BYD Atto 3 service details locked in; warranty cut back to 6 years

The newly-named BYD Automotive has announced its service network and pricing for the Atto 3 electric SUV that has just started being delivered to Australian customers.

But there’s a sting in the tail as the local importer and its retail partner Eagers Automotive launched a new BYD Automotive website (which the former EV Direct website now redirects to): the previously advertised seven-year unlimited-kilometre warranty has been dropped back to six years and 150,000km.

READ MORE: BYD electric hatchback set to become Australia’s cheapest EV

BYD said in a statement that those who have already taken delivery of their Atto 3 and people who have already placed a deposit (which the company says is about 4500 people) will only get the six-year/150,000km warranty. That’s despite placing a deposit when there was a seven-year warranty being advertised by BYD Australia.

One positive is that the high voltage battery in the Atto 3 – which is priced from $44,381 before on-road costs – now steps up to an eight-year, 160,000km warranty, in line with warranties offered on most EVs sold in Australia. BYD guarantees 70 percent of the original capacity at the end of the warranty period.

But there are various exclusions in the BYD warranty document that could pose issues for some buyers.

For example, the tech-laden 12.8-inch multimedia system – with a screen that rotates from landscape to portrait configurations – only has warranty coverage for three years and 60,000km. And the warranty on the suspension system tops out at four years and 100,000km.

Still, at least there’s visibility on the cost of servicing.

BYD Automotive has announced a capped price service schedule with check-ups due every 12 months or 20,000km.

Every second service costs $190.37 while the others range from $504.25 to $661.32.

The BYD capped price servicing applies at the 10 BYD Service Centres that have been announced as part of the deal with the Eagers Automotive dealer group. Three of those service centres are in NSW, two each in Queensland and South Australia and one each in Victoria, Western Australia and Tasmania.

BYD is also maintaining factory-approved servicing through 30 MyCar service outlets around the country, creating what it claims is the largest EV service network in Australia. Those MyCar service centres are not part of the capped price service deal, instead setting their own prices.

The BYD Atto 3 is one of the most affordable EVs on sale in Australia and comes with big aspirations. The company plans to sell between 10,000 and 20,000 Atto 3s in Australia in 2023.

“It’s likely it’ll be more like 20,000 [Australian Atto 3 sales in 2023] given the level of interest that we’ve got,” said the head of the BYD Australia importer Luke Todd.

The company will also launch a new small EV hatchback and mid-sized electric sedan around mid-2023. Those cars are currently known as the BYD Dolphin (or EA1) and BYD Seal, but the names will change for Australia.

BYD says the names will have an Australian influence and could leverage the oceanic themes the brand is embracing globally.

BYD is still selling cars online – in some ways mimicking the Tesla and Polestar sales models – but now has “experience centres” as part of its partnership with Eagers.

“We’ve moved away from full digital with deliveries through MyCar to having eleven additional facilities … but it’s not your traditional dealership [model],” said Todd. “It’s a retail partnership with Eagers, we own 51 percent of that relationship.”

He added that prices would remain fixed and the experience centres would not be working on commission, with sales instead done directly with the importer.

“We’re proud of the fact we don’t have salespeople, the car does that for us.”