New BYD Atto 8 revealed: this electric car can fully charge in under 10 minutes
Car changing is a big deal
The new BYD Atto 8 is a large electric SUV which features the brand’s Flash Charging technology, and it also has up to 775hp. News editor Jamie Edkins is here to tell you all about it.
Charging times are one of the main sticking points for long-distance electric car drivers. As someone with no way of charging at home, I find sitting in a car park for half an hour at a time to top up gets tiresome after a while, but BYD may have the answer to all of our prayers.
It’s called Flash charging, and it’ll feature on the newly-revealed BYD Atto 8 as well as cars from its Denza luxury spin-off brand. It’s essentially a super high-powered charger which can get you back up on the road in as little as five minutes.
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New BYD Atto 8: batteries, range and Flash Charging
The fastest chargers on offer in the UK right now top out at 480kW, but BYD has developed its new Flash Charging technology which can deliver up to 1,500kW from a single connector.
In the BYD Atto 8, this means you can charge its 115kWh battery from 10-70% in just five minutes. 10-97% can also be achieved in nine minutes.
Consumer writer Siobhan Doyle has tested BYD’s Flash Charging on the Denza Z9 GT, and she managed to get that car from 10-80% in six minutes and 28 seconds, while a full charge took eight minutes and 57 seconds. That car has a larger 122kWh battery compared to the BYD Atto 8 as well, so it’s certainly impressive.
The fastest-charging electric car on sale right now is the Xpeng G6, and that car takes 12 minutes to go from 10-80%. BYD’s new tech cuts this time in half.
There will be two versions of the BYD Atto 8 on offer. Both use a 115kWh battery, but the basic rear-wheel drive car gets 462hp and 405 miles of range. You can also get an all-wheel drive model with a whopping 775hp, but the added performance cuts your range down to 374 miles.
New BYD Atto 8: interior and technology
The Atto 8 will be BYD’s largest electric car, going up against other seven-seaters such as the Kia EV9 and Skoda Peaq.
The interior is pretty standard fare for a Chinese EV. You get a large 15.6-inch screen in the middle, very few physical buttons and a tall centre console with a couple of wireless charging pads near the front.
That screen features Google-based software, so you can have Google Maps and Google’s voice assistant without having to pair your phone to it. You can also get a temperature-controlled centre console which cools to minus six degrees, or warms up to 50 degrees. The front and outer middle row seats get heating, ventilation and massage functions as well.
With all seven seats in place, you get 270 litres of boot space. This is almost 30 litres down on the Skoda Peaq, and it’s over 60 litres less than you get in a Kia EV9. You do get a 136-litre front boot though, beating the Peaq by almost 100 litres and the EV9 by 46 litres.
When can I buy the new BYD Atto 8?
The BYD Atto 8 will arrive in showrooms in early 2027, but BYD hasn’t said how much it’ll cost yet. Looking at its main alternatives and the performance on offer, you can expect a starting price of around £70,000.
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