I was a fairly early EV adopter. I set myself some criteria — under $50k, big enough for a family of four, and more than 400 km range — and made the leap as soon as a car that met them became available.

I bought my BYD Atto 3 in 2023 and, just over three years and 75,000km later, I’m still in love with the thing.

We had the same concerns as everyone else making the change: Will it last? Will we be able to charge where and when we need to? Will there be support if I need it?

But it didn’t take long to become completely comfortable with the new way of life the EV offered us.

Most of our driving is around town, so we charge at home on a normal three-pin plug and do our best to charge when our solar panels are producing.

A friend said to me one day, “You must be pleased there is a fast charger in Albany now.” And I am — but mostly for the tourists who get to use it.

There is really no need for a fast charger for most locals. While most of our kilometres are local, we do a fair bit of travelling outside town. But my experience is that, apart from the odd camping adventure — we managed a family-of-four tenting trip to Kalbarri with no problems — most of our out-of-town travel is to a few select places.

We go to Bunbury or Esperance to visit family, or Perth to visit friends.

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