While the suspension is very comfortable, the chassis does not feel quite as ‘taut’ as the Kona or Ioniq5 or Kia EV6.
BHPian Shankar Balan recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
I rang the BYD guys yesterday. And they were extremely responsive. They brought me a car this morning to test drive and I did so.
Here are my impressions:
In short, here is a very accomplished vehicle. Feels European. Very good quality materials. Solid switchgear inside. Pretty Responsive. Very comfortable. Glides over all these Bangalore speed breakers and bumps and uneven patches. The driving seat is really ergonomic. And the good thing is one doesn’t feel uncomfortable in the back either. Outright acceleration is not as good as Kia EV6 but that is AWD and BYD is FWD.
It has the usual Normal, ECO and Sports modes. Sports is the best and most enjoyable. And one can set the steering and brake assist modes to ‘Sports’ too which tightens up the steering a bit and makes the brakes a bit more responsive too. However, it is not really a ‘drivers’ car, but more of a well appointed, excellent quality, comfy and spacious cruiser SUV Coupe for a family.
It has a 50KW Blade battery. Excellent range of 450kms on one charge – real world proven. This is truly fantastic and if this is the shape of things to come as regards range, then it is my belief that we will see a very rapid pace of adoption of EV’s as alternate-fuelled vehicles. Even I, despite being a stubborn, hard-core petrol-head, am becoming more and more inclined, as I test drive more and more EV’s.
The weight of the car is 1700-1800kgs but it is very nimble for all that. Its got 200bhp and 310NM torque. It feels very planted at speeds. Braking is sure-stop too. Im sure the ventilated front discs help!
It is as big as or bigger than a Seltos or Creta.4500mm long, 1800mm wide, 1700mm tall, 172mm GC. Doesn’t bottom out on the bumps. While the suspension is very comfortable the chassis does not feel quite as ‘taut’ as the Kona or Ioniq5 or Kia EV6. Those cars have a firmer suspension and are definitely much more sporty in terms of handling because their chassis tuning is much better in my opinion. But the BYD feels way superior to the MG ZS EV for sure.
Despite the great ride in the BYD, if you take an elephantine speed breaker fast, then the front will articulate and you will hear the thud on the bump stops. But the driver and passenger don get thrown about. That’s a really good thing because as my wife is always at pains to point out to me, the driver has the steering wheel to hold on to at least, while buzzing around the curvy roads at speeds whereas the passengers don’t.
BYD represents the Coupe SUV type of styling. Apparently it was designed by someone who was involved in Porsche design. And it is certainly a very pleasing car to look at. Good proportions. Short overhangs. Decent approach and departure angles for Indian roads. Breakover is also acceptable. We went up and down some roads which have those huge hume pipes underneath and with no problem.
It has lots and lots of gizmos inside though I am not really a customer for all those things. A moon-roof is also there and that may be nice to use in the hills. It has a Terrain response button to handle ‘gravel’ etc. The central D lever is just like an Aeroplane Throttle controller. The overall car feels like one is in an Aeroplane cockpit. Its switches are very solid and tactile. The knurled metal switches feel as good as those on a Jaguar. Interiors are of high quality. Some soft touch portions and some hard plastics. Seats are 6 way adjustable and are supportive and comfortable but they don’t feel quite as durable as those in the Kona because BYD seats are made of softer materials.
The central screen is big, like an iPad Pro 12.9 inch tablet. It is very ‘Tesla’ ish. Can be adjusted either as landscape or portrait view. Better to keep it at landscape view else it may obstruct the view through the windscreen. But all in all personally I don’t like such a large screen. Also, truth be told I find all these screens and touch controls and all to be too painful. There is truly a sort of ‘option overload’ that one is experiencing at this moment.
The BYD boot is huge. When the rear seats are down and laid flat, it is even huger. No spare tyre. Only an inflator and tyre repair compound. The insulation from the outside world is very good. No noises come in at all.
The metal gauge is heavy. And the car overall is easily comparable to an Audi Q3 and similar. There is no doubt about the fit and finish and finesse of this vehicle. It is world class. These BYD guys appear to be far and away ahead of most others in the EV space.
You can set the regen to a higher level and it does feel palpable. But this vehicle has the range to take you more or less anywhere.
The DC battery charging capability is good. From 10% to 80% in 50min. AC overnight will take 9 hours. One can also buy a Frunk and place it in the bonnet for additional storage if one wishes.
The price is about 36 L on road Bangalore. 2024 MY vehicles are available. But the sales person hinted that they have a few 2023 vehicles too. And these could be offered at a ‘discount’. He didn’t say how much and I didn’t push it either.
(As an aside, they also said the BYD SEAL sedan is being launched sometime in 2025 and the price is likely to be around 80 lacs.)
All in all the BYD Atto3 is a top-class, highly-accomplished car indeed.
But it is not quite my type of car, all things being considered.
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