GroveHillWanderer

For those saying they'd only ever consider an EV if it gave them equivalent or better range than an ICE vehicle, here's another contender to consider.

NIO Revolutionizes Electric Vehicles with Solid-State Battery Pack Exceeding 930 km Range

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NIO, the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer, has made a significant breakthrough in EV technology by introducing a solid-state battery pack with exceptional energy density, allowing for a range of over 930 kilometers on a single charge. 

Solid state batteries also promise shorter charging times, especially once faster chargers are available.

It's a bit pricey though, with the more powerful battery model (that gives the longest range) costing around US $60,000.

1 minute ago, bignok said:

Dirt in their eyes. Makes sense.

I don't think you've quite grasped the meaning of the phrase I quoted.

There's an old saying, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

I suspect the same is true with dirty looks.

25 minutes ago, bignok said:

Maybe you are no aware of it. Short sighted?

No, long-sighted actually.

It could also be because, I (like others who have already commented) usually pay scant attention to what others' attitude towards me is, when going about my daily routine.

On 12/9/2023 at 3:02 PM, damole said:

Hi 

Is there a way to start a full replay of a game from the browser?

 

I want to watch the Villa v Arsenal game tomorrow morning without seeing the score.

 

I can just about manage it on the Android TV version by knowing the sequence to press on my remote whilst not really looking at the screen.

 

It's great that BeIN sport's catchup is spolier free, wish more "broadcasters"  would do the same.

Are you talking about doing this on a True ID TV box (which uses the Android TV OS) or something else? 

Because if it's a True ID TV box, you can get games without spoilers by going into the TV Guide, and going back to the original broadcast using the calendar.

Also, if you have the True ID app on your phone or tablet, you can do it there by going into Live TV, then using catch up also.

Once it's playing on your phone, you should be able to cast it to your Android TV.

3 minutes ago, bignok said:

No this dude looked at me like I was a pig for ordering it. He was reading a paper.

 

I find it hard to believe you never received a dirty look once in your life. Calling that bs.

You can call bs on me as well then, because (as far as I'm aware) I've never received any dirty looks from anyone while in Thailand. Especially not when ordering 'farang' food in a place that is obviously set up to serve it (otherwise it wouldn't be on the menu).

It seems that the number of EV charging stations is multiplying rapidly these days.

Not that I check very often, but I just noticed on Google Maps that there are a whole bunch of new ones in Hua Hin, including new names (to me at least) like Sharge, Virta and HAUP. 

There are also two new "Porsche Destination Charging Stations" and apparently a new Altervim* charger at (or planned for) Market Village.

This brings the total in Hua Hin (at a rough count) to about 20 by including Google Maps and PlugShare lists, which I reckon is as many, if not more than, the number of petrol/diesel service stations in town.

*Altervim and Lotus have formed a partnership that will see 400 new charging stations installed at Lotus supermarkets throughout the country by next year, with 100 already operating.

4 hours ago, Photoguy21 said:

Please explain how a mask with give protection against Dengue Fever as it is mosquito borne.

Nothing in the OP suggests that it does. The paragraph regarding mask wearing is as follows:

"Members of the public are advised to wear face masks, maintain social distancing in crowded places and where air circulation is poor and wash their hands frequently, citing a rising trend in COVID-19 infections."

Numbers of cases for various other diseases (including Dengue) are mentioned later on in the article, but not in conjunction with the advice on wearing masks.

9 minutes ago, digger70 said:

zoom

/zo͞om/

verb

past tense: zoomed; past participle: zoomed

1.

move or travel very quickly.

"he jumped into his car and zoomed off"

Although, as that dictionary example showing its usage in this sense indicates, it should be "zoomed off" not just "zoomed" by itself.

So in normal usage, it would be:

"A TRUCK DRIVER who zoomed off to escape a police search ..."

6 minutes ago, poppysdad said:

Not embarrassing at all, I simply read that as 28th November so those with small brains and probably other parts too and gigantic ego’s might simply point out what it means rather trying to belittle someone for a change. 

Except that credit and debit cards never show a day of the month for expiry, only the month and year.

As @richard_smith237says, it is a little bit funny.

On 9/27/2023 at 10:49 AM, stupidfarang said:

All Brits know MG used to be a British company, your statement is so stupid

Not so -  when I mentioned MG a few years ago to my nearly 30 year-old daughter, she said she'd never heard of the brand before.

On 11/25/2023 at 5:57 PM, Huayrat said:

The 65,000 baht funds every month in the bank. Can i do the total needed in the year or does it have to be 65k showing every month.

It's still not entirely clear to me what precisely it is you really want to do.

Are you definitely set on using the 65k monthly deposit method or would you prefer (or are you OK with) just doing the "total needed in one year" - i.e. 800k in the bank. method?

Until it's clear what your preferred method is, it's difficult to give a precise answer.

1 hour ago, JBChiangRai said:

He would be better using the supplied Granny Charger at his parents home, if they are on a weak PEA supply, that Granny unit will be fine and should charge the car over one or 2 nights.

 

He should fit the supplied wall charger at his own home if he can.

That's what I thought, but he seems to think different. I also asked him if he would charge his vehicle using the granny charger at his home if he installs the wall charger up in Surin and he said no, it takes too long and he would just charge at commercial charging stations. Again, if he's using the car as a Grab taxi and trying to minimize his running costs, that doesn't seem like the best way to go.

A question for those more in the know than me (I know little to nothing about electrical power systems, or the requirements and considerations for EV wall chargers).

My Thai nephew has just bought an MG4 on finance. He is apparently planning to make the repayments mainly by operating as a Grab taxi driver - he also has/had a pool cleaning business but I'm not sure if he's going to continue doing both (it would seem a little tricky to do so).

Anyway, he's talking about installing the free wall charger that he says was included in the deal at his parents home in Surin province, on the basis that there aren't many charging stations nearby. Although there's one just 17 km away and another two roughly 40 km distant.

Now, he does go up there surprisingly frequently (maybe 10 times or so a year) and often spends four to five days there. However, wouldn't it still make more sense, economically speaking to have the wall charger installed at his home in Hua Hin where it would get a lot more use?

Also, would the power supply at his parents' house, which is a small rural dwelling with only one major appliance (a refrigerator) be likely to be suitable for a wall charger?

On 11/25/2023 at 7:14 PM, novacova said:

Everything is more expensive because your friend Biden&Co cut off oil production in the US, which happens to have the largest oil reserves on the planet 

Can you provide a valid evidentiary source for that outlandish claim? If not, then it's baseless (and therefore worthless). 

All I can find is where Biden, although he initially promised to halt drilling on federal lands and stop issuing offshore oil-drilling leases has ultimately not carried through on these promises (albeit partly because of legal action).

­Biden’s Oil Letdown: Despite pledge to stop public lands drilling, Trump-era drilling boom continues

2 hours ago, BKKBike09 said:

Did you name it 'Water Cat' or did the app do that itself? 'Water Cat' being the transposed literal translation of the Thai for 'seal' ('maew nam แมวนำ้) - it should really be 'Cat Water' but that's not something you want sprayed on anything electric.

It should only be 'Cat Water' if you believe you have to follow the word order of the source language when translating. 

For instance, if you translate 'le ballon rouge' from French, would you say that should really be 'the balloon red' and not 'the red balloon' in English?

28 minutes ago, Huayrat said:

I have proof of 800k in my account on the last 2 dates of renewal.. It's on my bank statement. Is this enough to now change to the monthly deposits?

You need either 800,000 in the bank or proof of monthly deposits. It's one or the other - not both.

If you have 800,000 in the bank you don't need to do monthly transfers.

But as others have said, you need to clarify what method you (or more pertinently) your agent, has been using. Because if what you're doing amounts to changing the method used to show financial means, there may be some different considerations involved.

14 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Query if I may ... what else was in that update, as I've yet to update, since only thing I read about itM is Android Auto & IOS play in the update, neither which I would you.  I'm a 'if not broke, don't fix it' kind of guy.  All running good and didn't want to risk something else updating that I wouldn't like changed.

 

Anything in the update about the operation or performance ?   THANKS

Nothing that I've noticed. So if you're not bothered about having Android Auto functionality, as you say it's maybe not worth doing the update.

For me though, I'd always been a fan of Android Auto and was a little peeved that it wasn't there in MG ZS's sold in Thailand when all the reviews I read from other countries said it was supported.

So I updated as soon as I could. As I say, I couldn't point to anything else that changed. Perhaps an MG dealer could tell you what else (if anything) was changed - though I wouldn't necessarily count on it.

On 11/8/2023 at 8:31 PM, In the jungle said:

 

Clearly you do not have enough Social Credit with the Chinese Communist Party to be allowed that level of functionality.

That answer is way out of date though, the MG ZS got an OTA update that implemented full Android Auto functionality probably close to a year ago. I use it all the time 

10 hours ago, TorquayFan said:

Hi Grove Hill. Thanks for those comments.

 

FWIW I always FILL my ICE to the brim each time.

 

Can you quickly tell me which battery technology powered the first EV's, also the Tesla, what is the 'new' battery technology being used increasingly now and what is mostly used in Chinese EV's ?

 

I've seen a lot about new battery technology but it seems a way down the line - e.g. Toyota's project.

 

Is the now 'new' technology you refer to, a tweak of the same?

 

Would this 'new' technology in use have a different level of risk re. the rare but intense fires?

 

You can see I'm not up on the subject myself but eager to know.

 

If you have the time. ATB

I think much of this was already addressed in earlier posts, but here goes.

The older technology that powered earlier Teslas (and other brands) was Lithium-ion - also called Lithium-ion NMC. The newer technology that both Tesla and others are already using on more and more models are LFP (lithium iron phosphate, aka LiFePO 4) batteries. And this is not in the future, this is now.

They are a different technology, but whether you would call them merely a tweak of Li-ion batteries would somewhat depend on your definition of the word.

Not only can LFP batteries be charged to 100% as often as you want without detriment, they are indeed, much less likely to catch fire.

If an LFP battery were to catch fire, the issues surrounding extinguishing them would be slightly different, as they require a class D fire extinguisher as opposed to class A, B or C for Lithium-ion batteries.

However, current EV's are already 11-80 times less likely to catch fire than ICE vehicles and those with LFP batteries will be even less of a risk, since they are much, much harder to ignite in any normal circumstances, such as in a collision or as a result of thermal runaway.

I believe someone already posted, not too long ago on the thread, the video of an LFP battery having a nail driven into it with no hint of a fire breaking out.

The Risks of Lithium-ion vs LFP

I couldn't tell you what is "mostly" used in Chinese EV's but again, more and more of them use LFP batteries - the MG4 does for instance, as mentioned by @Bandersnatchabove. As do various new Tesla models.

You're right that there are other technologies still being developed but LFP batteries are already here.

On 11/13/2023 at 1:29 PM, TorquayFan said:

Snatch - I noticed this today which might be helpful to you : " . . . . if you want to preserve your car’s battery life, the AA recommends not letting the battery drain below 25pc or charging it above 75pc, which is more convenient when you have your own EV charger."

 

Doesn't that actually halve the quoted range on an EV (if you follow the advice?

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/consumer-affairs/switching-electric-car-took-months/?li_source=LI&li_medium=liftigniter-rhr

 

This is only true of older battery technologies which are already on the way out. It doesn't apply for instance, to LFP batteries which many manufacturers are switching to now and as far as I'm aware. won't apply to most upcoming battery technologies (in which there is generally much less battery degradation over time anyway).

Electric vehicles with LFP battery compositions can be charged to 100% daily

Even with Lithium ion batteries, that figure of 75% sounds suspiciously low.

According to the same article linked to above:

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most OEMs have been suggesting 80-90% charge limits for optimal lifetimes

Also, it is generally accepted that charging your Li-ion EV battery to 100% from time to time is OK - you just don't want to be doing it every single day (and most drivers don't need to, as they don't require 100% charge for their regular, daily vehicle use).

Which is just like an ICE vehicle if you ask me - I have a petrol vehicle and I rarely fill the tank to 100% full. And again, although people often quote it as a drawback of EV's that you're usually advised not to Iet them get below 10% (not 25% as in that Telegraph article) that's pretty much the same as with ICE vehicles.

I usually refill my petrol tank once it's down to somewhere between 10 - 25%. I would never let my vehicle's petrol tank get down to 0% before refilling but somehow with EV's, that's seen as something bad.

Had a 2020 ZS ICE for 3 years now. Had no problems with it regarding reliability.

In contrast to some other posters, I find it very comfortable - especially on long trips, where I suffer no driver fatigue or 'butt pain'(unlike the Isuzu I owned before). 

I don't find the engine noisy when accelerating (although I find putting it into Sport mode reduces the noise level when you really want to put your foot down). Once cruising, I switch back to regular D mode to reduce fuel consumption. As you can switch to S mode and back 'on the fly' just by pushing the gear selector sideways, this is really quick and easy to do.

The 2020 model isn't particularly good on fuel economy but I can still get 14km/l on longer trips (less around town, obviously).

The only fault it's had was that when I first got it, the battery kept going dead every couple of days, which they fixed at no cost (a wiring issue apparently) in under an hour at the local dealer.

In the three years since then, no faults at all. Overall I'm extremely pleased with my MG ZS purchase.

7 minutes ago, LukKrueng said:

 

Are you trying to convince yourself that you've made the right choice buying an EV or those who don't want an EV that you are right and they are wrong??

Personally, until they have a 4x4 pick-up truck that can go 800-900 Km on 1 "tank" and charging from empty to full takes no longer than 15 minutes AND costs the same to buy as a Diesel truck - I'll stay with what I have :)

That day is a lot closer than you might think. There are already EV's  with a 1000 km range and batteries that can add 400 km of range in ten minutes. They're not the norm yet, but may well be, before too long.

And I don't know about you, but I don't ever let my ICE vehicle's tank get down to absolutely and completely empty before filling up (and I can't imagine anyone else does). For me, I usually go to top up once it gets to around 25% and I don't usually fill it up to 100% either.