The BYD Atto 3 is one of the best-selling electric SUVs made by Chinese automotive giant BYD. Its assisted driving features recently marked its lowest safety score of all time. Independent bodies said the vehicle’s high-level driver assistance systems in the car were supposed to aid the driver in executing tasks like lane-keeping, adaptive cruise control, and emergency braking, all of which failed to come up to par with their peers.

This outcome casts grave doubts on the trustworthiness and safety of BYD’s autonomous technology, especially in the emerging EV market, where ADAS features play an increasingly central role. Future electric vehicles are supposed to offer both environmental benefits and advanced safety capabilities. Auto manufacturers like Tesla, Volvo, and Mercedes have raised the bar with respect to assisted driving performance, and thus this evaluation was a severe blow for BYD.

Going by the repute BYD has cultivated for affordable electric cars capable of quite long ranges, this result may, however, imperil the Atto 3’s feasibility beyond China, particularly in Europe and Australia. The inadequacies of the ADAS also raise the specter of whether the aggressive expansion strategy at the expense of sorely needed quality tests has been carried to an extreme by the firm.

Going forward, BYD has to rectify these lacunas in time. The needs may come in the form of updates of the software, the system rebalancing or further driver training to become even safer. Better ADAS is becoming increasingly paramount for gaining consumer confidence and keeping in step with legislations and demands, most particularly in places which hope to prohibit combustion-engine automobiles within a decade.

Whether the Atto 3 can bounce back from this reverse depends entirely on BYD’s efficiency in response. If improvements are done quickly and efficiently, the company can still rely on its renowned battery technologies as well as affordability to retain market share. The automaker will, however need to demonstrate a further commitment to safety to regain consumer confidence.

With more car manufacturers coming into the scene, testing and developing autonomous driving systems, BYD and other manufacturers will be put under high safety standards. Whether BYD can push through this challenge or if the Atto 3 can bounce back is something to be known in the future.