Andrew Dwyer

Dreamworks not Disney .

Wonder what the precedent is for allowing 24 hr free charging or only off peak at BYD or Bangchak pump ??. As we see from the posting here it affects availability so much, Pib seems to have his pick of red dots, I have enough with a short travel while Gweilo has to charge in unsociable hours and is encountering queues.

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I will watch the video, but a quick question. I see some people stating that the 10% to 100% charge should be done at a slow charging speed, i.e. AC, to effectively achieve battery balancing, is that true ?

While it is true that my largest free charging session ( 76.4 kw ) would have cost me 230 baht if charged at home via my TOU meter and wall charger it would take around 12 hours at 6.4 kWh whereas it took just over an hour at the BYD dealer or Bangchak pump at speeds up to 115 kWh. I admit initially i was reluctant to possibly face a queue for a free charging session when it is so cheap at home and some reports that the initial free charging was complicated to ensure the “ free “ part but when i passed a BYD dealer on returning from a 450 km round trip and spotted a vacancy i pulled in more out of curiosity. Seeing my confused look on trying to activate the initial charge ( after the first time it is plug and play ) a good lady helped me out and the charging commenced. A little toilet visit, raided a few bottles of water from the lounge, feigned interest in the cars in the showroom and played with the resident, and totally uninterested, cat for a while and we were done. I was converted ! It is 5 months free charging so a little more than 200 baht and in my case i haven’t encountered much wait time. I suppose with the price reduction that most of us have fell foul of i guess there’s a little bit of “ getting something back “ involved too. Anyway, after 560 free kw’s i have no regrets other than not starting the free sessions when they first began.

Based on a Jilly Cooper novel makes me think it will be more suited to bored housewives ?

Yes, location plus many Dealerships and Bangchak pumps only giving free electrons at off peak times has made availability competitive. I have few options, 1 BYD 21 km away and 1 Bangchak 30 km away, plus an off peak Bangchak 9 km away. The Bangchak 30 km away is my best option as monitoring the app found it to be least frequented, plus it is new and has good facilities. Currently at 68% SOC with an impending 450 km tomorrow early morning round trip ( going to pick up the mil to spend a week with us ……… just shoot me now !! ) i knew that i would have to charge on the way back if not closer to 100% and not wanting to subject the old gal to a further hour sitting in the car i chose to charge today ( hope this is appreciated in her will !! ). So, could nip over the highway tonight to the pump or drive to the pump now ( 30 km ) and have a spot of lunch. Chose the latter and am currently charging on my lonesome ( hee hee hee 😈). So, not ideal, but will suffice. and yes am going for 100%

Not sure if this has been mentioned. This looks interesting, Kathy Bates brings back Matlock . https://www.imdb.com/title/tt26591147/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

Obtaining a yellow book and subsequent pink id depends on your Amphur and their requirements. It can be anything from a passport and 20 baht to a visit to your Embassy for a certified copy of your passport, then a visit to MFA to translate your passport copy and birth certificate, then drag a couple of witnesses with you to the Amphur, to a direct “ no can do “ ……… and anything in between. More threads on this topic than you can shake a stick at !! Only sensible recommendation is to visit your Amphur and ask them what they need ! ( already suggested 2 days ago )

If anyone is wondering where the latest update is ( 1.3 i think ) which includes a Navigation charging planner? Well it appears to have caused some issues in incorrect charging schedule in Europe and the UK so has been shelved for a while. I was more interested in an increase to the parking sensor warning volume which is now pretty low imho !

I agree knowing how many people are in the queue would be great but how would they do that ? add a button on the screen so people have to physically press to get in line ? which could then appear on the app i guess . I suppose it depends how many people are wanting to free charge in that particular area ? I have only charged 8 times since Sept 1st ( accruing 528kw ) but only found 1 person waiting 1 time ( ironically i didn’t know she was waiting but she soon let me know ! ) which meant i waited 15 mins. On the other times it has been very quiet with around 50/50 between sharing the charger or getting it all for myself ( insert evil laugh here ). So I don’t really agree with the 80% rule but if you frequently encounter queues then i can understand.

Living in Ayutthaya i have less options for free charging than Bangkok dwellers, my nearest BYD showroom doesn’t even have any chargers, possibly has AC ?, so doesn’t show on the app. I have 3 local options to choose from: Bangchak, 9 km away but off peak. BYD, 18 km away but busy. Bangchak, 20 km away and my best option. We do frequently travel to Mrs D’s hometown though and have a few more options including a BYD dealership out of town so remote it is not uncommon to find the staff asleep when going inside to use the toilets. We also frequently pass a Bangchak pump with 1 DC and 1 CHAdeMO which is usually vacant but as the DC is 50 kw try to avoid. But, its all good, can get 450 km comfortably on a trip to rural Nakhon Sawan to visit the mil and still have 10 to 15 % buffer which i would top up overnight with my TOU prior to the free stuff. Whereas before i would monitor my range to make sure i got back with some % left, now with the free options i tend to get my foot down harder and stop at one of the BYD options ( Uthai Thani or Chainat ) to get home with around 75%. So, although i don’t go out of my way too much for the freebies i have changed my habits.

The good thing about the Bangchak ReverSharger chargers is they have 2 large scrolling LED’s at the top of the charger showing at a glance roughly how much is left on each side until 100%. I utilised this myself recently, arriving at the Bangchak pump I could see both were very near completion so waited 5 minutes without leaving the car. But of course the percentage in the app is better for both Bangchak and BYD chargers now. I was reluctant to take advantage of the free charging offer as the first time seemed to create problems for people ( obviously after the process was clarified it is now a simple plug and play affair ) so didn’t charge outside until Aug 31st but then i caught the bug and haven’t paid for charging since then ( except the 26 baht service charge for my TOU ). Since then i have accrued 527.96 kw ( worth 5,223 baht ) from only 8 visits, preferring to leave it to below 40%, one time was 15%. I think out of the 8 visits i have had to wait only 3 times around 5,10 and 15 minutes. I will be happy to accrue 10k from free charging although in reality it is a lot less as i would have used my TOU meter, but it is a feeling of getting something back from the dealer as my EV has been reduced by 50k since buying.

From the video it looks like the Thai lady knows exactly where the change went but the “ friend “ is escalating the situation by not coming clean. Dutchie and his buddy should be taken out and shot at dawn or made to listen to Thai music nonstop for a week !!

ReverSharger app now up and running. When using the map chargers in use now show the percentage charging , new I think ?

While a fan of Oasis’s music I don’t care for Liam or Noel and prefer not to watch them being interviewed as they are a couple of big headed idiots. But, this sketch was pathetic, the girl in particular was just annoying, and i usually like SNL stuff .

Charging at ReverShargers down today from 9.00 am to 12.00 pm , app will need an update afterwards.

I bought a Haval Jolion Ultra, I fell in love with the car when it appeared at local malls together with the Haval H6 ( the H6 a little too big for my needs ) around Nov 2021 i think. I wasn’t in the market at the time but admired it from a distance until around 18 months later when they started to sell off the showroom models with a healthy discount and I bought one. The Jolion is a remarkably well put together car with a plush white interior ( now available in black also ) which took a little getting used to but i came to like. A very comfortable ride with a good acceleration ( combined 190 hp ) and imo a beautiful car. The downsides, for me, were: A small luggage storage area for a decent size SUV, 390L, due to hybrid and 12v batteries in the rear, forget about a spare/donut tyre. Poor fuel economy, although quoted at something like 23.5 km/l in reality 17 km/l was the max i could squeeze out of it, not great for a hybrid. Limited infotainment system. No way to utilise the hybrid part of the system, it tended to do its own thing ( running in EV mode on and off ). Made me rethink the whole Hybrid option and vowed to go PHEV or HEV next time. My brother in law was deeply impressed with the car and took up my offer of the same price as i had paid ( heavily discounted showroom model with 7k on the clock in mint condition, one of the last available ). So i let it go after 6 months and only adding another 6k km. The H6 PHEV is a much better option, imho, with a great 201 km ( in reality probably 150/180 km ) range and now reduced to a reasonable price. A much more flexible car which takes advantage of a healthy EV range and more flexibility. A Jolion PHEV would have been ideal for me but sadly it never transpired and i moved on to a full EV.

I am half way through the first season and liking it, Martin and Steve are great as usual but Selena’s voice is starting to get on my nerves !

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What was the main reason for the change from Apple to Samsung ?, am guessing it is to do with connectivity between your various devices ?

I have bought around 350 items online ( mainly Lazada ) and always pay COD or PromptPay if not at home. On two occasions i have asked the delivery guy to wait until i opened the package. 1) A tin of glue was packed in a cutting disc box, i opened it in around 10 seconds and gave the delivery guy the thumbs up. 2) A car product showed signs of leaking, opened it and indeed the plastic bottle was cracked. The delivery guy took the damaged product back and returned my money. Guess i have been lucky?

In my area Makro have always done this, but they do check thoroughly, easy i guess when the items are in a cart. Whereas, my local Lotus’s started doing the same bought items check maybe a year ago, they rarely look in the bag and just look at the receipt and stamp it when happy ( with their x-Ray vision ? ). Ironically there’s two entry/exits and they only check at one. But it doesn’t annoy me in the slightest. Oh, and yes my local Tops have self checkouts if no one has mentioned already 🤭.

Yup sounds like Bull to me !

Guy on a podcast 😂😂