2026 BYD ATTO 1 (Seagull) Aussie Review: THIS IS CAR OF THE YEAR!!
Here we go. Brake boost. Oo, it’s not slow. It’s got a lot of torque. Holy moly. We have just destroyed their claim. 0 to 100 in seconds. Oh no. Okay. Well, awesome. My camera just fell completely broke. This is, of course, the BYD at1 or the Seagull as it’s known overseas. And this thing is absolutely insane. Why is it insane? Well, it’s insane because it is Australia’s cheapest new EV and we don’t even know the price yet, but BYD are saying this will be the cheapest EV in Australia. At the moment, an EV for about $30,000, which in itself is crazy. This thing, we don’t know what it’s going to start at, but it kind of has to start around $25,000 Australian. So, uh, I’m going to tell you everything about the new AD1 because I am super excited. I’ll tell you everything, the quirks, the features, as Doug would say. Let’s get into it. I’ve got to say, I don’t normally film this way, but we have 30 minutes with this thing. We are in Australia at Lang Lang, Holden’s Old Proving Ground, and uh yeah, don’t worry, we’re going to drive it as well. But let’s talk about this. So, first of all, design. I mean, I think they’ve absolutely nailed it. It is one of the best looking EVs that you could possibly buy in Australia at the moment. It is also absolutely tiny. Listen to these dimensions. 3,990 mm long. Its width is 1.72 m wide. Its height is just 1.59 m tall and its wheelbase, no joke, 2.5 m. That means its wheelbase is actually more than half of its total length. And you can just see it. Look at it. Now, it’s coming in two specs. The essential, which is going to be the cheapest one, and this one here, the premium. And it’s also coming in four colors. And I’ve got to say, this is probably my favorite color. It is wild. It is so cool. Check out the back as well. I feel like they haven’t really skimped out on anything. got the full length light bar and it’s just such a beautiful design. Let me know what you guys think down in the comments section below. Uh what do you think of this design? I remember when we drove this thing last in China and we were in this terrible little car park and we were running donuts around going as hard as we could. These thankfully come with better tires. These are Handcook ion tires even though these wheels are just so small. They’re 16 in and they look tiny. It’s actually wrapped in some pretty decent tires as well. But what about the interior? This is super exciting to me. Let’s get inside of the new ADO1. And I’ve got to say I I’m impressed. Even at 5’11, yes, this thing is very small, but it doesn’t feel very small on the inside. So, you get a nice faux leather steering wheel with buttons here to control absolutely everything. You’ve also got a digital display up in front of you as well, and that shows plenty of information. I suppose enough for what this car is. I hope that efficiency isn’t true. 23.1. We’ve also got 310 km of range. We’ll come back to the battery and the engine specs soon, but this thing is obviously not going to be great at that. You’ve also got this what looks to be very small display, though it is high resolution. I’ll give you that. It’s also got connected services, which is good. Wireless Apple CarPlay, wireless Android Auto. No, it doesn’t rotate like other BYD displays, but that’s okay. Let’s turn her on. Oh, I’ve just turned her off. That’s the issue with electric cars. Uh, your shifter is here, which is pretty funny. I don’t know if I’ve seen it there before, but it’s there. You have your drive mode selector, which we’ll test out in just a second when we drive this thing. You’ve even got an off-road mode here in case you want to take your front-wheel drive, cheapest electric car in Australia, off-road. And you get some of your air conditioning controls as well, but they’re actually up here mostly. And no, it’s not dual zone. It is just single zone. So, that’s okay. Check out these seats as well. So, I quite like these. You’ll find them on most other BYD products. They’re faux leather, but they are quite supportive, too. And let’s see, are they electrically adjusting? They are. At least here in the premium spec. Turn around. You’ve got some nice soft touchy materials, but scratchy there, scratchy there. This is nice and soft though. Check out this 50 W fast wireless charger. Heaps of storage down there as well. You’ve also got a USBC port, USBA port, and a 12. Flocky locky. That’s pretty good. I’ve got to say, this is a really practical space. I think it’s really good. But of course, there’s the back seats. What are those like? First of all, check out this door. It is literally the size of the entire car. Let’s come inside. You know what? This might not actually be too bad. Hey, at 5’11, I’ve got enough enough leg room. Not the most amount. Head room as well. It’s actually pretty good tow room. What’s that like? That’s also pretty good. Hey, we even got a storage area down there. I don’t remember that. Look at that nice little storage area. Again, nice seats in the back. I will say my leg angle is not at a very good angle. And so, that’s going to be one of the compromises when you get any EV, especially with the floor raised up as it is. It’s not going to be the best, is it? Matt from the future here in an airport bathroom. Of course, if you want to buy any new car in Australia and you want the best price possible, just Google car source buy. Our dedicated team of car buyers will go out there, negotiate on your behalf to get you the best deal possible. Best of all, it is obligation free. You don’t have to pay a scent until you want to purchase the car. So, join our thousands of happy customers at Castle Spy or scan the QR code on your screen. Now, I think I’m getting yelled at. I’ve got to go. Okay, so what about boot space? What’s it like in the BYD at one? Well, let’s check that out. All my gear is in here, but when you take it out, it is actually quite impressive. You also got quite a bit of underfloor storage as well. I’ve definitely seen way, way worse for a lot of other cars. This is actually not too bad. Let’s talk about the engine. Okay, so what’s under this bonnet? Definitely not assisted there. Wouldn’t expect it at this price point for sure. Well, you get a high output electric motor and it’s pretty good. I have to pull out my phone because um I’ve already forgotten the numbers. We’re reviewing a lot of cars today. Oh no. Okay. Well, awesome. My camera just fell and completely broke, but that’s okay. Let’s get going with this. It comes in two different specs. I’m going to cry. Um, the Essential, which is so babyish, and I kind of love it. And also the premium. The Essential comes with a 65 kW electric motor. Very, very small, with only 175 new meters of torque and an LFP 30 kWh battery. So, very, very small. And that will do 220 km on the WLTP. Let’s actually see what it will really do. And then you have the high output. This one here, 115 kW of power, 220 new m of torque. So that is actually very, very healthy numbers. The range of this thing is actually upped to 310 km because you get a bigger battery with the premium and that is 43.2 kwatt hours. Again, an LFP battery apparently can charge between 10 to 80% in something like 30 minutes. So, it’s not going to be the fastest charging. Uh, it’s also not the biggest batteries, but uh, relatively decent, especially considering you will be able to get that cheaper entry variant for like 25 grand. That’s crazy. I think it’s time to drive it hopefully with another camera if I can find one. I’ve never felt so defeated after breaking that camera. Holy, holy moly. Stay stay. So, to do this, let’s make sure we have enough room. I don’t trust this. Max reverse speed is 27. Keep shut up. Max reverse speed is 26 km an hour. Stay. Here we go. Brake boost. It’s not slow. It’s got a lot of torque. Stay. Stay. Stay. Holy moly. We have just destroyed their claim. 0 to 100 in 7.81 seconds. That’s crazy. Wow. Okay, I’m super impressed by that. Let’s um let’s drive it normally. All righty, guys. driving the BYD at01. Put our foot down. Oh man, this thing has uh actually quite a lot of power and torque. It feels It feels a bit like a warm hatch as the numbers suggest, right? We just got 0 to 100 in under 8 seconds. That’s pretty good. So, we’re at Lang Lang, which is Holden’s old proving ground, which means that this is a perfect demonstration for how this thing will handle on roads in Australia. And I got to say this thing, it’s not the most dynamically competent car out there. It’s uh it’s it’s wobbling around. It is it’s comfortable. I’ll put it that way. It’s comfortable, but boy oh boy is this not the final word in ride and handling. But I think for a round town, that’s exactly what you want. You know, you want something that’s actually going to be good, go over bumps pretty well. We just lost a bit of the back end there. Yeah, I’ve got to say the the steering, particularly in sport mode, is so heavy. It is so heavy. Let’s try it in normal mode. Yeah, that’s definitely the better tune. Um, it’s just so silly. This has to be the silliest car I’ve ever reviewed, and I’m I’m here for it. This is up there with the Fiat Abath, which is just a terrible car. But this isn’t a terrible car sitting here right now. Yes, there is so much road noise and wind noise. Uh, it definitely is a cheap car, but it feels nice. Like, these seats are relatively comfortable. The suspension tune is soft, but I kind of like that for what this car’s purpose is. It’s It just does get upset dynamically around an Australian back road corner, and that’s what we’re learning. All right, let’s go over these sine waves, see how it does. Okay, so it is just the dumbest car. is so dumb, but it it actually drives well. And obviously, these are my first drive impressions. This this isn’t the the the telling of everything, but I’ve got to say, like, it’s pretty good. It’s a lot of fun. And I think that the people who buy this are just going to have an absolute blast. I I can’t wait to see what the base is like because it’s not going to be that fast. I think this engine is almost overpowered for what this car is, which is just not that great. And that’s okay because it’s 25 grand or so for one of these which is just epic. It is so so good. All right, let’s get to our final thoughts. Okay, so the car was stolen from me. But anyway, uh final thoughts now on the BYD Seagull new little cars to come on the market. The fact that it’s going to be about 25 grand to buy one is insane. You get a lot of car for your money. Even if the range is only 220 km, that’s still fine for the vast majority of people. It is crazy now that we’re getting EVs at that price. It is my first drive, but this is about as good as you can get. This simulates all of the roads in Australia. It’s pretty fast. It doesn’t ride very well, but you wouldn’t expect it for a really cheap car. It definitely has a soft suspension tune, but that’s perfect for the kind of people who are going to buy one. So, yeah, big thumbs up for me. Uh, I’m really excited to see one and who knows, maybe even buy one. Ciao for now.
THE BYD ATTO 1 (AKA SEAGULL…) IS HERE AND IT’S SO, DISGUSTINGLY GOOD!!
The 2026 BYD Atto 1 is the CHEAPEST new electric car in Australia, starting from an estimated $25,000 which is INSANELY good for what you get. This is one of the smallest EV’s you can buy, but still has over 200km of range, can do 0-100km/h in under 8 seconds and comes from China’s biggest brand Build Your Dreams (BYD).
So is this car of the year? Honestly, it could be! Let’s talk about that and more in today’s in-depth review!
#byd #atto1 #seagull
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Timestamps
00:00:00 Coming up
00:00:19 Intro and Price
00:01:06 Exterior Looks
00:02:21 Interior (Front Seats)
00:04:02 Back Seats
00:04:37 CarSauce.com/buy
00:05:02 Boot Space
00:05:22 Drivetrain and Battery Specs
00:06:46 0-100km/h Launch
00:07:26 Driving Impressions
00:09:59 Final Thoughts
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