BYD Malaysia teases new model – Atto 3 facelift with more power and higher range coming soon?

Go to BYD Cars Malaysia’s Facebook page and you’ll see this. Now, out of all the models BYD currently sells in Malaysia, it’s the Atto 3 that has soldiered on for the longest, having been introduced in December 2022, so it’s the one that’s ripest for a replacement.

We’re almost definitely getting the facelift rather than the all-new model in China, but which version? Hong Kong got the facelift look but it’s same-old, same-old underneath (FWD, 400V, 204 PS/310 Nm, 60.48 kWh battery, 420 km WLTP, four-link rear suspension); just faster charging (up from 88 to 105 kW DC; 30-80% now 30 minutes, which is 10 minutes faster) and a slightly-updated interior with a column gear selector.

Meanwhile, Europe got the Evo – this switches to RWD, 800V architecture and a five-link rear suspension. It’s also got more power – there’s a 313 PS/380 Nm rear motor version as well as a 449 PS/560 Nm two-motor AWD variant. The RWD shift has also unlocked 50 more litres of boot space (now 490 litres, expandable to 1,360 litres) and allowed a 101-litre frunk to be included.

HK-market BYD Atto 3 facelift (left) and EU-market BYD Atto 3 Evo

The battery has also grown from 60.48 kWh (420 km WLTP) to 74.8 kWh, yielding 510 km of WLTP range for the RWD and 470 km for the AWD. The 0-100 km/h times are 5.5 seconds for the RWD and a blistering 3.9 seconds for the AWD. That’s a lot faster than our FWD car, which does it in 7.3 seconds.

Thanks to 800V, it charges a lot faster – the max rate has been boosted from 88 to 220 kW, so 10-80% takes just 25 minutes. There’s also 3 kW vehicle-to-load (V2L).

Faster and further, says the Malaysian teaser. Faster could mean more power or quicker charging, while further certainly means more range (bigger battery). Are we then getting the Evo? Fingers crossed!

EU-market BYD Atto 3 Evo

HK-market BYD Atto 3 facelift

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