Road Trips

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

Published by
Giles Parkinson

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.

Blair Pester and BYD owner Colin Hill charging at a Yurika charging spot.

“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.”

The BYD outside the Frosty Mango. No charger there.

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;

The BYD had been rear-ended shortly after its purchase in December, which caused the owner to repurpose the car maker’s BYD acronym to Beware of Yaris Drivers. (BYD normally stands for Build Your Dreams, and Hill says he has no ill will against Yaris drivers, it’s just that the acronym was too good to ignore).
The rear-ended BYD charging at the first hydro station built in Far North Queensland.
This photo above shows the rear-ended BYD charging  at Paronella Park, the first private hydro power station in far north Queensland, and sitting alongside a Toyota 4WD whose owner obviously feels entitled to park in an EV charging spot.
Pester observes: “The hydro-electric system utilised in Paronella Park was the earliest application of hydro-electric technology in North Queensland, and as such is both rare and significant as an example of creative and technical achievement, and has the potential to reveal further information about the development and application of this technology.

“In 1933 Paronella installed a hydro-electric system which harnessed the waterfall. The system used an aqueduct from the top of the falls across to an inlet pit.

“The water then fell 30 feet, and was within the capacity of the turbine, an English model with variable pitch inlet valves to control the flow, which was directly coupled to a DC generator which was ex-army stock and which Paronella acquired cheaply. Engineers from the South Johnstone Sugar Mill helped to design and install the system.”

P.S. The author bears no grudge against Yaris drivers, his wife and daughter both own one.

 

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