2026 BYD Atto 1 Premium Review

Good things come in small packages. In the case of the BYD Atto 1, that’s not just a cliché, it’s the whole point. 

The Atto 1 is BYD’s smallest car in New Zealand, and at under four metres long it’s properly small by modern standards. But spend any time with the Premium tested here at $35,990, and you realise this isn’t a compromised car. It’s a really good one that just happens to be compact.  

The Essential starts at $29,990 with a smaller 30kWh battery and 220km of WLTP range, offering basics in a slower, shorter-range package. 

Look and feel 

The design is clean without trying too hard. LED headlights on the Premium look sharp, and the rear light bar gives it a bit of a spaceship quality that makes it look more special than just a standard hatchback. In this Pine Lime green (one of four colours alongside Apricity White at no charge, and Arctic Blue and Cosmos Black at $990 each) it has real presence despite the size.  

BYD has also nailed something so many car makers get wrong these days: the door handles. They’re not flush and aerodynamic, they actually work. No fiddly latches, no fingers getting caught. You push a button to lock and unlock. It just works. 

On 16-inch alloy wheels wrapped in Hankook rubber (steel wheels on the Essential), the Premium has a tidy stance. It is a bit slab sided, but rakish enough to be as sporty as a tiny hatch can really. 

Inside story 

The interior is where the Atto 1 really surprises. It feels so roomy for a small car, arguably roomier than the Dolphin that sits a size up in BYD’s range. That’s partly down to the clever packaging. The 2500mm wheelbase is long relative to the overall length, and there’s less bulk around you inside, which creates a real sense of openness. 

For a car at this price, it feels really good. There is soft-touch material through the dash and on the armrest, and while there are some hard, scratchy plastics around the place, you’d expect that. The perforated faux leather seats in the Premium are heated and electrically adjustable for both driver and passenger, and super comfortable. A near two-hour drive was no problem at all. One minor thing: a slight rattle through a speaker during a podcast suggested the harder plastics can resonate. That might just have been our test car, but worth keeping an ear out for. 

The 10.1-inch touchscreen runs BYD’s familiar software. It’s Internet connected, so you get Spotify, navigation, and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. One disappointment is the air conditioning, which is manual rather than climate controlled even on the Premium. It works okay, but it would have been nice if they could have made it a proper climate system to differentiate it from the Essential. 

The seven-inch instrument cluster does the job, and the familiar BYD steering wheel controls handle media, calls, and adaptive cruise. The drive selector is the same dial as the Dolphin. Up and down for reverse and drive is great, though selecting park from the side can feel a bit awkward. There’s a wireless charger, cup holders that could use some lining to stop bottles rattling, USB-A and USB-C, and a glove box. No centre console storage box though, just open space underneath. 

In the back, it very much passes the test. With the front seat set well back for a tall driver, there’s still loads of room. Knees don’t touch the seat ahead, there’s adequate headroom, and you get electric windows, not always a given in this class. The windows are quite high and narrow though, so little kids sitting low might struggle to see out. It is only a two-seater back here, making this a four-seater. There are no rear air vents, no armrest, and no cup holders, though bottle holders in the doors and a storage pouch help. With those big front seats creating a bit of a wall, you might need to pump the air harder up front to keep rear passengers comfortable. 

Boot space is 308 litres with the 50:50 split seats up, expanding to about a thousand litres folded. For a car this size, that’s huge. There are tie-down points for bigger items, more storage under the floor, and BYD includes the V2L adapter in the box. There are cars at twice this price that don’t bother with that. 

On the road 

This is where the Atto 1 really shines. The Premium’s 115kW motor with 220Nm of torque won’t set any records (0-100km/h in 9.1 seconds), but it has a great zippy feel both around town and on the motorway. There’s more than enough power to make it feel like an almost sporty car. You need to go up to a fairly decent Suzuki Swift to match those numbers, and the Atto 1 feels bigger on the road than a Swift from a solidity perspective, thanks to the weight of the battery sitting low underneath you. 

On the motorway, don’t worry about it being too small. You don’t feel monstered by trucks or lost on the open road. If you’ve driven a Corolla in the last ten years, it’s going to feel comfortable. There’s a solidity and uprightness to it that’s hard to describe but genuinely reassuring. 

The steering feels relatively quick, nicely weighted, and quite engaging even on a twisty road. The chassis is firm but not overly so. Cobblestones revealed only minor rattles, and overall it’s impressive for the segment. 

One niggle: the brakes. The pedal can feel a little soft and a bit intermittent at low speed. It didn’t trouble us on the open road, but personally, a slightly firmer pedal would be welcome around town. 

Efficiency sits around 13-14kWh/100km in mixed driving, which for a Chinese vehicle with an LFP battery is pretty solid. That should comfortably deliver the 310km WLTP range from the 43.2kWh battery. DC charging peaked at around 80kW in the real world. That doesn’t sound massive, but think of it as about 100km of range per 10 minutes on a fast charger, and better again in urban driving. For a battery this size, it works well in practice. 

The safety kit is comprehensive and well sorted. Adaptive cruise, lane keeping, AEB, traffic sign recognition, and intelligent speed limit control are all standard on both trims. The system doesn’t go overboard with the beeps and bongs, behaving exactly as you’d expect from BYD’s now well-proven setup. Six airbags and a five-star ANCAP result mean you can feel comfortable putting a teenage child into one as a first car, or running it in a fleet. 

The verdict 

Is the Atto 1 Premium the best value in the market right now? Not quite. The competitive small SUV segment means vehicles like the Atto 2 at just $5000 more remain where money is arguably best spent. But that misses the point. 

The Atto 1 is great for what it is: a genuinely small car that doesn’t compromise on safety, tech, or driving enjoyment. It could reinvigorate the small car segment ahead of incoming hatches and SUVs from Geely, GAC, and Leapmotor. For those who understand the need for small, whether as a city runabout, a second car, or a first car for a new driver, the Atto 1 is a seriously compelling option. 

It’s so good, in fact, that we’ve already discussed at home whether we could move out of the family Atto 3 into one of these. It would make a fantastic second car. That’s about as strong a recommendation as you’ll get.  

BYD Atto 1 Premium
$35,990  /  13kWh/100km  /  0g/km
0-100 km/h 9.1s
Motor output  115kW
Max torque  220Nm
Battery  43.2kWh
Range  310km
Drivetrain  single-speed-auto  / FWD
Front suspension  Mac strut / swaybar
Rear suspension  torsion beam
Turning circle  9.9m (2.5 turns)
Front brakes  Ventilated discs
Rear brakes  Discs
Stability systems  ABS, ESP
Safety  AEB, ACC, BSM, LDW, RCTA, ALK, AHB
Tyre size  f/r-185/55R16
Wheelbase  2500mm
L/W/H  3990 / 1720 / 1590mm
Track f-1500mm  r-1483mm
Luggage capacity 308-1037L  
Tow rating  Not rated to tow
Service intervals 2yrs / 20,000km
Warranty  5yrs / 150,000 km
ANCAP rating  ★★★★★ (2025)
Weight (claimed)  1390kg