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Nov 08, 2024

I was living in a Tesla charging bubble

I recently drove a BYD Seal between Sydney and Melbourne to attend the All Energy Australia conference and exhibition. This not only gave me the opportunity to thoroughly test the Seal over a long

I recently drove a BYD Seal between Sydney and Melbourne to attend the All Energy Australia conference and exhibition. This not only gave me the opportunity to thoroughly test the Seal over a long road trip, it also led me to realise I had been living in a Tesla charging bubble.

After 5 years and many road trips in my Model 3, I have grown accustomed to the Tesla Supercharging experience and no longer plan ahead for long journeys. This includes a few holidays in Queensland, one trip to Tasmania and countless drives between Sydney and Coffs Harbour to visit family.

Route planning in a Tesla works extremely well, in my experience, and all of the charging stops are mapped out for you once you enter a destination, provided there are enough Superchargers along the way. The example below shows navigation from Sydney to Melbourne in a Model Y Performance, with 4 recommended charging stops.

I mostly rely on the Tesla Supercharger network because I find the chargers are always working and there are generally free spots, with availability improving further in the past year or two since Tesla has opened multiple new sites with up to 12 stalls. Most of these new sites were government supported, so are open to non-Tesla vehicles.

Prior to these new Superchargers, there were occasional bottlenecks, such as when I drove from Sydney to Melbourne on Boxing Day in 2022 and had to wait about 45 minutes to plug in at Wodonga, where all 6 stalls were occupied and 6 Teslas were already waiting as I arrived. This is the only time I ever needed to queue for a Supercharger though.

A year later in December 2023, this bottleneck was eliminated when Tesla opened its Albury, NSW Supercharger site with 16 stalls, still the largest in the country as far as I’m aware. A site originally planned for 20 stalls in Benalla, VIC has not yet appeared on Tesla’s Supercharger map.

Occasionally I use other DC fast charging networks too, usually because there are better food options or amenities nearby. However, if those chargers are unavailable I feel comfortable knowing I can always fall back to the nearest Supercharger.

The first charging stop on my trip down to Melbourne in the BYD Seal was going to be the upgraded Supercharger V4 site at Yass, NSW with 12 stalls. I was aware of earlier BYD Atto 3 and Seal vehicles having issues with Tesla V3 or V4 Superchargers, although I neglected to check if this BYD press car had the fix applied.

After trying two different stalls without any luck, I realised this Seal was not going to charge successfully so I would have to rely on other charging networks for the rest of the trip. After topping up at the nearby Yass NRMA charger and then Evie Wodonga without issue, the final stop before Melbourne was Chargefox near Euroa.

Despite 2 out the 4 CCS2 chargers at this RACV / Chargefox location being capable of up to 350 kW, Plugshare states that they are temporarily curtailed to a maximum of 100 kW across the 2 stations. For some reason the BYD Seal was only receiving 36 kW at a low state of charge while a Volvo XC40 Recharge next to me was getting close to 50 kW.

I tried moving to a different charger but charging speeds did not improve. By that time 2 more EVs had arrived, including an as yet unreleased XPeng G6. Given all of the remaining spots were now taken I had no choice but to keep charging for another 40 minutes at an average of 32 kW.

After arriving in Melbourne on Tuesday night with around 30% charge remaining, I left the Seal parked safely for 2 days while attending All Energy. It was a fun and busy 2 days so I departed Melbourne early on Friday morning with the car still on 30% as it was parked without access to trickle charge overnight.

On the return trip to Sydney I became acutely aware that not having access to the Tesla Supercharging network can sometimes lead to a very different charging experience to the one I was accustomed to.

Before leaving Melbourne I charged for 45 minutes at Evie North Fitzroy to give the Seal enough energy to make the next available fast chargers on the highway. The next stop was a quick top up at BP Pulse Glenrowan. Initially the car was charging at close to the 75 kW maximum but this halved when another EV plugged in next to us.

Given the slow charging speeds there, I decided to unplug and head for the Chargefox at Barnawartha North which was supposed to have 2 ultra rapid 350 kW and 2 more 50 kW chargers. On the way there, Plugshare showed 1 of the 350 kW stations was out of order but the other was free.

Unfortunately, the remaining 350 kW charger was actually out of order. It showed up as available in the Chargefox app but charging would not initiate, stuck on the “Preparing to charge” screen. I later reported this via the Chargefox app so hopefully they have fixed it.

I briefly tried one of the 50 kW Kempower chargers but the Seal was mysteriously capped at 36 kW again, even though the battery was at 19 % state of charge. This time there were no other cars charging at all, as opposed to Euroa where all stations were occupied.

The fourth and final charging stop before leaving Victoria was Evie Wodonga on Hume Street. This is another 50 kW charger so it took over an hour to charge up enough to continue north, thankfully it was delivering close to the advertised speed and was free upon arrival.

Goulburn would have been a nice distance for the next charging stop but my bad luck had seemingly not run out yet, with the ultra-rapid NRMA / Chargefox stations there showing up as faulted in the app. So, I headed for the NRMA charger at Yass again.

When I arrived in Yass there was already a BYD Atto 3 charging so I had to wait 20-30 minutes while there were probably 10 or more 250 kW Tesla Superchargers sitting idle only a block away. I’m generally a very patient person, but I was pretty keen to charge quickly and get home by this point!

I had almost given up and driven off when the friendly Atto 3 owner returned and moved his car so we could plug in. 50 minutes later the Seal was up to 60 % state of charge which I judged was just enough to make it home with sufficient buffer.

Only just, as I made it back home around 10:30 pm with 6% and 29 km remaining, plus a friendly reminder from the BYD Seal to please charge in time. All up the journey home took close to 14 hours including over 3 hours spent actively charging.

For a full breakdown of all charging sessions on the trip, you see the charging session details section of the accompanying BYD Seal road trip article

Obviously not all EV road trips are like this. For example, I drove a Kia EV9 over 1,300 km without any issues. My experience in this particular case was a combination of poor planning and bad luck, compounded by the Seal’s incompatibility with Tesla Superchargers.

In hindsight, the return journey home could have been much quicker and smoother if I had been able to charge overnight before leaving Melbourne. It would also have been a different story if some of the 350 kW chargers I tried were available and working.

Public DC fast charging infrastructure still has a long way to go in Australia, although I remain confident that we will eventually be blessed with the level of infrastructure that leading European countries such as Norway have today. This will happen over time as the number of EVs on our roads and demand for chargers increases.

In the meantime, my experience on this road trip taught me that you still need to plan ahead and should expect to find some broken or slow charging stations along the way. This is especially true if you don’t have access to, or choose not to use the Tesla charging network.

Tim has 20 years experience in the IT industry including 14 years as a network engineer and site reliability engineer at Google Australia. He is an EV and renewable energy enthusiast who is most passionate about helping people understand and adopt these technologies.

BYD has the PHEV as option which, I fear, is going to derail further expansion of the (required) EV charging network if it is to dominate. The embedded legacy forces will do what is necessary to stifle further EV market penetration. Toyota and Honda will assist enthusiastically along with their, otherwise threatened, dealership networks – plus old media.

100%

Ask the people what they want.Simple is it not and 96% do not want your ev

and 96% of readers on this site don’t understand why you are here?

and 96% of readers on this site believe in his right to express himself.

A right soon to disappear in Australia. Enjoy it while you still can!

…..a bit over 70% of “EVs” sold this year will never need a charging network.

RE PHEVs are more a threat to ice not BEVs.

Tim, A great article that needs to be shared across all EV suppliers, politicians and motoring organisations in the industry.

I too have lived the past 5 years in the Tesla bubble, first with a Model S (free lifetime supercharging) then a Model Y. I have NEVER had to wait to charge and NEVER came across an out of order Tesla charger. I have travelled Melb-Queensland lots, also Vic country backroads. TheTesla trip planner just WORKS! Tesla’s Supercharging network is a real credit to them. (My favourite is at the winery near Port Macquarie)We have also toured in my wife’s Kona EV (incl. to Sth Australia non-highway) with no charging delays or problems, but you do have to do a bit of pre-planning. Sounds like we have been lucky with the Kona..Most of the time, of course, we are charging for free at home off the rooftop solar.

In a Polestar 2 from Sydney to Melbourne we charged with Tesla at Yass during breakfast and at Albury during lunch. No waiting.

For 5hrs charge time

You’ve never actually road tripped in an EV, have you?

Even the standard range Polestar 2 does 400 km on the highway and can charge at up to 135 kW.

Worst case, I’d say the total charging time was around 2 hours and likely less.

When I did Sydney-Melbourne in Model 3, it took two charging stops – 50 minutes for lunch and 44 minutes for an afternoon rest break. The car got enough charge both times before I was sufficiently rested and ready to leave. I was the limiting factor, not the car.

Poor Tom doesn’t like EVs so he has to post FUD on every article. Lame.

I’ve travelled from northern NSW to Shepparton twice in my Ioniq 38.3 (Round trip of about 3000km). Planning is certainly required, but never had to wait. I used both the Yass and Albury Tesla chargers without any problems.

What sort of highway range do you get in an Ioniq 38?

I’ve travelled to Melbourne quite a few times. My Volvo CX40 can use some Telsa stations and the new Albury supercharger is a godsend. On the downside, I’ve always had issues at the Gundagai where we’re forbidden to go the Tesla and have to use the often faulted Chargefoxes. Its not optimal. On the road, we alternate from searching the plugshare app to the charging company apps to ascertain whats working or not, and whats free, on the Hume.

Or just buy a Tesla. The fact that a BYD (or any other non-tesla) is sub par on charging and have done precious little about it doesn’t mean we need more chargers. Particularly if we need to have more govt money to do it.

I’m very grateful that I am in the Tesla “charge bubble”.It’s dead easy.It works.Period!

The issue here is the BYD Seal he drove had not had the CCS2 fix done on it – which is unbelievable on a press car. Then he could have used the Tesla chargers at Yass and Albury no problem.

Had this been done, the trip would have been completely different.

You just explained the problem and the poor tax payers money 💰

Thank you for sharing this charging experience in the BYD. You say is out of the norm, however more likely to have this experience than go smoothly. You have convinced me my first EV will be a Tesla.

If you are going to do a lot of long distance travel then Telsa is the King for sure. Efficiency, navigation, accuracy of the SOC on arrival (most EVs don’t even display that figure), storage space, sound system, charging network, affordability, no servicing required (well its condition based), profile settings that don’t require turning things off each time you start.

I’m just going to mention the ABRP (a better route planner) app, just because no one else has. I’ve never driven a Tesla, but I’d imagine it performs a similar function to Tesla’s route planner. Of course it has major disadvantages compared to the TRP, because it doesn’t know the real time availability of chargers.

Also leaving Melbourne with 30% charge you must have driven through areas with quite a high concentration of fast chargers that you could have availed yourself of?

Tim, did you know that in Yass there is a free AC charger b/w NRMA and Tesla. 30mins there could have added some range while you waited but then again the BYD has 7kW max on AC. I don’t know why ppl buy this over the equivalent Tesla.

It wasn’t free last time I went there, I believe there are no longer any free NRMA chargers in NSW, that has finished…

I recently used the tesla charging stations at Yass. I drive a BYD Seal. I had no issues charging at 107 kWh. It is a great half way point for my Dubbo to Merimbula trip.

Do you mean your max or average charge was 107kw? Kwh is the amount not the rate, your battery shouldn’t be that big.

Last time I chargers there my peak was 230kw, averaged 130kw and took on 41kwh in 20min

Cutting to the chase….An EV battery and a car’s ordinary petrol tank are designed to do exactly the same thing. Both are designed to carry stored energy to power an engine on a journey.An EV battery is just a really dumb, awkward, expensive and short lived alternative to a simple, cheap, forever lasting petrol tank.A hurdle EVs will struggle with forever.

An ICE engine is just a really dumb, awkward, expensive and short lived alternative to a simple, cheap, very long lasting electric motor.

CATL are getting 1,000,000 miles (1.6 m km) on their latest LMFP and Golden batteries. Even some older Tesla’s are on that figure in the US. I don’t think an ICE will last that long.

Going north from Melbourne, the RACV/Chargefox station at Airport West, has four 350kW chargers

Hi,Happy to be in the Tesla bubble. On a recent trip in a Model 3 that took us from Sydney to Adelaide via Mildura and Murray Bridge, then on to the Barossa and Hawker, up to Arkaroola in the northern Flinders , back to Hawker and down to Peterborough then Broken Hill, on to Canberra via Nyngan and back to Sydney. We used Tesla sites in NSW and Chargefox in South Australia with a couple of NRMA units thrown in. No problems anywhere. Way to go!Happy charging

Last week I saw a BYD Seal with the number plate TSLLOL. All I can say about this article is BYDLOL!

This is astounding that people are willing to spend so much of the most valuable thing we have (time) searching for and attaching themselves to chargers. For 96% of Australians existing EV tech simply isn’t remotely viable.

I always thought the concept of a pure EV was sensible in tiny 2 seat micro cars that are never intended to leave the inner city. There’s also a small place for EV technology where a small battery is combined with a combustion range extender. But the designs presently for sale are absurd in every way.