BYD Atto 3 e-SUV: First impressions after a test drive in city traffic

The interiors might be hit and a miss depending on what you are looking for, I personally liked it and so did the missus.

BHPian AtheK recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Test drove the car today, it’s a pretty well built car and has a decent road presence, the blue color looks very nice too. I test drove in Bangalore traffic so was usually stuck in traffic, but did get a few open stretches and put the car in sports mode and the power delivery is fantastic. Loved the throttle response and how eager the car was to gain speed. The cabin also feels spacious and overall wife was happy in the rear seat. The sunroof also adds up to roominess feel and all the parts felt well put together.

The interiors might be hit and a miss depending on what you are looking for, I personally liked it and so did the missus. It’s different from the usual single dimension approach taken by mainstream cars and for me personally it stood out. The gear lever which feels like the one you get in planes and adds to premium look of the car. I drove in day time so can’t comment on lights but hopefully are good. The ac worked well and cooled the car considerably fast.

The main speedo is very very small, while the ICE is so big, they should have given a bigger speedo also, it just looks too tiny with too much information. Missing rain sensors and ventilated seats are a sore point for a car that costs more then 36 lac rupees on road, BYD should have not skipped these features at this price point.

They should have ideally priced it close to the MG ZS EV with maybe a premium of few lakhs, at current price point it is tough to justify the purchase, and although I am ok to live with few missing features, I am not happy spending so much for a relatively new brand in India.

We walked into the adjoining MG showroom and Hector at almost 9 lakh cheaper felt much more VFM, the 9 lakhs saved will easily foot the bill for fuel and services for next 5 years plus no range anxiety. I think just like others I will wait for EV technology to become more mainstream.

In the meantime hopefully BYD can update the car with wireless Android Auto and Airplay quickly. All in all a great car but let down by price and young age of company in India, looking forward for them to establish the brand and add some more cars to the portfolio.

The speedo just looks tiny and for a driver who will spend quite a bit of time looking at it, it is not a pretty sight.

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