AOnce again, a Chinese car manufacturer is trying to gain a foothold in Europe. Brilliance or Quoros have failed so far, and the traditional German name Borgward didn’t help either. Recently, Aiways or MG have been active in Europe, and now BYD is next in the old world. The focus is entirely on electromobility. “Build Your Dreams” is the full company name, the company is one of the leading suppliers in China, and buses, trucks and forklifts are also part of the portfolio. In Europe, Norway was chosen as the pilot market, followed by the Benelux countries, Sweden and, at the beginning of 2023, Germany.
The brand is launched with three models. First there is the Han, an upper mid-size sedan almost five meters long, and the Tang, a 4.87 meter long mid-size SUV with seven seats. Both series are already on sale in China and have increased sales from around 40,000 units in January 2021 to 162,000 in July 2022. The third in the group is brand new, the BYD Atto 3. It is the first vehicle based on a new platform, the lines of the 4.45 meter long SUV come from the pen of design chief Wolfgang Egger, who previously worked for Alfa Romeo and Audi has worked.
The SUVs show more power
All three models look pleasing, unlike the two larger brothers, the Atto 3 does not have all-wheel drive but pure front-wheel drive. Its top speed is 160 km/h and it goes from 0 to 100 in 7.3 seconds. The performance of the electric motor is comparatively modest, 204 hp (150 kW) are available. In the WLTP cycle, the 60.5 kWh battery should take the SUV 420 kilometers; the battery can be charged to 80 percent capacity in less than 30 minutes using a DC connection with a maximum of 110 kW.
Han and Tang, whose names come from important Chinese ruling dynasties, are much more strict. The large SUV takes 4.6 seconds and the sedan 3.9 to accelerate from a standstill to 100 km/h. Its top speed is limited to 180 km/h, the ranges are 400 and 521 kilometers with battery capacities of around 86.5 kWh. The interior of the three debutants sometimes looks a bit playful, but definitely of high quality. The 15.6-inch central display, which can be rotated from landscape to portrait format at the push of a button, is impressive, but a host of buttons and rotary controls dominate, especially on the center console. The holders on the door pockets, which are designed as three double bass strings thick rubber, have a playful effect. Certainly no coincidence: If you pluck it, you can hear a tuned triad. The door panel is good as a sound box.
Innovative Batterietechnik
BYD uses a special technology to manufacture the batteries. Instead of the usual modules, they are assembled from individual panels, about three centimeters thick and around one meter long, known as blades. Their length is variable and can be adapted to the respective vehicle width. In this way, the battery not only becomes a load-bearing part in the vehicle floor of the body, but also more powerful than a modular one. The design, which dispenses with cobalt, significantly reduces the risk of fire, and it even survives a nail test in which a sharp spike is driven through the blade without igniting.
BYD’s success is likely to depend heavily on pricing. There is no information yet, but if the Atto 3 were available for less than 40,000 euros, European customers could perhaps also build their dreams.