Presenting the BYD Atto 2 Down Under — 1st Impressions

Support CleanTechnica’s work through a Substack subscription or on Stripe.

The renamed BYD Yuan Plus has launched in Australia as an Atto 2. First there was a flurry of headlines — mainly around the price. See: “BYD ATTO 1 & ATTO 2 Bring EV Price Parity to Australia!” and “EV Shock. BYD declares war on rivals with Australia’s cheapest electric car!” I haven’t seen any Tesla killer headlines yet! The Atto 2 will sell for about half the price of a Model Y. In that case, it may be a Corolla killer! The Atto 2 SUV starts at an astonishingly low AU$31,990. The premium variant is $4,000 more, starting at AU$35,990. You can compare the two cars here. Thanks, James.

After the headlines came the emails, followed up by a phone call from my local dealer — would I like to come and look? Would I ever! So, yesterday, Majella and I went down to the showroom. We entered through a sea of BYD vehicles — populated by Sharks, Dolphins, and Sea Lions! As we walked in, an Atto 2 returned from a test drive. Full of happy people.

The showroom was full of families — mum, dad, and the kids. Not the early-driver, entry-level folks I thought it would be. No salesperson was free to talk to us. I thought that was great. It was a huge response, and even more so since the Atto 2 was supposed to be launched in December. We had a bit of fun and took lots of photos. My main impression was that the car was a lot bigger on the inside, and very well equipped. A Tardis, like many EVs. Here are some photos of the interior of the base model:

Who are the rivals? The press seems to think it is MG or Leapmotor — other electric carmakers. They haven’t got it yet. BYD has declared war on petrol and diesel. It has even declared it will work with Tesla to “combat petrol cars.”

“Our common enemy is the internal combustion engine car. We need to work together  … to make the industry change,” said BYD’s executive vice-president Stella Li in an interview with the Financial Times.

These two new models (Atto 2 now and Atto 1 soon) will challenge the petrol-powered Toyota Corolla not just on price but on specs. The Atto 2 is a similar size to the Toyota Corolla, just slightly shorter. The Corolla sells for about the same price as the Atto 2 (AU$32,000). But with the Atto, you can drive away with no more to pay (especially if you have home solar). Oh, what a feeling!

Price comparisons are being made with the petrol-powered Mazda 2 (approximately AU$27,000) and the hybrid Toyota Yaris (approximately AU$29,000). However, these are smaller cars than the Atto 2. They will be beaten on price by the soon-to-be-released Atto 1. I am quoting base unit prices and being deliberately vague because Australia’s car market has been volatile with downward pressure on new EV prices.

I have watched one model after another launched in Australia, and then prices steadily decrease to meet the competition and stimulate sales. I would not be surprised if BYD starts discounting as soon as next year. Watch this space. I’m not sure how the petrol-powered competition will react. Price parity and lower TCO are arriving.

So, if we have price parity with the HEV Corolla, what do we get for our money? V2L will be one thing the Corolla can’t match. Zero to 100 km/h in 7.9 seconds by the Atto 3 beats the cheapest corolla at 9.1 seconds. Toyota won’t be able to match running costs or servicing, I am sure.

Toyota has a great reputation in Australia, and that will keeps sales chugging along. But I am amazed at how quickly BYD’s reputation has been built. I think the Shark has converted many diesel diehards to the possibility of electric. The technical college near us trains mechanics. They now have a Shark to dissect and play with. It was reported to me that they were incredibly impressed by the level of tech the car provides and compared it favourably with the units they currently drive (big, macho, noisy, petrol guzzling utes).

The Atto 2 is advertised as having 345 km/214 miles (WLTP) of range from an “ultra safe, ultra durable” blade battery producing 130 kW of power. The car is managed by a 12.8-inch touchscreen, with an extra screen behind the steering wheel. The Atto 2 is listed as having 1230 L of boot capacity with the back seats down, compared with the Corolla — listed as 1052 L. The car comes with 16-inch alloy rims.

Full details are available here.

The Atto 2 is 4310 mm long, 1830 mm wide, and 1675 mm tall on a 2620 mm wheelbase. The Toyota Corolla is 4630 mm long, 1695 mm wide, and 1460 mm high.

Those of you with more patience than I have might like to go through the whole list of specs. Those of you with experience of the HEV Corolla might like to tell us how the tech compares.

Toyota can deliver a Corolla in two types of red and a few more colours. All the Atto 2 can offer is a boring palette of white, two types of grey, and a black. Well, that’s a point for the Corolla. I prefer red cars!

Along with the litany in the media of “nobody wants electric cars,” there has also been a narrative that most Australians prefer to drive large SUVs and utes. Driving down the highway, I would say that is true. But there are still many small cars on the road — look, there goes a Kia Picanto! If all the Atto 1 & 2 do is replace mum’s grocery cart/school pickup runaround, then that will add up to a lot of sales. Especially when they are this good and affordable. Is this the Chinese version of the Daewoo Lanos or Hyundai Excel invasion of the ’90s?

If nothing else, it will encourage other EV makers to sharpen their pencils. However, the main competition in the cross hairs are the makers of small petrol cars. Look out, Mitsubishi ASX.

Why am I so excited? Because it is another niche filled by a capable EV. Yes, we had small EVs back a few years ago — I think of the Mitsubishi i-MiEV — but they were hardly competition for their petrol-powered counterparts. The Atto 2 brings it! Australia’s motoring future is bright, and electric.