BYD confirms Atto 1 as its lowest cost EV, with a price of just $A26,000 in NZ

Chine electric vehicle giant BYD has announced the pricing for its most affordable model in New Zealand, giving an indication of the low price that can be expected when it is formally launched in Australia before the end of the year.

In NZ, the Atto 1 Essential variant will start at the equivalent $A26,000. The premium variant sees that rise to the equivalent of $A31,300 before on-roads. In local currency terms, they come in at $NZ29,990 and $NZ35,990 before on-roads.

Similarly, the soon to be launched Atto 2 electric SUV now starts at $A34,750 before on-roads in New Zealand, or $NZ39,990. The Premium variant sees it at $A39,970 or $NZ45,990.

The significance of the pricing is that both the Atto 1 and Atto 2 come quite a bit under other BYD EVs in the NZmarket. For the Atto 1, it comes under $NZ10,000 under the Dolphin, which starts at $NZ39,990, while the Atto 2 is also $NZ10,000 under the Atto 3, which starts at $NZ49,990.

Last month, BYD revealed the local specifications of the upcoming Atto 1 electric hatchback and the Atto 2 SUV, ahead of these models’ imminent launch. Then last week, the company opened the pre-orders section for both models on its Australian website, ahead of the official price release.

Interested buyers can place a pre-order for either of these, with a fully refundable $1,000 order fee, after configuring their chosen vehicle, without the Australian price being made available. 

In our market, the Atto 1, is expected to be Australia’s cheapest EV with a price of around $25,000.  Similarly, the Atto 2 is expected to be pitched around $35,000, making it one of the lowest price electric SUV in the market. This has also been similar to converted price from New Zealand for the entry-level variant. 

The Atto 1 will be available in two variants, the base level Essentials with a 30 kWh battery, as well a top-spec Premium variant with a 43.2 kWh battery. The smaller battery will deliver a range of around 220 km of WLTP range.

This variant will power a front-mounted 65 kW motor that produces up to 175 Nm of torque. It sprints from 0-100 km/h in around 11.1 seconds.

On the charging front, the Atto 1 will come with an onboard 11 kW AC charger which is more than what’s offered on the more expensive Atto 3. On DC charging, rates of up 65 kW are also available with 30-80% time of around 25 minutes.

The top-spec Premium variant with a bigger 43.2 kWh battery pack which can deliver up to 310 km of WLTP range. This will be powered by a more powerful 115 kW motor, which lowers the 0-100 km/h sprint time to 9.1 seconds.

Similar to the base Essential variant, the Premium Atto 1 features 11 kW AC charging as well as an increased peak DC charging rate of up to 85 kW. This helps get the car from 30-80% in 22 minutes, shaving 3 minutes.

The Atto 2 SUV, on the other hand comes with a 51.3 kWh blade battery pack which is paired with a 130 kW motor. It can deliver up to 345 km on the WLTP cycle, which is fairly good for a small city/suburban SUV.

Deliveries in New Zealand are expected to start in Q1 2026, and we can expect a similar delivery timeframe after local prices are announced later this month.