2025 BYD Atto 1 Premium Review: Australia’s cheapest EV is also a decent city car with clever design and real driving character. But will anyone buy it?

October 22, 2025October 22, 2025 Bruce Newton 3527 Views Atto 1, BYD

The 2025 BYD Atto 1 instantly demans attention because it’s about to lower the pricing entry point for EVs in Australia to about – or possibly even under – $25,000.

There are some unknowns on that pricing , but it’s definitely a welcome and noteworthy achievement.

The Atto 1 – or Seagull or Dolphin Surf depending on which part of the world it is sold – has proven a critical and commercial success for BYD.

In Australia, even considering its price, it’s got a tough road, given there’s little interest in city cars and the EV focus is on medium SUVs.

Still, BYD hasn’t pulled too many wrong levers since its 2022 arrival in Australia, so the Atto 1 shouldn’t be discounted.

Last week BYD offered the chance for a brief preview drive of the Atto 1 at the Lang Lang proving ground in Victoria. It was an intriguing preview of a surprising small car.

2025 BYD Atto 1 Premium price and equipment

The 2025 BYD Atto 1 will be offered in two models split by powertrain and equipment when it goes on-sale in November.

The Essential is the one that’s going to be around – or under – $25,000. The Premium will be more expensive, but there areno clues from BYD to how much more. Presumably, much closer to $30,000.

What we also don’t know yet is if we are talking drive-away or plus on-roads pricing, usually it’s the latter with BYD.

The Lang Lang drive was of a UK-spec car resembling the Premium. It had the larger 115kW/220Nm e-motor, larger 43.2kWh LFP battery and therefore better claimed performance and range.

According to WLTP that combined range is 310km and the consumption average 15.5kWh/100km. It also DC charges faster, at 85kW, and accelerates from 0-100km/h faster, in 9.1 sec.

Equivalent numbers for the Essential are 65kW/175Nm, 30kWh, 220km, 15.6kWh/100km, 65kW and 11.1 seconds.

Key equipment BYD Australia is willing to confirm for the Atto 1 Premium ahead of launch includes a rotating 10.1-inch infotainment touchscreen, a 7.0-inch digital instrument panel, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, synthetic leather seats that are power adjustable up-front, a cooled 50W wireless phone charger, remote services via the MY BYD smartphone app, a group of onboard apps and 2GB of free data.

Safety equipment includes six airbags, a 360 degree camera and driver assist systems that BYD says add up to Level 2 autonomous driving capability

In Europe Atto 1 (actually Dolphin Surf there) comes with a five star NCAP rating that is expected to translate to a five star ANCAP rating here.

There’s no warranty or servicing information at this point, but in Australia BYDs usually come with a six-year/150,000km vehicle warranty and eight-year/160,000km battery warranty.

2025 BYD Atto 1 Premium: What we think

Sitting on its 16-inch alloy wheels in bright ‘Sprout Green’ paint, the 2025 BYD Atto 1 has a certain level of sharp-edged funk to it. It certainly doesn’t look as shrunken as some city cars.

It measures up at 3990mm long by 1720mm wide by 1590mm high, underpinned by a 2500mm wheelbase and a structure called e-Platform 3.0.

It is small enough to have only two rear seats. The boot measures up at 308 litres expanding to 1037 litres with the rear seat 50:50 split-folded. There is no frunk.

The Atto 1 is front-wheel drive, suspended by a combination of passive MacPherson strut front- and torsion beam rear-suspension and has electric-assist power steering.

As unassuming and basic as all that sounds, the Atto 1 adds up to a really enjoyable drive.

Key to that is a powertrain that when combined with a pretty light 1390kg kerb weight propels the Atto 1 Premium very promptly from a standing start.

Seriously, it’s going to embarrass some hefty ICE opposition launching from the lights.

That instant e-power combined with this car’s small size and nimble behaviour, including great braking, means the Atto 1 is going to be fantastic for ducking around in urban areas.

At Lang Lang, nothing could match it nipping through a slalom.

On the open road? Well, it doesn’t fall to pieces but it is set-up on the soft side for low-speed work, which simply makes sense. It’s a little less composed and springier on the open road, but still acceptable.

Inside, the four seat interior sounds more cramped than it actually is. Look, there are issues inevitably. I couldn’t get the driver’s seat far enough back or down. And you wouldn’t want to send four basketballers from Melbourne to Brisbane in it.

But a couple of young kids will fit just fine.

While BYD’s talking about couples and singles as the target market, it would also make a lot of sense as a family’s frugal second car.

There’s some originality and style to the interior presentation – flat-bottom steering wheel, gear selection via a dial on the dashboard – and the design, materials quality and plentiful storage in the Atto 1 Premium are better than you would expect at this price.

However, I didn’t appreciate the elbow-bruising hard armrest in the door (ouch) or that the screens required plenty of dabbing and swiping to turn off intrusive driver monitoring and lane keeping.

2025 BYD Atto 1 Premium: Verdict

The obvious buyers for the BYD Atto 1 are urbans and suburbans that want a small, environmentally-friendly and affordable car.

For many of them the problem will be having the off-street parking where it can be most cheaply charged.

Sadly, BYD Australia can’t do much to make fast charging infrastructure much more widely available. Nor can it fix our housing affordability crisis.

So all that’s potentially going to limit Atto 1 demand.

On our first taste it deserves to be successful. It’s efficient, compact and a decent drive.

However, it will be interesting to see how much gloss comes off when we sample the Atto 1 Essential, even taking its pricing into account.

SCORE: 4/5

2025 BYD Atto 1 Premium specifications

Price: $30,000 approx
Basics: EV, 4 seats, 5 doors, city car
Range: 310km (WLTP)
Battery capacity: 43.2kWh LFP
Battery warranty: 8 years/160,000km (we think)
Energy consumption: 15.5kWh/100km (WLTP)
Motors: 1 front, 115kW/220Nm.
AC charging: 11kW, Type 2 plug
DC charging: 85kW, CCS combo plug
0-100km/h: 9.1 seconds