BYD Atto 2 Review | Is This The Best Small Affordable Electric SUV in 2025?
Is it just me or sometimes it feels like every other week there’s a new Chinese brand launching in the UK. But BYD, they were one of the first to really take things seriously. Let’s face it, they’ve gone from being a brand which hardly anyone had heard of to being one of the top selling EV brands in Europe. And now they’re back. This is their next electric car. This is the BYD at 2, a small family SUV. And I’ll be honest, I’m quite relieved to see that this doesn’t share much with the BYD ATO3 because that one never really did it for me. Those guitar strings on the door, oh, they still haunt my nightmares. This AT2 is actually the boost model. So, this is the entry-level car and we love entry- level cars on Autoocial UK because this is the most affordable one. So, in today’s video, I’m going to find out how this stacks up against the competition. So, if that sounds good, then please keep watching. And if you do like new car reviews and car content, well, you’re in the right place. Please make sure you go ahead and hit the subscribe button. Before we get into the rest of the video, however, why don’t I give a small bit of a history lesson to those of you who aren’t really familiar with BYD. So, BYD stands for build your dreams. And while that name might sound a bit optimistic, the company’s growth has actually been anything but wishful thinking. They are now one of the world’s biggest EV manufacturers. They produce everything from buses to iPads all the way to batteries. And in the UK, the range currently includes many electric cars and also some plug-in hybrids. Now, interestingly, BYD hasn’t actually followed its usual sea creatures naming when it comes to this car. The AT2 continues its science inspired naming. It’s based on the atosecond. It’s a unit of time used in physics to measure tiny moments. Maybe that’s their way of saying that this car moves fast. Well, we’ll see about that. But just before we dive into the rest of the review, let me tell you about today’s sponsor, ALA Insurance. So, if you’ve just financed a car or are thinking about it, this bit’s going to be important. Imagine your car is stolen or written off within the first year. Your insurer is only going to pay out what the car is worth in that moment, not what you owe on finance. And that difference could be thousands, especially unfortunately with depreciating EVs. And that’s where gap insurance comes in. So, it bridges the gap. It covers the shortfall so you’re not left paying for a car that you no longer have. And with my code, you’ll get 10% off your GAP policy. So, head over to ala.co.uk or use the link in the description box and you could genuinely save a fortune. Okay, let’s get on with the rest of the video. Let’s talk numbers because actually this is where the ATO2 really starts to make sense against the competition. Now in the UK there are just two trim levels to choose from. So there’s a boost model and then there’s also a comfort model. I’m driving the entry level Boost which is quite nice. The Boost is priced at £30,850 and it comes with a 51.1 kWh BYD Blade battery, which gives you up to 214 mi of range on a WLTP combined cycle, or as much as over 300 m in city driving if you’re being really efficient. It’s frontwheel drive with a single 130 kW motor, which is roughly 174 horsepower and it will do naugh to 62 mph in 7.9 seconds. Now, if you did want a bit more power and a bit more range, although I don’t think you need it, the comfort version at £34,950 bumps things up to a 150 kW motor and a 64.8 kWh battery. That gives you up to 261 mi of electric range. Now, both of these versions actually use BYD’s clever LFP blade battery, which is known for being safe, durable, and less prone to degragation over time. Charging speeds, though, that’s where the ATO2 starts to trail slightly from the pack. This boost model only supports up to 82 kW of DC charging. If you go for the comfort, that does step that up to 155 kW DC, which is a big improvement. But still, this entry- level car in particular is slower than most of its key rivals in its class. For context, the Kia EV3 and the Volvo EX30, they’re both around 130 to 150, and even the Hyundai Kona Electric still manages over 100 kW. So, if you’re doing a lot of long-d distanceance driving, that’s something that you might want to keep in mind. Still, both models do offer 11 kW AC charging from home or work. And also, BYD’s charging curve does tend to be consistent and predictable, which helps in real world use. Of course, when it comes to design, that’s always going to be personal preference, but personally, I think that the AT2 looks far better than the AT3. The AT3 was just a little bit nameless. This one has a bit more about it. So, it has a slightly more boxy stance, and I think that makes it look a lot better, but then again, it does remind me a lot of the Kia EV3. There’s some simple detailing. So, you’ve got these really nice slim daytime running lights, and then you have this gloss black panel around the front, which houses the BYD badge. I love that it ties in with that gloss black. You’ve got gloss black around the door mirrors, and also in that floating roof line design. I am a fan of a floating roof line. I think it takes a practical boxy car and it just makes it look a bit more stylish and almost coupike. Around the front you also have plastic bumpers at the bottom and around the wheel arches. Now really I think this is the only hint that this is a more affordable model because you have those plastic bumpers. But personally, with this being a smaller city car that a lot of people are going to use in supermarkets on the school run, you want the ability to be able to change those different panels easily and by using plastic, they’re far easier to repair. But they haven’t made it boring. I actually really like that they’ve had a little bit of fun with the design. And funny enough, they seem to have bought back the fun that I said was now missing from the Citroen products. So, you have these interesting little details around the doors and also the wheel arches. Just these flashes of body color, which I really quite like. This color, I’m not certain which color it is. So, I’ll put on the screen again, which I think it is because originally I thought it was white, but then when you come out into the sun, actually, it has that tinge of blue about it. This is one of my favorite paint colors. It has that almost color changing effect. With this being the entry- level Boost, it also sits on 17in wheels, which are finished in this dark gray color. If you notice, there is a lot of tire wall on these wheels, which I actually quite like. They’re far more practical and also they’re going to soak up a lot of the road noise as well. So, quite small alloys in the middle there, but I don’t mind that. It makes it more practical. And interestingly, it also sits on handcooks. So, previously when I reviewed I think it was the Dolphin that was sitting on some Linglongs or some less premium tires. So, it’s good to see that they’re now coming on hand cooks. But in terms of the design, you’ll have to let me know what you think. I personally quite like it. You’ve also got some flashes of chrome. So, you’ve got the chrome roof rails and you’ve also got the little bit of chrome around the front as well. But what about the interior? Step inside. And it is hard to believe that this is the entrylevel specification for this car because it feels like a really smart cabin. Look a little bit closer and you start to notice that not everything is the best quality. But actually for a car at this price point, I’m really impressed. Especially because you get a leather effect all the way at top the dashboard, all the way to the front of the screen and quite far down as well. Sure, there’s plastic towards the bottom, but everywhere that you touch and feel on the steering wheel, on this center console, on the armrest has this super soft lever effect. These seats are brilliant as well. They’re way more sporty than they even need to be for a car like this. But I’m not complaining. They’re really supportive. They’re also heated, and you have this contrast yellow stitching down the sides. What I will say, however, is whilst I love this interior, I’d be going for the white because I’m just a girl who likes a little bit of contrast and I really like the light interiors that BYDs do. You also get a contrasting dashboard as well, so I think that looks really smart. It’s very well laid out. So, you’ve got a nice steering wheel with some real nice physical buttons, heavy scrollers. You’ve also got a really visible driver control here. Dominating this car is, of course, this large central touchscreen. And whilst I say large, because yes, it is compared to some more oldfashioned cars. I think this is the perfect size, it doesn’t completely take over the whole interior of the car. It sits neatly in that center. And of course, with its party trick, you can rotate it. You’ve also got a smaller digital driver’s display, which I always think looks a little bit on the cheaper side, but I’m not complaining at this price point. Now, let’s talk a little bit more about this central infotainment system. It’s very crisp and it’s very clear. You have some shortcuts along the bottom which you use often and also your climate control always remains at the bottom of the screen. Press this button in the center and that brings up the rest of your climate control functions. You do get dual zone as standard and you also get both heated seats and a heated steering wheel as well. And you get an air filtration system which is pretty impressive for a car at £30,000. Of course, without having climate control buttons, which are physical, it can be slightly fiddly to use. But what I do like is the BYD assistant is really good. Hey, BYD. I’m here. Set my climate control to 21°. Okay, I’ve adjusted the temperature to 21°. I often find that this is one of the most intuitive ways to be able to use the voice assistant without taking your eyes off of the road. Now, if we head to the rest of the sections within the touchscreen, there are loads of different options and many things that you can play around with. The only thing that I find slightly disappointing about this car, there doesn’t seem to be any assist system shortcuts, which I find slightly disappointing as it’s very hard to be able to turn off things like your lane assist and especially your attention warning. I haven’t been able to find any simple way of turning that off. You’ve got wireless charging, which just sits on this center console, which is nice and neat. And you’ve also got some storage underneath as well, which is really practical. Two cup holders, plenty of storage inside this armrest. Like I said, when you use things like the cup holders, you realize that it’s not exactly the best quality, so you haven’t got anything to hold your cups in place. So, if you’ve got small cans, they’re going to rattle around in there. But, I’m not really that fast. The only thing that I don’t really like about this is where the start stop button is. So, it’s here in the center, but there’s no real obvious signal that this is here in the center. So, it took me ages to find it. But what I do like, controversially, is you can leave this car on or leave this car off. So, with this central button, that’s how you turn it on and off. So, if I get out of this car now, it stays switched on, which weirdly I actually quite like. I don’t like that modern cars are turning themselves off as soon as you get out, or when you’re sitting in them, they’re demanding that you turn off after 2 minutes. I like having control of when my car is on or off, so it’s my personal preference, but I quite like it. There’s also a reasonable amount of storage. So, like I said, you’ve got storage underneath. I’ve got a nice amount of storage in the doors. I’ve also got a decent size glove box as well. So, that’s all really, really good. I also like the fact you get the contrast stitching which is around these doors and the handles. And just this leather feels quite soft on the doors. It’s really nice. You’ve got this squidgier leather which is on the seats and also on the squishy bit of the door as well. And these seats are also electric for the driver which I really wasn’t expecting in this entry- level boost model. I’ve also got a panoramic sunroof which is letting in loads of light. With this being the darker interior, I really think it’s nice to have that sunroof. And you also have a blind to be able to cover up that sunroof, but you don’t have the ability to open it, which is a little bit of a shame, but it does help with aerodynamics, which is always good for the range. But in terms of space, I’m really nice and comfortable in the front here. But what about in the back? So that soft, squishy leather, which is in the front seats, is also in the back here. These are seriously comfy. And as you can tell, I have got plenty of room in the back here. Leg room, lots of that, but loads of headroom. That’s what most surprised me. Because you have this boxy shape, it means it gives you a load of headroom. But also, these seats are almost a little bit reclined. So, as your head moves towards the back, it gives you even more room. I think that six-foot people would be easily happy pretty much in any seat in the back here because if I slide across to the middle, as you can see, because you’ve got the center console, which is moved quite far forward and a completely flat floor, I’ve actually got plenty of leg room, but it may get rather tight when it comes to shoulder space. This car is perhaps a little bit narrower than it looks. So, that means that if you’re trying to squeeze three people in the back, it’s going to be tight. You’ve got ISOIX fitments on both of the outer seats and you’ve got some lovely pockets. So, we’ve got one main pocket here, but then we also have those fantastic little sub pockets where you can pop your mobile phone, so there’s somewhere to store it. There’s also somewhere to charge it. So, I’ve got two USBC chargers. I’ve got some air vents back here. There isn’t any rear climate, but I really wouldn’t expect that in a car of this size and especially at this price point. I guess what lets this car down is cup holders. So, we’ve got storage in the doors, but we haven’t got anywhere to pop cups. There’s no center armrest, and that is a little bit of a shame. Once again, it’s nice and light and airy in the back here. So, rear space I’m really impressed with, but is boot space just as good. But just before we take a look inside, let’s talk about the rear design. Because around the back, the BYD at2 has this really nice rear light bar with these intertwined rear lights. I think it looks very smart. It also has this pretty prominent rear spoiler as well. Yes, this isn’t a sporty car, but I do like the fact that it’s a bit more interesting. So, inside of this boot, you will find 440 L, which is smack bang in the middle of the Kia EV3 and the Smart Hashtag 1. So, it’s about in the mid-range for this size of car. It’s got a nice practical opening and you’ve also got a flat load area, but there’s quite a lot of storage space underneath the boot floor. So, a lot of that 440 will be underneath and if you’re putting heavy items down there, they’re going to be hard to lug out, but when you do pull them out, there’s lots of nice black plastic around here, so it’s not going to scratch the paintwork. They thought about making it practical, which I appreciate. There isn’t, however, a huge amount of amenities in the back here. You’ve got a couple of hooks on either side, a slightly cheap parcel shelf, but there isn’t any 12vt charging or anything above and beyond like you might find in something like the Scoda Lrock. But of course, that car is going to cost you a little bit more money if you want to have that added practicality. There’s also no frunk when it comes to the AT2. So, that is slightly disappointing that you do have to pop your charging cables underneath this boot floor and then if you’ve got a boot full of stuff, it can be a little bit awkward if you need to get those cables out. But, they are small complaints for what is a pretty average load area and it should be more than practical for most families. The one thing I would say is if you go for this entry-level boost, you don’t get an electric boot. So, you have to go for the comfort model to get the electric boot, which I think it would be really handy if you’re planning on often loading the car with things like child seats or if you’re going to have your hands full with the shopping. I just think it’s helpful to have that electric boot. Now, to put the price into context, rivals like the Kia EV3, Hyundai Kona Electric, and Volvo EX30, they all start from low to mid30,000s. So, the ATO2 undercuts many of them slightly while still coming with plenty of standard kit. is something which BYD does very well. So, it’s priced to tempt buyers who may be considering a smaller crossover but want a bit more range or tech for the money. And what about the driving experience? Historically, BYDs are not known for their engaging driving experience. When you think of BYD, you think of good electric technology and you think of reliability when it comes to those electric components, especially when we’re talking about the LFP battery chemistry. But something you don’t think about is driving engagement. Even in the sportier cars like the Seal, which is one of my favorite, it’s still not particularly sporty, and that’s mostly down to the steering setup. So, the steering setup is very characteristically Chinese in the fact that it’s very light. These cars are seriously good around town. They’re really easy to dart in and out of traffic. Actually, it’s really enjoyable in stop start traffic because it’s super quiet in this cabin. But get up to higher speeds and you get quite a lot of noise around the tires. It’s far less composed at higher speeds and also the steering you lose that engagement that you get from more traditional electric vehicles that you’ll get from European brands. Now that’s not to say that they’re good at everything because let’s face it when it comes to the electric parts talking about battery range how efficient they are actually a lot of the European brands are not particularly great in these aspects. that’s where this car shines, but those are a bit more engaging to drive. So, I guess it kind of just comes down to what your personal preference is. And along those similar lines, you have the safety features. So, this car is packed full of all of the safety kit that you should need. It’s going to keep you super safe, and most of the BYD range has been able to achieve a five-star endcap rating. So hopefully this ATO2 gets a similar rating, but that does mean that some of the systems can be a little bit intrusive, especially I found the uh facial recognition. So if you’re slightly looking away looking at the touchcreen, ironically, then that will start to flag up that you’re not looking at the screen, which can be a little bit irritating when driving. But really, these are small niggles because I found this car really enjoyable to drive. And in terms of efficiency, it’s not the most efficient car that I’ve driven, but it’s also 13°. So, it’s dropped quite a lot in the UK, and that’s going to have a big effect. But, I’ve been seeing about 4.2 m per kilowatt hour, which in my opinion is pretty good for a small car. And I reckon if I had this car for a little bit longer, I could definitely get that up. I pride myself on being quite economical in my electric driving. Overall, it just feels like a very compelling option in this class. So, after today’s review, what do I think of the BYD at 2? Well, it’s not flawless. The infotainment could be slicker, and that 82 kW charging speed on this base model, it lags behind a lot of the competition. But it is efficient, it’s comfortable, and it’s cleverly priced. At just over 30 grand, it genuinely undercuts rivals like the EV3, the Hyundai Kona, and also the Volvo EX30. And while the BYD at 3 was quirky to the point of distraction, the AT2 feels like a car which knows exactly what it wants to be. It’s a sensible, well-built small EV that just works. If BYD keeps improving at this rate, European brands should probably start paying attention. But let me know, what do you think of the BYD at2? Do you like it? Would you have it over the competition? Let me know in the comments down below. I really hope you have enjoyed this video. If you have, please go ahead and give it a big thumbs up. And if you want to see more like it, then make sure you go ahead and hit the subscribe button. Don’t forget, if you are considering especially financing a new car, then make sure you head over to ALA and get your gap insurance quote today. All the details will be down in the description box. Until next time, guys. See you later. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Hey, hey, hey.
The BYD Atto 2 has officially arrived in the UK — and it’s aiming to take on the Kia EV3, Hyundai Kona Electric, and Volvo EX30 as one of the most affordable small electric SUVs on sale.
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In today’s review, I take a detailed look around the Atto 2 Boost and see whether this compact EV has what it takes to become the go-to choice for drivers who want electric practicality without the hefty price tag.
We’ll cover design, interior quality, tech, practicality, range, charging speeds, and real-world driving impressions — plus how the Atto 2 compares to its rivals on price, performance, and efficiency.
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Infraction – City Beat
