BYD Atto 3

The 2024 BYD Atto 3 gets a pretty jazzy cabin. It’s a striking contrast to the exterior styling which is more plain and sober. The dashboard has an exaggerated wave-form. It’s covered in two-time stitched soft plastic. The BYD Atto 3 gets multi-coloured seats with red stitching. The gear selector and door handles are bulbous-looking. The speakers on the door protrude. Three red strings tense off the speakers like a guitar. The multifunction steering wheel looks like a spaceship. It gets black plastic buttons. The buttons around the gear system aren’t well built. Some hard plastics have been used below the dashboard but these lack quality. The 12.8-inch touchscreen infotainment unit rotates at the touch of a button. The unit looks suspended and the menus have a striking resemblance to the Tesla. 

On first impression, the 2024 BYD Atto3 seems to have a character of its own and with a flat, sporty- nosed headlights that get a chrome band. The blue elements in the lamps and the faux foglight sections lend the nose a much-needed visual appeal. The company calls the styling ‘Dragon Face 3.0’. The roofline is rather tight-fitting and the muscular flanks are nicely executed. The rear-part has been nicely rounded-off in a muscular manner. The linked taillights look attractive. There’s a straight light bar at the back with the company name emblazoned at the bottom. This lends the car individuality. The back also gets a sporty spoiler. The C-pillar gets has an interesting metallic fish-scale-like effect. The car runs on 17-inch alloy wheels with a unique five-spoke design.

The 2024 BYD Atto 3 comes with oversized, sporty bucket seats in the front. They offer nice thigh-support. Middle-back support is good but could have been better. The cabin itself is large and airy. The long wheelbase means there’s a lot of legroom for rear passengers. The flat floor adds to the spaciousness. The suspension system is pliant over regular bumps and potholes. The car rides is a relaxed and comfortable manner. Larger road imperfections do cause some feedback but the overall ride quality is good.   

The 2024 BYD Atto 3 Standard Range Dynamic is hauled by a single magnetic motor that produces 204PS/310Nm. The motor is mated to a 49.92kWh Blade lithium-ion phosphate battery. The car returns a claimed mileage of 430km which is very impressive in the EV segment. The 2024 BYD Atto 3 rides in a relaxed manner. It’s noiseless. The powertrain gets plenty of torque and the car jumps to action in no time. The steering wheel is light and easy to rotate. The controls and easy to operate. Even at a high speed turning, the car retains its composure.   

The 2024 BYD Atto 3 comes with a lot of safety equipment and driver-assist tech. There’s a voice-assistant function and a pre-installed Spotify app. The car also gets a 360-degree camera. Standard equipment includes antilock braking, traction control, seven airbags, hill descent control, and emergency braking. The automatic driver-assist system comprises of adaptive cruise control, blind spot monitoring, lane-keep assist, and collision mitigation. 

At a starting price of ₱1.598 million the 2024 BYD Atto 3 is certainly more expensive than petrol cars in the segment. It’s a fairly new car and long-term durability still remains a concern. But the Atto 3 is feature-packed and is comfortable to travel in. It’s equipped with a very powerful and safe battery. Running costs are negligible. These factors make the 2024 BYD Atto 3 a worthy car for its price.