BYD Atto 3 Evo review

It's pretty jazzy in here, if not quite as crazy as it was. The dash is an exaggerated wave, and covered in two-time stitched soft plastic. The door speakers protrude, and tensed off them are three strings that form the top of the door bins. So it looks like a guitar. The speaker peripheries are lit and pulse in time to music, too.

Elsewhere the theme is supposed to be a gym. Again, it’s all been toned down slightly, almost like BYD is trying to get people to take it seriously, but the doorhandles still resemble dumbbells, and the vents the weights you hang off them. Or something. The gear selector moves to behind the redesigned steering wheel, freeing up space on the centre console.

For actually sitting in, the seats are well bolstered for side support, but don't have lumbar adjustment so you may find them hollow on the spine. You're set fairly high, with a low glass waistline, so it feels airy and easy to see out of. It also means a commanding driving position, which people seem to crave nowadays.

What about the tech?

The driver's screen is now bigger, measuring 8.8 inches. That addresses one of our previous complaints, but it remains crowded and hard to read, with too much information displayed at once. Though, you can overcome that by setting it to display the navigation, which covers the full width of the display.

The main centre screen has also been upscaled and now measures 15.6in. It no longer rotates either – BYD is phasing that out across all its models due to customer feedback. It was little more than a gimmick and you don’t miss it.

As you’d expect, the screen does a lot of configuration donkeywork, but the climate, nav and vehicle settings are easily fathomed. That said, despite its size, it won't simultaneously display a map and the music you're playing, unless that happens to be Spotify (and you need your own account).

One thing we do like is that it integrates Google features including Google Maps, Google Assistant and Google Play Store. Saves having to plug your smartphone in to use the satnav, particularly as it’ll show where the nearest chargers are too.

The selection of hardware switches is a bit eccentric: there's start/stop button, a toggle for drive modes, a scroller for the volume, and a button for the front demister… but not the heated rear screen. Odd.

How spacious is it?

Rear room is pretty good, especially foot space under the front seats, which is often an issue in EVs. Reading lights, vents and USB ports are all standard back there.

You will find yourself having to explain to any and every new passenger where and how the door handles work. Go on, try spotting them in the picture above. They're above the speakers in the doors.

The boot measures 490 litres. That’s pretty competitive, but still smaller than the 500+ litres of the Skoda Enyaq and VW ID.4. Fold all the seats down and you get 1,390 litres. 

Oh, and one other thing – this latest version gets a new ‘frunk’ which offers a further 95 litres under the bonnet. Useful for any dirty charging cables.