The BYD Atto 3 has officially hit Australian roads.
Local BYD distributor, EVDirect, has handed over the first Atto 3 to an Australia customer, according to a post on its Instagram story.
Orders for the Atto 3 have been open since February 2022, and the car was approved for sale in Australia during July. The first batch of cars touched down on Aussie soil early in August.
At the time, BYD said it had more than 4000 buyers lined up locally. The brand says it can build 3000 of these per month for our – which would be enough to make it the second-biggest EV brand in Australia behind Tesla.
It’s priced from $44,990 drive-away depending on your state, with the Extended Range model costing $3000 more.
The Extended Range costs an extra $3000, and offers 420km of range on the WLTP cycle – an increase of 100km on the Standard Range.
Both variants use BYD’s in-house ‘Blade’ LFP batteries, with base cars packing 50kWh of capacity and extended range models 60kWh.
The first cars to arrive in Australia will be the Extended Range model, with production of the Standard Range not set to start in China until at least November 2022.
Customers will pick up their cars from a BYD Experience Centre location and not a mycar location, as had previously been the plan.
Servicing, however, will still be available at both Eagers and mycar locations. BYD earlier this week revised its service pricing and defended some of the details around its warranty, after backlash from customers.
There’s also the option to have your BYD vehicle delivered to you, for a fee, if you live more than 50km from an Eagers location.
BYD vehicles have previously been offered in Australia – you may have taken a previous-generation BYD e6 taxi in Sydney – but the EVDirect-led push of the new Atto 3 small electric SUV is the Chinese brand’s biggest step here yet.
Some of the first Atto 3s to hit Australia 
While not a household name in Australia, BYD is a giant in the ‘new energy vehicle’ space, which as well as cars produces electric buses and even batteries for other companies. Warren Buffett is a major shareholder.
Beyond the Atto 3, a further two BYD vehicle models will go on sale both online and in-store by December 2022 in Australia, expected to be a small EV hatch and mid-sized EV sedan.
MORE: Everything BYD Atto 3
