BYD ATTO 3 EVO

Family SUV is re-engineered with rear-wheel drive and a bigger battery

- CHARLIE MARTIN

The application of an 'Evo' suffix conjures images of rip-snorting, rally-bred Lancia Deltas and Mitsubishi Lancers. Not so in the case of the new BYD Atto 3.

The Chinese brand's first UK car has been here for three years now, and in that time the EV market has moved on significantly: no longer is a 260-mile range competitive in a near-£40k family SUV, and it was starting to look stale next to newer models in the BYD stable. Thus there has been a major redevelopment, effectively making the Atto 3 Evo a second-generation car rather than a typical facelift.

Chief among the changes is a swap from native front- to rear-wheel drive and an increase from 201bhp to 308bhp. The lithium-iron-phosphate battery's capacity has been boosted from 60.5kWh to 74.8kWh, extending range from 260 to 316 miles. And the electricals have been uprated from 400V to 800V, raising the peak charging rate from a meek 88kW to 220kW, for a 10-80% refill time of 25 minutes.