Chinese Rival to Santa Fe Unveiled: BYD Atto 8

At the Paris 2026 Motor Show, BYD unveiled its seven-seat flagship, the Atto 8, sending a serious message to European carmakers.

Amir Masoud Abedin: During the Paris 2026 Auto Show, the giant Chinese car manufacturer, BYD, put a number on the competition table that few car manufacturers dare to approach: "9 minutes!". This is exactly when the brand's new 7-seater flagship, the Atto 8 model, needs to charge its battery from near-empty to fully charged when connected to special chargers; A claim that takes the challenges of charging electric cars to a new level.

Auto 8, which is the largest and most luxurious BYD SUV for the Green Continent market, uses the second generation of the famous Blade batteries with a capacity of 115 kWh and is scheduled to go to European dealerships in the first quarter of 2027. This car is more than 5 meters long and nearly 2 meters wide, and is aimed directly at the segment of three-row and family crossovers and is considered a serious benchmark for its European competitors.

Luxury and modern cabin for family trips

The interior of Auto 8 is decorated with an integrated panoramic roof of 2.4 square meters and a large central display of 15.6 inches; The same technological combination expected from a modern flagship. "Stella Lee", the senior vice president of BYD, has considered this car as a proof of the realization of the smart ambitions of this brand.

Of course, it should be noted that despite the arrangement of seats for 7 people, the third row in SUVs of this size is more suitable for children or short urban distances; However, BYD bet that what sets this car apart from the competition is not just the flexibility of the seats, but the extraordinary battery capacity and its unparalleled charging speed.

764 horsepower and high range of motion

BYD offers its new flagship in two versions. The rear differential version (Design) with a power of 455 horsepower accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 5.8 seconds and according to the European WLTP standard, it covers a distance of 650 km on a single charge.

For those interested in more speed and power, the all-wheel drive version (Excellence) has been prepared. Using two electric motors, this version produces an amazing power of 764 hp and a torque of 774 Nm, and the relatively large size of the car reaches a speed of 100 km/h in only 4.6 seconds. Of course, the range of this version is slightly reduced and reaches about 600 km.

Flash Charging technology and challenges

The most interesting part of Auto 8 specification is its "Flash Charging" technology. BYD claims that it takes only 5 minutes to charge the battery from 10 to 70% and only 9 minutes to charge it from 10 to 97%; The speed that Stella Lee called a revolution in electric cars and equivalent to the refueling time of a gasoline car.

Of course, these amazing numbers have an important condition, and that is the use of BYD's own 1500 kW chargers. If you connect to normal chargers, the charging speed will be limited by the power of that station; A vital thing to keep in mind, because BYD only plans to build 3,000 dedicated stations across Europe by the end of 2027. Also, in very cold weather (minus 30 degrees Celsius), the charging time from 10 to 97% increases by 3 minutes to 12 minutes, which is still considered a unique and wonderful number.