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The BYD Atto 2 has until now been a car poorly received by the market. And he had earned merits for it. In a country like Spain, where the electric car now seems to begins to spread its wingsPurely urban cars have it very complicated. With a battery of just over 40 kWh, it was very difficult to convince because in those cases leaving the urban area causes a lot of headaches.

But the Chinese company has taken what seemed like a weakness and turned it into a missile to attack rivals. On a missile with a nuclear warhead.

The electric version has been renewed and now offers an alternative with more than 60 kWh. But here we are to talk about the plug-in hybrid version. A car that has no rival for price and equipment. A car that with the aid that is in forcewhich they have been and those that, it is assumed, will be availableis the gateway to pluggable mobility.

I would say more, it is confirmation that someone looking for a “cheap” or “accessible” car can also buy a plug-in hybrid with a Zero Emissions label and have that car for everything. Because right now there is no cheaper car with this technology on the market.

Technical data sheet of the BYD Atto 2 DM-i

Price… and not only price

It’s the elephant in the room. It is impossible to ignore that the BYD Atto 2 DM-i, the plug-in hybrid version, is convincing for its price. That’s why let’s put what we’re talking about into perspective.

The BYD Atto 2 DM-i is sold in two versions which are inseparable from their equipment, so the package is closed. The entry-level version is called Active and comes with a maximum power of 122 kW (163 HP), 40 kilometers of autonomy and 3.6 kW alternating current charging.

Just starting out, it has a 12.1-inch central screen, voice control of the infotainment system with wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, rear parking sensors, headlights with LED technology and four USB-C points. In addition to, obviously, all the safety aids mandated by the EU and systems such as adaptive cruise control with lane keeping.

For its part, the Boost version comes with 156 kW of power (213 HP), 90 kilometers of autonomy and charges in alternating current at 6.6 kW power. To the previous equipment it adds a panoramic roof with electric sunshade, 360º camera with front and rear parking sensors, electric and heated front seats, heated steering wheel, 50W wireless mobile phone charging and bidirectional charging to charge external devices.

These versions are sold at the following prices:

These are prices that almost seem ridiculous. At the border of 30,000 euros from the start, the car has extensive equipment that the vast majority of cars at that price lack. With the aids applied (the version with 90 km of autonomy beats those relative to an electric car due to its wide range of kilometers), the price makes its rivals blush.

To put some examplesa Seat Arona that lacks any type of hybridization sells between 20,000 and 25,000 euros. He Dacia Duster microhybrid, the cheapest with some electricity, is above 20,000 euros with equipment that pales next to the BYD Atto 2 DM-i. A 160 HP hybrid Renault Captur is starting to get very dangerously close to 30,000 euros. But none of these cars can lower their price somewhat with state aid.

These are just a few examples but we could continue without problems. It is not only a matter of having a technology, plug-in hybridization, which promises to move on a daily basis for a very low cost (paying 0.15 euros/kWh, we are talking about traveling about 100 kilometers in the city for 2.70 euros), it is a question of materials, perceived quality and dynamics.

The car features a 72 kW (96 HP) 1.5-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine that combines with a 145 kW (194 HP) electric motor to generate a maximum of 156 kW of power (213 HP) in the tested unit, the Boost. These two motors are part of what BYD calls Dual Motor, a system in which the combustion engine can directly drive the wheels or act as an electric generator that fills the battery and only the electric motor pushes the car.

That has an advantage on paper. The combustion engine almost always operates at a specific speed, where it is more efficientgenerating electricity to the battery as happens in a Nissan QashqaiFor example. With the electric motor operating in most cases as the only motor, the feel of the car is that of an electric one, with sustained acceleration that does not lose steam and immediate torque.

Only when extra power is required does the combustion engine come out of its slumber and come into operation to work at full capacity and both engines push the car at the same time. Of course, this requires having a minimum of electrical energy in the battery so it is possible that this extra power will only be available for a few seconds, as happens with the sportier modes of electric cars.

In the test of BYD Seal 6 DM-i We said that the car did not convey the feeling of pushing what the figures on paper really say. Here I have not had that feeling at all. The BYD Atto 2 DM-i measures half a meter less and although they weigh more or less the same, its shorter wheelbase makes it easier to move with much more agility through traffic. Additionally, the thrust of the electric motor feels more direct, much closer to the kick of an electric.

Added to this is that the car’s driving comfort is very good, it sits very well on the road and is very quiet. The combustion engine is essential in the vast majority of situations and situations must be forced so that the combustion engine “jumps” and its sound is noticeable. Despite this, as soon as we lift our foot it returns to its usual calm. The only thing noticeable is some aerodynamic noise coming from the mirrors.

The car is also very comfortable. The rear passengers have a lot of space but the front passengers enjoy, as we said, heated seats with electric regulation in their Boost version. There are physical buttons for selecting functions such as driving modes or selecting whether we want the car to drive as a hybrid or electric.

The feel of the steering wheel is good (it is also heated) and the steering has some weight although it is so filtered that it does not transmit anything. All in all, although it is not very direct, it is easy to position the car where you want. The worst, by far, is the feel of the brake pedal, with a lot of travel and a dead zone at the top, which requires an adaptation period at first. Especially in the city where it is somewhat more difficult to fine-tune the braking. An endemic evil of many highly electrified cars.

Regarding its consumption and the ADAS driving aidsWe can say little. Our route was largely marked by the traffic jams of a city like Barcelona and we would need to do more tests to be able to talk in more depth about both aspects. We can say that in the short time that we were able to test the ADAS aids, the perception was that BYD has improved the alert and warning systems so the corrections were smoother and we did not register any false positives.

Note that, in addition, the BYD Atto 2 DM-i arrives with a revised version of its infotainment system. It is the first from the Chinese company built on Android Automotive so it has the Google services like Google Assistant to improve voice language. It has its application store and the browser uses data from Google Maps. It is now less necessary Android Auto either Apple CarPlay which are also wireless.

The instrumentation has also been renewed, with a more careful and modern design. Likewise, in the control center (deployable from the main screen) a button has been added to deactivate the speeding alert sounds, making it an action that requires two touches when we start the vehicle.

The BYD Atto 2 DM-i is, right now, the best option if you are looking for a plug-in hybrid car in the shortest possible time. At around 30,000 euros, it is already a car well above the vast majority of the competition and is only rivaled by the Leapmotor C10, which is much larger. Of course, for those looking for a city car but with the peace of mind of being able to go on a trip and with a Zero emissions sticker, there is no more complete option.

Added to this are juicy discounts with the launch campaign but, above all, the possibility of saving up to 7,000 euros off the version with 90 kilometers of autonomy with the MOVES III Plan. For those who can access this discount, it is not only the best car with this technology that they can choose for a price much less than 25,000 euros. It is probably among the best cars you can choose with any type of technology.

Photo | Xataka and BYD

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