JBChiangRai

All new energy vehicles have drawbacks, but right now battery electric is the best alternative and that is what is selling. With what we are seeing in terms of battery development, I can't see any possible better solution, it's not perfect, but it will be as near as dammit in under a decade. There will be a place for Hydrogen, but even the Hydrogen producers (plug hydrogen, shell) say it won't be for passenger cars for fairly obvious efficiency drawbacks.

On the journey you describe, I would leave Chiang Rai fully charged, potter around CM as you described and I'd stop for KFC at Mae Kachan and plug the car in whilst I ate there. 10 minutes would be long enough. If there was a queue (I've never seen one), I'd stop at the next one 12km further down the road. There's not much call for charging stations between CM & CR as most people start with a full battery in CM or CR and don't need to charge. If you don't drive an EV you probably won't notice the charging stations, PTT's have a big blue EV sign on the pole outside

I agree with everything you said in your post except this “At this point Thailand doesn't even have the infrastructure to handle EVs. ” Thailand has an excellent EV charging infrastructure. Yes, and I have done it with just under 20% SoC left.

I bought 2 dozen Lamptan LED bulbs on Lazada, all failed so I bought Philips on Lazada. No failures yet. i still buy downlighting on AliExpress, I think I got lucky, 1 failed in nearly 200 fitted 3.5 years ago. I agree that the quality of these items where no warranty is expected can be variable. There are some products from China that I wouldn’t buy, power tools as you suggested are one. Incidentally, I am also an Electronic Engineer by training, got the degree, never used it, far too nerdy.

Don't forget, your battery state of charge increases as you come down after hill-climbing as kinetic energy is converted back to electricity and ultimately chemical energy in your battery. There are a few of slow AC chargers between Doi Saket and Mae Kachan at coffee shops. There is a fast charger just before Mae Kachan at the large services with KFC and another 12km past that, a further one near Mae Suai. I have never needed to use any of them.

To describe Elon Musk as a Nazi is ridiculous. The Nazi's made excellent cars.

I don't agree that making pieces of a product in different places in anywhere near as good or cost effective. I'm reminded of my Mitsubishi & Daikin air conditioning units where the casing and vanes go yellow at different rates. There is none of that so far with my TCL air conditioning units. BYD make somewhere around 75% of the total content of their cars in-house, contrast that with Japanese & German car manufacturers who are typically around 25%. BYD make their own semiconductors, plastics, seats etc. You don't get the integration issues we have so often seen, eg industry wide air bag recalls because in effect the car manufacturer was let down by an OEM. On a German car I had, it was trailered to Bangkok twice because of a worldwide issue with air conditioning pressure sensors failing on all their models. BYD cars have a huge degree of innovation and integration which accounts for cost savings around 30% compared to what the West can achieve. For example, their 12 in 1 drive unit. Included among the 12 are items such as the electric motor, silicon carbide electronic controls, high-efficiency reducers, DC converter, battery manager, and intelligent boost modules. Claiming a world first by itself according to BYD is the motor which is the world highest speed mass-produced electric drive motor for a car reaching 23,000 rpm. Another claimed first is the laminated laser welded silicon carbide power module.

The only Chinese items I've had of questionable quality were some LED lamps 11 years ago.

I think China was exactly like you describe 10 years ago. They have learned a lot in that time.

If you watch the UBS video I posted, you'll find the conclusion is that it's both high quality AND cheaper than the West can make. The video explains why.

Lots of Chinese products. Installed over a dozen TCL air conditioners 2 TCL washer/dryers My daughter had a Chinese MGEP+ EV We replaced it with a Chinese MG4 EV I have a BYD Seal Lots of Chinese mini PC's 2 of TCL TV's None of these has ever had a problem. You can read about UBS's teardown of a BYD Seal here (spoiler, the quality is equivalent to a premium German car but at least a generation ahead with far higher vertical integration) https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2023-09-19/ubs-on-its-teardown-of-byd-seal-video

Batteries, especially made in China, wear out. Please provide a link to substantiate your nonsensical claim

Speaking as an EV and plugin HEV owner, I would tend to avoid HEV's. Whilst I think the HEV's offered by Toyota and Honda are fine cars, I think the hybrid system adds a layer of complexity, expense and above all else, risk for a limited reward. HEV's are about 130 times more likely to catch fire than an EV and about 10 times more likely to catch fire than an ICE without the hybrid system. There are many sources of statistics, they all broadly agree, this is just one. https://www.familyhandyman.com/article/are-electric-vehicles-more-likely-to-catch-on-fire/ The battery is charged/discharged several times on every short town journey which I suspect could lead to premature failure and they can be very expensive to fix. Some HEV's will not operate at all with a failed battery, Mercedes Benz Bluetec Hybrid for example and the repair bill exceeds the value of the car at about $20,000. parts and $31,000 total https://thehonestmechaniccolorado.com/mercedes-e300-hybrid-problems/ IMHO, HEV's offer the worst of both worlds and little more than a marketing gimmick, mostly used by Japanese manufacturers who have been caught with their pants down in the EV revolution. German manufacturers initially offered HEV's but quickly transitioned to Plug-in HEV and full EV's.

Most fuel stations will end up closing as the requirement for fast EV charging stations is much smaller. Fast EV charging stations will mostly be on highways for people traveling inter-city, there will be a few in town too, but probably less than 5% or thereabouts of current gas stations as there is no market for them. I travel between Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai every 2-3 weeks. My EV can get there and back without requiring a stop to refuel. There are currently 3 fast EV charging stations that I know of between those two cities and dozens of slow charging stations at coffee shops, shops, restaurants and hotels. Choosing Chiang Rai & Chiang Mai as representative pairs is not a good comparison. Most people will start off with a full tank of electrons and even the EV with the shortest range will not stop to charge on the way, certainly neither I nor my daughters ever have with our 2 EV's.

I am an everyday driver and won't be buying anything with an internal combustion ever engine again unless it is made compulsory. I speak from experience @Andycoops

You don’t understand the way way EV’s charge, Most EV drivers will never use a charging point other than the one they have at home.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2023-09-19/ubs-on-its-teardown-of-byd-seal-video UBS tore down a BYD Seal. The conclusion was generations ahead of legacy makers wanting to make the transition to EV, higher degree of vertical integration, 70-80% manufactured in house (semiconductors, battery, plastics) vs 20% in legacy brands, equivalent quality to premium German brands, 30% cheaper to manufacture than Western companies can achieve.

Chinese toys? AI electrified rats? It's a little difficult to educate bigots. Remind me, what happened to the dinosaurs, the video cassette, recorders, and Kodak?

I believe BYD are launching a plugin hybrid pickup this year.

It’s nonsense, parts of China have a climate much worse than Europe, this is nonsense being put about for nefarious reasons

Yes, that one looks fine

I can't open that, it presents me a login screen

It sounds like you have a virus on your computer from a Scammer. Definitely don’t do any online banking until you’ve checked.

Why would immigration check that people who have no tax due have submitted a tax return? it’s not a requirement, to submit a tax return if you have no tax due.

You reply to a post with a completely different subject? (A statement I agree with btw, but irrelevant to initial post). Whats up?