A couple have exposed the difficulties of driving an ‘affordable’ electric vehicle  long distances after going on an interstate road trip. 

Tony Hill and his wife embarked on a 1,800km road trip from their home in Naracoorte, a rural town in South Australia, to Grafton, in NSW, to visit family. 

The pair travelled in their new BYD Dolphin – the budget-friendly and smallest model from the Chinese manufacturer, which is priced at $36,890 before on-road costs. 

The BYD provides Aussies with a cheaper alternative to a Tesla, which currently dominates the Australian EV market. 

However, the Hills faced a slew of problems while on their journey in their BYD, which may have been avoided if they had been driving a Tesla.  

In preparation for their lengthy trip, the couple used an app to locate and map charging stations along the route. 

They found many of the power stations had Tesla chargers, which were not designed or even compatible with their EV.

‘Usually we had avoided Tesla chargers,’ Mr Hill told Yahoo. 

Tony Hill and his wife (pictured) embarked on a 1,800km road trip from their home in Naracoorte, a rural town in South Australia to Grafton in NSW to visit family

The pair travelled in their new BYD Dolphin (pictured) but faced a slew of problems while on their cross-country journey, which may have been avoided if they had been driving a Tesla

‘Many of them have very short cables, designed only to reach the back of a Tesla… we had to park in some ingenious ways to make use of them.’

Mr Hill added BYD cars sold after October 2023 also had compatibility issues while using some Tesla superchargers. 

The pair faced another issue with the EV’s ‘onboard navigation’ system after it directed them to non-existent chargers. 

‘Three of the first five chargers we were directed to in Adelaide had not been built yet,’ Mr Hill said. 

He explained, the navigation system instructed him to drive ‘two-sides of a 13km triangle’ instead of suggesting a U-turn. 

Another feature which the Hills found less than ideal was the model’s glass roof. 

While the feature allows a scenic view for the driver and passengers, Mr Hill said it does little to filter the heat out of the Aussie sun.   

Mr Hill said he and his wife had to buy a screen to fit in their car so that they could keep cool during their trip. 

He added the BYD’s range was also ‘considerably reduced’  while driving on highways at high speed – which meant the Hills had to stop more often to recharge their car. 

‘The Dolphin is more efficient around town where regenerative breaking is most effective, but at high speed on the open road the range is considerably reduced,’ Mr Hill said. 

Mr Hill said stopping more times to recharge had its benefits as it allowed the couple to speak with locals and explore quaint towns they would have missed. 

The BYD Dolphin Dynamic has a single electric motor powered by a 44.9kWh Blade battery and has a range of up to 340km. 

The pair found many of the power stations had Tesla chargers (pictured) which are not designed or even compatible with BYD EVs

Sales of battery electric vehicles in July fell by almost 1.5 per cent, compared to July 2023, with a total of 6,743 EVs sold. 

The data, published by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries as well as Tesla and Polestar, showed sales were at 6.6 per cent of the market down from 7.0 per cent. 

Tesla was the market leader with 2,592 electric vehicle sold, however, this down by 34.1 per cent compared to July 2023 figures. 

Meanwhile, BYD recorded a significant increase in sales and was up by 77.7 per cent with 1,786 EVs sold. 

Hybrids were also up 88.4 per cent with 18,039 sales, while pug-in hybrids saw a whopping increase of 128.9 per cent with 2,209 cars sold.