Beware of Yaris Drivers: Rear-ended BYD electric SUV and its 4,300km solar odyssey

The BYD Atto 3 electric SUV is a relatively new addition to the growing EV line-up in Australia. Its main claim to fame is its low price – well, one of the few below $A50,000 in Australia – its vehicle to load capabilities, and its popularity which has made it the best selling electric after Tesla in recent months.

Stories are now emerging of BYD Atto 3s making long journeys in Australia, just to reinforce the reality that even the lower priced EVs are perfectly capable of making such trips.

One that caught our eye comes courtesy of Blair Pester, the managing director in Australia of solar company Winaico, who traveled with employee Colin Hill in the latter’s newly acquired, and newly rear-ended, BYD Atto 3 on a 4,300km odyssey from south-east Queensland to the north of the state and back again. It cost them a grand total of $179, Pester says.

The purpose of the trip was to inspect solar installations along the way and visit customers.

“We travelled from Brisbane to Warwick to plug into the 62MW solar farm, then right up to Port Douglas to the very end of the Super Electric Highway, and then back to the off-grid Linked Systems manufacturing facility in Mackay,” Pester says, adding that there were some lengthy side trips along the way.

“We had an absolute blast and learnt a great about the infrastructure and the planning side of things.

“Many of our customers and the hotels we stayed in had chargers, and the Yurika charging network combined with the Chargefox software made it an absolute breeze.”

All told, the BYD travelled 4,300km and used 859.52kWh – of which 490.49kW came via Chargefox, 104.29kW from the house of the BYD owner, and the remaining 264kW for free from businesses and motels. The total cost: $179;