BYD Atto 8: a seven-seat flagship EV that charges 10–97% in nine minutes

BYD has detailed the Atto 8, a battery-electric SUV with up to seven seats that will replace the Tang as the brand's flagship in Europe. It made its debut at the 2026 Paris Motor Show, and European sales are planned for the first quarter of 2027.

Flash Charging comes to Europe

The headline feature is Flash Charging, which the Atto 8 is the first BYD model in Europe to offer. It is built on the second-generation Blade Battery, here with 115 kWh of capacity. BYD says the pack charges from 10 to 70% in five minutes and to 97% in nine minutes, and that temperatures as low as −30 °C add only about three minutes.

There is an important catch: those times need a compatible Flash Charger. BYD plans around 3,000 of them in Europe by the end of 2027, including 300 in Germany by the end of 2026. The quoted times do not apply to other chargers.

Two versions at launch

• Atto 8 Design (RWD): 340 kW, 0–100 km/h in 8.0 s, up to 653 km WLTP.
• Atto 8 Excellence (AWD): a second motor at the front for 570 kW and 775 Nm, 0–100 km/h in 4.6 s, up to 602 km WLTP.

The SUV is 5.04 m long, 2.00 m wide and 1.76 m tall.

Inside

BYD lists a panoramic glass roof of about 2.4 m², a 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster, a 26-inch head-up display and a 15.6-inch central touchscreen with Google Maps, Google Assistant and the Play Store built in. The first two rows have heated, ventilated massage seats, and there is three-zone climate control and a front cool/warm box.

Luggage space is 270 litres behind the third row and up to 1,960 litres with the seats folded, plus a 136-litre frunk.

Price

BYD has not announced pricing yet. electrive expects it to sit above the Tang, which it says is currently discounted from €75,000 to €47,990, but that is an estimate rather than an official figure.

Our take

Nine-minute charging is only as useful as the network behind it, so the Atto 8's real test will be how quickly BYD's own chargers appear along the routes buyers actually drive.