BYD Atto 2 Review 2025 | Small electric SUV from China
Byd Atto 2 cars for sale
3.0
Expert review
Pros
Packed with standard equipment
Clever battery tech
Long warranty
Cons
So-so to drive
Some rivals do better for range
Not the cheapest
The CarGurus verdict
The BYD Atto 2 is a solid option in the very competitive small electric SUV class. It’s got very little character and there’s a host of alternatives that drive with more poise, but it’s practical enough, and has great tech on board including the clever, cobalt-free LFP Blade battery, not to mention all that standard equipment.
Given the costs, the kit, the warranty and the range, this is a compelling ownership proposition. Just make sure that you’re happy to live with the stodgy dynamics.
What is the BYD Atto 2?
The new BYD Atto 2 is yet another offering from Chinese automotive maker, BYD (that’s Build Your Dreams, by the way). This is a company that’s gone from its first model being released in the UK in 2023, to the Atto 2 being its seventh in just over two years, with nearly 100 UK dealerships established along the way. It’s certainly moving quickly, then.
We’d call the Atto 2 a hatchback but BYD will tell you that it’s a compact SUV. It sits beneath the BYD Atto 3, and above the BYD Dolphin in the brand’s lineup, and at 4.3-metres long, it’s spot-on in size for electric small SUV rivals such as the Ford Puma Gen-E, Kia EV3, Vauxhall Frontera, Smart #1, Volvo EX30, Jeep Avenger, Fiat 600e, Citroen e-C3 Aircross and VW ID.3, to name just a few of the hordes of alternatives that the Atto 2 must take on. The car has already been on sale in China for a while, where it’s known as the BYD Yuan Up.
It’s only available as an electric car; there are no hybrid, petrol or diesel versions of the Atto 2. There is the option of two LFP ‘Blade’ battery packs, a 51kWh pack in the BYD Atto 2 Boost, and a 64.8kWh pack in the BYD Atto 2 Comfort, giving WLTP range figures of 214- and 267 miles, respectively.
You also get tonnes of equipment as standard, even on the entry-level Boost model, and the list prices and monthly deals are seriously compelling, as is the six-year warranty.
How practical is it?
Practicality isn’t too bad; there’s enough boot space and passenger roominess to make this a comfortable compact SUV and a decent family car. The boot lip is a touch high, but you get a 400-litre boot (450 litres in the Comfort model) that’s a useful, square shape and also comes with a variable boot floor as standard: useful for hiding your cables away, since there’s no ‘frunk’ storage under the bonnet.
Others are certainly more practical in this class (the Ford Puma Gen-E, Skoda Elroq and Kia EV3 all have bigger boots, for a start) but the BYD is okay for luggage space, and the 60/40 split rear seats fold flat easily.
Rear passengers are really well catered for: this is one of the most spacious rear-seat spaces in the class. A standard panoramic glass roof makes for a light and airy cabin, and there’s plenty of leg- and headroom even for a tall-ish adult sat behind a tall driver. You get a couple of USB-C charging ports, too, although it’s a shame that there’s no centre rear armrest.
Up front, the material quality is okay and the design is minimalist and rather more understated and European than the loud, flashy interior of the BYD Atto 3, for instance. The driving position is comfortable, too, although the digital display behind the steering wheel can be annoying as it has a power output gauge that has the same font and size as the speedo, and it’s easy to mix them up at a glance, which can be quite distracting. At least the Mercedes-style gear selector on the steering column is simple and intuitive to use.
What’s it like to drive?
Quite mediocre, to be honest. Not in a drastically terrible way, just in a ‘meh’ kind of way. For a start, there’s quite a bit of suspension noise that reverberates in the cabin, most noticeably over bumpy town roads.
Ride comfort itself isn’t too bad, other than a bit of thumping over motorway expansion joints and the like, but the steering response is slow and there’s a lot of body lean in the Atto 2, so it does feel a bit lethargic and heavy in corners.
Still, having said all of that, it’s got a turning circle of 10.5 metres, which makes it wieldy enough for easy car park manoeuvres, and the light steering is predictable. It feels confident on the motorway, too, and has a decent 0-62mph time of 7.9 seconds regardless of which model you go for. There’s a bit more power from the electric motor in the bigger battery Comfort model; 201bhp compared with the 174bhp of the Boost version that we drove, but the extra weight of the bigger battery means that the 0-62mph sprint time is the same regardless of the additional power. And it’s more than snappy enough even for fast motorway merges and busy junctions. You’ll even notice the front tyres spinning up if you go for an enthusiastic getaway in damp conditions.
There are drive modes, of course, and while Eco mode makes the accelerator pedal very unresponsive, Normal mode and Sport make everything feel sharp enough and confident enough that you can make easy, unbothered progress.
Both of the regenerative braking modes are pretty mild, so there’s no one-pedal motoring like you get on the Kia EV3 and Hyundai Kona Electric, but they’re smooth and easy to get used to so the Atto 2 is a perfectly unintimidating thing to drive, even if it’ll be your first electric vehicle.
The Atto 2 is front-wheel drive, and there’s no four-wheel drive option, so don’t think of this as an off-roader. You’ll do better with the Jeep Avenger if you want a bit of ground clearance and country track ruggedness in a compact electric SUV.
Technology, equipment and infotainment
The BYD Atto 2 has an impressive level of equipment, even as standard on the entry-level Boost model. There’s that glass panoramic roof, not to mention leatherette upholstery, electric seat adjustment, heated front seats, climate control, adaptive cruise control, a 360-degree camera, alloy wheels and ambient cabin lighting. Comfort trim largely adds the bigger battery, as well as faster charging.
Every Atto 2 also gets a 12.3-inch touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, satnav, digital radio, streaming services, over-the-air software updates, voice control and more. It’s not a bad system: the graphics are good and it responds quickly, and there’s a one-swipe shortcut menu that you can configure to show your favourites including lane-keep assist, brake regen’ and other major driver functions. Some of the icons are a bit small and fiddly, and the infotainment systems in the Renault 4 and Kia EV3 are more intuitive, but the BYD’s system does the job and is easy enough to live with.
As is often the case these days, though, the minimalist interior design of the Atto 2 means that there are very few physical buttons on the centre console, or anywhere else, meaning that almost all functions have to be operated through the touchscreen, and that can give the system a slightly cluttered and complicated feel.
BYD Atto 2 running costs
The BYD Atto 2 looks a bit pricey next to slightly smaller alternatives like the Renault 4 and Puma Gen-E, and an MG4 also makes it look a touch punchy. But it’s great value next to rivals like the Kia EV3 and Skoda Elroq, and more importantly for most buyers, there are great PCP monthly finance deals.
As for real-world range, we saw around 180 miles from the Boost model that we drove, in mild conditions and varied driving. That’ll drop in cold weather or sustained motorway driving, and it’ll creep up in warmer weather and on slower roads. We’d estimate that the Atto 2 Comfort will manage around 200-250 miles in the real world.
BYD Atto 2 reliability
It’s too early to know much about the BYD Atto 2’s reliability, but the vehicle is warrantied for six-years and 93,750 miles, while the battery is covered for eight years and over 155,000 miles. That’s usefully longer cover (on both the vehicle and battery) than most rivals offer.
- The Atto 2 Boost gets a peak charging rate of 85kW, for a 10-80% charge in around 35 minutes, but the Comfort model gets usefully faster charging of 155kW, so will manage the same 10-80% top-up in around 30 minutes or less despite the bigger battery. Put another way, a 100-mile top-up in the Boost will take around 35 minutes, while the Comfort will potentially be able to do that in under 20 minutes. A full charge from a 7kW home charger will take 9-12 hours depending on which battery you opt for.
- The Atto 2 gets a heat pump for more efficient winter running, as well as vehicle-to-load charging that allows you to charge up another electric device from the car’s high voltage battery. In mild conditions and a varied test route, we saw real-world range of around 180 miles from the Boost model that we test drove.
- There are only four body colours to choose from for new car buyers, and most are shades of grey, although we do rather like the ‘Hiking Green’ shade that you see in the photos, here.
- If you want the best value: Go for the Atto 2 Boost. It really does get all the kit you want, and the range isn’t bad, either.
- If you want the best company car: Step up to the Comfort for that longer range and faster charging. Benefit-in-Kind company car tax is still cheap for electric cars, so the additional tax cost to get usefully more range and much better charging is well worth it, especially if you’re doing a lot of miles.
- If you want the best high-mileage commuter: As above! The bigger LFP battery and faster charging in the BYD Atto 2 is a no-brainer if you’re expecting to do a lot of longer journeys.
- If you want the best family car: The Boost will be a perfectly good family car, and it’s good value with all the equipment you need, so you needn’t go for the Comfort unless you really want that extra range and charging speed.
