The Electric Crossover VOTY winner for 2023 is the BYD Atto 3 Extended Range.
For 2023, we’ve had to add a bunch of categories to accommodate the growing range of electric vehicles that have been brought in. The Malaysian government has heavily incentivised EVs by way of tax exemptions and tax rebates. The Electric Crossover category caters to the most popular slice of the EV market. The clear winner for us had an uphill battle on its hands. They managed to convince over 1,000 (and now perhaps 2,000) Malaysian customers to try out not just new propulsion technology but also a completely unfamiliar nameplate.
Our winner is of course the BYD Atto 3 in its Extended Range variant. This value-for-money, attractive Chinese made EV crossover comes as standard with a 12.8″ rotating touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a Portable Key Card, Auto air conditioning, 4 USB ports, full LED lighting, a panoramic sunroof, a 5″ digital instrument cluster, full synthetic leather upholstery, electrically adjustable front seats, support for DC Fast Charging and Vehicle-to-Load power supply.
The version we liked adds a larger battery capacity, 18” wheels, faster DC charging, a one-touch tailgate, multi-colour ambient lighting, an 8-speaker Dirac HD sound system, a wireless Qi charger and a PM 2.5 air filter.
BYD managed to attract a sizeable number of Malaysian customers with its 6-year/150,000km vehicle warranty, 8-year/160,000km battery warranty, and an 8-year/150,000km drive unit warranty.
ABOUT VOTY 2023
The Allianz DSF.my Vehicle Of The Year (VOTY) Award ceremony is the first and only vehicle award event in Malaysia that does not hand out paid awards, nor does it charge winners or participating brands any fee whatsoever. Winners are allowed to use the VOTY event logo free of charge in all marketing materials. Event attendees are not even charged for their seat at the award presentation. All car manufacturers that operate in Malaysia are invited to participate free of charge. All they have to do is let our judges test drive their nominated vehicles.
The nominated vehicles must have been launched in Malaysia in the last 12 months and cannot be a localised minor facelift (body-kits, stickers, wheel upgrades, etc). All judging is independent and is put down to a vote before the winners are selected. Car manufacturers are not informed if they are winning or not before the event.
