The best car you’ve never heard of?

Fulfill the Atto 3!

You might not have actually heard of before, however we can guarantee you it's extremely likely you have actually come into contact with among its items prior to! It started producing batteries, and it's now moved into business of building its own automobiles! But are they any great?

Well beginning with the style, we're getting some major Cupra Born vibes from the back. Elsewhere though, the exterior looks are reasonably generic. That's not to state it's a bad-looking vehicle – it just doesn't do much to stand apart from the crowd. It's likewise offered in a choice of 5 colours, and there are 3 various trim levels readily available.

Nevertheless, things become a bit more fascinating on the inside! The design is apparently influenced by a gym, although we're having difficulty linking that with what we can see. One thing we can't miss on the within, nevertheless, is the substantial 15" infotainment screen that controls the dash! It's very clear and pretty responsive, with all infotainment features controlled through its touchscreen. The usefulness is pretty good, too, with big storage locations in the centre console.

There's just one battery and motor combination offered with the Atto 3 – a single 201hp motor installed to the front axle, paired with a 60kWh battery pack. This features a claimed series of 260 miles.

The concern is, can it actually warrant the ₤ 36,000 beginning price, particularly when there are many all-electric SUVs to pick from already?! You'll require to stick to Mat and see on your own!

Chapters
00:00 Intro
00:27 BYD
00:46 Style
01:17 Price
01:42 Interior
04:28 Rear seats
05:45 Boot
06:37 5 Annoying Things
08:15 5 Good Things
09:47 Motor & Battery
10:37 Town Driving
12:10 Freeway Driving
13:22 Back Road Driving
15:21 0-60mph
15:57 Decision

Mat's BYD choice:

Kia Niro evaluation:

MG4 evaluation:

Offer your automobile with :

Imaginative Commons Attribution: Dick Thomas Johnson
( 34695793583). jpg.

Comments

57 responses to “The best car you’ve never heard of?”

  1. carwow Avatar
    carwow

    Rate the looks of the BYD Atto 3!

    1. Fure Fure Avatar
      Fure Fure

      100

    2. Kam121 Avatar
      Kam121

      Matt we need all the polo gti’s race also with the blue GT DSG to make it fair if you can 😅

    3. Matthew Norman Avatar
      Matthew Norman

      I know the best car, a Hyundai Getz sx day 192

    4. Lofyne Avatar
      Lofyne

      ​@Ian Ackery Not really.. They seem that way, but really stand out in a parking lot compared to most other cars.

  2. Paul Correia Avatar
    Paul Correia

    That’s quite an impressive car .
    Will they be compatible with all other models

    1. ciyber sal Avatar
      ciyber sal

      It really is impressive

    2. Ryan 921 Avatar
      Ryan 921

      No, it’s a shitty car,
      But impressive technology

    3. an username Avatar
      an username

      @Ryan 921 like most new cars (especially from china in my experience irl). Impressive tech but not great to live with as that tech barely works in real life situations.

  3. Martin Chege Avatar
    Martin Chege

    Mat Watson, the most consistent YouTuber I know 😂😂

    1. Catching Cars Avatar
      Catching Cars

      we post more often on TEST DRIVE FREAK byt the quality on carwow is insane! Mat Watson is one of the Best Automotove Youtubers

    2. S L Avatar
      S L

      Consistently unfunny

    3. KILLERAAAA Avatar
      KILLERAAAA

      @Spanky Games Matt isn’t a presenter .. he is CCO.

      Just because he doesn’t own the company fully doesn’t mean he’s only a presenter..

      He’s an automotive journalist and one of the best if not the best

    4. Catching Cars Avatar
      Catching Cars

      @KILLERAAAAFacts

    5. Catching Cars Avatar
      Catching Cars

      @Spanky Games without Mat Watson Carwow wouldnt be nearly what it is today and everyone knows this

  4. Paulo Ramos Avatar
    Paulo Ramos

    Wow, I actually like the guitar strings 😂.
    Thanks for the video Matt

    1. Purwanti Allan Avatar
      Purwanti Allan

      Me too man. But why guitar strings is in inside of his car?

    2. Paulo Ramos Avatar
      Paulo Ramos

      @Purwanti Allan Well, I feel the same. I don’t know what to say, maybe the maker could use a different kind of material instead. That would be one less place for trash to be forgotten in.

  5. Kin Avatar
    Kin

    I’ve seen it in Bangkok, it’s actually quite good looking in the fresh, it also has rear wash wipe which is better than most EVs.

    1. Purwanti Allan Avatar
      Purwanti Allan

      I also seen one in Hanoi.

    2. WeiL K Avatar
      WeiL K

      10000 sold in Thailand, and counting

  6. Marnus Loosebuschange Avatar
    Marnus Loosebuschange

    I test-drove one when they came out last year here in Australia. It’s quite an impressive small SUV. It drove like a raised Hyundai i30. Speaking of Hyundai and the i30, the styling reminds me of the older i30s. Reasonably nice-looking but generic and lacking character. The interior is overdone and a bit gimmicky as well. The technology is there but is engineered cheaply compared to Tesla, legacy brands and other Chinese automakers. Is it for me? No. I’d pay the extra 10k it costs in Australia to get into a base Model 3, but for the average person in Australia and most countries, this is all the car they need. They’re already selling like hotcakes here in the land Down Under, and I’m sure they will in the rest of the world. Well done, BYD.

    1. Mahootis Sherlockis Avatar
      Mahootis Sherlockis

      @Purwanti Allan it’s not common, but certainly not rare. Definitely selling well though

    2. Dimitar & Lidija Berberu Avatar
      Dimitar & Lidija Berberu

      BYD is better overall car. I’m not after show off & Chinese are much smarter than Westerners (I’m from Europe).

    3. Leon C Avatar
      Leon C

      @Purwanti Allan and its neighbour too actually.

    4. Mr260 Z Avatar
      Mr260 Z

      The car actually seems fine. It’s the company I have an issue with. In Australia at least these things need to be “serviced” every 12 months to satisfy their delivery partner (eagers).

    5. ciyber sal Avatar
      ciyber sal

      Tesla has the worst quality in the industry. Still inconstant paintwork and shoddy build

  7. Chartreux Avatar
    Chartreux

    I’ve seen quite a few of them here in Frankfurt, Germany. I guess they’re already for sale here since a few Months
    Prost & Cheers from Germany

    1. Purwanti Allan Avatar
      Purwanti Allan

      👍

  8. Risya^^ 귀여운 Avatar
    Risya^^ 귀여운

    Those have been seen lately.
    I actually like the looks and the character of them wouldn’t mind having one.

    1. Purwanti Allan Avatar
      Purwanti Allan

      Agree. Or even sent out 3 days ago.

  9. Alan Gordon Avatar
    Alan Gordon

    It will be interesting to see how BYD develop the brand in the UK. Prices look competitive but not a standout bargain. This has the feel of some of the French brands, i.e. Mass market, a few interesting design flourishes and potentially horrendous depreciation!

  10. The Aroused Eunuch Avatar
    The Aroused Eunuch

    3:32 That might be the best feature of the whole car. You push the door out with your elbow. It’s quite ergonomic, as you don’t have to twist your hand to open the door, as one would on most cars. As someone who frequently has to open/close a car door for work, I’d love that.

    1. The Aroused Eunuch Avatar
      The Aroused Eunuch

      @Ned Powell There are valets and private drivers for the wealthy that essentially do that, in a way.

    2. geffel Avatar
      geffel

      @Ned Powell If I don;t open the door for my Mrs then she gives me the silent treatment for a couple of days. I’m trying to see what else I can do to bring it up to a week of silent treatment.

    3. Stocklee Avatar
      Stocklee

      @KING JERMARCUS *Palpatine’s voice* – “Dew it!”

    4. Ned Powell Avatar
      Ned Powell

      @geffel Haha, brilliant! Hats off to you sir, you made me chuckle today.

    5. Freddie Marschner Avatar
      Freddie Marschner

      Yes it’s great until you put your elbow on the door and when it slips off over a bump and you open the door by accident.

  11. B Mc Avatar
    B Mc

    UK pricing seems odd. In Australia, the Atto 3 is priced about the same as the MG4, and a good $10,000 (£5500) below the Niro EV or Born. If British pricing for this mirrored the Australian positioning, it’d be under £30000.

    Mat, I’d love to know how your opinion of the car would have changed if it were priced like that. There were a couple of points where you said it wasn’t good enough for the money – would it have been good enough at that lower price?

    I’m also intrigued as to why BYD had taken such wildly different approaches in the Australian and British markets.

    1. qilu2004 Avatar
      qilu2004

      VAT in UK is ridiculous.

    2. tren133 Avatar
      tren133

      I don’t think BYD is prioritizing the European markets currently. They are selling more cars at relatively lower prices in places like AUS/NZ, Thailand, Middle East (Atto 3 is best selling model in Israel I believe), Latin American etc. My guess is BYD only wants a foothold in Europe right now, so prices are relatively high. But they are looking to grab marketshare in those other markets so it is priced more competitively. Perhaps BYD wants to tread more lightly in Europe, especially Germany/France, since those countries have domestic automakers to protect, and BYD doesn’t want to start a price war too early. They’ll have their hands full taking over all those other global markets in the next couple of years. Atto 3 export numbers are quite high already, just not so many to Europe.

  12. Azlan Sharom Avatar
    Azlan Sharom

    Matt, in an equatorial climate nice and balmy, I get 260 miles fine. Manufacturers should really do climate modelling better I guess. It’s great for pootling around and I certainly did not buy it for high speed handling 😅 so agree with you there. One added bonus, the LFP battery will gladly charge to 100% all the time without degradation, so it means you can have full range on tap every morning, and not save it for ‘long trips only’.

    1. Barnaby Thorngate Avatar
      Barnaby Thorngate

      That was a totally unfair range estimate. It’s a press car and they get thrashed. Of course if you have a lead foot you’ll get bad range.

    2. GDM22 Avatar
      GDM22

      @Azlan Sharom I agree do not understand how it could get such poor efficiency, would easily do the WLTP range of 420km in city driving.

    3. Azlan Sharom Avatar
      Azlan Sharom

      @Kevin Samuel to be fair I was being very careful with energy conservation – always wanted to be a pilot so pretended I was one managing aircraft energy on descent or something! 😄 In auto parlance – I was hypermiling. But as some other comments in this thread pointed out, 420km in normal mixed driving under non-lead footed conditions is normal, and I wanted to make the point for myself that even on highways it would be possible.

    4. Azlan Sharom Avatar
      Azlan Sharom

      @Barnaby Thorngate indeed. Matt is fun, that’s for sure 😆 where some others seem to quote mileage outcomes based on more ’balanced’ driving.

    5. David Kent Avatar
      David Kent

      @Barnaby Thorngate I agree. I own two of them and they are actually a very efficient EV with over 400km of range under most conditions.

  13. Fazrin Azwar Avatar
    Fazrin Azwar

    Mat, you forgot to mention that the BYD comes with a built-in dashcam. Wouldn’t that qualify as one of the 5 things you like about the car? Love your videos by the way!

    1. Entertainment Avatar
      Entertainment

      Also comes with an outdated Android OS without security updates

    2. Lalo Ajuria Avatar
      Lalo Ajuria

      @Entertainment ccp: shhhhhh

  14. pirinplanina Avatar
    pirinplanina

    I would like to see a video on the recap of all 4 categories – avoid it, consider it etc, with the list of cars

  15. James Avatar
    James

    I love these car reviews Mat, we don’t get enough of them anymore.

  16. James Avatar
    James

    I’m surprised Mat ignored the damping on the glove box. He normally loves a nicely damped glove box 😅😂😂

  17. Volvo B10M Avatar
    Volvo B10M

    BYD have been building electric bus chassis for Alexander Dennis Ltd and from what I have seen they are ok, though I have only ridden one so far in Manchester. This car looks quite cool to be honest, I like the glass sunroof.

  18. January Morris Avatar
    January Morris

    I liked the door handles and the rotating screen, the rear capacity and storage was nice, the guitar strings they were different. I don’t have kids so I don’t think I care one way or the other

  19. wez130 Avatar
    wez130

    These have been out for about 8 months here in NZ, good looking cars and plenty of kit for the price, there are obvious cost cutting measures visible though, such as lack of hydraulic frunk. Also, a lot less expensive here, ($55k nzd = £25k)

  20. GodLynt Avatar
    GodLynt

    byd is pretty popular in Norway. They sell a lot of BYD Tangs, their pretty good cars too

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