New affordable electric SUV looms: 2025 BYD Atto 2 launches in the UK, could come to Australia as Atto 3 Up to rival MG ZS EV, Chery Omoda E5, MG4, Kia EV3 and Hyundai Inster

Electric car giant BYD has just announced a new cut-price model for the UK market. 

Known as the Atto 2, the electric small SUV slips between the popular mid-size Atto 3 and Dolphin hatch in the right-hand-drive market. Australian plans remain unconfirmed. 

BYD has not trademarked Atto 2, but has applied to protect the name ‘Atto 3 Up’ in Australia. In its China home market, the Atto 2/Atto 3 Up is known as the Yuan Plus, while Latin American countries know it as the Yuan Pro. 

The Atto 2 doesn’t share much, visually, with the Atto 3 with its square-backed shape and more upright front end. 

Underneath, the Atto 2 has a smaller version of BYD’s lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) Blade battery than the entry-level Atto 3 at 45.1kWh (against 49.92kWh). 

The UK market is only getting the 130kW electric motor on the front axle but in China a less punchy 70kW item is available at a lower price. 

The resulting driving range for UK models is 310km in the WLTP cycle, so the Atto 2 is an urban-biased electric SUV. 

Think of the Atto 2/Atto 3 Plus as a rival for other cut-price electric SUVs, such as the Chery Omoda E5, incoming Kia EV3 and Hyundai Inster, and outgoing MG ZS EV. It could also be seen as a more practical alternative to the Dolphin or MG4.

Inside, there are five seats and a generous 15.6-inch touchscreen that, like the Atto 2’s siblings, can rotate to either landscape or portrait orientation. 

The Atto 2 measures 4.31 metres long, 1.83 metres wide and 1.86 metres tall, accommodating a sizeable 400L boot. 

CarsGuide has contacted BYD’s Australian importer EVDirect on the likelihood of the Atto 2 — or Atto 3 Up — coming to Australia. This story will be updated if we receive a response. 

In China, the base model Atto 2 costs the equivalent of less than A$25,000, while in the UK pricing is tipped to start at around £25,000 or A$50,000. 

To fit into the Australian line-up, the Atto 2/Atto 3 Up would need to sit between Dolphin (now from $29,990) and Atto 3 ($44,499, both before on-road costs). We’d expect a starting price around $38,000, potentially climbing to $45,000 for a higher end trim. 

BYD is in the midst of a product offensive, having recently released the Sealion 6 and Shark 6 plug-in hybrids, it is expected to roll out more electric cars — including the just-announced Sealion 7 — in 2025.