The BYD ATTO 2 is a SUV that appeals more to slow-driving tech enjoyers than fast-riding joyriders. It is an okay package with its own appeal – including price.
The BYD ATTO 2 is the company’s newer entry-level compact SUV that will be the stepping stone for new buyers looking to enter the electric vehicle (and subsequently BYD) ecosystem.
Of course, with a year-long number-one sales figure in Singapore, BYD’s population numbers have skyrocketed beyond the likes of premium European brands, thanks to extremely attractive prices and rates. While traditionally has entry-level cars been missing core technology that separates it heavily from a manufacturer’s higher-end models, the ATTO 2 doesn’t lose too much where country-of-make gadgets and techno-wizardry are concerned.
Exterior impressions
As a tall and aesthetically-thin SUV with a length of 4310mm, width of 1830mm and height of 1675mm packaged with a wheelbase of 2620mm, this is hardly a youthful hatchback and is generally larger than most other competing crossovers and SUVs within the B-segment size. For its height and width, there is ample headroom and legroom for taller folk – more suited for the ang mos who are also receiving the ATTO 2 in the UK.
The aggressive styling courtesy of BYD’s “dragon face” doesn’t hide the tall silhouette of the ATTO 2, which could be a win or loss for people who want a sleeker design. The rear taillight is equally a design curiosity, mirroring the Dolphin’s design but because of the thin shape, it creates a huge canvas of trunk that would be better filled with taller taillights or larger badges.
Cabin fruit for thought
The interior is a premium affair, with a coherent mixture of vegan leather and brushed metal around high-use parts of the car. The steering wheel is rightly-sized for smaller hands whose drivers are hugged by semi-bucket leather seats with electronic adjustment.
What it suffers from is a lack of innovation in the interior styling. Its hardly Italian-levels of excitement and by basic concept alone, is a mirror-match of several other BYD and other Chinese manufacturers’ way of interior concepts. It is a formula that works for the biggest audience, at the low-cost of shunning away buyers who would want a more stylish cabin.
A 12.8-inch rotating center screen is present with wireless Apple Carplay and wired Android Auto joining the list of features that also include ventilated front seats and fast wireless charging. Of course, all of these features are locked behind the infotainment screen, with very little controls presented as physical buttons like the hazard lights.
The concept of an all-in-one system is good until you realize the amount of menus crammed inside is like opening up a creative software with zero experience. The infotainment even in ownership is likely to take a few months to get used to and remember each option in their respective menus, which helps that the user-interface is normally responsive.
Rear trunk space is fair at a volume of 340 litres, with a large opening and a powered tailgate. Rear legroom was prioritized therefore rear trunk space is affected, but the rear seats can be pushed down to create 1,340 litres of house-clearing space.
Outward visibility is a plus in a Chinese world of ill-fitting behemoths that need cameras for rear-view mirrors – which in the ATTO 2 is still conventional. The hatchback boasts fair visibility all around with very chunky rear pillars, but is otherwise adequate without additional cameras – a 360-degree panaromic camera is nevertheless available for positioning the car in tight situations or parking.
A brisk nine seconds
To preach this car is to compare it to the cheap A-to-B of previous. The few step-ups in the cheap car segment via EVs has only been more accessible electrical features and cheeky power gains that make speed even more accessible for all who can afford it.
It makes 100 kW (134 horsepower) and 290 Nm of torque for the Singapore market courtesy of a 51.1 kWh battery, different from the hybrid DM-i variant found in other markets.
The ATTO 2 is definitely potent as an electric vehicle – starts from standstill easily rival any enthusiast combustion car old and new, even if the quoted 0-100km/h is a measly 9 seconds. As a new car qualifying in Category A COE, that is quick. Its an effortless rush that only loses all effort at a low top-speed of 160km/h – which you’ll likely only reach trying to chase Malaysian trucks on the North-South Highway.
This car is one that has demonstrated to me chassis rigidity and stiffness – which is what it doesn’t have. The driving experience is nothing but soft and unwieldy – like driving custard. It wasn’t inspiring when left to demonstrate its prowess in anything that wasn’t a straight line. Overly soft suspension that it has will definitely do it favors as a “urban explorer” especially around the increasingly-bumpy repatched roads in Singapore, but its clear that if this is what entry-level means for BYD, it is all tech and none fun. In the traditional metric – it won’t put a smile on your face.
Despite the lacking chassis, the steer-by-wire system in the ATTO 2 is a touch better than some other EVs, with better connection between what you input with the steering and what the wheels do. Its a faster-reacting system than some, but the steering ratio feels bigger despite the small 10.5 metre full turning radius.
But for the common folk who doesn’t have a soul for the automobile, plentiful of driver assistance systems are available – pre-collision warning, cruise control, lane departure warning, automatic braking, blind spot detection and driver monitoring.
The range of the single motor is much less compared to more expensive EVs at a range of 345 kilometres quoted, but still on-par with petrol vehicles which shouldn’t induce significant range anxiety with the right ownership mindset – which charging is supported with Direct Current (DC) fast and Alternating Current (AC) charging. Quoted consumption rests at 17kWh/100km.
As the entry-level model for BYD, the ATTO 2 was launched at a price of S$157,388 with COE. With COE prices climbing, the purchase value is closer to S$17#,###, which still makes it low-priced when other manufacturers are also price-hiking thanks to recent COE prices being haywire.
As a hatchback marketed towards young people and particularly those who live for the nightlife rush (it was launched in Clarke Quay), the ATTO 2 would hopefully produce the same ecstasy as a packed nightclub – but it isn’t loud and in-your-face like one at all. No, this feels like a tech-geek’s entry into considering an upgrade to a larger BY-DM-i or higher in the future – an iPhone 17 than ASUS ROG – not the same as an entry-level “fun” runabout to persuade future deals of a performance model as lively as loud dance music.
Its a mainstream concept than enthusiast formula to summarize – playing number one hits on the stereo than supporting small artists. The ATTO 2 is the usual high-perceived-quality Chinese EV with huge amounts of technology crammed into it, but is merely monotone than actually exciting as a moving box on wheels.
But, if you look at the angle of it as nothing but a phone, the price-to-gadgets is hard to beat (apart from its domestic competitors), so to summarize it; you sacrifice the joy of driving for and non-driving tech and gadgets. This, has a huge market.
My best conclusion is if you both like clubbing and like your cars, a S$50 cab ride is probably better than a S$1##,### new car. If you just like clubbing, the ATTO 2 and getting in is a direct symbol that the party has ended.
Price (for Singapore market at launch in August 2025): S$157,388 (with COE)
Motor: Single electric motor (BYD Blade Battery)
Transmission: Single-speed
Power figures: 100kW (134 horsepower), 250Nm torque
0-100km/h: 9.0s
Top speed: 160km/h
Consumption: 5.88 kilowatt per litre
Drivetrain: Front-wheel drive
Weight: 1,570 kilograms
Engine capacity: N/A
Dimensions (Length, Width, Height): 4,310mm, 1,830, 1,675
Wheelbase: 2,620mm
Seats: 5
Cargo capacity: 340 litres, 1,340 litres (rear seats folded)
~Efini
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