Bandersnatch

I have said many time that EVs are not for everyone and the test case I usually use is "can you do a self-checkout at Tops without asking for help" Charging an EV is definitely more difficult that handing over a 500 Baht note at PTT. Case in point a 900km return trip to BKK we were returning yesterday and shared the driving with the wife. While she was driving I purchased a magic keyboard from the Apple store. The transaction went through and I thought nothing more about it. We arrived at Korat and I used a BYD dealership to "Plug and Charge" my BYD Seal. Everything went fine until I tried to pay. Each time I got a message from SCB: "You are over limit for the day please change the limit at any SCB ATM" Changing the limits on my SCB app had no effect. Luckily I was using a BYD EV charger which said please clear the balance within 24 hours. Back home today I tried to buy a new mouse to go with my new keyboard and was informed again "You are over limit for the day please change the limit at any SCB ATM" Calling SCB I was informed that they thought my keyboard purchase from the apple store was a potential fraud so they had reduced my available balance limit to zero! SCB informed my that as I hadn't used the apple store in over a month they thought my transaction was suspicious. I told them that the AI engine they were using for fraud detection lacked any "I" and the next time they put a hold on my account please tell me that they had put hold on my account not that I was over limit for the day. The point I am trying to make that is that it might be worth topping up your wallets on a few EV charging apps before a long trip as you might not have access to your Bank account when you need it.

I was planning to do a video review of my new BYD M6, but before it was my time to have a play with the car my wife parked it at 7-11 at a "pump" She was returning to the car with baby in hand when a Nissan pickup truck reversed straight back 10m into the M6 barely missing wife and baby. Despite the desperate scream of my wife and shouts from passersby he continued his rearward trajectory into the car. Wife was quite shaken and it was left to the passersby to berate the Nissan driver over his near infanticide and also damaging a red plate, which apparently is a very unlucky thing to do in Thailand. He apologized and blamed the accident on his broken reversing camera! Wife called me and told her to: 1) call the insurance company 2) get photos of everything and everybody 3) get contact details of any witnesses 4) check the dashcam if she had left the Aircon on while she was in 7 Only number 1 was accomplished but it turned out we had the same insurance company which simplified matters as he admitted responsibility. The bonnet and the 2 sections below it had a big dent in them while the Nissan had a broken tail light. By the time I got there the lower two section which were plastic had popped back to their original shape. We have just got back from the body repair shop who checked the car and will be ordering parts from BYD. I will do an update on how things progress.

BYD Atto 2

Practically the only H2 Fuel Cell car you can buy now is the Toyota Mirai which launched in 2021 and cost $70,000. "If you’re a resident of Southern California, you can, today, buy a new Toyota Mirai for $17,005. That makes it the cheapest new car in the U.S. Oh, and did we mention that Toyota is also offering $15,000 of free fuel?" https://www.forbes.com/sites/peterlyon/2025/01/28/at-17000-toyotas-fuel-cell-mirai-is-now-americas-cheapest-car/ They literally can't give them away

You need to cross H2 off your list for passenger vehicles. Fossil fuel companies were pushing it to try and stall the EV revolution but they were losing so much money on it that they are pulling out. "Shell scrapped its plans to build 48 hydrogen refueling stations for light duty vehicles in California. The company was in line for over $40 million in state incentives to install those fueling stations, but even that was not enough to move the project forward" https://cleantechnica.com/2024/02/10/shell-shuts-down-its-us-hydrogen-filling-stations/ I have gone all electric: 2 EVs; electric motorbike; I have an induction cook top; I use the same batteries for power tools, vacuums, and garden equipment and yet I don't have a PEA meter so no bills for electricity (I don't use gas) and no fuel cost for my vehicles if the journey is less than 600km. I installed solar 8 years ago and it took 5 years to payback.

I'm not an expert on EV Charging in CM as I've never charged there, so I would use an app like PlugShare. PlugShare uses a community based approach where members update the map as new chargers appear and they report any problems. My house is on PlugShare as one of the first EV chargers in my area for emergency use only As for suitability of chargers. The vast majority of EVs sold in Thailand have the CCS type 2 adapter and so therefore so do the vast majority of chargers. You can filter for them in PlugShare.

H2 is a monumentally dumb idea for a fuel for passenger vehicles. Not economic. When I make power from my solar system to put in my electric car there is some small efficiency loss due to the inversion process, but over 90% of the energy ends up in my car. With current electrolyzers, green hydrogen's efficiency is around 30%, which means 70% of the renewable energy put into producing green hydrogen is lost across the full cycle of production and use. But you probably weren't thinking of green H2. The most common type of H2 is Grey hydrogen. It's made from natural gas or coal using steam methane reforming or coal gasification so it's basically a fossil fuel and way less efficient than gasoline. Really the only place in the world where you find H2 cars in any numbers is California and if you want to know how it's going there you should watch the video below

Many people who don't own an EV seem to think that they are experts on all EV charger locations; EV Traction battery chemistries; Cradle-to-grave CO2 emissions of all vehicles etc etc. It must be the Dunning–Kruger effect.

Interesting, seen Atto 3s in Europe on YouTube fitting the BYD camera.

Probably the Thai built cars are different

Congratulations on your purchase, I have 2 BYDs. You might find these discussions helpful: https://aseannow.com/topic/1310792-byd-seal-tips-tricks-and-help/ https://aseannow.com/topic/1279914-ev-charging-stations-cs/ https://aseannow.com/topic/1257405-electric-vehicles-in-thailand/ When the Atto 3 was made in China it had a dash cam built in but when they shipped them to Thailand they removed the camera. It was a relatively easy to buy the camera online and fit it yourself. Here is a video I made when I fitted one to my Seal

Not only Grumpy but also ignorant of modern EV battery chemistry. BYD Cathodes use a LiFePO4 chemistry that doesn’t suffer from thermal runaway. LiFePO4 Drill Test by battery expert Will Prowse https://youtu.be/D8xNjz73p80

My personal journey to electric vehicles began in 2019 when MG launched the ZS EV. I put down a deposit and MG sent the company that they had chosen to install the free wall charger to do a site survey at my house. The company wanted me to have 2 PEA meters, one for the house and another for the EV. I had a single small PEA meter for backup, but 99% of the time I was running the house from Solar. They refused to install a charger and it was agreed (once I had included the MD of MG Thailand into the conversation) that I could have a Plug-In Hybrid instead and charge it just from Solar. In 2023 BYD introduced the BYD Seal and I purchased an AWD Performance. In the picture below it looks like the Seal is plugged into the charger, but in fact it's plugged into the house using bi-directional charging. My home solar system had 36kWh of battery storage and the BYD had added 85kWh more, I gave my meter back to PEA at the end of 2023. In-between the 2 EVs you will see our electric motorbike. When the MG HS PHEV turned 4 years old I started to look for a full EV to replace it. We purchased a BYD M6 Extended Range which added another 72kWh to our back-up battery. As a second car it was chosen for practicality and price ฿899k

Don't see that here Don't see that here Don't see that here

They're FB friends so most are friends in name only or guys I was at Boarding School with 40 years ago who hardly spoke to me then but now feel it's imperative that we rekindle our long lost friendship!