Given the brutal prices of gasoline, tech blogger Elly Awesome has found an electric car “affordable” and some people even get a $ 3,000 sweetener.
Gasoline prices are brutal right now and I know everyone feels painful filling up. That’s why, in part, I’ve been tasked with finding travel alternatives, such as electric vehicles, to save money.
This research has led me to find out if there are any “affordable” electric cars available in Australia and has left me pleasantly surprised by what is on the horizon.
Recently, I became interested in the Chinese brand of electric vehicles called BYD (short for Build Your Dreams).
It’s a quirky brand, but the company has a lot of merit when it comes to making electric cars.
BYD started as a battery manufacturing company and remains a well-known battery brand and almost twenty years ago they started producing cars.
In fact, there are many BYD vehicles used as public transportation vehicles in China and here you may have even seen or been on the buses at Electric Blu Sydney Airport, which are BYD electric vehicles.
Needless to say, while BYD is a relatively new brand for Australians, this car company is poised to make a splash in the Aussie electric vehicle market.
More than 3,600 people have reportedly already made a $ 1,000 pre-order deposit for BYD’s Act 3 via EVDirect (the only Australian importer) earlier this year.
This will be the first BYD car to be launched in Australia and will arrive in July for $ 44,990. This will be the cheapest electric car in Australia ever, and if you place an order in NSW, you’re even likely to opt for a government discount for electric vehicles that offers you a $ 3,000 refund. The car is available in four colors (red, blue, gray and white) and the battery can offer more than 400 km of autonomy from a full charge.
What’s even more exciting is that it is rumored that EVDirect will also import BYD’s smallest car, colloquially known as BYD Dolphin, later this year. And it is rumored that the Dolphin will cost around A $ 35,000, which would then reign supreme as Australia’s cheapest electric car by far. This will no doubt make it a genuine alternative to mid-range petrol cars.
I recently checked out these two cars at the BYD showroom in Sydney and marveled at their features. Both have extremely futuristic interiors with large rotating touch screens in the center of the dashboard, wireless phone charging capabilities, regenerative braking (which recharges the battery while braking) and support for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto will arrive in the fourth quarter of 2022 .
More exciting, they both have vehicle charging adapters that allow you to connect and power any normal home appliance (with a three-pronged plug), such as a TV, laptop charger, blender, or generator.
Both cars have about 400km of full charge and can be charged at home with the car plugged into a wall (but it’s very slow!) Or faster at a charging station.
At an electric vehicle charging station, both cars are expected to charge from about 30% to 80% battery power in just 30 minutes if you use a fast charger.
And in my experience, fully charging an electric car at a public charging station in Australia will only cost you between $ 7 and $ 10 on average. And unlike previous hybrid or electric vehicles with a disappointing battery life, the BYD Atto 3 (Dolphin Unknown) includes a seven-year warranty, which gives you confidence in your long-term investment in electric vehicles.
Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to test any of the cars yet, just play with them in the showroom, but I’m very excited to test the Atto 3 in the coming months. Starting in June or July, the Act 3 should be available for testing at the BYD showroom in Sydney, but more information will be available through the Australian company EVDirect.
Elly Awesome is an Australian technology and lifestyle vlogger. | @ellyawesometech | YouTube