Byd charger type. Type 1 / CEE17 32A 7kW mobile charger MAXICHARGER LIGHT

Another sorry tale of broken EV chargers and unrealistic range expectations

What started as a solemn return trip from the NSW Southern Highlands to the Central Coast to visit my ailing Mother ended in a salutary lesson about the insufficient charging infrastructure and the real-life range of an EV.

Just a few days after we took delivery of our BYD Atto 3 Extended Range, in mid-September, I drove from Bundanoon to Umina and back on one charge – that’s 416 km, with 8 km left.

I was deliberately testing the real-life range of the vehicle. I drove at 95 kmh on the freeways, avoided tollways and didn’t use the air conditioning.

On the return trip, I had to coax the car along to make sure I got home. It was tight, but I made it. There was a bit drizzle throughout the trip with no wind, so pretty benign. I’d understood that the stated range of EVs, in this case 480 km, was never gonna happen. So 420km was still OK at around 12.5% less than the published range.

When my spouse and I set off for the same trip on Friday, picking up and dropping off our grand-daughter in Mortdale, Sydney, I knew that I’d have to top up somewhere along the route.

We thought we had enough charge

Thankfully, there is a new Jolt fast charger in Mortdale.

If needed, I could top up again at the NRMA charger at the Mittagong RSL. No worries, luv. Well, I was soon to be proven very wrong!!

On the return journey, we arrived at Mortdale with 22% left in the battery. This is where things started to go awry. Based on my previous experience, I figured we needed about 33% charge to get home so I took advantage of Jolt’s free first 7 kWh daily offer, putting in 6.5 kWh into the battery. That gave us 140 km for the 129 km trip home – plenty of headroom, or so I thought.

Mistake #1: I failed to take 12.5% off the 140 kms. I really only had 123 kms in the battery!

Mistake #2: I failed to check PlugShare before leaving Mortdale. If I had, I would have seen that we couldn’t top up there and made an alternative ‘Plan B’.

Very soon, I noticed the percentage charge quickly reduce in relation to the km left to travel. I realised that a top up in Mittagong was the only way we’d get home.

So, I asked my spouse to check the newly downloaded PlugShare app for how far it was to the Mittagong charger and if it was in operation. Well, blow me down but that fateful spanner symbol appeared on the location icon. Too late, mate! What are we gonna do now?

The perils of busted chargers

So I phoned the NRMA who confirmed that their RSL charger was indeed defunct. They informed me that there was one in the Woolworths car park and another at the Mittagong Tourist Information Centre.

Great! With just 4% charge left I nursed the vehicle to Woolies to find the that charger was in the undercover car park and there was no entry to it @10:30 PM. Then, off to the Tourist Centre we went to discover that the charger there was an old one with a plug that didn’t fit! Wow, now we are in a pickle.

A tow home was the only option, so I called the NRMA again and booked it in but there could be a three hour delay. So we were looking at a long wait in the middle of the night in a secluded car park behind the Tourist Information Centre.

Thankfully, the very kind NRMA lady waived the extra km charge for the tow (actually it was a tilt-tray truck rather than a tow) because I’d been a member for a long time.

Frankly, I think that was because the NRMA charger at the Club was non-functional. We had tossed around staying overnight but all the places were closed, so we just waited. I got a text about 30 minutes later saying that we’d be rescued in 90 minutes.

Andre and his diesel tilt truck to the rescue

Thankfully, Andre and his magnificent tilt-tray truck trundled up early and, in a jiff, he had the silent, almost exhausted battery-on-wheels loaded and us buckled up in the cab.

While enjoying the bumpiest ride ever, with the roads in such a state of disrepair after months of rain, I began debriefing myself about what had just happened. How could I have got the calculations so badly wrong?

Mistake #3: I didn’t account for strong headwinds. Andre suggested that the strong winds would have drastically reduced the range.

Mistake #4: I didn’t account for the incline. I realised while sitting in the truck that we were climbing on the way south, albeit gradually, and that would also have had a negative effect. Andre agreed. He had noticed that the incline because his truck to use a lot more fuel from Picton onwards.

Mistake #5: I had an extra passenger on board. I was also using the A/C a little for her comfort.

It all began to make sense. I simply hadn’t realised how important driving conditions were in calculating an EVs real-world range. Strong winds, a moderate climb, an extra passenger and A/C use had, in our case, reduced the range by 20% in addition to the 12.5% I’d already calculated!

As it was, I only had about 95 km in the battery, not 140 km as the range predictor showed. It should have been about 210 km to be sure to get home, achieved by charging up to 44%, just another 18 minutes at the Jolt charger in Mortdale. That would have cost only 5000.94!

Of course, and this is the major point here, if adequate charging infrastructure had been in place and working, I wouldn’t have needed to make those calculations in the first place!! Grrrrrr. Sadly, until such times as there are EV charging stations everywhere, we’ll just have to do the maths.

And so it passed that we only managed to get to Mittagong as a result of my naive methodology. However, with no chargers in sight, we had to rely on a diesel powered tilt-truck and the driving skills of Andre, to get us home at 12:30 AM, a bit grumpy but much the wiser.

BYD. 3 Phase CEE Charging Cable. 16A 400V 11kW. Variable Amp. 6A, 8A, 10A, 12A, 16A. Type 2

Charge your Type 2 BYD EV using a 16A 3 Phase 400V CEE socket. 3 Phase 16A Type 2 to CEE charging cable that connects to the red 3-phase CEE / Commando sockets located in places such as industrial units. Please check your 3 Phase (red) CEE socket before buying. The 16A 3 Phase CEE plug is not compatible with the 32A 3 Phase CEE socket. Click here if you require the 3 Phase 400V 32A 22kW CEE charging cable. These CEE chargers are backed by a 1 year warranty.

The CEE plug provides a charge of up to 11kW, dependent on the onboard charging capacity of your vehicle. Please make sure that the outlet is protected by a circuit breaker. Please make sure that the device is connected directly to the CEE socket. Please also ensure that the outlet is not defective and has been tested by a qualified electrician. Please note that this charger is not manufactured by BYD, so although this product is a compatible BYD charger, we always recommend checking your vehicle handbook.

Multiple safeguards are built in with this BYD portable charger to protect against damage to the vehicle, outlet and charger whilst charging:

PCB Temperature Sensor
Earth Fault Monitoring
Leakage Protection
Overcurrent Protection

Overvoltage Protection
Undervoltage Protection
Lightning Protection
Water Resistant

This BYD CEE 3 Phase charging cable can be used in any 5 pin 16A 380V. 415V CEE / Commando socket and complies with the IEC 61851 standard for charging the Type 2 socket range of electric vehicles. You should check with your manufacturer handbook to check whether your vehicle needs to use a specific portable charger for your vehicle.

What is variable charging?

This portable charger can change power supply dependent upon the outlet that it is connected to, enabling faster charging at 3 Phase 16A or slower charging at 6A. The portable chargers will automatically stop charging the battery of your electric vehicle once it has reached full charge.

The length it will take to recharge the battery for your BYD hybrid / electric vehicle will depend on the battery that your BYD is equipped with. Using your socket to charge regularly over long durations can cause thermal damage if the socket / wiring is not suitable.

Charging cable checklist

To ensure that the cable you purchase is right for you, please read the following checklist:

Make sure the charging cable is compatible with your vehicle. The photos at the top of the page show you what the pins in the connectors look like so you can match the cable to your vehicle.
Make sure that the length of the cable is sufficient to reach the charging socket of your vehicle. We recommend allowing at least half a metre so that the cable is not overstretched.
Please check whether the CEE socket for the CEE plug is suitable for this charging cable. A 1-phase CEE socket has 3 holes. A 3-phase CEE socket has 5 holes. Your CEE socket must also match the amperage of the CEE plug. This information can usually be found on the cover of the CEE socket. If you are not sure, please send us a photo of your socket and the socket cover.

If in doubt, please contact us via our contact page.

How to use the variable 16A 3 Phase charger

Please read the safety information in the user manual included with this charger before using it. If you do not receive this information, please contact us. Plug the device into into the power outlet and switch on. The required ampere setting can be selected by touching the device with the supplied RFID tag or by double clicking the button icon. Select the ampere setting to match the Ampage of your power outlet. Connect the vehicle charging plug to your BYD. After 1 minute or once you plug the EV connector into the car, the setting is ‘locked in’ and will be remembered the next time you use it. To change the setting, repeat the above procedure. Your vehicle software will communicate with the device and only draw the maximum amount of power that the battery can accept.

If you would like a Mode 3 charger that connects from a charging station to your EV, browse our range of Type 2 charging cables.

For trade enquiries or bulk purchases please contact us for a quote on our Trade Enquiries page.

BYD e6 Charging Cables

Your BYD e6 uses a Type 2 Plug and has a Maximum Charge Rate of 3.6kW (Single Phase 16 amp).

The right cable depends on how you’re going to use it.

After thousands of conversations with EV owners, we know you’ll be using your cable in one for the ways below. We recommend the following BYD e6 charging cable for your car, depending on how you plan to use it.

Any questions? Just live chat with us in the bottom right!

For EV Chargers (EVSE)- Pluggable

Home Public EV Chargers. Plug to Plug

This selection will allow you to charge at all possible speeds for your car.

Home EV Charger Only (Single Phase Supply). Plug to Plug.

(Single Phase Supply. Most UK Homes). Plug to Plug. This selection will be limited to the home charge point.

Home EV Charger Only (Three Phase Supply). Plug to Plug.

(Three Phase Supply. Most EU Homes). Plug to Plug. This selection will be limited to the home charge point.

For EV Chargers (EVSE)- Tethered

Tethered EVSE’s. The EV Cable is Connected to the Charge point.

Tethered Charge Point (UK, EU). Single Phase Supply (Most UK Homes).

Tethered Charge Point (UK, EU). Three Phase Supply (Most EU Homes).

The BYD e6 is a spacious electric vehicle that’s perfect for families and city dwellers alike. Charging it is as easy as 1-2-3! Just connect it to a standard socket or a fast-charging station when you’re out and about. The e6’s impressive range means you can enjoy more time on the road and less time worrying about charging. And with a growing network of public charging stations, you’ll never be left without a place to power up. So, plug in your BYD e6, let the playful side of electric driving shine, and get ready for a world of eco-friendly adventures!

BYD Tang charging cable

Charge using a BYD Tang charging cable for Type 2 or Type 3C public charging stations or a BYD Tang charger equipped with a car-side Type 2 connector. Select your electric cable with sufficient length to reach from the right rear side side of the car to the charging stations or power outlet. You can now use your BYD Tang cable in all possible configurations for hassle-free charging. The figures quoted in the information on charging below are estimations.