The last week has seen two milestones broken in the Australian EV market: you can now get a new EV for under $25,000 and a low-mileage Tesla for less than $30,000.
It’s a far call from the late 2010s, when anyone wanting to go electric had to shell out north of $50,000 an BYD was, to anyone outside China, simply an unremarkable bus company. But a lot has changed since then. The Tesla Model 3 was introduced in 2019 with a starting price of $66,000; now a new Model 3 starts from under $55,000 and BYD has jumped from an obscure brand to the second-best-selling all-electric carmaker in Australia so far this year (19,248 sales to Tesla’s 23,569 as of the end of October). And that’s not counting its plug-in hybrid sales.
With two more EVs now lining up to bring its mix to a satisfying 10 models, BYD seems set to overtake Tesla in 2026. The Atto 1 comes as a budget-basement Essential starting from $23,990 and an upper-range Premium priced from $27,990, all before on-roads. The Atto 2, on the other hand, comes in the mid-range Dynamic priced from $31,990 and the top-spec Premium, which starts at $35,990 (all before on-roads).
Both are set to settle into a divot in the Australian EV market occupied by city-dwellers, P-platers, daily runabouters and anyone else who likes the thought of a car that’s easy to park and negates the need to worship the bowser.
But the appearance of several Tesla Model 3s and Ys on the marketplace of a well-known social media site could have some hesitating. They range from dated divas hailing from the heady days of 2019 to some examples that are just two years old, and at least one with less than 30,000km on the clock.
They’re not gleaming with sharp upgrades of the Model 3 Highland and the Model Y Juniper, such as sleeker lines, slimline front headlights and light bars, rear media screens, and redesigned steering wheels. But at half the price of new, and particularly for those with some battery warranty left on them (Tesla’s vehicle warranty is still a shameless 80,000km), the pricing is not to be shrugged off.
So what would you do? Buy a brand-spanking BYD or a slightly-loved Tesla? Here are the pros and cons.
At less than four metres long, the BYD Atto 1 isn’t Australia’s first pint-sized EV (the Fiat 500e and Mini Cooper E beat it there) but it is the first to dip under $25,000. That sharp drive-away figure comes with a matching battery: the Essential gets a 30kWh pack and 220km WLTP, while the Premium steps up to 43.2kWh and 310km. Both are fine for commuting, school runs, and errands, but the Essential’s real-world range will dip under 200km, which makes it a stretch for longer freeway days.
Its 3990mm length gives it a genuine hatchback footprint – much shorter than a Model 3 or Model Y – so it’s right at home in tight inner-city parking and busy shopping strips. The trade-off is space: boot capacity is 308 litres seats up and 1037 litres seats down, roughly half a Model 3’s quoted cargo volume, and there’s no frunk, so cables and clutter will live in the main boot.
Charging and performance are where the Atto 1 betrays its budget brief. DC peaks at 65kW (Essential) or 85kW (Premium), and AC charging is limited to 7kW. Against the 11kW AC and 170-250kW DC figures on the used Teslas, that means more time parked if you do venture beyond the city, though overnight home charging will easily cover typical daily use.
Performance is unsurprisingly modest. The Essential takes around 11 seconds to hit 100km/h, the Premium about nine seconds – a long pull next to a Model 3 RWD at 6.1 seconds or Model Y RWD at 6.9 seconds.
Where the Atto 1 bites back is in its Blade LFP (lithium-ion phosphate) battery and standard V2L across both trims. You can happily charge to 100 per cent day after day and still use the car as a rolling power bank for tools, laptops or a campsite – something none of the older Teslas offers.
UPDATE: There are some questions around the thermal management of the battery of both the Atto 1 and Atto 2. BYD has confirmed that neither have direct refrigerant coolant going to the battery, nor the ability to activate battery preconditioning via the app or in-car. While the battery temperature is actively managed via software, the lack of coolant reminds us of the original Nissan Leaf, which drew criticism as it affected battery capacity and range. Without this added layer of thermal management, the BYD Atto 1 could struggle to maintain range in extreme temperatures.
If the Atto 1 is the city runabout, the BYD Atto 2 is the grown-up sibling edging into small-SUV territory. At 4310 mm long it’s still shorter than a Model 3, but with a bit more cabin presence than the titchy Atto 1, making it feel more like a ‘proper’ car.
Both Dynamic and Premium trims share a 51.13kWh Blade LFP battery and 345km WLTP range. That’s a small step up on the Atto 1 Premium’s 310km, though regional drives and weekend trips may still feel like range-management exercises.
Power and performance sit in a more realistic middle ground. With 130kW and a 0-100 km/h time of 7.9 seconds, the Atto 2 won’t see which way a Long Range or Performance Tesla went, but it won’t feel lethargic either. It’s roughly a second behind a Model Y RWD and about 1.8 seconds off a Model 3 RWD. For anyone coming out of a small petrol SUV, it will feel comfortably brisk.
Charging is where the budget roots show. AC charging is capped at 7kW, so you can’t take full advantage of a three-phase 11 kW wall box the way you can with a Model 3 or Y. DC fast charging tops out at 82kW, about half the peak rate of the Teslas, so long-distance trips mean longer coffee stops and less benefit from the biggest highway chargers.
Boot space is 380 litres with the seats up and 1302 litres with them folded, which is more generous than the Atto 1 but still well shy of a Model Y’s cavernous cargo hold. What you do get is the same Blade LFP chemistry as the Atto 1 and standard V2L, so the Atto 2 keeps the ‘rolling power bank’ trick while offering more range and shove than its little sibling.
— Bridie Schmidt
If the Model 3 is the fastback all-rounder, the Tesla Model Y is the family hauler that still hits hard. It’s the most capable multi-tool here if you can live with the extra bulk and find a well-priced secondhand example.
The range and performance story mirrors the Model 3’s, just wrapped in a taller body. The RWD makes 255kW, does 0-100 km/h in 6.9 seconds and offers 455km WLTP. The Performance packs 413kW, hits 100 km/h in 3.7 seconds, and still manages 514km WLTP. The Long Range appears from 2023, sitting in the middle with dual motors, 533km WLTP and a five second 0-100 km/h time. Against that, the Atto 2 looks modest and the Atto 1 is in a completely different class.
Charging matches the Model 3: 11kW AC and high-power DC (170-250kW depending on variant). That makes the Model Y the most relaxed long-distance companion here, with shorter top-ups and more use made of big highway chargers than either BYD can manage on their 65-85/82kW peaks.
Space is its trump card. The Model Y offers 854 litres of boot space with the seats up, 2138 litres total with them down, plus a 117-litre frunk, dwarfing the Atto 1 and Atto 2. For families with prams, dogs, bikes or camping gear, that’s a huge drawcard.
Year-model differences are mostly about chemistry and tech. In 2022, the RWD used an LFP pack while dual-motor variants used NMC (nickel-manganese-cobalt). By 2023, the car shifted fully to Tesla Vision, dropping ultrasonic sensors.
The trade-offs versus the BYDs are clear: no V2L, a 4751mm footprint that’s harder to park, and far more performance and range than a city commuter strictly needs. But if you want one used EV to do school runs, holidays and everything in between, the slightly loved Model Y in the classifieds still looks like the hardest-working option of the lot.
In the end, it comes down to how much range you really need, how often you’ll hit the highway – and how you feel about running out of warranty.
On the numbers, the used Teslas still win the ‘car nerd’ spec battle. But warranty tilts the board back a bit. Tesla’s coverage is eight years/160,000km for the battery and four years/80,000km for the vehicle. Depending on build year and odometer, plenty of the ‘dated divas’ now sitting in the classifieds will be outside that four-year vehicle warranty, and earlier high-kilometre cars may already be eating into their battery coverage too. Later 2022-23 cars with lower kilometres may still have a slice of both left, but you’re buying something with the warranty clock already ticking.
BYD, by contrast, is giving you a clean slate: eight years/160,000km for the battery and six years/150,000km for the vehicle from day one. On a brand-new Atto 1 or Atto 2, that’s a lot of runway for P-platers, commuters and first-time EV buyers who’d rather not roll the dice on out-of-warranty repairs – even if the car itself is slower and won’t go as far between chargesy.
