The Chinese BYD Atto 3 EV has been awarded the LOWEST safety score EVER for the Assisted Driving function
- Euro NCAP rated the £38k EV’s driver assistance technology as ‘Not Recommended’
BYD’s £38,000 Atto 3 electric SUV has been given the worst possible rating by a leading car safety body for one of its driver assistance features.
Euro NCAP tested the technical equipment of the Chinese electric car and gave one feature in particular a rating of ‘Not recommended’: the lowest possible score a new model could give.
It is the first time that an assistance system has received such a low rating since it started testing this type of technology in 2020. This is why it scored so poorly…
Vehicle safety organization Euro NCAP has given the £38,000 BYD Atto 3 a ‘Not Recommended’ rating for one of its driver assistance features – the lowest possible score. We explain why…
The Atto 3 family SUV will be launched in Britain in 2023 by Chinese car giant BYD
According to Euro NCAP, the BYD Atto 3’s Intelligence Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) failed to “correctly interpret road signs” and “scored modestly in terms of assistance competence.”
The latter refers to the system’s ability to strike a balance between driver involvement and the level of vehicle support provided.
But the biggest problem identified was the lack of ‘Safety Backup’,
Euro NCAP said the technology failed to adequately take control in the scenario where an unresponsive driver encounters an obstacle on the road.
The agency explained that “in this critical scenario, the system effectively disables steering assistance after a prolonged period of inactivity while maintaining speed control, leaving an unresponsive driver to his or her fate.”
This earned the Atto 3 zero points out of 25 in the ‘Unresponsive Driver Intervention’ test, while also achieving ‘Weak’ and ‘Adequate’ results in the System Failure and Collision Avoidance categories respectively during the test.
So far, no other car has received a ‘Not Recommended’ rating since Euro NCAP began testing driver assistance technology in 2020.
However, the Atto 3, which was released in Britain in March 2023 and costs £37,695 today, was already assessed for crash safety by the organization earlier in 2022 and received a five-star rating (the highest possible star rating).
Euro NCAP explained on Friday that the general test carried out two years ago did not fully assess the car’s driver assistance properties in depth.
However, in 2026, the safety agency will examine these systems further as part of a review of the way it assesses the safety of new models.
According to Euro NCAP, the BYD Atto 3’s Intelligence Adaptive Cruise Control ‘did not interpret road signs correctly’ and scored only ‘modest in terms of assistance competence’
The safety organization says the system ‘effectively disables steering assistance after a prolonged period of inactivity, while keeping speed under control – leaving an unresponsive driver to his or her fate’
The BYD was one of five models whose driving support properties were recently assessed.
The electric BMW i5 and the Mercedes-Benz C-Class (ICE) were rated ‘Very Good’, while two other EVs – the Volkswagen ID.7 EV and Volvo EC40 – were rated ‘Good’.
The Atto 3 is not the first electric car to receive an eyebrow-raising low score during tests by Euro NCAP.
In 2021, the body carried out a review of the Dacia Spring – the UK’s cheapest new electric car – and issued a modest one-star safety rating.
It scored 49 percent for adults, 56 percent for children, 39 percent for vulnerable road users and 32 percent for safety assistance.
This is Money has contacted BYD about the latest Euro NCAP test result.
The Chinese brand does not want to comment.
