Being a European car company executive these days must feel like being the proverbial frog in ever-warming water.
Not only do you have to contend with disrupted supply chains, the potential damage from tariffs, and European governments vacillating over their willingness to support electric car incentives, but you also have China looming like a patient elephant in the corner of your boardroom. Whatever car you might be able to make, China can probably make it just as good, for less.
China’s dominant player, at least when it comes to electric cars, is BYD. While the Build Your Dreams moniker might seem rather cheesy, this company is deadly serious about taking on and beating the US, European, Japanese and Korean motoring grandees at their own game.
[ China’s electric-vehicle leader BYD posts record sales in 2024Opens in new window ]
We’ve already seen BYD produce a passable EV family SUV (the Atto 3), an impressive electro hatchback (the Dolphin) and an impressive sporty saloon (the Seal). Now BYD is coming for Europe’s most important market segment – small SUVs.
So while this new Atto 2 is another all-electric model, its primary rivals won’t just be fellow battery-powered cars such as the Jeep Avenger and Opel Frontera; it will also be taking on the likes of the Toyota Yaris Cross and Renault Captur, attempting to turn those buyers over to battery motoring.
That won’t be easy, as many of these buyers will be of a more conservative bent, reluctant to embrace new technology they view as unproven.
Equally, BYD’s recent appearance on front pages over alleged exploitative working conditions for the people building its new factory in Brazil will not have endeared it to more liberal-minded buyers.
However, the Atto 2 might be good enough to convince even the doubters.
Maybe not right away – initially this compact EV crossover arrives in July with only a 312km range on one charge, which given our poor national charging network probably isn’t really enough – but most likely later, in October or thereabouts.
That’s when the Comfort model, with its bigger battery and 435km range, arrives and it might do the trick. Prices should start from just under €30,000, although that will be confirmed closer to the summer on-sale date.
Against most of its current opposition, the Atto 2 has one significant advantage – its cabin. For anyone still thinking Chinese-made cars are cheap and tacky, the Atto 2 turns that on its head. It has a nicer, classier interior than the Opel Frontera or Citroën C3 Aircross, both of which are closer to Dacia than Davos in terms of poshness.
By contrast, the Atto 2 has buttery-soft imitation leather seats (standard), a panoramic glass roof (standard) and a generally impressive level of fit and finish. It’s not quite premium, but it’s not far off and certainly better than the standards of this small SUV class. Space is good too, with generous legroom and headroom in the back, and a reasonable 400-litre boot.
The big screen in the centre of the dash (10.1in for basic Active models, and 12.8in for the Boost version we’re testing here) is also much improved.
BYD gives you at least a smattering of physical buttons, which helps, but better yet is the software upgrade being rolled out to other BYD models as well, including existing cars by way of a download. It fixes the air-conditioning controls permanently in the bottom of the screen and allows a “multitouch” three-finger swipe, which means you can alter the cabin temperature by swiping up or down anywhere on the screen.
Clever stuff, and there’s fun too: built-in YouTube and games for whiling away charging stops (which will take a while as the maximum DC charging power is only 65kW) and even a karaoke system, which is almost enough for us to hand over our Irish Times car of the year gong on the spot. Fire up Dancing Queen, please ...
More importantly (well, depending on how important you consider karaoke to be) the Atto 2 comes, for now, with a 45.1kWh battery (more robust and long-lasting compared to the more common lithium-ion batteries, and BYD warranties it for 200,000km) which gives it range of 312km. That isn’t much, but it’s arguably enough for those who don’t regularly cover big mileages, and it’s a realistic range, as a chilly drive around the environs of Madrid proved.
A range of 280km seems to be about the minimum you’d get, helped by a standard-fit heat pump heating system (pay attention, European car makers who charge extra for such items). Performance is fine – the 170hp and 290Nm of torque is delivered with smooth progressiveness – but don’t go expecting fun.
The Atto 2 has been tuned to have a soft, springy ride quality for dealing with urban obstacles, and its steering is light and rubbery, allowing you to exploit a tight turning circle, but it’s not entertaining once you get out of town. Totally competent, and with decent refinement and comfort (helped by those excellent front seats) but a fun-free zone.
Most customers probably won’t care much about that, but it seems odd that BYD – an engineering-led company with enormous resources both technical and human – has yet to produce a car that’s actually fun to drive. The Seal saloon comes closest so far, but even that’s a bit plank-like on anything but a perfectly smooth road. C’mon, BYD – EVs can be fun too. Honest, they can.
Taking more serious considerations of value and equipment into consideration, the Atto 2 will place more worrying weight on the shoulders of European car company execs. To produce a family-friendly small electric SUV for a price of less than €30,000, Opel and Citroën – to take two examples – have had to make cheap and cheerful cars, with a whiff of the hair shirt about them.
BYD, flexing its Chinese labour cost muscles (not to mention its government supports and lack of pesky unions etc) has shown that it can be done with a quasi-premium feel instead. Net of the reluctance among some to switch to battery power, expect this compact BYD to make a big impression on Irish car buyers.
