josephbloggs

20 hours ago, Photoguy21 said:

And why would the manufacturers decide to stop producing them? Toyota and GM to name just 2 have made those statements. Could it be that EV's are not such a good option for a company that needs to make a profit or are these companies just too stupid to understand how good EV's are?

Here you go again. You already said this before and I asked you to post a link to the statement that they are stopping EV manufacturing. I also posted a detailed explanation of what these companies are doing and why - and guess what, they are not stopping production.

Maybe you missed it so here it is again:
 

Once more I'll ask you to post a link or back up you statement. It is simply not true.

And once again I expect you'll fail to do so and will probably post the same lie again tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that. Yawn.

19 hours ago, Issanman said:

Interesting and very informative video about the pros and cons of hydrogen usage. 

Hydrogen seems to be an impractical solution for privately owned vehicles.

This lady is pretty damn smart.

 

 

Thanks for sharing, I found that very interesting and learnt a lot of things I didn't know about hydrogen production and storage.

2 minutes ago, talahtnut said:

Be prepared to get locked out of your EV in 2030 if you have a bad social credit score,

or eat a steak [Co2 emissions] in your 15 minute city.

Oh wow, yeah, thanks for the warning!!

You people are hilarious.

22 minutes ago, CHdiver said:

Good? Tesla goes along with iphone and vegan. They have a Tesla not a car and will tell you. They have a iphone not a phone and will tell you and they are vegan and will tell you. 

 

So you will hear this people tell you I open my Tesla with my iphone, then sit on the vegan leather and eat a vegan snack on the way to Starbucks to get a vegan coffee. Then I charge my vegan Tesla with vegan electricity produced with farts from Elon and pay with Apple pay from my iphone. Talk about bubble.

You missed out "woke". Come on, if you're having a cliche fest at least do it properly.

I think Tesla is a good name as it is named after Nikola Tesla who was a visionary electrical engineer and inventor. Naming your electric car brand after him is a good  way of honouring him and it immediately says what you are about as a company. I don't like Teslas much although I admire the technology in them, but is a good name.

The rest of your post is just weird. A Tesla is a car. If someone drives a Tesla and they are asked what car they drive they will say "Tesla". By the way I like EVs, I like meat, I like leather.
 

50 minutes ago, bravo19 said:

Have been in many Starbucks shops in Thailand and in all of them i could pay by cash. If you don't want to pay by cash use credit card.

I've been in a couple that don't take cash. So you either pay by QR or card.

34 minutes ago, Ralf001 said:

 

Toyota announced in the past few months and Ford did this last week.

And you would have a link for these announcements of course? Please share. Please don't post an anti-EV YouTuber giving his spin, just a link to the actual announcements that you saw.

I have seen announcements that Toyota is reshaping it's EV platforms, slowing down production whilst it invests in new EV  technology platforms. It ignored the technology for so long seeing it as no threat to ICE sales, scrapped a JV with Tesla on an all electric RAV-4 back in 2012, and now it is paying the price at it is years behind the leaders. It's current production processes for EVs are too slow and cumbersome so they are not competitive on cost, hence the reinvestment in new platforms.

Toyota have missed the boat completely.

Ford are also having major problems with its unions that makes them uncompetitive and unproductive in the EV space. Again, they are trying to find solutions to enable them to compete with the likes of Tesla and other marques who didn't ignore the EV trend. The are paying catch up and are a long long way behind.

The future is Chinese and I love how triggered that makes people.

But again, please post your links to announcements they are not going to make EVs anymore.

8 minutes ago, Photoguy21 said:

If EV's are so good please tell me why major manufacturers, Toyota, GM for example, are going away from making them? If you like them fine but evidently the majority of drivers dont like them.

Evidently people who try them love them, that's why global sales are growing year on year at a huge rate. The US is seeing a slowdown in growth but the US has never embraced these kind of things or things like modern train travel. Norway now has about 84% EV market share but then it has always been more forward looking.

GM announced a split on the co-development project with Honda, but Honda and GM are committed to an electric future, just not together, and mainly due to problems with GM's unions.

https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/honda-shelves-plan-co-develop-smaller-evs-with-gm-bloomberg-news-2023-10-25/#:~:text="After extensive studies and analysis,only electrified vehicles by 2040.

Toyota sat on their hands for so long (as did Honda) that they have a lot of catching up to do. They are putting a lot of their eggs in  alternate technologies in the hope there'll be a breakthrough that will give them an edge in the future, but meanwhile they are committed to EVs, expecting to sell 3.5m of them by 2030.

https://www.gearpatrol.com/cars/g38986745/car-brands-going-electric/

I really don't know where you get your information from (actually I can have a good guess). Why not try one yourself? A test drive is free. Getting back in an ICEV afterwards feel like your gone back in time a few decades, more so if you are climbing back in to a diesel.

And before you come back with it, I'll get there first: EVs are not suitable for everyone. You need to have home charging. And if you need to drive several hundred kms at a time on a regular basis then an EV is not suitable for you. But for most of us they are worth looking at. I was a sceptic until someone let me try one for a period of time.
 

30 minutes ago, BenStark said:

 

Not difficulty to comprehend for the average person, which doesn't seem to include you.

 

In the US EV's are sold for many more years, so the woke market get saturated, and some of the early buyers already have learned their lesson.

 

In Asia the EV market is still in their puber time, so of course sales increase, until the same happens as in the western world

Here's a more in-depth analysis for you if you care to read it. It uses adult language though and not things like "woke market" or other childish terms.

https://www.ev-volumes.com/#:~:text=However%2C over 300%2C000 additional EV,damaged demand%2C particularly for PHEVs.

41 minutes ago, bravo19 said:

What is your problem to pay cash? It works everywhere. Or pay by Wise debit card in THB, it works in many shops there.

Cash doesn't work everywhere. I have been in many shops (including Starbucks) that only accept digital payments.

Granted, cash works in most places, but it definitely doesn't work in all. And I think you'll see more cashless shops throughout the year - it is the trend globally whether you like it or not.

33 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

 

I think I understand the pros and cons of EVs vs ICEVs pretty well.

 

Just speaking economically, for anyone that does not need a new car, buying a new EV would make no sense for the vast majority of people. 

 

For people that need a new car, it might make sense if you have a dedicated parking area configured such that you can charge it at night. Bump that up to probably is you have a decent solar farm and can charge during the day or have storage such that you can charge at night. 

 

For people that need a new car but have no dedicated parking where they can charge, it likely makes little sense. 

 

Of course, the best reason to buy a new car, is because you want a new car. And the best car to buy, is the one you like the best of the ones you can easily afford. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I agree with all of that. Home charging is a must, it makes absolutely no sense without that. Also doesn't make sense if you regularly need to drive very long distances.

I will get an EV as my next car as it makes perfect sense for my needs - I have a house that could have a charger installed, I mostly drive in Bangkok with the occasional trip out of town.

4 minutes ago, Pique Dard said:

"Eight districts in Pattani declared disaster zones as flooding worsens"

 

... how comes? i'd like to meet the dude who told me december is a "dry" month in thailand!

Dude is an idiot. December is never dry in the south.

1 hour ago, Andrew65 said:

Looks like Sergeant Somchai is smiling or laughing 

Yes he is, and he handled it brilliantly. He is armed, he didn't draw his weapon, he realised this drunken fat man is not a danger and handled it accordingly. Hats off. 

2 hours ago, Irrumator said:

Rubbish, it's scruffy and dated. And don't forget crowded and almost impossible to get a seat. And o platform indicator boards - why?  The MRT have done it since day one, so why can't the BTS?  Nothing to do with saving money by any chance?
Anyway, why are so being so defensive?  Seems very parochial to me.  
And yes, I do live as near as dammit to Bangkok - near The Mall Ngam Wong Wan.  That's (just) Nonthaburi, but I doubt you lot who can only live near a BTS line know much about other nearby areas.  

Ah, the last sentence reveals the chip on the shoulder. Got it now.

Still disagree about it being scruffy and dated (and so does anyone else who's replied), but up to you.

No platform indicator boards, I don't see why that's a big deal. Just turn your head and you can nearly always see the next train (apart from at really non peak times). The same company has them on the monorails as they only run every ten minutes, I don't see a need for them on the BTS when the trains are (usually) so close together.

6 hours ago, brianthainess said:

but I was driving from Trat to Leam knob

How did learning knob go? Are you now proficient? 

3 hours ago, MyThai1 said:

What do you mean by "dummy hotel and dummy flight bookings", we fancy a look to Italy for a week in the summer and need to sort a Schengen visa.

For a Schengen visa you need to provide flight (or train) details of how you will arrive and leave the Schengen zone, you need to show confirmed hotel bookings and also evidence of an acceptable travel insurance policy.

Many people make fake or dummy bookings that can be canceled if they don't receive the visa.

The UK visa is harder than Schengen in my experience although we've always done the Schengen one after being granted the UK visitor visa so this may make things easier. The UK does not require confirmed flight or hotel bookings but has a much more intrusive set of questions and evidence to provide. I have never been refused for either in over 25 years of doing them (for girlfriend and then wife).

40 minutes ago, soi3eddie said:

 

Although I am dissapointed in the UK government for selling off the prestigious Bangkok embassy land, I cannot agree with your statement.

 

I visited the consular office in Silom/Sathorn in early November 2022 to get an affirmation of residence for Thai driving licence renewal (they since stopped offering these afirmations of residence as a service). The building is a modern and clean office building connected to the BTS by a skybridge walkway, the security staff very helpful and polite. The consular staff efficient (at least in the very little of service that they provide/d.

 

i agree with you on all counts.

38 minutes ago, StayinThailand2much said:

 

Yes, while in Bangkok one has to buy at least two different tickets/cards (no discounts whatsoever), not to mention long and time-consuming transfer distances between the different providers (MRT to BTS, BTS to Airport Link, etc.) - No need to go to the fitness center, if one has to walk twice between BTS and MRT stations... 

 

I enjoyed travelling in Hong Kong where it is so convenient.

Yes, this is the worst failing of the system here that there is no common ticketing. The original BTS and then MRT you can forgive as an oversight (well not forgive, but understand), but why joining a common ticketing platform wasn't mandatory in future tenders for new lines is astonishing. It is a massive massive failing of an otherwise good network. I have three cards (ARL, MRT, Rabbit) I need to use.

I'm not sure I agree about the interchange distances though. I have been through most and they are generally as close as can be. Yellow to green is right there at Samrong, purple to pink is a bit of a walk at Nonthaburi Civic Centre but they are coming from different directions entirely and a walkway is being constructed, BTS to MRT is right there at Asok, blue to purple is literally right there at Tao Poon  - you just go up a level, red to blue is just going down to the basement at Bang Sue. ARL to BTS at Phaya Thai couldn't really be closer. Seriously how close can they be??

In Singapore some stations have really long walks, as does Shanghai (way further than any Thai connection), HK I don't remember, Tokyo has massive walks. The only Thai one I take issue with is ARL to MRT at Makkasan, I have no idea why it couldn't be a direct link in the basement of Makkasan station. I am guessing there must be a technical reason for it - too much below ground infrastructure that can't be moved, or the SRT line causing an issue, not sure - would love to know as that is a pretty long walk but again, nothing more than the walks in other major cities I have been to.

1 hour ago, Irrumator said:

You need to go to Specsavers.  

Let me guess, you don't live in Bangkok?

For anyone to say the BTS is dirty and outdated, sorry, you can't be taken seriously.