Bandersnatch

Couple more of my videos for you. I am now only buying devices that work with home assistant

I agree with what @JBChiangRai posted above. Any unused solar production from my off-grid solar setup is curtailed. The screen shots I posted were early this morning - a very dull day here in Surin. Here are 2 more screen shots that I have just taken, one with one of my EVs charging the other without.

I have 4 Growatt SPF5000ES inverters. The ShinePhone app is pretty rubbish so I have have fitted a Raspberry Pi and using Solar Assistant software and a USB hub to link the 4 inverters together I am able to extract data from all the inverters https://solar-assistant.io/ It is possible to push data from solar assistant into Home Assistant https://www.home-assistant.io/ then it is possible to manage smart devices like smart wifi breakers to switch on/off devices based on data from solar assistant. I plan to manage my EV chargers to do that. Here is a video I made a few years ago about smart wifi breakers

I own 2 BYD EVs, the vast majority of the time I charge them at home from my off-grid solar setup. On a long trip like a 900km round trip to BKK which I have done a few times recently I always charge at BYD showrooms which are exclusively for BYD owners. At 8 Baht per kWh they are about 1 Baht more expensive than the average charger so tend to be less popular. I use the BYD app to identify a dealership on my route and can see if the all the chargers are free. The chargers are plug and charge and about 20 minutes each way is all that is required. I can use the customer lounge for free coffee and snacks. BYD has over 100 dealerships in Thailand with more opening all the time. MG has even more. They are the brands that I would recommend if you do a lot of long distant (over 600km) trips.

"A new study conducted by Europe’s largest automobile association has found that electric vehicles (EVs) are less prone to breaking down than internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles of the same age, which can suffer two and a half times as many breakdowns as electric cars" This study is based on actual breakdowns rather than the usual survey of owners views of the reliability of the vehicle that they had purchased. https://thedriven.io/2025/04/14/evs-more-reliable-than-ice-vehicles-with-the-best-and-worst-electric-cars-identified/

Re-read your post looking for the crass comments that I obviously missed on first reading 😆

Long Trips I only stop at BYD Dealerships: Plug and Charge: plug in and it starts charging. 24 hours to pay: SCB froze my account while on a trip but sent me messages saying that that I was over the limit on my account and to change the limit at an ATM (they had changed my limit to zero) I was able to charge my car and pay the next day after I called the bank to ask them WTF You can see the chargers on the app to see if they are working/available As you have to register your car with the app they can only be used by BYD owners and therefore more likely to be free 8 Baht rather than the usual 7 Baht means that they are less popular and therefore more likely to be free Fast Charging Never found one not working and if you needed help you can ask in the dealership. Over 100 BYD Dealerships in Thailand.

I signed up for the free Home PV system but haven't got around to incorporating it into Home Assistant yet - thanks for reminding me

I emailed The Electric Viking about the motor show numbers suggesting he could do a video on it and he did.

Thanks No. The cars recognise when a V2L adapter is connected and start sending out power. The ones that come with my cars: BYD Seal and BYD M6. I contacted myenergi in the UK to enquire about buying one of their zappi chargers which can be set to only charge the car when there is excess solar, but it turns out the way it does that is by using a CT clamp to record any power being exported to the grid and diverting into the car, which is no use to me being off-grid. My sytem is pretty dumb and manual apart from my smart wifi breakers: I have Solar Assistant connected to my main solar system and once I get the MQTT integration working I will have access to the information in Home Assistant and might be able activate/deactivate my smart wifi breaker in my chargers depending on the level of solar production.

If your EV has V2H like the Ford F-150 Lightning then it will come with a bi-directional charger that can both charge and discharge. I have 2x7kW EV chargers powered by my main home solar system But on the posts next to each of my EVs I have 2x3kW chargers powered by a smaller backup solar system, together with a V2L adapter which connects to one of the two solar systems.

Solar get's my vote. I have 2 full EVs and I can run the house and the EVs from solar with the EVs V2L (bi-directional charging) acting as backup. I gave my meter back to PEA in 2023

Fortunately for us, the Prick Up Truck that reversed into our parked car at 7/11 did only cosmetic damage and we were able to continue driving the car. The fact that the accident happened within a few days of us getting the car rather soured the experience of getting a new car. We were without the car for just over a week. The main take away for me was: getting a replacement part for a newly launched BYD took only a week

No idea but BYD Buriram did some chasing for us and that's the point we started seeing progress. I will of course be changing companies when the policy expires.

As promised, here is a progress report: The insurance company took 6 weeks to make a decision and authorise repairs, despite both parties being insured with them and the other party admitting full responsibilty. They decided that the bonnet should be repaired but not the BYD logo panel below which had some deep scratches. Once the repair got underway it was discovered that BYD logo panel was damaged where it fitted to the car so had to be replaced. So 7 weeks after we first made the claim, the first BYD part was ordered. The car was now dismantled and we weren't sure how long we would be without the car while we waited for the part. Turns out we only had to wait a week, not bad for a car that has only been in country for a couple of months.

Excellent post! Lots of detail, links, pictures and clear analysis. Much appreciate the time it must have taken to post. I have been to the BKK motor show many times but as I have recently purchased an EV for my wife (BYD M6) and my BYD Seal is only a year or so old, I can't justify a visit to the show, so I appreciate the report.

You are correct, but Tesla Super Chargers are baked into Tesla navigation, whereby it automatically selects chargers for you on a journey and preconditions the battery as you get close to the charger. Tesla Super Chargers support plug and charge, so no apps or payments required as the charger recognizes the car and it's registered payment system. Tesla Super Chargers are very reliable and the car will know if a charger is busy or broken.

BYD Shark 6 DMO AWD PHEV is a bit pricey for a 30kWh 100km PHEV There is a cheaper option

And you would right in thinking that.

MG and BYD dealers may be open to all cars in some countries but not in Thailand. Yes they are not free all the time although BYD was free last year. I pay ฿8 at BYD compared to ฿7.5 at EleXA, but at BYD I have access to the customer lounge with aircon drinks and stacks. Both can charge at over 100kW. I had an MG for 4 years but now have a BYD Seal AWD and a BYD M6. I charge them both from solar, my house is off-grid. On long trips like a 900km round trip to BKK a 20m charge at a BYD dealer each way is sufficient and hassle free as I can monitor which chargers are free on the app In the 9,000+ posts in https://aseannow.com/topic/1257405-electric-vehicles-in-thailand/ I don’t remember anyone saying that they had bought a Tesla. They are definitely not good value in Thailand

I contacted myenergi about the zappi and they said the cost was ฿40k plus shipping from the UK. It uses a clamp meter to determine how much you are exporting to the grid ie excess solar and sends that much power into the EV. So being off-grid it was no good for me.

Sounds interesting, have you followed on this?

The main reason given by Tesla owners in most countries for buying a Tesla is the Tesla charging network, which is excellent in Europe and the US, but in Thailand it is very poor. BYD and MG have dealerships and chargers in nearly all provinces but outside BKK, Tesla has hardly any.

I have an ABB EV charger that was supplied free with my BYD Seal. It's a good charger but I don't think its a smart charger. I have decided to go ahead with a second stand alone solar system consisting of a 6kW inverter and a 10kWh battery. I will be able to run 2x3kW chargers for my EVs while my main solar system is charging my home batteries. When the house batteries are full I can switch to 2x7kW EV chargers. A secondary feature of the second solar system is that it will provide backup power to my master bedroom and bathroom, meaning I will have backup power for aircon, lights etc. if my main solar system goes down. I have already made my 7kW chargers a little less dumb. Here is a video I made explaining what I did

@ExpatOilWorker The problem with a "Supply and Fit" installations is that you get charged a hefty markup on both. If you are based in Isaan I can recommend my Thai installer who is happy to install your purchased components or match the price of them. Here is a video of his last job for me with a link to his contact details in the description.