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We are about to take possession of an Atto 3 and would love to know what cables I should have in the boot apart from the granny charger for those interstate trips.

I see chargers that say BYO cable. Just not sure what sort of plug it needs to have to go into the charger?

Hi Brett – a good question, and one that all new EV owners ask on arrival of their new ‘baby’. As a result, I will make this answer a bit more general than just for an Atto 3 – but the basics are the same.

Back in 2019 I wrote an article on what was (then) the essential kit of leads the early EV owner needed. At that time I had just finished my EV long-weekend tour of Victoria – where there were no DC chargers available on my route …. and only one AC one. For charging I had to use either caravan park 15A outlets or random hotel or home ones that may/may be positioned close enough to the car for my portable charger to reach. However I did find that even without public charging infrastructure, a long-weekend away was a safe and fun experience for EV owners.

Since then the charging situation has steadily improved. With the growth of public DC charger networks up to 350kW as well as higher power AC ones at 7 up to 22kW (and many more of both DC and AC to come) – I am happy to say that list of essential leads to carry is now a lot smaller. (As is the room they take up in my boot!) For the average EV owner who does not stray much out of their town or away from the major routes – all you now need is two.

The first is the portable low-power (‘trickle’) charger you mention that comes with the car. These are designed to charge from a normal power point at 1.8 or 2kW. (Meaning you get around 12km charged per hour). It may be slow – but for emergencies, it is a whole lot better than finding a tin, funnel and petrol station to fill that tin and return from. That trickle charger is also fine for returning up to 100km or so range overnight, so it is also OK for a weekend away if you need a top-up via a power point at your stay to make it to the next dc fast-charger or higher power AC one on your route.

The second need-to-have lead is a ‘BYO’ (Bring Your Own) charger lead. As councils, shopping centres and tourist destinations rollout a variety of public AC chargers, they often fit a BYO lead charger in order to avoid the maintenance needs (and trip hazard provided) by chargers that have permanently attached (‘tethered’) leads – as shown below.

So for the average EV motorist – that’s it! However, I do need to add a caveat: the DC and AC charger networks are far from complete (and are in part skeletal, meaning for instance there is still only one DC charger at many sites and several large gaps still to fill). This means that if you travel ‘off the beaten track’ until the networks are fully developed, it may be worth carrying an extra portable charger and suitable adaptors. These will fill in the gaps between dedicated chargers or as back-up to broken ones. (As I found was needed on my way to Perth and back by EV earlier this year).

That additional charger is a switchable rate AC portable one where you can select charge rates from 1.6kW to 22kW to match whatever power outlet is available. By the way, I suggest buying one that does up to 22kW even though the Atto 3 only does a maximum of 7kW – by selecting 22kW you are future-proofing yourself for any subsequent EV you might buy. (AC charge rates are continuing to rise in new cars in what I call the ‘Charging Speed Advertising War’. The likely outcome is many/most EVs will eventually offer up to a likely maximum of 22kW AC and close to 350kW DC).

This type of portable charger is fitted with a round, three phase plug for use with 32A industrial power outlets. Very useful when the best charging option available may be one of the 32A three phase outlets around Australia (findable through plugshare.com) whose installation was kindly supported by the Tesla Owner’s Club of Australia and the Australian Electric Vehicle Association.

To go with that you may also need a circuit breaker protected adaptor* – which can be bought at some EV charger suppliers, or easily constructed by any qualified electrician. That will allow your high power three phase plug to be safely used with 15A outlets to get you a faster overnight charge at 3.6kW at caravan parks and the like. As I noted in my EV Long Weekend articles – 15A caravan outlets and EVs are a ‘marriage made in heaven’ enabling a nearly full charge overnight, provided you have a higher power portable charger than the 1.8 or 2kW trickle charger that came with the car.

I hope that helps Brett? To summarise:

Additional note for owners of early Leafs and iMiEVs and all private import Japanese EVs:

Owners of these will also need a specific adaptor from Type 2 to Type 1 for use with current-day AC EV chargers that have fixed leads. (Note: the Type 2 to Type 1 lead mentioned above does NOT work as this adaptor: the plugs are subtly different in the BYO lead).

*Note: Some expensive switchable chargers come with a set of adaptor leads for a variety of outlets that automatically adjust the charge rate to suit the outlet used. For these, you do not need a circuit breaker protected adaptor box.

Bryce Gaton is an expert on electric vehicles and contributor for The Driven and Renew Economy. He has been working in the EV sector since 2008 and is currently working as EV electrical safety trainer/supervisor for the University of Melbourne. He also provides support for the EV Transition to business, government and the public through his EV Transition consultancy EVchoice.

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