Over the weekend at Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Sime Darby Motors handed over the keys of a BYD Atto 3 to the 1000th owner in Malaysia. That’s a remarkable milestone for a new EV brand in Malaysia that was launched just four months ago. This is surely the best-selling EV in Malaysia right now.
Shortly after the launch in early December, the BYD Atto 3 received over 1,000 orders in just 10 days. Sime Darby Motor delivered its first 100 units in early January.
Priced from RM149,800 for the standard range model and RM167,800 for the extended range version, the Atto 3 is one of the most affordable EV options in Malaysia right now. It undercuts the Hyundai Kona Electric by a significant margin while offering more space and performance than a similarly priced Ora Good Cat.
To recap on the specs, the BYD Atto 3 comes with a single electric motor powering the front wheels with 201hp and 310Nm of torque. The SUV has a moderate compact size that sits between the Proton X50 and X70, and it comes with a decent 440-litre boot. The standard model has a 49.9kWh battery which claims to provide up to 345km of range on a single charge. Meanwhile, the Extended Range model gets a 60.5kWh battery which pushes up to 420km of range.
Like most Chinese EVs, it supports slow AC charging up to 7kW and the Malaysian unit comes with a more commonly supported Type 2 port. To juice it up quickly, it can support DC fast charging up to 70kW for the standard model and up to 80kW for the extended range version. BYD claims that you can get from 0-80% charge in just 45 minutes. The Atto 3 also doubles up as a “powerbank” as it has a Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) feature that can power up your home appliances.
As you would expect from a modern EV, the Atto 3 is packed with safety tech and features which include 7 airbags, stability control, autonomous emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, lane centering assist and also a rotating screen which supports Apple Car Play. In Malaysia, the BYD Atto 3 comes with a 6-year/150,000km warranty and an 8-year/160,000km warranty for the Blade battery.
Also known as Build Your Dreams, the carmaker has been enjoying a significant increase in passenger vehicle sales with a total of 208,832 units sold globally in March 2023 which includes both Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV). For BEV specifically, a total of 104,476 units were sold in March 2023, which is a 91% increase from 54,684 units sold in March 2022.
In Q1, which is traditionally a low peak season for car sales in China, the brand sold 264,647 units of BEVs which is an 87% increase year-on-year. According to BYD, a total of 13,312 units of New Energy Passenger Vehicles were sold overseas for the month of March.
In case you missed it, you can check out our BYD Atto 3 review below:
Related reading
- BYD Atto 3 Malaysia: We test the 7.3sec 0-100km/h claim using the built-in timer
- Did you know that the BYD Atto 3 has a built-in 0-100km/h sport timer? Here’s how to activate it
- BYD Atto 3 Malaysia: First 100 units delivered to customers, is this Malaysia’s best-selling EV?
- BYD Atto 3 Malaysia: Chinese EV SUV with up to 420km range, from RM150k
