atpeace

On a less serious note - anybody enjoy camping? I just realized with an EV I could do it with AC. Setup a canopy outside the car, and sleep on an air mattress in the car at night in bliss. If I had the MG my bro in-law has with the huge sunroof to star gaze... lots of sweaty nights camping in Thailand but not with an EV. This thread is a good read but I think we all know who will be proven correct a few years from now. I'm just waiting to sell the ICE truck and make the switch. Have excess solar so 95% of my driving will be free!

I'm not seeing any success stories with the soft power route (Muay Thai, Cooking classes ). Am I missing something? Lots of people casually mentioning how easy it would be but want to see some approvals.

Final update after testing the 49 LifePO4 280 AH battery. Purchased from shopee and had my doubts but felt pretty confident it would test out close to 280ah. Went off grid and ran the battery down to when the BMS shut it down at around 46v so still had about 3-5% left. Test results: 293AH and over 15kWhs! Amazing what is possible with some luck for 45k baht. This battery should be good for 10 years. Below is the pic of the results.

Yep, I was thinking the same. Big price jump from 6.2 to 10 but he uses lots of power. If it were me, I would just over panel the 6.2 KW inverter. With 7.7 KWs installed using my 6.2 KW inverter, I get to 6.5KW production at a few times during the day when the sun breaks through the clouds. The extra watts over 6.5 KWs produced by the panels aren't utilized.

You mentioned your bill was 6k baht last year during April. 9x500 I don't think will be optimal. Remember you will be producing very little before 9am with that setup and also after 4pm. With clouds you won't even come close to meeting your needs. Panels are cheap so I recommend over paneling. E.g.,6.2KW inverter/charger with 14x500 panels. You still might struggle to meet your power needs but close enough. You need to produce 40kw a day and not a chance with 9x500 IMO. I would bet you would struggle to produce 15KWs during the rainy season. The guy I used that is near you could do 14x500 + complete install (all wires, metal frames, everything 🙂 ) for about 60k.

I think I maxed out this May at around 3,000 baht. It will be zero next April. My 13.4kWh battery will get me though the night and it was only 44k baht. Only months I will probably have an issue are during the rainy season. Lots of rain this week no issue but last month a huge storm passed through that lasted weeks. Probably would have needed the grid but not sure. It is cloudy now and still producing 2,000w.

I replied to your PM. As for advice, I'm a novice and can only go off my limited knowledge. The Anern is working great the last week. It is loud when pushing the solar charge limits(6,500w) and also when drawing large watts. Not an issue since it is outside but might bother some. I just wanted to slowly transition from the grid to solar so and didn't want to spend loads of money on some thing I was not sure about. Figured I wouldn't lose any sleep over the Anern purchase if it ended up being a bad choice. The slow transition didn't happen. My wrong direction panels(7.7kw-over paneled the inverter) facing almost direct north are producing loads of watts(around 6,500 if sunny) and have been off the grid for 3 days since installing the battery. My PEA bill is now 3 days late that has me mildly concerned and hope they are going to be an issue.

Sorry, I don't know but did find this link with limited info but it seems at least the 10kw version can. https://www.anern.net/10kw-lithium-batteries-parallel-inverter-system-solution-well-installed-in-mauritius

OK now the whole system is up and running. The last 10 days I've been producing large kWs but nowhere to send them but hooked up the battery last night. Last night I was completely disconnected from the grid and only used 15% of the battery! It wasn't too hot yesterday so assume that percentage will be closer to 70% on hot days. The battery ran 2 ACs, a water pump, and a hot water heater (shower) all at once and without a voltage sag as happens on my older lifepo4 batteries I use for night spot lights. The cells look new and are not swollen so maybe I lucked out! Will have a better idea after I cycle them many times over the next month. I'll be beating them up and don't care about charging them to 99% and discharging to 2%. I think the the calendar aging will be greater than any abuse I put them through. Not worried if I'm wrong. Even if I got 1000 cycles that would get me roughly 6 years of good performance and many more of less than 80% state of health. Final Cost: Solar Panels (7.7kW) and Install - 69,875 Inverter Anern 6.2 kW - 14,000 Battery (13.440 kWh ) - 44,700 Misc - 2,000 Total - 130,575 I was planning on still using the grid throughout the day but really don't see the point. It's raining now and solar is keeping up with my current 1.5 kW needs and I have the battery if needed. The grid is a great backup though and glad it is there. My humble setup 🙂 🙂 I will be covering the battery today. Don't want to kill her cats which would possibly make the woman angry.

OK, so you aren't claiming Thailand is safe. You are simply stating it is safe in some ways. Not sure what that means but whatever. I rarely have cycled in the conditions you mostly cycle in and have no idea how safe it is but would be surprised if it compared to the safety on American roads. Strange, how you are yelled at so often in America. I never have been yelled at other than teenagers having fun. Are you driving on the left side of the road? Some of what you mentioned above is why cycling is so great. Food everywhere and so many great places to take a break. Not so in America.

Sorry, you are trying to make a point and disregarding reality. It is safer here to cycle than America???? You seem angry for some reason. I love cycling and so did my friends here when I rode and raced in Thailand. It Definately "can" be safe depending on where you live in Thailand and what speeds you cycle. Maybe your in a good area, been extremely lucky, or something else I'm unaware of but you are coming across as an angry know it all. Cycling can be dangerous everywhere in the world but compared to Europe it is much more dangerous here. How would it be that one of the most dangerous places in the world to drive a car would be safe for cyclists?

That is nice and it is a great time. Funny how our experiences are the opposite. I miss it but as long as I can run, I'll keep doing it. Have had too many friends here experience bad accidents on bikes. I don't know of one off the top of my head that hasn't. I don't have one friend that has a had a bad motorbike accident.

Cycling is much more dangerous. In 25 years here I've been in ER 3 times and not even a scratch during all these years driving a motorbike. The issue is the speed disparity between vehicles and motorbikes and also the weight/size. Drivers can have a hard time at times judging speed and some just simply miss cyclists when scanning the road. A nice man hit me head on and told the police he didn't even see me and this has happened three times and maybe four ( woke up at 11pm in a ditch and no idea what happened the last time). The three unaware drivers: man was excited about picking up his kids, two scooter talking to each other and didn't see me, and the last was a drunk on a scooter( he ended up with major head trauma and I had only broken bones). Definately can mitigate risk if you are the ultra aware type, don't go over 60 kph on downhills, and obviously wear a helmet. Still if you are an avid cyclist here expect broken bones at the least every 5-10 years. I now am a runner 🙂

Big help - Thanks. Heading to America next month so thinking I should wait but at these prices it is hard not to just go for it.

It seems too good to be true 🙂 I could buy the Neta above for 309k with 100k still remaining on the battery warranty. Am I missing something???? 🙂 My wife's sister has one a couple doors down. I'll go check it out. She loves it. I have only glanced at it It is bland but I could get over the looks 🙂

309K! That is amazing. Assume the warranty is transferable. 5-Year or 150,000 km vehicle factory warranty (whichever comes first)[6] 8-Year or 180,000 km electric motor and HV battery warranty (whichever comes first)[7]

Just checked the car book and it's a 2010 - oops. I'm not too concerned about getting top dollar. I would probably sell it at steep discount 180-200k would be fine. Can you charge at hotels? When we travel we like to take our time and usually stay a couple nights at hotels we like before our next leg. Granny charging at hotels if possible would be perfect.

What model MG and year do you have? What is your conservative estimate of HWY range?

Thanks! Never traded in a car so don't have a clue but assume I would get much lower than the above. It does have only 90k I think.

I have no idea. It is extended cab automatic. Just thinking about selling at this point and not ready. We used it to put a camper on during Covid and now it is rarely used. I just grabbed the Bluebook and it states 2010 -555. It is great but we sold the camper and no need for a truck anymore.

Anyone trade in their ICE to get an EV. My ICE (2012 Prerunner ) has only 95K and runs great but catching the EV bug and don't want to hassle with selling the Prerunner. I sent back 25 units back to the grid today and the conditions weren't ideal. Basically 99% of my driving would be free if I had an EV minus maintenance. I turned off the export function this evening because I don't want to worry about unexpected consequences. It would be nice to send the extra power somewhere.

All makes sense and I definitely would get out more if it was free basically. I still can't justify new because I drive so little and I don't see it as adding risk. I'm already driving a used ICE which could have issues also in the future. There is always the battery risk but if I am only spending 350 and the odds are I will be OK even if I get a lemon and the battery is at 80% of its original value. It would provide probably another 5 years considering my needs and probably many more. Sometimes you just have to roll the dice without knowing the exact probability of your desired outcome 🙂 I have the spare money so why not have some fun.

Agree - hate is something that I rarely do. I did hate him in 2016 but have matured 🙂

What about swapping a used ICE car for a used EV? My Ice has been great but I hardly use it. It seems you can pickup a decent MG or Neta 2020-2021 for about 350k. I don't drive much like yourself and mostly my car just sits for weeks between drives. I'm cheap but only if it makes financial sense 🙂 Hard for me to rationalize a new car. If I had an EV and could slow charge with my new panels install(7.7 KW) then I might get out more and explore or at least drive 28k into Phibun ( small town with Lotus, Big C, running track) more often. It would be free vs around 220 baht using my Vigo. I know -only 220 baht but I usually jump on the scooter to save the 220 baht which is dangerous at night when coming back home after running on the track and shopping.

Probably but can't figure out where it shows what is flowing to the grid. I know what I'm using and what solar is producing so I just subtract my use from solar and use that number as an estimate. Good point about the conversion efficiency. I was using a treadmill, lots of electronics, and AC (900w) for most the time since starting to export. In 2 .5 hours it has dropped roughly 9 units. Lots of clouds but still much better than I expected.