BKKBike09

I don't have a Dolphin - I have an Atto 3. When I booked it the Extended range was all that was available. But if there had been a choice I'd also have paid more to get Extended range. Don't take the range estimates as accurate. Work on getting maybe 80-90% of the WLTP range (ie instead of 420, work on 350-380). TBH I don't really see the point of not getting the model with the most range / most power available. Better to have more range / overtaking capability than you may need rather than find yourself wanting more. Can't upgrade once you've bought it ... Also I am sure the Extended range will be easier to sell if/when etc.

The drive mode stays where you set it, as does regen. But those are really easy to change on the fly (there are two toggle switches in the central console). All the other c**p (lane keeping, auto braking, collision warning) requires pressing buttons on the screen AND the car to be stopped and in P. You can't change them while driving or while the car is stopped, but still in D. That's why it will be excellent if it's really now possible to select permanently off (I'm not in Thailand at the moment which is why I can't say for sure that it's permanent, although it certainly looked like it).

Upon further investigation it also looks to be the case - praise be! - that owners can now permanently disable the 'safety' features of Predictive Collision Warning, Autonomous Emergency Braking and Emergency Lane Keeping. Previously these could only be disabled temporarily (start the vehicle, disable, switch off vehicle, they're all back on again). Now it appears that, if selected off, they stay off when the car is powered back on. Switching any of them off still gives the message that it's only valid for the current 'ignition cycle', but that just seems to be a legacy message and not actually the case. If these really all can be permanently disabled it's a huge plus. The Autonomous Emergency Braking is particularly hazardous in Bangkok traffic; I've had it activate twice when moving slowly forward in heavy traffic and a m/c has filtered through the gap between me and the car ahead. It's a full on braking action and it's more likely to get you rear-ended than to prevent an accident. Same with Lane Keeping; if you don't indicate (e.g. edging over the central divider to see if you can overtake safely etc), it aggressively tries to pull you back into your lane. So very happy to see the back of all these 'features'.

BYD has just put out a software update for the Atto 3; the only thing that leaps out as new is that there is now the choiice between Standard and Dynamic estimates for range. Not sure how accurate it will be because although the range does drop when selecting Dynamic over Standard, it still reads much higher than I'd expect. The first pic is the Dynamic estimate; the bottom one is the Standard estimate. At 15 kWh/100 km average consumption the 60 kWh battery should give max range of 400 km. So logically at 92% remaining it should estimate 368 km. Not sure why it still overestimates so much.

The 180kmh cap is a global Volvo safety thing, nothing to do with the battery. I think it was brought in in 2020 - they limit all their cars to a 180kmh top speed: petrol, hybrid, electric - and it is part of their pledge to eventually have zero fatalities in a Volvo car. Not sure I agree with it, but I rarely feel the need to go over 180kmh on the road these days (have done it plenty of times in my younger days). I should point out that although the ex30 is very fast it is kind of ridiculous talking about it in comparison to a 911. A 911 is a pure bred, highly focused, mid-engined sports car. An ex30 is a small family SUV. Totally different beasts, but alas, we do live in interesting times and I am all in favour of them. Even in comparison to a 911 the EV performance is addictive as it is instant, it is such a different feeling. I rented this beast for 24 hours in Dubai to race up and down some mountains and it was incredible. Faster on paper (0-100kmh in 3 seconds) but there's a lag, albeit small. A fast EV has no lag and just feels faster. Having said that I would take the 488 Italia Spider over the Volvo in an instant. ???? Lots of good points in this post. Volvo's 180 kmh limit is nannying nonsense. It's all the more pointless if they're then going to sell a car weighing nearly 2 tonnes that has supercar performance 0-100 kmh. "Speed KIlls" n all that. As you rightly point out, many EVs that can post a quick 0-100 kmh are not designed to be thrown around. Won't surprise me if there are quite a few crashes caused by this. Heavy SUVs handle like, well, heavy SUVs unless you spend a ton of money on suspension, tyre and brake upgrades. The cheap and cheerful Atto 3 will easily do a sub 7s 0-100 kmh but that's as fast as you'd want without all those upgrades. As to the different feeling of ICE vs EV performance, couldn't agree more. EV instant torque is great but it's hard to beat the sounds of highly tuned engines. Be interesting to see whether there are ever EV rally cars.

Meanwhile, back on topic ... Will be interesting to learn just how (according to BYD) a wire leading to the 12V battery was "damaged" in such a way that it became a heat source. The battery in the BYD Atto is a typical small car battery (12v / c 35A). But unlike a typical modern ICE small car, it's not squeezed in to some tiny space next to a hot engine block. There's bags of space around the Atto battery and under the hood in general, so the wiring to/from battery is very easy to see/access. I'm not sure why the battery comes wrapped in a nylon or whatever insulator blanket: maybe a legacy from cars destined for markets with cold winters. If it's taken off it does mean the negative terminal is exposed bare metal unless it's covered with a suitable insulator.

Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Astonishing really that back in the early 80s sub 10s 0-60 mph was considered 'performance'!

Just came across this graphic showing new EV passenger car registrations Jan-June this year vs last year. 31,600 odd up from 9,600 Y-on-Y.

It's a little off topic (for rented property) but Samsung have a range of ACs that have what they call 'Wind Free' feature. Basically the cover for the air vent is perforated; you can either run the A/C with the vent open or closed. I bought one a couple of weeks ago and it works very well. Diffuses the air flow very effectively. Whether the little holes will clog up with dust after a while remains to be seen but it can be removed and cleaned easily enough.

True (amps vs volts) but not relevant to BYD's statement on the cause as being: “After thorough investigation, our engineers have found damage to a wire connecting to the 12-volt battery”. AFAIK they haven't said anything yet as to how a wire on a brand-new vehicle came to be "damaged" / what exactly "damaged" means, such that it could generate enough heat to melt a hole in part of the aircon system (which led to the white smoke).

Er. Thanks for the insight.

Your 'friend' might still be nervous even after being learning that it was 'only' "a damaged wire connecting to the 12v battery" that caused the incident. What BYD need to explain is how a wire on a brand-new vehicle came to be "damaged" / what exactly "damaged" means, such that it could generate enough heat to melt a hole in part of the aircon system. Commenting as a (more curious than nervous) BYD Atto owner.

Looks interesting, but it's a rich folks toy given starting price of EUR 7500 (GBP 6500). Also range seems a bit underwhelming. Estimated Range 60km (ECO MODE)

As far as I can see from the bit of paper the bloke is waving in the photo, the destinations included: Lao , Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Japan, Australia, Israel, Switzerland, France, UK, Germany, Portugal, Sweden, USA, Guatemala Some places like Japan, France and UK were visited several times. Not entirely sure why a senior Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research official would be visiting Macau or Guatemala ...

Actually, what they appear to have charged this bozo with is an offence under Section 319 of the Criminal Code. The Thai language news articles all include the phrase "pheu karn anajarn" - "for indecent purposes" - to describe the alleged offence: Section 319. Sexual Trafficking Whoever, takes away a minor over fifteen years of age but not yet over eighteen years of age from the parent, guardian or person looking after such minor for lucre or indecent purpose with the consent of such minor, shall be punished with imprisonment of two to ten years and fined of four thousand to twenty thousand Baht ... https://library.siam-legal.com/thai-law/criminal-code-trafficking-sections-319-321/ He's in deep. Banging a teen over the age of consent but under the age of 18 carries the risk of serious legal consequences. I could mention Prince Andrew but that would be off topic ...

The original article doesn't say he was cought in the act and that it was recorded on video. It says there were videos of their bedroom antics and that the girl's mother filed the complaint after the girl had been seeing the guy for 5 months. Videos will likely add to his troubles, courtesy of Computer Crimes Act.

Perhaps not expensive, but not great for the environment. Unless they're made of natural bio-degradable materials.

Not sure how my screenname enables you to deduce my career and credentials. That's your "critical thinking skills" in action? You're also not very good at either reading or answering questions: qv: "I do have a sister who's a 20-year teacher in an Inner London state primary" does not mean she's 20-years old. Be difficult for a 20-year old to be a qualified teacher in the UK. She's got 20 (+) years of teaching experience (largely in kindergarten, as it happens). The question that you have not answered is why you think it's acceptable for a 3-year old to be forced to wear a mask in pre-school (in fact, I would extend that to any situation) - particularly when you feel that it's fine for you not to wear one at all. If you can't answer this, then don't bother to respond.

I don't have any "secret knowledge". I do have a sister who's a 20-year teacher in an Inner London state primary, who has seen (and sees) first-hand the negative impact of various covid policies - including masking - on very young children. It's not exactly a "crazy conspiracy theory". "the long-term harm to kids from masking is potentially enormous. Masking is a psychological stressor for children and disrupts learning. Covering the lower half of the face of both teacher and pupil reduces the ability to communicate. In particular, children lose the experience of mimicking expressions, an essential tool of nonverbal communication. Positive emotions such as laughing and smiling become less recognizable, and negative emotions get amplified. Bonding between teachers and students takes a hit. Overall, it is likely that masking exacerbates the chances that a child will experience anxiety and depression, which are already at pandemic levels themselves" https://healthpolicy.usc.edu/article/mandatory-masking-of-school-children-is-a-bad-idea/ "The results drawn in this study suggest the possibility that children’s language-learning experiences may have been affected by mask-wearing in many different aspects. If these findings were beyond just educators’ perception, wearing a mask not only leads to reduction of visual–auditory sensory input but also modifications of language quantity, language quality, and non-verbal cues children receive" https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.874264/full I note you have been perfectly happy not to wear a mask for months. Presumably because you felt that was a reasonable decision, given overall risk. You're an adult, so your choice to make. But at the same time you seem to be able to rationalise that it's a good thing for a 3-year old to wear a mask? Truly bizarre.

That is truly messed up. And you're okay with this?

Classic! Love it. I mean, it's not like there's anything under the car that could be damaged by mounting a kerb ...

I see the BYD web site (which gets fancier by the day, it seems) now promotes the BYD app ... although when you try to download it, it's still "not available in your country or region". Coming soon, perhaps. The web site also now has one of those "see how much you could save!" calculators. For the Atto it fixes the average battery consumption rate at 6.71 km/kWh - which equates to just over 400 km on a full battery, so somewhat below the advertised max range. In practice I think the realistic range is between 350-400 km for 'normal driving' [I've done 7000 odd km and the average consumption is stated as 15.5 kWh/100 km, so about 390 km in all]. More spirited driving (e.g. 100 km yesterday on highways at 120-130+) and range will drop to between 320-350 km. One gripe I have with the Atto is that here in Thailand the only range estimate it shows is based on a starting point of 480 km at full charge, which is not very realistic. There's no option for dynamic range estimation. Very irritating as it's only a software tweak, and is available in other markets. Hopefully BYD will unlock this here at some point.

That should be the case, although Dolphin being lighter and with skinnier tyres might have a harder time with grip. The BYD web site actually has "7s" as the 0-100 time for both Dolphin and Atto 3.

Did a few runs today to see whether Atto 3 can really do 0-100 kmh in 7.3 seconds. Out of three runs, best was actually 6.5 seconds (with a 7.1 and 7.2 before and after). This is with the stock Batman tyres squealing like stuck pigs.

"Ami is certified as a quadricycle. It is limited to 28 mph and there are no plans to increase its top speed" - https://www.citroen.co.uk/ami 28 mph! No wonder they also say "Ami is designed for an inner-city environment. Fast roads are not made for Ami! We would recommend sticking to 20 and 30 mph roads where Ami is ideal".