BYD Problems

The BYD Atto 3 is built in China, Thailand and India, with Australian examples being produced in China.

The Seal is built by Chinese automaker BYD in China.

The BYD Seal can be charged according to two different methods at home, the fastest being through a 7kW AC wall unit. These can cost anywhere from $800 to $2000, with additional charges depending on your energy provider and the state you live in. On average in Australia, at home costs range between 21 to 36 cents per kW, while there are no additional charges if your charger is hooked up to a renewable source such as solar. The overall charging time on the Dynamic variant is nine hours, while that time extends to 12 hours on the Premium and Performance variants. The other method is a standard AC wall socket, which charges at a standard rate of 240V. BYD says this will take 17 hours on the Dynamic or 23 hours on the Premium and Performance. That said, public charging stations are by far the quickest.

Your budget puts you into some good EVs with decent range including the BYD Seal, Cupra Born, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Polestar 2 (just outside your budget), Tesla Model 3 and others.

Resale value is the big unknown at the moment with many used-car buyers wary of the potential costs of replacing the EV battery sometime in the future.

The future-proofing thing is debatable, too, and experts reckon EV technology is still in its infancy and has a long way to go. If that’s the case, then today’s EVs might seem like Model T Fords in the near future. It all remains to be seen and rests partly on the willingness of the Australian government to get serious about the EV infrastructure necessary for the tech to become viable for more people.

The BYD Dolphin can be charged according to two different methods at home, the fastest being through a 7kW AC wall unit. These can cost anywhere from $800 to $2000, with additional charges depending on your energy provider and the state you live in. On average in Australia, at home costs range between 21 to 36 cents per kW, while there are no additional charges if your charger is hooked up to a renewable source such as solar. The overall charging time on the Dynamic variant is six hours, while that time extends to eight hours on the Premium variant. The other method is a standard AC wall socket, which charges at a standard rate of 240V. BYD says this will take 23 hours on the Dynamic or 30 hours on the Premium. The quickest method overall is at a public charging point. A DC fast charger with 50kW capacity will see a 0-80 per cent charge in 45 minutes on the Dynamic variant, rising to 60 minutes on the Premium variant. A DC fast charger with 100kW+ capacity will see that time drop to 36 minutes on both variants. Costs depend greatly depending on location, whether it is a peak period or not, and what the charger’s capacity is, though you should never pay more than $40 for a full charge.

The BYD Atto 3 can be charged according to two different methods at home, the fastest being through a 7kW AC wall unit. These can cost anywhere from $800 to $2000, with additional charges depending on your energy provider and the state you live in. On average in Australia, at home costs range between 21 to 36 cents per kW, while there are no additional charges if your charger is hooked up to a renewable energy source such as solar. The overall charging time on the Standard Range variant is seven hours, while that time extends to nine hours on the Long Range variant. The other method is a standard AC wall socket, which charges at a standard rate of 240V. BYD says this will take 25 hours on the Standard Range or 30 hours on the Long Range. The quickest method overall is at a public charging point. A DC fast charger with 50kW capacity will see a 0-80 per cent charge on the Standard Range variant reached in 50 minutes, rising to 60 minutes on the Long Range variant. A DC fast charger with 100kW+ capacity will see that time drop to 40 and 42 minutes, respectively. Costs depend greatly depending on location, whether it is a peak period or not, and what the charger’s capacity is, though you should never pay more than $40 for a full charge.