BYD Atto 3

BYD Atto 3 at a glance

The Atto 3 was shown at the Chengdu Auto Show in August 2021 and went on sale in China in February 2022. BYD's design team under Wolfgang Egger gave the interior a gym theme, with door handles and air vents styled after fitness equipment. It belongs to BYD's Dynasty family in China, but carries the Atto name abroad: the Atto 1 is the export Seagull and the Atto 2 the Yuan Up. All BYD models are listed on our BYD brand page.

Generations and versions

There is one generation so far. BYD updated it every model year and gave it a technical overhaul for 2026.

The 2024 model year, introduced worldwide in January 2024, replaced the "Build Your Dreams" lettering on the tailgate with a BYD logo and brought a black C-pillar trim; some markets also received the larger 15.6-inch rotating screen. The 2025 model year added new wheels and interior colours. In China, the Yuan Plus received a facelift with a redesigned front bumper and BYD's "God's Eye C" driver-assistance package (DiPilot 100), which uses 29 sensors.

The Atto 3 Evo arrived in Europe in early 2026. It keeps the body but switches to an 800-volt system, puts the main motor at the back, moves the gear selector to the steering column and gets a five-link rear suspension. A 95-litre front boot (ADAC) is new.

Motors, batteries and performance

Every version uses BYD's own lithium iron phosphate (LFP) Blade battery and a single-speed reduction gear. ADAC lists a top speed of 160 km/h for the original 150 kW car and 180 km/h for the Evo Design. The original car charges at 7 kW AC as standard and 11 kW as an option; ADAC quotes up to 88 kW DC and 29 minutes to 80%, while Wikipedia gives 70 kW for the smaller battery and 80 kW for the larger one. The Evo raises DC charging to 220 kW, which BYD says takes about 25 minutes from 10 to 80%. A 3.6 kW vehicle-to-load socket can power appliances from the battery. You can convert the outputs with our power converter.

Dimensions, space and boot

The flat floor and 2,720 mm wheelbase give generous rear legroom for a car of this length, but the boot is modest. Top Gear marked the small luggage space as a weak point in its 2023 test, and the Evo's larger boot is a direct answer to that.

Energy consumption and running costs

ADAC lists 16.0 kWh/100 km in the WLTP combined cycle for the 60.48 kWh Atto 3 and 16.4 kWh/100 km for the Evo Design. In Germany BYD gave a vehicle warranty of 4 years or 120,000 km at launch, extended to 6 years or 150,000 km from January 2024; the traction battery is covered for 8 years or 200,000 km with at least 70% state of health (ADAC). The fuel cost calculator works with electricity prices as well.

Trims and prices

In Germany the Atto 3 was sold in three trims from April 2023. ADAC lists the Comfort at EUR 38,990 and the Design at EUR 40,990 (base prices, versions built 04/2023-03/2026); the early Active trim was only listed from April to August 2023. The Evo costs EUR 44,990 as the rear-wheel-drive Design and EUR 50,990 as the AWD Excellence (Germany, 2026). The UK received Active, Comfort and Design trims in March 2023. The centre screen is a 12.8-inch rotating touchscreen, replaced by a 15.6-inch unit in some markets from the 2024 model year; the Evo adds an 8.8-inch digital instrument panel and, on the Excellence, a head-up display.

Safety: Euro NCAP

Euro NCAP rated the Atto 3 in 2022 and gave it five stars: 91% for adult occupants, 89% for child occupants, 69% for vulnerable road users and 74% for safety assist. ANCAP adopted the same result for Australia and New Zealand.

Reliability and known issues

Only documented cases are listed here. In October 2022 BYD paused deliveries in Australia for about four weeks because of a compliance issue with the child-seat top tether points. In September 2024 BYD recalled 96,714 Dolphin and Yuan Plus cars built between November 2022 and December 2023 in China, because a fault in the electric power steering column controller could cause a short circuit and, in the worst case, a fire; dealers fitted insulating pads. The LFP chemistry tolerates regular charging to 100%, and the battery warranty runs for 8 years.

Sales

The Atto 3 became one of BYD's best-sellers quickly: 202,058 were built in 2022, 412,202 in 2023, 309,536 in 2024 and 163,556 in 2025. The 500,000th car left Hefei on 15 September 2023, and the one-millionth was reached in June 2025, about three years and four months after launch. It won New Zealand Car of the Year 2023, the first Chinese car to do so.

Rivals

Inside BYD, the Seal U is the bigger family SUV and the Dolphin Surf the city car. Against European and Korean rivals the Atto 3 is shorter than an ID.4 but carries a similar equipment list as standard. Our comparison tool puts them side by side.

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