New BYD Atto 3 unveiled a mere month after the latest one went on sale

The all-new ‘third-generation' BYD Atto 3 has been revealed at the 2026 Beijing Auto Show, less than a month after the new updated ‘Evo’ version of the electric family SUV was introduced in the UK – a car that now looks as up-to-date as a floppy disk. 

The Atto 3 was the first car BYD brought to the UK when the Chinese goliath (and now the world’s biggest EV maker) arrived here in 2023. That was the first generation model; the facelifted ‘Evo’ car that we drove just a few weeks ago is considered the second generation, at least by BYD. 

This is not another nip and tuck, however. For starters, the all-new Atto 3 is nearly 200mm longer, 60mm taller and 20mm wider, plus the wheelbase has been stretched by 50mm. That means it’s now much closer in size to the Tesla Model Y.

The rounded, almost blobby shape and flowing surfaces of the current Atto 3 are gone, giving the new model a much more purposeful and confident look. The more imposing front end with the huge air intakes on either side of the bumper helps with that, while having very little plastic black cladding, flush door handles and sleeker headlights compared to the current car make it appear more premium.

At the top of the windscreen is a LiDAR sensor that feeds the ‘God’s Eye’ autonomous-driving systems, and there are sharper lines in the bodywork, like the ones running along to the side. Finally, the rear light-bar features a similar intertwined knot pattern as the brand’s other models, but the BYD logo in the centre is now illuminated. 

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The interior looks cleaner, simpler and more minimalist than the outgoing Atto 3, and much more like the designs found in cars from rival Chinese firms XPeng and Leapmotor. There appears to be more metal-effect trim on the doors and centre console, plus 256-colour ambient lighting across the dashboard and a single-piece glass roof, that should all help the new model feel more premium inside.

There does still appear to be a small selection of physical switches on the centre console though, and the new two-spoke steering-wheel design has proper buttons too, but most functions will be controlled via the large touchscreen in the centre of the dashboard.

That extra length and longer wheelbase will almost certainly have created more rear-seat space, and has resulted in a dramatic increase in luggage capacity. The BYD Atto 3 Evo that just launched has a 490-litre boot, which is 50 litres bigger than the original SUV, but the new model can shallow up to 750 litres of stuff and there’s an additional 180 litres of storage under the bonnet, compared to 95 litres in the current car.  

If that’s not enough, BYD says there’s a total of 39 storage areas dotted around the cabin, including a tray in the dashboard and space underneath the floating centre console which also has dual wireless charging pads. 

The new Atto 3 is powered by the second-generation of BYD’s famous Blade Battery design which is more energy dense and enables cars to reach the ridiculously high speeds the company’s new 1,500kW Flash Chargers can deliver. 

We don’t know how fast the new Atto 3 can charge yet, but with this technology, the Denza Z9GT shooting brake estate – which has a battery about twice the size of this family SUV’s – needs just 9 minutes to get from 10 to 97 per cent charge. For comparison, the current Atto 3 needs at least 25 minutes to complete a 10 to 80 per cent top-up. 

In China, the new Atto 3 will be available with two powertrains. The entry-level model gets a 57.5kWh battery, 268bhp e-motor and a 336-mile range, while higher-spec examples have a larger 68.5kWh battery, 322bhp on tap and a 392-mile range. Those figures are based on the Chinese CLTC test cycle, not the stricter WLTP standard used in Europe. 

As we mentioned, the new BYD Atto 3 Evo has only just gone on sale in the UK, so it’s safe to assume we won’t be getting this latest evolution for a while. We expect it’ll come here either late next year or potentially early 2028. 

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