On the upside, there’s a false floor under which you can store your charging cables and, fortunately, enough room to tuck the rigid luggage cover away when you don’t need it.

There’s no front-boot in the Atto 3, which is odd as there’s a recessed space above the front-mounted electric motor that easily swallows a squashy bag or a backpack, yet BYD has chosen not to put a lined storage space in there. Pity.

There's some clever tech on-board the Atto 3, but the busy interior design won’t be to everyone’s tastes

The Atto 3’s interior is far removed from its plain exterior, and in some ways it’s quite over-styled. The design is, apparently, supposed to mimic a gym. Yes, actually. The big, chunky air vents are supposed to look like dumb-bells - though the swoopy dash shapes remind us more of some of the supporting cast from Return of the Jedi. The gear selector too, which looks like the throttle lever of an Airbus, could easily have come from the Millennium Falcon.

What’s less questionable is the excellent 15.6-inch touchscreen in the centre of the dash. The screen is responsive, and the smartphone-style menu and icons work well. Appropriately, you can connect via Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to mirror your phone.

The screen’s party piece is that, at the touch of a button (either a physical one on the steering wheel or a virtual one on the screen) the whole screen rotates from a horizontal landscape layout to an upright portrait layout, or vice versa. Portrait mode is arguably better for sat-nav but it does take away some forward visibility.

If you’re wearing polarised sunglasses though, the screen basically disappears in portrait mode (something to do with the angles the screen’s pixels work at) so bear that in mind, and Apple CarPlay/Android Auto don’t work in portrait mode. Shame.

The little screen behind the wheel, which is your instrument panel, is tiny compared to the big central screen, and although it’s clear and easy to read, the one on our test car did appear to be sitting at a slight angle, which doesn’t say much for the Atto’s build quality.

The material quality of the upper parts of the cabin is very good, with lots of soft-touch surfaces and plenty of buttery-soft vegan leather. Lower down though, the plastics get very hard and rough-edged, so much so that you can easily get grazed when using the steering column adjuster.

There are some more odd touches; the interior door handles are big, flat rocker switches which rotate around the little stereo speakers. Those speakers have inset LED lights which can be made to pulse to the beat of whatever you’re listening to, and there’s even an optional karaoke system built into the screen…

The front seats are very comfortable, and the imitation leather looks and feels nice, but the vinyl feels oddly rubbery to the touch and some might find them to be a little too soft at times. A bit more lumbar support would be helpful for longer journeys.

Being electric, the Atto 3 is only subject to the minimum road tax rate. It also scrapes by in avoiding the luxury car tax supplement, even in higher-spec Design trim. If you’re a company car driver then the Atto 3 is an enticing proposition for low Benefit in Kind payments, but again - better alternatives are cheaper.

The range isn’t great. In theory, you should be able to get 261 miles out of a full charge, but in the real world, that’s closer to — even under at times — 200 miles, which is not brilliant. The entry-level Skoda Elroq offers less range at 232 miles, but it’s around £6000 cheaper than the BYD, while the EV3 offers 270 miles for £5,000 less.

The Atto 3 charges at 110kW, which makes for a 10-80% charge in 35 minutes. A Skoda Elroq can charge at 145kW on DC power, and can spend as little as 25 minutes on a charger to get to 80%.

Basic Atto 3 models will charge at 7.4kW from a home charger, but you can optionally boost that to 11kW. This makes better use of kerb-side chargers, but is still well behind the 22kW AC charging offered by Renault and Nissan.

To be honest, given BYD’s battery expertise (the battery in the laptop or phone you’re reading this on is quite likely to be made by BYD) we’d have expected better on this front.

One nice feature, though, is the bi-directional charging, which allows you to use the Atto 3’s battery to charge other things, such as an e-bike or e-scooter, or even in extreme circumstances another electric car. It also means that if you have a smart electric meter at home, you could use it to power your house in the event of a power cut.

The Atto 3 was crash-tested by Euro NCAP in 2022 and scored a full five-star rating, with a 91 per cent adult protection score, which is right at the top end of its class. Child occupant safety came in at an impressive 89% too, which is very reassuring for families - especially with the Atto 3’s trio of ISOFIX anchor points.

All versions of the BYD Atto 3 come with plenty of safety tech, including blind spot detection, traction control, adaptive (that is, radar-guided) cruise control, traffic sign recognition, automatic emergency braking, lane-keeping steering, and rear collision warning.

BYD came 30th out of 31 brands in the 2025 Driver Power owner survey, which is poor, only beating MG in the rankings. You should bear that in mind when debating an Atto 3 as a purchase.

Still, all BYD models come with a six-year, 93,750-mile warranty for the car itself, which is extended to eight years and the same mileage for the electric motor and its control unit, and eight years and 125,000 miles for the battery pack.

That’s not too bad, considering most of its European alternatives only come with three-year, 60,000-mile cover. Still, Toyota and Lexus lead the warranty way with up to ten-years or 100,000 miles of warranty cover with regular main dealer servicing.