For those who've done a long road trip in a BYD - what do you actually wish you'd known before leaving?

Don’t rely on having the charger working with limited charge—be able to drive one stop further. Always charge short periods more often than big sessions less often.

Your realistic range at highway speeds would be around 350km, so consider your comfortable max is 280-300km. If your Atto 3 is a 22-23 model avoid Tesla superchargers. They won't work with v4 stalls. They can work with v3, but I would just exclude them in this case. If you plan to use a route planner make sure it is not including Tesla superchargers that are Tesla only. Check plugshare map if chargers are online. Some don't report the status, so check recent comments and you'll be fine. Charging up to 80% is the fastest and then it will start to slow down. The most time efficient strategy is to stop more often and charge to 80-90%. I would recommend trying ABRP app for the route planning. It is pretty accurate.

I've done this exact trip in that exact car, and my range was roughly 320 km (I'm a bit of a speeder.... shhhh). DON'T stop anywhere near Coffs Harbour. You've been warned - it's absolute RUBBISH for fast charging. Check ABRP and plugshare to make sure the charger you're aiming for is actually working. Lessons learned! All up, it's very doable. You'll be fine.

For Atto 3 extended I'd actually plan for about 250km between charge stops so that you've got a bit extra in the tank just in case. ABRP is pretty good and I've always had it slightly underestimate my arrival battery %.  Make sure you configure it to ignore Tesla chargers if you have a 2023 model or older unless you already had the Tesla fix applied. Check the chargers ABRP recommends. Look them up in plugshare and make sure they're still operating. Sometimes you might have just 2 stalls and one or both are broken.  Get at least Evie, Chargefox, Ampol and BP charging apps set up before you leave and add your CC to them. Don't rely on just one.  Order an RFID fob from _one_ provider and add it to as many of the others as you can. Tap to charge is really convenient compared to fiddling with the apps, and sometimes reception is bad and the apps don't work. Have a type 2 cable in your boot in case you get caught short and need to top up on an AC charger.  I personally would not trust the route planning in the inbuilt nav. ABRP on my phone to figure out charge stops then Android Auto for navigation has always worked for me! Good luck! The first one is a learning experience then after that it's pretty easy.

[BYD Seal Bricked in Coffs Harbour ](https://youtu.be/SEZSESAnpCo?si=XtqttMt6lmzG15bt)

Leave early if you plan to charge at Ballina highway service centre - better to go into Ballina near Maccas

Ignore those that say it’s doable it’s horrendous ! We had 12 on fleet and the stress for our drivers doing distance was too much. Honestly it’s pointless. We only use our petrol if a run is over 200km. We’re. Down to 4 EVs now.

[deleted]

We hired a Tesla & done Melbourne to Philip Island back. Absolutely loved the car but we also thought it's nearly as expensive as petrol car & definitely not worth the stress of charging, a couple of the chargers were in hotels & seemed people just leave there cars on charge. Never again for long distance.

Just recently drove a sealion 7 past Sydney to Brisbane, on the highway we got 69% of the range. That is to say, we drove 69km on the highway and the car says 100km of range used. Just FYI

Atto2 Premium (100% full) Port Melbourne to Castlemaine round trip 250km.ABRP was close to correct. Highway use up a lot of power! Went down a lot on highway conditions! Made it back with yellow warnings and now Charing at home!

Have a look at this: [https://www.youtube.com/@EVAdventuresDownUnder](https://www.youtube.com/@EVAdventuresDownUnder) Kid has driven around Australia in his Kia Niro, easy watch and lots of info.

As someone who is planning to do Brisbane to Coffs and back, Ballina was going to be my mid way charge. Good tip. Thanks!

Apart from Moonee Beach Markets - where there are 15 Tesla Superchargers….. I’d actually recommend that you do stop here!

(As of my last trip) There’s only two plugs at the BP Pulse at the service centre and they get throttled when both are in use - *if* you can even get one without queueing. My new option is top up at South Tweed and try and skip through to Tynedale near Maclean. Coffs can be hit and miss on “out of order” warnings but I’ve always been able to get a charge. My Atto 3 is an early one and I can’t use Tesla superchargers even if they’re open to other models

Unless you have a 2022/2023 Atto 3

There really is no stress, you just need to know what chargers are on your route and plan accordingly. Most times the charge times would coincide with your break anyway. The prices for charging on long trips are not the same as you would get, just charging every day. Sometimes when you know where you are going and what is available you get free charging.

We travelled through remote areas of central Australia a decade ago in an ICE 4x4 with a smallish fuel tank, and that took less planning than seems to be needed for a trip up or down the east coast in an EV… I’d love an EV, but the infrastructure is a clusterf*ck. So we have a PHEV.

is this with or without aircon running?

Don't be afraid to drop down to 100ish when safe to eek out a few more k's if needed

Winding the windows down would affect range more than air con

But then there is a pretty barren run from Coffs to Byron with limited charging options

I can't use Tesla superchargers, but thanks anyway

Does custom electrical work with a high current audio amplifier. Blames charger. Surprised Pikachu face… Not saying I know the cause, but that’s a bit rich blaming the charger when you have an auxiliary power coming out of the 12V battery that’s not intended to be there.

"Pre war" threw my brain for a second there. I was like why's he talking about World War 2 😆

You’ll first realise the frustration of unreliable chargers, then curse yourself that you either can’t use the Tesla ones because they’re not open to you, or you have one of the incompatible BYDs that BYD said fuck you to owner of instead of fixing it. Always plan to charge where there is another charger bank nearby to minimize chance of being stuck without one, and take ur granny charger and a rated extension cord

With air con running on eco mode

the question is not about that, it’s about difference to indicated range. You could just turn the fan on to get fresh air inside if it’s cooler outside and avoid opening windows. Driving at 110km/h with windows down would not be fun.

I've done the trip 3 times in my Atto3. Generally use Evie chargers, get an RFID card from them before you go. Some of their chargers automatically start as soon as you plug in your car, but not all. I got caught out at Tyndale as I couldn't get a mobile signal on Telstra or Vodafone so couldn't start chsrging in the app. Luckily the servo hosting thr Evie chargers had WiFi so had to use that. I also used NRMA/Chargefox in Coffs Harbour and the one in Thrumster near Port Macquarie. Install ABRP before you go.

The BYD range estimate in these are terrible for prolonged high speed journeys. The last 10% of charge can drain very quickly. Zero charge is game over, there is very little reserve. Try Abetter Route Planner (ABRP), it can be much better at estimating your range and planning charging stops.

I have an Atto 3 and do Brisbane to Forster a couple of times a year. My preferred charging spots (after some trial and error) are Ballina Central shopping centre (there is a good coffee shop near Kmart) , followed by Macksville Ampol for a second charge and lunch. It's a cute little town and nice to stretch my legs walking down to the river to get a sandwich/coffee. Avoid Coffs at all costs- always queues and generally slow. As others have said, download all your apps and set up accounts in advance (I haven't bothered with any RFID cards), and check for outages. I also tend to avoid BP chargers are they are pretty slow if 2 vehicles are charging at once. Plus you're generally at an awful food court with no good choices. Also someone posted on Reddit a rule of 3km per % charge on the highway in summer for an Atto 3. Worked for me. Ie about 250km if you are risk averse like me and like a 15% buffer

Less than rolling your windows down = not a heap of difference

My AMG V8 TT gets about 500km out of a tank of petrol, 5mins to fill 🤣 I do like BYD EVs but probably wait for solid state battery before getting one.

That is a punishing price that makes it just not worth it.

We made it in an Atto 3 from Adelaide to Newcastle NSW via Broken Hill over a few days. We would do the sums re distance/kwh and became intimately acquainted with the second-by-second kwh usage and the things that affect it. Speed hurts (even an extra 5km/h). Hills hurt. Heat hurts (fan cools the battery or something and take a lot of energy when you start off). Make sure you have reception the whole way as you can't use the charging apps without it. We nearly always used NRMA chargers - customer service were great when the chargers were not working with reboots etc. We also found that our particular Atto 3 model wasn't compatible with the Telstra fast chargers without a $500 upgrade. We found wineries on the outskirts of towns were often better charging options than the ones in supermarket carparks... Last thing to note is there is rarely shade at the chargers so your car heats up a lot in the sun.

Why are you posting here?

probably main one if how to maximise your range - getting regen right, relying on ACC, not sending it on the open road etc obviously not as fun but on a big highway run it can make a massive difference

Travelled to Bowen from Brisbane and back 3 times last year in an Atto 3. Also Adelaide to Ceduna in 2024. Tips: Yurika chargers on Queensland's electric highway are rubbish - you can use them but, the cable can be on the short side. None of these chargers are fast chargers either. NRMA chargers are much better and offer faster charging, however if parked next to a Tesla using the other cable on the unit (normally there are 2 chargers cables per unit) the Tesla gets priority and a faster charge rate - I experienced this in Rockhampton. Sign up for Chargefox and get a RFID tag - massive time Saver as not all charger locations are working 100% for syncing with your phone app. Chargefox RFID tags also work with NRMA, Yurika and RAA chargers. Evie charging network doesn't really have many locations outside of cities. You can use Tesla chargers for an Atto 3 but then you have the hassle of signing up with Tesla (also connectivity issues between the charger unit and the app). Best charging network belongs to the RAA (in case you were wondering).

Get a Type 2 to Type 2 cable. It's surprising how many chargers especially around shopping centers require you to bring your own cable. Could save you in a tight spot.

Don't know why the down votes. The infrastructure isn't keeping pace with ev sales. Government should be doing it themselves instead of outsourcing.