Australian importer for BYD sent an “urgent notice” to customers advising them not to install a child restraint in the rear middle seat of the Atto 3 EV.
The note was emailed to the owner over the weekend, a few days after Atto 3 did not receive a five-star ANCAP crash rating for Australia – despite doing so in New Zealand and Europe generally follow the same NCAP protocols.
Instead, the BYD Atto 3 sold in Australia has yet to be rated, which ANCAP says is currently “working with BYD to finalize the applicability of the rating to Australian-designated models”.
“BYD Australia is in the process of resolving this issue and will provide you with further updates soon.”
There seems to be some sort of compliance issue, pending results.
The 3-year BYD Atto (according to the spec sheet) doesn’t have an accessible upper center tether attachment – although it does have top laces and ISOFIX points on each of the outer seats.
Australia’s particularly harsh design rules state that any rear seat with a seatbelt must have a top tether point for the child seat. This rule is what leads to Honda produces HR-V domestically four-seat model instead of five this early year.
It has been noted on the forums Atto 3 there is a provision for a central anchorage below the carpet, but ADR 34 requires it to be more accessible based on the wording.
It should also be noted that the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Media and the Arts previously approved the vehicle type (MA) for the Atto 3
BYD Australia’s importer EVDirect told us last week it would have a full statement explaining the matter – and rectification – by last Thursday but has yet to do so. We have repeatedly contacted its representative.
But the company told us before this matter came to light that it had met all of the ADR requirements when preparing the new car for the market.
So far ANCAP has also declined to comment.
In the meantime, EVDirect said customers should contact customercare@bydautomotive.com.au.
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