Gweiloman

It seems like there’s more than one antiquated mindset on this forum. The relative lack of dials in a modern EV does take a little time to get used to. The first thing I missed, transitioning from an ICEV to an EV were the temperature control and fan speed dials. It didn’t take me long however to master saying, Hi BYD, set temperature to 23 degrees or to say Hi BYD, increase fan speed by 2 or Hi BYD, open all windows by 40% (although In the last example, BYD does have window switches). As for all the shudders and braking, these can be all turned off nowadays. But it’s a good thing for most Thai drivers who are generally poor drivers. Not so long ago, I saw a Toyota pick up truck veer off the road into the ditch in the central reservation. He must have either fallen asleep of playing on his phone or taken his eyes off the road to adjust his aircon temperature or something. If he had a vehicle with emergency lane keeping or intelligent active cruise control, he would most probably have stayed safely on the road.

About service centres Not sure about other brands but GWM has one in CM and BYD has 3. My Haval (GWM) has been serviced at 4 different centres, Hatyai, Ubuntu, Hua Hin and Chiang Mai. The Haval is a PHEV so it requires oil change and all those annoying stuff needed for ICEs. EVs don’t require near as much servicing. Bring it in, they plug it into a diagnostic thingy and you’re off in a couple of hours. About Chinese brands and inferior products Things are made to a particular price point. China products offer a wide range to suit most budgets. There are some people who purchase a cheap product that is meant for occasional home use and then complain that it isn’t as good as something European made that costs 10 times more. I hope you see how ridiculous that is. Chinese EVs are really bucking the trend. For reasons I stated in my post, these are products that are as well made, and in many instances, better made than the comparable Japanese made product at a lower price point. It really isn’t rocket science. An EV’s major cost component is the traction battery. As prices for this comes down, so will the overall price of the car.

For sure, it won’t be a military invasion. This is detrimental to both China’s and Taiwan’s interests. The mainland Chinese and Taiwanese have relatives on both sides. Lots of inter-marriages as well. Integration would happen naturally. Taiwanese, being ethnic Chinese, are a practical and pragmatic people. As the west declines and China continues to rise, it’s in their interest to lean more towards China for its prosperity and security. I imagine that it will take some form of autonomous region, with its own governance while deferring to the central government in Beijing.

This adds weight to my argument that China has no desire to invade Taiwan.

In your antiquated biased western mindset, you equate cheap with poor quality. You obviously have no idea about matters such as economies of scale, supply chains, logistics, automation etc. Whilst Japanese made vehicles are very reliable (except when the wheels fall off), they are, dollar for dollar, an inferior product compared to what’s being produced by China nowadays.

Highlighted text above. That's really funny. Those who say that are either poor drivers and/or totally ignorant about regenerative braking. If set to high, the car does decelerate quickly, in some instances, bringing it to a complete sop. This is known as one pedal driving, a big plus of some EVs as it negates the need to use the friction brakes, extending its life and reducing maintenance costs. This feature ha multiple levels and can also be turned off completely if so desired.

That's obvious. No one contests that. In fact, no one even brings this up, other than your good self.

I would believe it more if you could have provided links to non biased, western sources. In fact, many western think tanks have simulated war games and in practicality every instance, China wins. And if you think that China is afraid of Japan, a couple of nuclear bombs should put that to rest. Fortunately for Japan though, China has a strict no first use policy. So, as stated previously, China has no desire to invade Taiwan. It would be bad for business. Majority of Taiwanese are Han Chinese, same as for China. China is not a war mongering nation, unlike the US and Japan.

Is that right? Can you give some examples please? Why hasn’t Article 5 been triggered?

All your post serves to prove is nothing. Say that effective from today, the only phone available for sale in Thailand is “Vinnies”. 100% of all phones sales are Vinnies. However, there are 60 million non Vinnies phones around. It will still take time for Vinnies phones to first be 10% of all phones in the market, followed by 20%. 30% and so on.

There is no doubt that govt subsidies and incentives make EVs more appealing but neither you nor I can know for sure how much influence this has on the final purchase decision. Would I still have bought my EV here in Thailand if there wasn’t the 150,000k baht incentive? Probably. I think your focus on hydro power etc is bit over exaggerated. In many countries around the world, electricity prices are much cheaper than petrol prices. Here in Thailand for sure. Even in the UK. I would imagine that gas prices in the US must be very low, yet Teslas also sell very well there. Not so EVs from Ford and GM but that’s because they are rubbish.

Reading the article as well as the links to it, I get a different impression. From one of the links: Although EVs make up about 90% of all new car sales in Norway, fuel demand has only seen a 10% fall from 2017 to 2023, remaining relatively stable. Research reveals that the modest decline in road fuel is due to increased fuel usage by heavy-duty vehicles, negating the impact of EVs on fuel demand. The shift to BEVs needs to extend to buses and trucks for a significant decrease in fuel consumption, raising questions for countries following Norway's lead in EV adoption. Without knowing the exact breakdown of fuel consumption by the different categories of vehicles, it’s not possible to paint an accurate picture. If fuel usage by heavy duty vehicles have traditionally been by far the biggest consumers, then even switching all passenger vehicles over to electric would not make much of a dent in overall fuel usage. There can be no doubt however that an EV travelling 100 km uses less fuel than a comparable ICEV. I would go as far as to say that the amount of fuel consumed is er.. let me bring my calculator out… Ah yes, the amount of fuel consumed is zero.

What does the size of the population have to do with whether the consumers prefer EVs over ICEVs? Thanks to its topography, EVs are the better choice for Norwegians. Cheaper to run and cleaner air to boot. Norway has NOT mandated only zero emissions for 2025. This is merely an objective. In other words, they have a choice. And they have clearly chosen.

The reason that China hasn’t invaded Taiwan is because it has no desire in doing so. XJP doesn’t give a hoot about what Biden says. China had effectively cut off communication with the states since Pelosi’s visit and it is only in face of relentless pleading from the US that communications were resumed. US military power have suffered humiliation after humiliation. It’s effective only against adversaries that are unable to fight back It’s a sure sign of their desperation that they had to resort to spreading propaganda about the duration of the conflict when it was in fact the US themselves that said it and not Putin.

This is of course obvious to anyone that doesn’t swallow the US propaganda that China is a threat. China is a threat only to US hegemony insofar as its citizens are extremely hardworking and want to make a better life for themselves and their families. China, unlike the US, has no interest to dominate the world militarily. History has proven that time and time again.

As far as I know, NK had not made any threats to SK. So the SK president’s remark was totally unnecessary and provoking, much like many actions of the west and their allies.

Of course there are…

Run all the aircons, just for fun.

I have been to the fjords in Norway a few times. Some of the most breathtaking scenery you can ever hope to see. I’m glad that Norwegians have taken to EVs so as to minimise tailpipe emissions which I would imagine would be detrimental to the glaciers.

Thank God that British cars have saved Europe from a nuclear war. I never would have thought…

Your comment that local Russians don’t want you to leave them behind seems to imply that they want to be liberated and governed by Ukraine rather than Russia. Is that so? Was that the objective behind this incursion, the liberation of Kursk?

Nice sarcasm 😁

I’m sure that banning sales of JLR vehicles to Russia is hurting it more than JLR lol. What idiots.

You mean the country that has committed more genocide than any other, starting from the indigenous native Indians to present day Palestinians. In between, lots of Iraqis, Afghans, Syrians, Libyans, Yemenis, Vietnamese, Japanese etc etc.

I’ve been to Moscow and St. P quite a few times on business. Nice country, good food, great architecture, long history and culture. The people come across as rather gruff but very open and warm hearted once you get to know them. Very passionate people, they live for today and not worry too much about tomorrow. I guess this could be due in part to their history. Oh, did I mention the girls? Lovely creatures, they are…