Today, June 5, is World Environment Day. The idea is that it should serve to remind us to change how we do things so that we hurt the environment less and make our methods more sustainable. One of the ways to achieve that, the powers that be across the world have decided, is to reduce vehicular pollution.
Not surprisingly, that has triggered a switch from the internal combustion to electric powertrains in all kinds of vehicles and EVs are becoming the norm quite quickly as users are taking to their many conveniences. That’s the story globally, and in India as well even if it is a bit slower off the blocks.
One thing is for sure is that if the majority of vehicles become electric, city air would become much cleaner to breathe. And we might be on our way as more and more private as well as fleet users are switching to EVs.
The BYD Atto 3 launched in India sometime ago is one of them. It is a midsize, 5-seater SUV and for this article we borrowed one from Karini BYD in Calcutta and drove it around for a day to get a sense of its looks, feel and how it behaves.
The Atto 3 is BYD’s second offering in India after the e6 MUV. It comes with the latest tech from BYD (Build Your Dreams), which is one of the global leaders for Lithium-ion battery technology with its ‘Blade Battery’ that, the maker claims, is more energy dense, lighter as it needs less cooling, and safer even under pretty extreme test conditions. No, we did not test all of that, but here goes our driving impression.
THE EXTERIORS
One of the major things about electric cars is their range on a single full charge. And the less energy a vehicle spends to cut through the air the more of the charge it can use to go farther. The BYD Atto 3 claims to have a drag coefficient of 0.29, which is pretty darn good for an SUV, most of which would have a coefficient of 0.35 or higher.
So the boffins at BYD did spend time shaping the Atto 3 to extend its range. And it shows. The shape is smooth and air intakes are small and placed low down. Where the grille would have been in a petrol or diesel vehicle, sits a broad bar in matt silver finish with BYD emblazoned across it — looks pretty good too. The headlamps are well-designed LED numbers. Head-on, the Atto 3 hasn’t broken entirely from IC engine vehicle design but smoothed it out significantly.
In profile there is a rising beltline and a roof that slopes backwards a bit and ends with an extension over the rear windshield, probably to aid the aerodynamics. There’s a silver dimpled C-pillar that gives the roof a floating effect. The profile isn’t something we haven’t seen elsewhere, but is smart nonetheless. The rear end, too, is smooth with nicely designed tail lights and an overall uncluttered appearance that’s fresh.
THE INTERIORS
This is where the game changes significantly. The styling is quite different from what we are used to. What exactly we mean by this might be easier to explain with examples. Take the door panels, for instance. This is the first vehicle anywhere that we have seen that has the door opening handle incorporated around the speakers of the music system. The ‘slide backwards to unlock’ part is intuitive, provided you can find the lever in the first place.
Then there is this guitar-like styling, strings and all, of the door pocket. Unique again. I did try plucking the strings to see if they would produce a sound. The three produced different notes, but beyond that I did not try. The grab handles to pull the doors in are funky too and resemble PCB connectors. Then there are what BYD calls ‘dumbbell-style’ aircon vents. There are flowing, wavy lines right around the interior starting from the dashboard. All these might work for some, but not for others.
What is significant though is that the seats are broad and comfortable and the pair up front is well bolstered. The flat-bottomed steering wheel is pretty chunky and nice to use. The gear selector has a novel styling that is unusual. What we really liked is that there are a bunch of hard buttons around it which are much easier to use on the go than fiddling around in the infotainment screen to change settings like regeneration levels, driving mode, parking sensors, audio volume and so on. BYD has been really sensible about this.
Not that we had a problem with it, but we were a bit surprised that the front seats did not have adjustable headrests. To compensate they have been made taller and that almost entirely blocks out the front view from the rear seat. Another problem we perceived is the view out through the rear windscreen is very compromised with passengers at the back. The saving grace is that the blind spot monitoring in the outside rear view mirror system is rather good.
While the 12.8-inch centre infotainment screen is big and clear, the screen in front of the driver seemed a tad small. While the speedo reading is clear enough, the other readings are quite small and not very easy to read when driving.
ON THE ROAD
Before we speak about anything else, we would like to mention something that is very relevant for driving in tight spaces in cities. When the vehicle senses that it is about to pass through a tight spot, it automatically switches on the front camera and gives a top view of the vehicle on the monitor. That makes it very easy to figure out whether one is likely to scrape the car or pass through cleanly.
In profile the Atto 3 isn’t exceptional, but still quite neat with the silver C-pillar working well to give a floating roof effect. The alloys have a pretty smart design
The rear end is pretty minimal and unfussy, and looks smart with the tail light cluster going right across the bootlid.
The design of the interior looks organic with flowy lines that continue onto the plastic on the doors. It is nice and airy. The seats are quite comfortable and are ventilated too.
A very convenient feature is a sensor that switches on the front camera automaticsally and gives a top view of the surroundings as well when the Atto 3 is going through tight spaces, minimising the need for guesswork. Here it is passing a parked car in a narrow lane.
The dumbell shaped aircon vents are novel, but could have been made to look somewhat better.
We became fans of it straightaway.
We found the Atto 3 a very comfortable vehicle to drive. We liked the view out front and the vehicle was very easy to place on the road even in tight traffic. With its full torque of 310Nm coming in straight off the mark, the Atto 3 pulls very cleanly and can weave through traffic (not the ideal thing to do), accelerating through gaps quickly before they close.
Driving mostly in the city we were not able to to hit highway speeds, but with the battery below the floor shifting the weight low, it did prove very stable while changing direction. A couple of times off public roads we managed to floor it and were quite happy with the eagerness with which it spooled up the speed. We would like to have a go on a longer stretch actually given that it has a certified range of 521km. Real-world range would probably be shorter but it should still be good on an intercity run and can use its 201 hp of power.
THE CALL
The BYD Atto 3 isn’t cheap at Rs 33.90 lakh before levies and taxes. Like most EVs, one needs to look at that from a life cycle cost of ownership point of view to put things in perspective. And with the kind of equipment and gadgetry it is coming with, it should compare well with IC vehicles of the same size and plushness, given the cost of fuel and maintenance saved over its period of use.
Plus, there is the satisfaction of driving a clean vehicle that’s quite low-stress to use and there is a pretty strong case for the Atto 3 provided you want to stump up the cash up front.