BYD Atto 3 V2L Powers Child’s Life-saving Dialysis Machine During Black Out

BYD Atto 3 charging on a DC charger at its flagship brand centre in Ara Damansara.

Australians endured a somewhat difficult Christmas holidays last month as heavy storms wreaked havoc, especially in the seaside holiday hotspot of Gold Coast. Not only did homes and property get destroyed or heavily damaged, a black out also ensued, leaving many residents in the dark.

For one Gold Coast mum, the black out meant that she could not power the dialysis machine keeping her 11-year-old son alive and well. Thankfully, Kristy Holmes found a way to mitigate that thanks to the Vehicle-to-Lead (V2L) function found in the BYD Atto 3 electric vehicle (EV) that she owns.

Ms Kristy Holmes and her son Levi with their BYD Atto 3. (Image: The Guardian)

Ms Holmes said she and her husband had first used the car’s V2L ability to power fridges belonging to both the couple and their apartment building neighbours. They then decided to see if it could power their son Levi’s dialysis machine.

“We ran it off the car. We only needed to use it for the one night. We could have run it for at least four nights and then have to go charge the car somewhere,” Ms Holmes reportedly told The Guardian.

The BYD Atto 3 has built-in V2L capability that's accessible via a special accessory dock that can be plugged into the EV's charging port.

She later detailed that her son is about to go on a transplant list, and would have faced life-threatening health consequences had he not received treatment. This also prompted both Ms Holmes and her husband to drive to Brisbane during the stormy weather.

Out of this experience, Ms Holmes shared her thoughts of never reverting back to a traditional combustion (ICE) car again. Prior to this recent emergency, Ms Holmes admitted she had only used her Atto 3’s V2L function for less urgent things – slow-cooking mulled wine for a family movie night.

We've had a go in the BYD Atto 3 not too long ago. Read our in-depth take of which by clicking these blue words...

Certainly, this is just one of many instances where an EVs V2L ability comes in handy, and the Atto 3 built by BYD is just one of a slew of EVs available in the market that has this capability built-in. Besides the Atto 3, BYD primes other models like the Dolphin and Seal with the same functionality too.

Locally, the BYD brand has charted rapid commercial success through the Atto 3 that launched in late 2022. The brand’s expanded its line up last year by introducing the Dolphin hatchback, and it will soon have the Seal sports saloon too. The latter is set to officially launch in the coming months.