The BYD Atto 3 cleared one of the last stumbling blocks in its Australian rollout, getting a five-star rating from safety authority ANCAP that applies to the budget EV locally, according to Car Expert.
It received a five-star rating from ANCAP for New Zealand, but no rating was applied for Australia.
That was because of an issue with the placement of child restraint anchor points that also led BYD’s local distributor, EVDirect, to delay sales of the vehicle from October 21 until early November.
The five-star rating applies to vehicles produced from November 21, 2022.
In addition, those built before that date receive a five-star rating if they get the brand-directed updates to the center-rear and front passenger seats. If they don’t, said vehicles will remain unrated.
Category scores
The five-star rating comprises a 91% adult occupant protection rating, 84% child occupant protection rating, a vulnerable road user protection rating of 69%, and a safety assist rating of 80%, which is the same category scores for New Zealand models.
“The extension of the five-star ANCAP safety rating to newly-built and updated vehicles supplied in Australia will be welcome news to new and existing Atto 3 owners,” said ANCAP CEO Carla Hoorweg.
“This rating provides positive guidance to potential fleet buyers looking to increase the range of five-star electric vehicles on their purchasing lists.”
“It’s great to now give comfort and clarity regarding the very high level of safety of the Atto 3 to the Australian public,” said the managing director of the local distributor for BYD, Luke Todd.
“The last period of time has been challenging as we’ve worked through the with the relative Government Departments regarding a minor technical issue about child seat anchorage points, but it’s time to move on and we are thrilled that many, many thousands of BYD Atto 3s will now start to be delivered to our valued customers.”
“Production will now be back on in full scale also, as that needed to pause whilst we worked through the process with the Department.”
“It’s a shame that we could have delivered thousands more this year but because of our massive production capability dedicated for the Australian market we will quickly catch up on the backlog.”
BYD Atto 3 modifications
A letter sent from EVDirect and BYD Australia to consumers who ordered the BYD model outlined the following modifications that needed to be done:
- The ISOFIX child seat anchorages in the front passenger seat will be disengaged, meaning no child seat can be used in the vehicle’s front passenger seat.
- The rear center seat will now be used for a child seat with a rear anchorage point available.
“We realise the child seat positions do not impact the vast majority of our customers, but safety is, and always will be our number one priority which is why we decided to voluntarily halt deliveries whilst resolving this matter,” said the letter.
Australia Design Rule (ADR)
There was some mix-up between BYD/EVDirect and the department responsible for ensuring all cars meet Australian Design Rule stipulations.
It is worth noting that the department previously gave vehicle type (MA) approval to the Atto 3, although it didn’t comply with an ADR requiring a top-tether child seat anchor point for the center-rear seat.
