BYD Atto 2 DM-i PHEV Debuts in Europe – 1,000 km Range, Malaysia Next?

The BYD Atto 2 DM-i PHEV crossover has made its European debut, featuring up to 1,000 km of combined WLTP range.

Following its first unveiling last month, the BYD Atto 2 DM-i has now made its global debut in Europe. Positioned as the brand’s entry-level plug-in hybrid (PHEV) SUV crossover, the Atto 2 DM-i underpins the brand’s proprietary DM-i PHEV powertrain setup while featuring some minor equipment changes over its battery EV twin.

For starters, the Atto 2 DM-i is 20 mm longer than its BEV twin, spanning 4,330 mm long, 1,830 mm wide, and 1,675 mm tall with a wheelbase of 2,620 mm. This slight increase in dimension is due to its redesigned front bumper, which features a larger air intake with two vertical air curtains at the other edges.

Other than that, the PHEV version also gets a special Midnight Blue exterior colourway, on top of the new DM-i badge at the tailgate, to further differentiate it from the BEV version. The rest of the car remains unchanged from the electric Atto 2, including the full-width LED taillights with Mobius infinity ring lighting signatures, 17-inch dual-spoke alloy wheels, and many more.

Despite its entry-level moniker, the Atto 2 DM-i gets a pretty well-equipped cabin that is surprisingly quite practical and spacious for its size. Some key highlights primed here include a 12.8-inch touchscreen with multi-finger gesture control for the A/C system, a smaller 8.8-inch digital metre cluster, vegan leather upholstery for all the seats, ambient lights, a panoramic sunroof, a wireless charging pad, and many more.

As for the cargo, the Atto 2 DM-i gets a slightly larger boot space of 425 litres compared to the BEV version’s 380-litre space, which can be expanded to 1,335 litres with the rear seats folded.

Two PHEV powertrain options will be made available for the EU-spec Atto 2 DM-i, both of which use the same 1.5-litre 4-cyl ‘Xiaoyun’ petrol engine that boasts a decent thermal efficiency of 43.04%, while delivering up to 98 PS of power. In the top-spec Boost variant, said engine is mated to a single FWD motor delivering 166 PS for a combined output of 212 PS, allowing this PHEV SUV to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 7.5 seconds and reach a V-max of 180 km/h.

Battery-wise, the entry-level Atto 2 DM-i Active variant gets a smaller 7.8 kWh battery that is good for up to 39 km of pure electric range, plus up to 929 km of combined range—both according to the WLTP standards. Meanwhile, the Boost model gets a larger 18 kWh battery pack that grants it a longer EV-only range of 90 km (WLTP), plus a comprehensive WLTP range of up to 1,000 km.

As for charging, the Active variant only supports 3.3 kW AC charging, while the Boost gets a maximum AC charging rate of 6.6 kW, allowing the car to be charged from 15% to 100% in about three hours. Not to forget, only the Boost variant supports Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) functionality at a 3.3 kW rate.

On the safety front, the Atto 2 DM-i in Europe will get a slew of ADAS functions, including Driver Monitoring System (DMS), Adaptive and Intelligent Cruise Control (ACC/ICC), Intelligent Speed Limit Control, Emergency Lane Keep Assist, Lane Departure Assist (LDA), Blind Spot Detection (BSD), Door Opening Warning (DOW), Traffic Sign Recognition (TSR), Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB), Forward and Rear Collision Warning (FCW, RCW), Rear Cross Traffic Alert (RCTA) with Rear Cross Traffic Brake (RTCB), and many more.

The all-new BYD Atto 2 DM-i is slated to go on sale in Europe later in 2026, with first deliveries set to commence later in spring next year for the UK market. Given that the UK market is on the list to get this PHEV SUV, there’s a high chance that the Atto 2 DM-i will also be heading to other prominent right-hand drive (RHD) global markets like Thailand, Australia, and potentially Malaysia too.