Gweiloman

I wonder if this will translate to cheaper replacement costs for batteries, if required. It’s a shame that cobalt is still being used in the refining of gasoline and diesel for ICEVs. Maybe @ExpatOilWorker can tell us why this is necessary and how the oil companies ensure no child labour in their industry.

This is Thailand. I doubt there will ever be a road user charge for EVs. The government won’t know how to devise such a scheme or how to implement it, ever. They can’t even phase traffic lights properly. A resale value of 0 for EVs are an ICE owners wet dream. Never gonna happen either.

It has been mentioned numerous times on various threads that if one doesn’t have access to home charging, owning an EV can be challenging. Having said that, it’s still very doable for the average motorist who mainly uses his car for the daily work commute. Go to a DC charging station once a week, plug it in for 30-40 mins and do any of the following: - watch Netflix or HBO GO or YT on the big infotainment screen - get something to eat - get a massage - go shopping - take a walk - walk the dog - play on the phone - call a friend or a relative - catch up on emails - read a book There are countless things to do while waiting for the car to charge, gloating in the fact that you are saving yourself lots of money compared to driving an ICEV. Your neighbour may not be as stupid as …

The study doesn’t mention Chinese EVs because very few are sold in the US. The reason for this has nothing to do with the popularity of Chinese EVs but because of protectionism and China hatred, not unlike some on this forum. Major brands that are not investing in EVs are those that realise that they have lost the war against Chinese made EVs. They are desperately trying to hang on for their survival, not unlike Kodak, Nokia, RIM etc.

The folks I know can easily afford million plus baht cars… Guess it’s different out in Nakhon Nowhere.

According to this study, 3 main reasons; pricing, charging infrastructure and range anxiety 1. Pricing Non-Chinese made EVs, particularly US made ones are overpriced and represents poor value for money. The automakers know that, the government knows that. Hence. All the restrictions and tariffs in place on Chinese made EVs. I definitely won’t buy a F150 or Mustang MachE either. 2. Charging infrastructure Seems like quite a lot of EV owners in America don’t have access to home charging. A moderately intelligent person would know that this is necessary in order to have a satisfactory ownership experience, as we do here in Thailand. I could be wrong but I believe that not many people have access to home charging either, in countries like Norway and China where EV adoption is the two highest in the world. The difference of course is that the States does not invest in infrastructure for the benefit of its citizens, preferring to invest in the MIC instead whereas in Norway and China, chargers are easily available everywhere. Upkeep and maintenance of the charging equipment seems to leave a lot to be desired (in the States) with many of them out of service. 3. Range anxiety America and China are similarly sized countries so one would imagine that motorists in both countries travel similar distances. The issue American EV owners face is related to point 2, poor charging infrastructure en-route. Here in Thailand, not one EV owner on the forum has any issues with range. So in summary, the issue is not the EV itself but the supporting infrastructure. Some countries (and a particular manufacturer) got it right whereas some others, particularly US and the UK aren’t up to the job.

I will move from Samui if I was staying there.

To the OP @Maybole. By now, you would have heard many arguments for and against your relative to replace her 20 yo ICE with a new EV. On one side, you have the anti EVers, who don’t actually own an EV. They just hate EVs, without actually knowing why. Sprinkle this with a couple of China haters who hate China and everything Chinese, because their government and the media they follow tells them to. On the other side, you have actual EV owners who also either still own or had previously owned ICEVs. None of them actually hate ICEVs. They just prefer EVs for its smooth and comfortable ride, performance, cheap cost of ownership, advanced technology in the vehicles etc. Not one would replace their EV for an ICEV; except for one dubious claimant of having driven a Tesla in BKK. What it boils down to really is whether your relative considers the downsides of an EV as deal breakers. These are less range than an ICEV during long distance trips, longer “refuelling” times if required and access to home charging or not. There is also a fire risk; it’s a significantly lower risk than that of an ICEV but the consequences are much greater. To my knowledge, there hasn’t been a single EV fire in Thailand. One way of looking at this is comparing a Bkk - Chiang Mai trip by land or air. A road accident might land you in the hospital, an air accident will almost certainly land you in a cemetery. Would you recommend the positive knowledge and experience of actual owners or the doubts and misconceptions of ill informed posters without first hand knowledge. The choice is yours. You have asked the audience, 50/50 is by default and all you have left is to phone a friend. (I suggest @JBChiangRai, @Bandersnatch, @KhunLA, @Andrew Dwyer, @Pib as among those owners who knows what they are talking about.

Yet I’m almost certain that you own lots of Chinese junk, just like the majority of folks all over the world.

I’m sure Tesla, BYD, MG are really sad that you are never ever going to buy an EV. Huge impact on their bottom line, I’m sure.

You are so right. That’s why all the premium EV brands such as Tesla, BMW, MB etc use non Chinese made batteries that has a range of 1,000 km and a charging time of just 5 minutes. Oh, wait…

All things are made to a particular price point and for a specific market segment. China is the manufacturing capital of the world and this wouldn’t have been possible if ALL their products are inferior. If you buy a branded clone at a fraction of the price, you will of course not be getting the same quality as the original. That’s just common sense.

I have a 60 kWh BEV and a 30 kWh PHEV. I haven’t had the opportunity to make a very long distance trip in my BEV yet but have already clocked up 35,000 kms in my PHEV including at least 4 long round distance trips in excess of 2000 kms. Bearing in mind that the real world EV range of my PHEV is only about 160-180 km, I obviously couldn’t do those trips on battery power alone. However the bulk of the distance travelled was done on battery power and I personally didn’t find it a PITA to charge alone the way as CSS are PLENTIFUL and working 100% of the time that I stopped to charge. Apart from one instance at Lomsak PEA Volta, I didn’t have to wait to charge. At this stop, PEA had kindly constructed an air conditioned waiting room with beverages as well. So your claim of poor charging infrastructure is either hearsay or a while ago and not a reflection of today’s situation.

So, you were just repeating what you heard from uninformed ICE owners. Thanks for answering my question. Strange why some people don’t wish to educate themselves.

EVs discounting, fishy. ICEs discounting, not fishy. Good thing oil workers don’t teach economics at universities.

My sympathies.

Yeah, we believe you, not.

I think there is a higher chance of expensive legacy ICEVs going bankrupt in the next 5 yrs or so. Which long road trip did you undertake that was a pain due to the lack of charging infrastructure? Or are you just repeating what you heard from equally uninformed ICE owners?

You drove your golf cart onto the green? That’s probably why the tournament was delayed, to repair the green. Some people just have no golf etiquette…

This is going to be a fun thread. Hearing arguments from people who have never owned or even test driven an EV, knows nothing about the chemistry of modern EV batteries and battery management systems, possibly China haters, folks who can drive 600 kms on Thai roads without needing a toilet break, folks who have to do a 400 km trip at a moment’s notice etc vs actual owners. @Maybole, does your relative have access to home charging? If she lives in an apartment without being able to charge, I would advise against it. Does she do frequent long trips or even have to do long trips over a festive period like during Songkran? If so, an EV might not be the best choice. However, if she’s like most regular commuters with access to home charging, she will save a lot of money on fuel alone.

Comparing an electric scooter to an EV is like comparing well, an electric scooter to an EV. You might as well compare an apple to an orange.

When I tell BYD to open the windows 20%, they barely crack open, not even below the wind deflectors I have installed. When I ask for 30%, she doesn’t understand me. When I ask for 40%, I sometimes get reprimanded for driving too fast before being asked to reconfirm. 50 or 60% is the same opening width as 40%. A bit more work needs to be done by BYD lol.

He is most likely a Singaporean or Malaysian Chinese. I know that accent well. His car is right hand drive as well which means SEA or UK or Australia/NZ. Looking at the supermarket carpark, I would say most likely Singapore or Malaysia. The voice hold activation works well for me in my Dolphin. First you have to have Android Auto connected of course. Google assistant and home are native to Android Auto. Press and hold the voice command button for a couple of seconds and then just ask Google anything.

I also watch HBO Go and MONOMAX sometimes but mostly YouTube. Main problem is that I finish charging too quickly to watch anything of substance unless I can’t find a suitable hotel and overnight in my car instead. The heat pump in my BYD works really well for those really cold nights during the CM winter months.

A granny cable is the very slow level 1 charging cable that would have come with your PHEV that you plug into a regular wall outlet. Also referred to as the emergency charging cable. This will give you around 2 kWh per hour. The wall charger gives about 6-7 kWh per hour. You might have set your car to only start charging from 10 pm (off peak) which is why the charging session didn’t start at 9 pm.