Written by Piers Ward and Curtis Moldrich Updated: 8 September 2025

Overview

Should you buy a BYD Atto 2?

The BYD Atto 2 enters a highly competitive class, with the battle for the best small electric car really hotting up. It does rather hide its light under a bushel, because the Atto 2 doesn’t look like much from the outside, but it performs well enough where it needs to.

Its best angle is probably the spec sheet, as its strongest suite is the punchy driver-assistance technology and infotainment system that comes as standard.

It’s spritely and genuinely innovative, which is sometimes enough in this sector. But for a car company that trumpets how it was founded by an engineer, there’s not much engineering interest on show as it’s not especially memorable. The Atto 2 is very capable and offers good value for money, but not much character.

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What is it?

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You’re looking at the BYD Atto 2, a new compact EV designed to take the already competitive B-segment by storm, with rivals like the all-conquering Renault 4 and wildly popular Kia EV3. Pitched as a city-centric second car, it promises to combine strong, spritely dynamics with a cutting-edge tech offering. In this review you’ll find out if we think it’s one of the best electric cars you can buy today.

Priced from £30,850, it comes in two trim levels – Boost and Comfort – with a PCP cost from £339 per month with a £339 deposit.

Although very different in size to the Sealion 7 it follows, the Atto 2 sticks with BYD’s established battery and platform technology. It uses safer lithium-ion phosphate (LFP) Blade batteries and comes with a heat pump as standard – worth around 10 to 20% more range in the winter months. The huge advantage of LFP batteries is that they won’t ignite if the casing is punctured in the event of a major accident.

BYD’s workforce boasts around 120,000 engineers alone, but have they made a product that holds its own with the Fiat Grande Panda, Citroen e-C3, Renault 5 E-Tech and the other best small electric cars? To find out, we drove an Atto 2 around Madrid.

We’ve now driven the car both in Europe and the UK so can bring you the definitive verdict as to what it’s like on British roads.

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What’s it like inside?

The interior of the Atto 2 continues a theme you’ll soon see around the rest of the car – it’s dull on the surface but brings in some neat features like the rotating middle screen. Touchscreens aside, the Atto 2’s interior feels a bit of a time warp: it’s very conservative, if also well made.

However, it’s on this dull canvas that BYD deploys some innovative tech. There’s a 12.8-inch touchscreen in the middle for the infotainment system, while the driver gets their own 8.8-inch cockpit display. Both are sharp, quick and focus on personalisation so it’s possible to quickly assemble your own shortcuts. And you’ll want to, given the Atto 2’s overzealous bings, bops and beeps.

What’s more, BYD has also introduced multi-touch gestures to the Atto 2, just like you might find on a top-of-the-range laptop. They control the A/C and are incredibly simple to use – swipe three fingers up to change the temperature and three across to adjust the fan speed. Unlike some touchscreen solutions, it worked consistently for us and feels like a real innovation in the post-button world manufacturers are forcing us into.

Thankfully, the steering wheel has its own buttons, and they’re nice and predictable to use too. Elsewhere you’ll find USB-C ports, wireless charging (for one phone and with ventilation to keep it cool) and plenty of storage. The car feels narrow, but legroom is good for front passengers and for those in the rear. The boot measures up to 450 litres (Boost models make do with 400 litres), but that’s perfectly fine for this market sector.

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BYD Atto 2 motors and batteries

The Boost car we’ve driven in the UK had a 51.1kWh battery paired with a 130kW motor on the front axle; Comfort models get 150kW. The 0-62mph times are 7.9 seconds for both; considering the buyers this car’s aimed at, that’s more than enough acceleration to keep up with the flow. It’s not fast, but it’s perfectly smooth.

The driving range is either 214 miles in Boost trim or 267 miles in Comfort, with the larger 64.8kWh battery. Boost versions can charge from 30-80% in 29 minutes, which is a bit sluggish, while Comfort can do that same percentage in 19 minutes.

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What’s it like to drive?

The Atto 2 isn’t a hot hatch by any means, but importantly, there’s enough performance in hand for it to not feel out of its depth out of the city – so, it doesn’t get breathless at motorway speeds. We did a run up the M40 and it was perfectly capable of keeping up with the other traffic.

In the main, it’s also comfortable and only when the suspension is really loaded up can you feel the damping start to run out of bandwidth. It does roll quite a bit through corners as well but both those criticisms are only for when you’re really pushing it – for any sort of normal journey, the Atto 2 is very capable.

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The steering is precise but over-assisted and with zero feel – it’s fine for twirling around urban streets because it’s so easy to turn the wheel but out on the open road there is no pleasure in operating it.

The brakes are better. BYD’s engineers have nailed the transition from motor regeneration to friction brakes, and the result is a left pedal that is both predictable and easy to modulate. Too often we drive EVs with inconsistent pedal feel – but this is not one of them.

Put it all together and the Atto 2 is fine to drive. It’s quick and nippy enough in town and has just enough power and manners to work outside city limits, but there’s not much fun to be had.

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What models and trims are available?

As mentioned above, prices start at £30,850 for the Boost and rise to £34,950 for the Comfort. For that, it comes loaded with plenty of standard kit, including electric and heated front seats, heated steering wheel, panoramic sunroof, a karaoke function (please god, no), vehicle-to-load, smartphone access instead of a key and wireless smartphone charging.

Click through to for our ratings to to help you decide whether you should consider buying a BYD Atto 2 now that it’s on sale in the UK. You can find out more about how we test on Parkers via our dedicated explainer page.