BYD has seen significant growth in new energy vehicle (NEV) sales over the last few years, partially due to its expanding lineup of affordable electric SUVs such as the Atto 3 and others in the lineup.
Now the brand has marked the 1.5 million sales milestone of its Yuan Family, which includes the Atto 3, known as Yuan Plus in China, and the smaller Atto 2 (Yuan Up).
To celebrate this, the company has announced one of its most affordable electric SUV variants of the Atto 2, with prices starting at under $16,100 before on-roads.
This variant will have a smaller 32 kWh BYD blade battery, delivering up to 301 km of CLTC range, which is likely to be closer to 250 km on the WLTP cycle.
This new variant is aimed at younger new car buyers who want an electric car to get from A to B in cities. It also removes some of the smart driving features available on other variants.
Previously, the Atto 2 was available with a 45 kWh battery pack, which was the smallest in the lineup. Those variants of the model offered close to 400 km of CLTC range, or roughly 30% more than the new, more affordable 301 km variant.
There is also a 51 kWh battery pack version, which is destined for the Australian market in the fourth quarter of 2025.
In June, BYD Australia announced that it will bring what could be dubbed as one of the most affordable electric SUVs on the market.
Coming in two variants, these are expected to provide a range of over 300 km on the WLTP cycle.
The previously mentioned 51 kWh battery pack will feed the 130 kW front-mounted motor that can deliver up to 290 Nm of torque.
This motor is part of BYD’s 8-in-1 powertrain, which integrates the motor, reducer, motor controller, on-board charger, DC-DC converter, high-voltage distribution unit, battery management system, and vehicle control unit.
This model also comes equipped with BYD’s e-Platform 3.0, which also utilises Cell-to-Body (CTB) construction to provide extra structural integrity to the chassis. The same platform is used across all variants of the model, regardless of the pricing.
As is the case with most of BYD’s vehicles, vehicle-to-load or V2L is on offer, with up to 3.3 kW of AC power available from the battery pack to power other devices.
The recently announced most affordable variant of the Atto 2 is currently for the Chinese market. In Australia, we are expected to receive the model with pricing to be announced in the coming months.
Although it won’t be under $A20,000 like the Pilot variant in China, it’s destined to be one of the most affordable electric SUVs on the market when it lands in Q4.
Riz is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.