Australia’s cheapest electric car is off to a strong start on the sales charts, but it’s not the most affordable version garnering the most deposits. Two in three buyers of the BYD Atto 1, Australia’s cheapest electric car, don’t actually opt for the version bearing the title of Australia’s cheapest electric car. BYD reported 488 sales of the Atto 1 in March 2026, making it the brand’s best seller that isn’t an SUV or ute, despite being a city hatchback – a category declining in popularity – with a compact cabin for four.
The Atto 1 Premium, priced from $27,990 plus on-road costs and rated with 310km of WLTP driving range, has accounted for 70 per cent of sales, over the $23,990 Essential with just 220km of range. BYD Australia chief operating officer Stephen Collins told Drive the Essential is still drawing customers into the door on its low price. MORE: BYD Atto 1 could shake up Australia’s light car market “We also priced it and specced to match the market so, yeah, the mix is not that far off what we thought it would be.
Overall we’re really happy with how it’s performing.” He said it is not coming at the expense of the larger Dolphin, which is priced from $29,990 plus on-roads for fewer features than the Atto 1 Premium, but a roomier car with five seats and rated for 345km of range. “We thought initially there might be [cannibalisation], but it’s not sort of playing out that way. Again, the buyers are similar, but you know, Dolphin’s certainly holding its own, so not a lot of cannibalisation,” said Collins.
BYD reported 373 Dolphins as sold last month, up 334 per cent year-on-year, though March 2025 was a slow month for the brand’s electric cars as it awaited stock of an updated 2025 model-year range. MORE: 2026 BYD Atto 1 price and specs The Atto 1’s early success is ahead of early forecast of 300 sales per month, though it remains to be seen if it continues as pre-orders – of which 1600 were collected in the first few weeks of sales – are cleared. When the Atto 1 went on sale last year, it and the Dolphin were among the few sub-$35,000 electric cars available.
They have now been joined by the GAC Aion UT, offered until recently for $30,990 drive-away, plus the GWM Ora 5 ($33,990 drive-away) and MG 4 Urban ($31,990 drive-away). The fuel crisis caused by conflict in the Middle East has assisted demand for electric cars, prompting 30,000 BYDs to be sent to Australia in April and May, a tripling of typical shipments. MORE: 2026 BYD Atto 1 and Atto 2 prices become cheapest electric car, SUV in Australia “We’ve certainly seen an uplift, and the really exciting thing for us is that we have a very vertically integrated supply chain,” said Collins. “So with we can deliver cars in April, May, June for orders that we’ve taken probably unlike any other OEM [car manufacturer], I reckon.” → Add Drive as a preferred source in Google Search