BYD Atto 3 Evo Premium 2027 review

The phenomenon of a front-wheel-drive car switching to rear-wheel drive has been a rare occurrence over the past 60 years – starting with the FWD Triumph 1300/1500, which became the RWD Triumph Toledo and Dolomite, and recently accomplished by the electric Polestar 2 in 2023, elevating its handling dynamism considerably.

Now it’s the turn of the BYD Atto 3 which, like the Polestar, isn’t a new car (it launched in 2022) but has now switched from front- to rear-wheel drive, while also adopting 800-volt architecture.

And the outcome of all that effort is profound – faster charging (now 220kW DC), higher outputs (230kW/380Nm), bigger battery (74.88kWh), stronger acceleration (0-100km/h in 5.5sec), more range (510km WLTP), a bigger boot (now 490 litres) and a frunk for the first time (101 litres).

It also scores a late-in-life facelift with a tweaked front-end featuring a full-width DRL, new front and rear bumpers, new ‘Chinese knot’ tail-lights, twin vertical bars for the high-mount stop light and new 18-inch alloys on the rear-drive Premium that look near-identical to the carry-over 18s on the base Dynamic, thereby completely underselling the engineering effort that has been invested underneath.

Meanwhile, the Dynamic version (wearing the old MY25 Premium’s alloys and its undergarments) remains front-wheel drive and keeps the old Premium’s 60.48kWh battery, 150kW/310Nm outputs, 7.3sec 0-100km/h time, 420km WLTP range claim and most of its equipment … yet costs $3000 less (at $41,990 before on-road costs), but looks almost the same as the rapid new Evo Premium (which costs $46,990 before on-road costs).

There are changes on the inside too, to the benefit of storage practicality but not much else.

We’ve previously said that the Atto 3’s conservative sheetmetal was completely at odds with its rather challenging and overwrought interior, so perhaps BYD’s attempt to streamline the cabin design was the right move.

Thing is, we’ve gone from having the option of blue/white trim with red detailing and red ‘guitar door strings’ to an overwhelmingly dark interior with black strings. It’s super-dull, and far from ideal when all the upholstery is vinyl, even though the front seats are ventilated.

Just like the Atto 2, Australia doesn’t get the classier ivory-coloured two-tone that the UK also offers, which brightens the interior considerably in a Tony-Abbott-would-approve kinda way.

The upgrades do work well though. Moving the gear lever to the column alleviates extra centre-console space spanning dual phone holders, a single 50W wireless charging pad, improved cupholders and tidier switchgear while retaining a subterranean storage tray.

And removing the excessive trim strakes from the doors and dash fascia does give your eyes a breather.

What ultimately matters, though, is what’s underneath. Following a desperately needed tyre upgrade (to Continentals) for MY25, the Atto 3 has stood proud as comfortably the most resolved and rewarding BYD dynamically, and the rear-drive Evo version elevates that further.

Even with 80kW more grunt, it puts its power down better, feels more sweetly balanced and confidently devours Australian surfaces with a degree of finesse that is profoundly lacking in many of its Chinese competitors, as well as several BYDs.

Its chassis easily handles its punchy 5.5sec-to-100km/h performance, though its steering feel isn’t as crisp as the updated MY26 rear-drive MG 4’s (which is $7K cheaper in Essence 64 spec).

Yet the calming calibration of its throttle response and (mild) regenerative braking is such that this is an easy car to drive smoothly … which is a big statement for a Chinese EV.

In addition to the old Atto 3’s respectable cabin space and comfort, and the rear-drive Evo’s newfound luggage capacity, the new 800-volt architecture also introduces much faster 220kW DC charging – now taking 25 minutes to go from 10-80 percent instead of 36 minutes – and it gains significantly more range thanks to its larger 74.88kWh LFP battery (now 510km WLTP).

Thing is, on our launch drive, we averaged 13.3kWh/100km during twisty-road driving at 80-100km/h over a distance of 50km, which calculates to 563km of real-world range … so there’s a strong chance you’ll be comfortably extracting close to 500km from the Atto 3 Evo Premium in day-to-day motoring from a full charge.

Australia apparently won’t be seeing the dual-motor AWD version of the Atto 3 Evo, which slashes the claimed 0-100km/h time to a searing 3.9sec thanks to output upgrades to 330kW/560Nm, with WLTP range dropping slightly to 470km. Yet just like the rear-drive version, it barely looks any different to the base front-driver – at least to the untrained eye.

So what we’re left with here is a really admirable approach to evolving the likeable Atto 3 into something that’s genuinely appealing, from not only a driving perspective but also as packaging perspective.

In terms of its suitability to Australian conditions, the Atto 3 Evo is arguably BYD’s best car, and from an ownership angle, it now has the range and charging speed to make life easier.

But we will rejoice when BYD finally re-evaluates its convoluted screen-layering and menu hierarchy, and the Atto 3 Evo Premium deserves some more attention paid to its visuals so that they match its engineering cred underneath.