BYD's ATTO 8 charges a seven-seater in nine minutes, if you can find the charger

BYD unveiled the ATTO 8 at the Paris Motor Show today: a seven-seat SUV that goes above the SEALION 7 as the top of the range, on sale in the first quarter of 2027. It is 5,040 mm long, 1,996 mm wide and 1,760 mm tall, which puts it alongside a Hyundai IONIQ 9 or a Volvo EX90.

The interesting part is the battery. The ATTO 8 is the first BYD in Europe with the second-generation Blade pack, and that pack is what makes FLASH Charging possible. Until today, the only car on this site that could do it was the DENZA Z9 GT, from BYD's luxury brand, at £105,000.

BYD quotes three times for it. On a FLASH charger the 115 kWh pack goes from 10 to 70% in five minutes and from 10 to 97% in nine. At -30°C, 20 to 97% takes twelve. BYD's slogan for it is "ready in 5, full in 9, cold add 3".

Do the sums and that is about 100 kWh in nine minutes, an average of well over 600 kW. The quickest car on this site before FLASH Charging is the XPENG X9, another seven-seater, at 542 kW, and it takes 12 minutes to get from 10 to 80%. The IONIQ 9 takes 24 minutes, the EX90 22, the Kia EV9 24 and the Škoda Peaq 28. The ATTO 8 stops at 97% in less time than any of them takes to reach 80%.

Be careful comparing those numbers. Almost every maker quotes 10 to 80%, because charging slows down sharply after that. BYD quotes 10 to 97%, which is a harder test, so the gap is wider than the minutes suggest.

The range is also good. The Design RWD has a single 462 PS motor at the back, does 0 to 62 mph in eight seconds and is rated at 405 miles WLTP. The Excellence AWD adds a front motor for 775 PS and 4.6 seconds, and still manages 374 miles. That is a long way, but it does not lead the class: the Peugeot e-5008 Long Range is rated at 413 miles from a 97 kWh battery.

The catch is that none of this works on an ordinary rapid charger. FLASH Charging needs one of BYD's own FLASH chargers. Any car with a CCS socket can plug into one, but only a car with the new Blade pack gets the full speed. And the release does not say how fast the ATTO 8 charges on the 150 and 350 kW chargers that make up the UK's network today.

So the question is how many FLASH chargers there will be. The release promises 3,000 across Europe by the end of 2027 and does not say how many of those are in Britain. In August, BYD UK said it would install 300 here within a year, at BYD and DENZA showrooms, motorway services and existing charging hubs, and that the first site would open within weeks. BYD hoped to charge BYD drivers around 50p a kWh, but has not set a price.

Three hundred sites would make FLASH Charging something you could plan a trip around. A handful would make it a party trick. By the time the first ATTO 8s arrive, it should be clear which it is.

The cabin is aimed at families who use all seven seats. Both versions have leather upholstery, heated, ventilated and massaging seats in the front and on the outer seats of the middle row, tri-zone climate control with its own panel for the rear, a 15.6 inch screen with Google built-in, a 10.25 inch driver display and a 26 inch head-up display. There is a fridge in the front that cools to -6°C and warms to 50°C, two 50 W wireless phone chargers, and USB-C ports in every row. The Design has ten speakers and the Excellence 21.

With all seven seats up there are 270 litres of boot, and 1,960 litres with the back two rows folded. There is also a 136 litre front boot, which BYD says takes an overnight case.

BYD has not given UK prices. A 115 kWh seven-seater will almost certainly cost more than the £37,000 limit for the Electric Car Grant, so where it is built, which the release does not say, is unlikely to matter. We will add the prices when BYD publishes them.