Ask John Green what he loves most about his BYD Atto 3 electric vehicle and the answer can be quite long.
For starters, John says: “It’s fun to drive, its quiet and all this adds up to driving pleasure.” He loves how easy it is to manoeuvre at any speed compared to a combustion engine car, with fast acceleration from traffic lights and intersections.
Also on his list is the fact that it’s an SUV so it’s a good height for getting in and out of easily. The faux leather seats are comfortable, and the display is hi-tech but user-friendly. John was able to test drive a car in Brisbane before placing his order online, and he’s now been driving it for just over a year, covering about 20,000 kilometres.
John was inspired to research EV options, foremost so he could reduce his emissions footprint. He wanted to be an early adopter to the uptake of EVs and be part of the environmental solution. But financial benefits were also part of the pull. After reading as widely as he could on EV models, John thought the BYD was good value for money and all the motoring reviews he found were positive.
“I didn’t find anything that would stop me buying it. And it was $20,000 less than buying a Tesla.” Clearly, other drivers in Australia share John’s enthusiasm with the Chinese-made BYD fast catching up to Tesla as the highest selling EV in Australia despite only being on the market here for less than two years.
Another positive feature John likes is the ’60 kilowatt hour battery’ that gives it a range of 400 kms, and the Blade battery technology developed by BYD allows him to fully charge or fully run down the battery if needed – compared to other models that recommend only charging between 20 per cent to 80 per cent to enhance the battery life.
While the EV cost about $49,000 John got a rebate of $6000 from the Queensland Government. EVs also require less servicing than petrol or diesel cars – and these services are cheaper. John’s most recent service cost $174.
And to top all this off, John is saving on fuel costs. John calculates that charging at home costs about $11 for a 400km range, compared to the $60 to $70 he was previously paying for diesel to cover the same distance. These savings in fuel and servicing add up to several thousand dollars a year.
“I find charging my car is like charging my phone. I drive in and I plug it in if it needs it” says John. He has installed a wall charger in his garage that draws on his housing complex’s embedded solar system.
As most of his trips are around the Sunshine Coast, he rarely needs to use external charging stations. His longest trip was to the Gold Coast and it was easy enough to find charging stations along the way. Range anxiety hasn’t been a concern. John believes that with charging stations now rolling out faster than ever, and the availability of apps to let you know when and where to charge it’s getting easier.
His bright red, quiet and comfortable EV is also piquing the interest of his friends and neighbours with several having now purchased different BYD models now available in Australia, including the Dolphin and Seal.
To learn more, come to our EV and Electrify Everything Expo on 16 June 9am-1pm, Sunshine Beach Road, Noosa Junction to find out how you too can save. Go to noosaevexpo.com.au for more details. Are you interested in finding out more or joining Zero Emissions Noosa? Go to zeroemissionsnoosa.com.au
