BYD Atto 3

While there is a sense of minimalism in the exterior design of the BYD Atto 3, the cabin of the SUV looks extremely dramatic and belongs to the future. The cabin has a dual-tone black and ivory theme, with the dashboard and door panels having a flowing theme depicting the winds flowing through a tunnel. Other interesting-looking highlights of the cabin are turbine-shaped door handles and AC vents, which look extremely stylish.

At the top of the dashboard, there’s a 12.8-inch rotating touchscreen infotainment system, which can be set up either vertically or horizontally. The lower centre console looks inspired by the cockpit of a fighter jet, which can be sensed in the design of the transmission lever and controls surrounding it. The three-spoke flat bottom multi-functional steering wheel looks eye-catching, and so is the compact full-TFT 5-inch instrument console. This cabin looks like it belongs to a much more expensive German offering.

Other features of the spacious cabin of the BYD Atto 3 are powered front seats, a wireless charger, an 8-speaker audio system, auto AC and rear AC vents.

For a new-age all-electric SUV, the BYD Atto 3 ticks a lot of boxes and looks sleek and futuristic. While it is not having an upright stance of a traditional SUV, the well-contoured curves and high ground clearance give it a smart road presence.

At the front, the BYD Atto 3 welcomes you with a very sleek face, comprising of a chrome bar in the front and sweptback trapezoidal housings for all-LED headlamps and daytime running LEDs on either side. The front bumper looks muscular, with large air dams on the corners and a trapezoidal air dam with an ADAS sensor in the middle of the bumper’s lower part.

The side profile of the Atto 3 has rounded wheel arches and thin wheel arch moulding over the 17-inch machined alloy wheels. The design for the door panels looks smooth with a prominent crease flowing through them to the edge of the tail lamp. The windows here have chrome surrounds, while the C-pillar has a knurled chrome finish giving this SUV a floating roof effect.

The rear profile of the BYD Atto 3 also looks modern and neat. The corners have triangular LED tail lamp clusters, which are joined by an LED light bar across the width of the boot lid. While the rest of the boot lid looks clean and free of any design elements, the rear windscreen has a tapering design giving it a slight coupe-like effect.

Beyond the high-tech powertrain and futuristic styling, the BYD Atto 3 gets a conventional setup for the suspension combination – MacPherson struts at the front and torsion beam at the rear. While the Standard variant gets 17-inch wheels, the Long Range variant has 18-inch wheels on offer. The Atto 3 is easy to drive, courtesy of its light steering setup, and has a plush and comfortable ride for long distances too.

The single variant of BYD Atto 3 on sale is available in two versions – Standard and Long Range. Both the variants come with a front-mounted electric motor, which churns out 203 bhp of power and 310 Nm of torque. Both of them get different battery packs though – while the Standard variant gets a 49.92 kWh battery giving 410 km of range, the Long Range variant has a 60.48 kWh battery which returns a range of 480 km. BYD claims a 0-100 kmph sprint timing of 7.3 seconds for the Atto 3.

The expansive list of safety features offered in the BYD Atto 3 is seven airbags, ABS with EBD, 360-degree parking camera, tyre pressure monitoring system, cruise control, front and rear parking sensors, auto hold, electronic parking brake, ESP, traction control and hill descent control. It also gets a comprehensive ADAS suite of features, including automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, front and rear collision warnings, blind spot detection and rear cross-traffic alert.

The BYD Atto 3 might be a new vehicle from a new manufacturer, but it has its grounds well-covered in design and technology. It also feels easy and comfortable to drive in urban environments.