Melpomene

On the subject of window film. What did you all end going for ? I've been given the choices by the dealer. In terms of strength I'm thinking 40% front window, 60% side and rear and then 80% for the roof. Did anyone do anything different? And apologies I know this was discussed previously, but I cant find the discussion amongst all the EV chat!

This is all you need 🤣

Agreed it's the pace with which people are changing their views that's fascinating. I've gone from thinking I'm years away from owning an EV, to picking one up next week in the space of about 4 months. Was out with some friends a couple of months ago and mentioned I was considering an EV. Their view at the time was "WHY??". Caught up with the same friends about a month later and two of them are now thinking buying a Seal ! The legacy automakers really need to up their game...

Apologies for probably reading your post a bit too literally, but the 150k is reflected in the selling price isn't it ? Or is it in fact cashback to the buyer ? If it's the latter then these EVs are even cheaper than I thought !!! No wonder they're selling like hot cakes...

As I understand it the 2 year insurance promotion is only for the Seal Dynamic, the Premium doesn't qualify. I could be wrong though...

And if I've got this right it's a 100k rebate on the Atto 3 ? Seal Dynamic also now comes with two years free insurance.

Changan Deepal S07 - starting @ 1,399,000 Changan Deepal L07 - starting @ 1,329,000 A bit more expensive that I thought they'd be...

Decent price, but I'm not a fan of the looks of that car at all. The rear of the car is horrendous.

More electric options coming to the Thai market. Likely to be an interesting motor show this year, with a few new models being unveiled...

Congratulations! Seems a similar story to what our dealer told us in that they were getting a large(ish) delivery of cars at the end of this month and one of which they've allocated to me (wonder if I'll get a photo too ).

Ah yeah, so in off mode it's just a standard mirror, no issues at all then. Later in the video at about 3.20, he turns it off a night and the difference is incredible.

Our seller told us the wait for grey would be much longer. It certainly seems to be the most popular, and I can see why as they look great. Our other car is grey though, so wanted something different. Although interestingly, I've seen loads of white and black Seals on the road since they were released, I can't recall seeing many grey ones at all. Does make me wonder if they slightly underestimated the demand for grey and didn't have the stock available that they had in the other colours.

So today I joined the pod and reserved a Seal Premium. Had a call back from the seller, later in the day, saying we should be able to get the car next week! I was totally shocked (and very happy) by this, as he'd suggested it'll take a month, so looks like our Xmas road trip is going to be electrified!

Interesting, so they remove the existing mirror and then fit this camera do they? Visibility look a whole lot better doesn't it. I suppose my only worry with this would be if it stops working somehow, you'd be a bit knackered, until they can fix it.

So I received the under consideration stamp in my passport today with one day to spare! I tried doing the renewal on Friday, but was advised to return this morning which we did. Everything else went fine and immigration have called already to say they're visiting the house tomorrow, which is a lot faster than I expected. Frantically ringing round the neighbours to find someone who'll be in! Huge thanks to everyone who helped with this application and for all those who sent direct messages offering advice. Particular thanks to Red Phoenix who took the time to go through all the specific guidance provided by Pathum Thani immigration and offer tailored suggestions based upon this...the help was absolutely invaluable in getting this application submitted.

Ah right, that's a shame, but thanks for confirming 👍

And in case anyone is wondering....yes you can fit a road bike in a Seal...

This is slightly beyond my Thai language reading skills, but are some BYD dealers now including window film with the Seal ? See the highlighted text:

So you're all set up and ready to drive now! 12 days is, I think, pretty good given all the cars they've been selling. The guys fitting these must be busy. Did you get an additional TOU meter fitted first or have you just gone from your original meter ?

Your 2nd point is interesting as I'd struggled to see the info on the screens on my test drive. I'd just assumed the brightness was set too low, but if you're saying even at 100% that it's still not great then I think I need to go and see this again. Is there the option to change from a light background to a dark background ?

When we looked at the Dolphin for my wife, they told us if you took finance they'd throw in the wall charger as well, but not for a cash buy...

Thank you - good to know I'm in the right ball park. I am considering an MG, but as a possible second car for the Mrs as we also need the practicality of a hatchback. My current favourite is the Seal, although the way they're selling I'm a bit concerned about them becoming a bit too common 😄. There'll be pods of Seals all over Thailand if the current demand continues!

Fantastic - congratulations on the Seal. You must be chuffed, they really are awesome. I test drove one and loved it, have also started seeing a few on the roads round BKK and they look just as good out and about as they do in the showroom I understand what you mean about the procrastination, although to be honest I think I actually enjoy the car shopping as much (if not more than!) the actual buying of the car itself! The Seal is also leading the way for me, but there's a bit of a practicality issue as need to be able to carry a couple of bigs dogs, bikes, family etc. So I'm considering keeping our current SUV and having the Seal as a second car, a sort of more respectable weekend plaything to what you usually hear about in LOS! My wife does drive, so there are times when having two cars in the house would be very useful. I'm even thinking of swapping the SUV and getting her a Dolphin, MG4 or GAC AION, all of which I think with the back seats folded should meet our practicality requirements. Wouldn't mind taking advantage of the government subsidy as much as possible whilst it lasts. Then again deciding on one car is hard enough, let alone two, so we'll see about that...

Yeah I agree, a very long journey is going to take more time in an EV than for someone who is driving an ICE car and ONLY stopping for petrol. However, I don't think that's how most people would approach a very long drive. You've got to stop for food a couple of time at least, so there's your charging windows sorted. A longer range EV is realistically not going to take longer to complete a very long drive than an ICE car. I think you would see a difference in some of the shorter range cars that would require additional charging stops.

On the subject of road trips around Thailand and the frequency of charging stops. I'm trying to work out what is the minimum range I should aim for the in the EV I eventually pick. I've done some back of a fag packet calculations and wanted to get the views of the EV gurus in this discussion to see if my maths is anywhere near correct. Using an EV with an advertised range of 450kms as an example. Starting at 100% charge, if I was to take a drive to Phuket from home in Bangkok at an average speed of around 80kmh then I could expect a real world range of around 400kms. The trip distance is about 850kms Therefore, if I drove for around 5 hours I could run the battery to 0%. However, on a road trip you're never going to cut it that fine, so I'd be looking to stop to charge once I'm at between 20-30% or approx 80-120kms range. I think I'd always want to play it safe as I don't like the idea of getting to a charging station with only only a couple of % to find it's not working. So the first stop would be after approx 280kms which would be after about 3.5 hours of driving. This first stop would recharge back up to around 80-90% or around 320-360 real world range. The second stop would again be at 20-30% charge which would only be about 200-240kms or 2.5 to 3 hours further down the road. I'm quite happy driving for 4-5 hours without a break, so this feels like I'd need to be stopping more often than I would want on this sort of trip. Using the same example with an EV with an advertised range of 650kms I could expect a real world range about 575kms @ 80kmh average. Which is over 7 hours to deplete the battery Therefore, the first stop at 20-30% (115-170kms remaining range) would be after around 5 hours of driving. This would charge back unto 80-90% (460-520kms). Second stop would be after about a further 4 to 4.5 hours driving or 320km to 360kms further down the road. This feels much, much better to me based upon my driving habits on a long trip. So if my maths above is correct, then I think there's a good number of cars that I can rule out of my search as we do do longer trips fairly frequently and needing to stop every 2-3 hours would, I think, irritate me.