Three models, but this is the pillar
The Chinese BYD is coming to Europe and is coordinating these actions from the Netherlands. All this is not new, but we can now shed some light on the models that the Chinese giant wants to carry here. It concerns three fully electric cars: the Tang, the Han and the Atto 3. The latter is the most important.
We have seen the Han and the Tang before. The Han is an electric sedan and is considered the provisional flagship of BYD, an image maker if you will. At least that seems to be the role that the car should play in Europe, because at BYD they also know that this electric sedan of 5-series format is not going to be a runner here. We attribute more opportunities to the BYD Tang. That is a large, electric SUV that has been for sale in Norway for a while and also appears to be quite successful there.
Now in Norway they are waiting a bit more for big, tough cars with four-wheel drive than with us. That is why a third model is being put forward for Europe as the car that should provide the large numbers here: the BYD Atto 3. That is a car that was presented in China in 2021 as BYD Yuan Plus. The Atto 3 – that name comes from the attosecond or a trillionth of a second – is a compact, electric SUV. He thus operates in a very important part of the European EV market, namely where we also find the Kia Niro EV, for example.
The Atto 3 is of a younger generation than the other two models. This is the first BYD to be featured on the e-Platform 3.0, a new electric base that, according to the Chinese, entails a number of novelties. For example, the battery pack is part of the construction here, which should therefore be lighter and stiffer.
Blade Battery
The battery itself is also special, because it is what BYD calls a ‘Blade Battery’. This is a lithium iron phosphate battery (LFP), a type of battery with fewer rare earth metals and a lower production price than usual. An important disadvantage is that the energy density is lower, but BYD has come up with something for that. Instead of putting the battery cells – a kind of flat ‘packages’ – in modules and building those modules in the package, the cells at the ‘Blade Battery’ are directly combined into a package. That saves volume, money and weight, says BYD. The battery in the Atto 3 has a capacity of 60 kWh, good for a WLTP range of 440 kilometers. Fast charging goes with 88 kWh. According to BYD, that is not necessarily the peak, but a speed that the car can actually sustain for a longer period of time. The Atto 3 also features Vehicle-to-Load technology, making it possible to use the car to power other devices.
Unlike the Han and the Tang, the Atto 3 is a front-wheel drive. Its electric motor produces 150 kW or 204 hp, good for a 0-100 time of 7.3 seconds.
Special interior
The exterior of the BYD Atto 3 looks neat, but at the same time is not too spectacular. The interior therefore forms a striking contrast, because everything here is different than we are used to. Wavy lines, special colors and materials and bizarre details create a unique atmosphere that actually looks successful in real life. Of course, the design is sensitive to taste, but at least it has been implemented consistently. Also very special is the central touchscreen, which can be rotated from a landscape to a portrait position at the touch of a button.
BYD Atto 3
Prices and equipment specifications of the Atto 3 are not yet there. That will probably follow in October, when BYD makes its appearance at the Paris motor show. We already know that the price list will be very compact. BYD does not want to work with many separate options or very different versions, but makes most of it standard. This applies, for example, to a heat pump, but also to Level 2 autonomy and a panoramic sliding/tilting roof. Moreover, BYD does not care about the European launch: the first cars of the brand should be delivered to Dutch customers before this year.
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– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl