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By Jonathan Crouch

BYD enters the all-electric seven-seat crossover class with this Atto 8. Jonathan Crouch reckons it ticks a lot of boxes.

Ten Second Reviewword count: 40

BYD's largest car yet is this Atto 8, a full-electric seven-seat crossover that aims to set fresh class standards in terms of value and DC charging speed. It's yet another car from this growing Chinese brand that might surprise you.

Backgroundword count: 137

BYD addresses the all-electric seven-seat crossover sector this car, the Atto 8. Apparently in Asian and Chinese nations, the number eight is supposed to be connected with luck. A commodity the Chinese maker BYD doesn't seem to need much of at present as its rise to sales success in the European market has been meteoric over the last five years. Continuing that means covering every sector - and segments like that for big three-row crossovers, a class until recently left mainly to the Korean makers. Like Skoda (another new entrant to this class with their Peaq) and Lexus (who've joined it with their TZ), BYD wants to shake this sector up and the Atto 8 delivers plush luxury and some impressive stats when it comes to power, range and (particularly) charging speed. Let's take a closer look.

Driving Experienceword count: 222

You need a lot of power to propel a big seven seat crossover full-EV - but you might not expect the need for quite this much power. Even entry-level versions get 456bhp sent to their rear wheels, though the prodigious bulk this energy has to shift is revealed by a 0-62mph time pegged at about 8s. Range from the huge 115kWh battery pack is 405 miles. That's better than equivalent versions of obvious rivals (Skoda Peaq, Hyundai IONIQ 9, Kia EV9), but not quite class-leading (a 93kWh Peugeot E-5008 manages 413 miles). The top Atto 8 'Excellence' variant gains a front motor for AWD, boosting total output to 764bhp. 0-62mph takes just 4.6s and range is rated at 374 miles. Braked towing capacity is 1,800kg with front-driven versions and 2,000kg with the AWD model. On the move, expect acceleration to be brisk and near-silent; and ride quality tuned for comfort.But you can also expect a bit of body roll through at speed through corners that'll highlight the rather vague level of steering feel. There's a full suite of Level 2+ DiPilot 300 advanced ADAS driver aids, but you'll probably want to disable some of them to avoid all the bings and bongs. Other markets also offer a Plug-in Hybrid DM-i version, but there's no news yet on whether we'll get that here.

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