macahoom

On 5/6/2024 at 6:56 PM, mistral53 said:

I didn't know we had this range function - was it always there and I did not notice? or did they sneak this in with a recent map update?

 

Its not very helpful for the charging stations as there are way too few - but it is a start.

Sorry, I meant to reply to this earlier.

To answer your question: I don't bother with navigation (except when driving in foreign countries) and I don't even know what this is.

9 hours ago, JetsetBkk said:

Sorry, I meant I should follow it more closely. I am actually thinking of buying a BYD Seal but the battery problems, if they exist, are making me consider something more like my avatar. 

A 1970 Hillman Avenger?

1 hour ago, JBChiangRai said:

Providing it's with dignity!

Thanks for that!

I could never make out what they were singing. To me, it sounded like "whipping the tee", but I knew that couldn't be right.

Mistake.

21 minutes ago, mistral53 said:

There is no trip preparation and support whatsoever,

What do you mean by this?

Does anyone think BYD will send Seal owners an over-the-air update which will improve the appearance of the graphics on the two screens?

We have an all-singing, all-dancing wonderful car and one of the few disappointments for me is the poor visual aesthetics of the two screens. The HUD is crisp and beautiful while the two screens are cheap and nasty looking. I thought I would get used to them but after 6 months they still look naff to me

.

Does anyone else agree, or is it just me?

P.S. Sometimes when I mess about with holding down the scroll button to the right of the gear selector, I get a very simplified, quite beautiful version of the smaller screen. But it doesn’t stay for long and anyway, it has extremely limited information on it. 

14 hours ago, Gweiloman said:

Good video on the Seal by a petrol head

 

 

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, but I always am, at the number of times I see reviewers getting things so wrong about the cars. This guy points out, at least three times, that the AWD doesn't have a frunk. It most certainly does!

I think he assumed this because it has two motors and therefore no room for a frunk.

On 4/20/2024 at 3:49 PM, motdaeng said:

three weeks ago at the motor show, i had a closer look at the byd sealion 07. the car doesn't

look as sporty and vibe as the bwd seal, however i find it to be one of the better looking suv's.

unfortunately, all the doors were locked and the windows were tinted dark black. despite that,

it was still possible to see that the car was a right-hand drive model!

 

the interior of the byd sealion 07 appears to be different from the byd seal, as shown in the video below.

 

 

I saw both the Deepal L07 (sedan/saloon) and the Deepal S07 (SUV) in the flesh yesterday.

Two fine looking cars. 

For me the L07 looks better than the Seal or any Teslas and the S07 is beautiful - not the usual boring SUV design (take the badges off and they all look the same).

The L07 is relatively slow off the line which is a bit of a surprise.

1 hour ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

How about this monster  👻?

 

I think it looks fantastic!

50 minutes ago, JBChiangRai said:

I mentioned my lady friend in her 70's had ordered an Atto 3 410, yesterday she had a test drive of the MG4 X-Power and put down a deposit on it.  

 

I had a feeling she might, she likes fast cars. 

🎶 "And everybody's sayin' that there's nobody meaner than the little old lady from Pasadena
She drives real fast and she drives real hard
She's the terror of Colorado Boulevard
It's the little old lady from Pasadena

Go granny, go granny, go granny go!" 🎶 

4 hours ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

So, a brief mention to your detailer to avoid the front badge when polishing can avoid a world of pain.

I had my Seal waxed two days ago. Just had a look and my front badge is intact. I guess it depends on which product they use.

Thanks! I'll keep this in mind for future waxings.

2 minutes ago, JBChiangRai said:

My cumulative is 20.1 kWh/100km

I knew you wouldn't let me down!

14 hours ago, mistral53 said:

my cumulative is 18 kWh/100 km (6,100 km total)

My (AWD) cumulative is 16.2 kWh/100 km (4670 km total).

What about you (boy racer) JBChiangRai?

Tyre pressure matters: "The easiest way to negatively impact your EV's range is to drive it on underinflated tires—even being low by a few PSI can make a meaningful difference in rolling resistance, and therefore efficiency."

39 minutes ago, grs90 said:

What an epic topic!

 

I have read through nearly all the posts in this thread although still a few pages to go.  Some great information and some hilarious exchanges.   A fairly recent one though, about the availability of “Fast Charges” is reminiscent of my junior school years.  

 

“There aren’t many fast chargers”

“Yes there are”

“Oh no there aren’t”

“Look at the map - there are Loads”

“Liar, liar, pants on fire”

 

Come on gentleman, surely you are better than this?  If it was the kids having the argument you would tell them to grow up.  As an unbiased observer it seems a “fast charger” is one that uses DC other than AC to charge the vehicle.  If it is DC it is classed as a fast charger.  However, a fast charger does not necessarily mean a quick charger in terms of time taken to charge.  So you are both correct and it is just an issue over the terminology.  

 

Anyway, on on to my post.

 

 

I nearly bought a new EV but didn’t.  This is why.

 

In late 2023 I was in the market for a new car.  Budget was around 800K baht but in the end went slightly over that by buying a Toyota Yaris Cross..  Four months in I am very happy with the car.  Drives well, handles well and meets our requirements perfectly.  Also it is very economical returning an average of 24.4km per litre.  I appreciate though that this is more than a BEV costs to run.  I also have some regrets when I think about the performance difference between the car I bought and the EVs I tested.

 

I was really close to going for a BEV.  I read all the posts in this thread and on others on AN.  I also did a lot of research on other sites.  I test drove 3 BEVs and loved the experience.  Way superior to the traditional cars in terms of acceleration and also handling which, I think, was probably due to a lower centre of gravity.  Ultimately though, I decided against a pure electric model and this was due to the following main issues.

 

1.  Convenience of charging when on a longer trip.

We mainly drive locally as I think most people probably do.  It would be relatively simple to install a charger in the carport and nearly all our charging would be done at home.  So an EV would be fine for 90%+ of the time.  We do a longer (600-1000km) trip several times a year so it is not that often that we would need to charge away from home.  

 

When I thought about this, based in particular on posts from KhunLA to whom I give thanks for the information, It was clear that there were plenty of opportunities to charge up the vehicle, in a reasonable time, when on a longer journey.  So no particular “range anxiety”.  I avoid travelling at busier times as I dislike crowds roads.  Based on my observations I have never seen a queue for a charger at PTT stations where we normally stop.  So no worries about waiting to use a charger.  

 

My main issue was over the timing of when to do a longer stop to charge up the car.  On a longer trip I typically have a pee/smoke stop every hour or so and these take less than 5 minutes.  I will also typically have one approx 30 minute stop to have some food.  However, these are normally quite soon after leaving home when I stop for breakfast, or when I am nearly at my destination when I stop for lunch to avoid arriving at the hotel too early for check-in.  I didn’t want the longer stop to be done when the car wanted to eat rather than when I wanted to.  

 

Ultimately this is a convenience issue,  I could manage the charging very easily within a reasonable period of time.  I just can’t be bothered to.

 

2.  Resale value.

This is a complete unknown.  I would expect to keep any new car for 6 or 7 years and, having been scalped previously when trying to sell a car with manual transmission which hardly anyone wanted, I was somewhat worried about what a 2003 battery EV would be worth in 2009/2010.  I wasn’t worried about the car being unusable as I don’t believe the scare stories about the batteries being useless after several years.  At worse the battery may just lose a low percentage of its ability.  My main concern was over why anyone would want to buy a 2003 BEV when, I am sure, a 2009/2010 BEV will be far superior in terms of its battery capacity and charging ability.  

 

Things in the BEV market still seem to be advancing at a rapid pace so will a 2003 car be effectively obsolete in 6 or 7 years time?

 

3.  Insurance and repair costs.

Another big unknown.  At the moment this doesn’t seem to be an issue but I’m a bit concerned after reading stories about high repair costs for a BEV and the limited number of people trained and qualified to do any repairs needed.  This may, or may not, be an issue going forward.

 

I am at a stage of my life where I hate uncertainty.  I don’t have any worries about getting a Toyota insured or repaired.  I don’t want to introduce a new “worry” in to my life when there are plenty already.

 

 

So, overall, there were just enough niggling little issues preventing me buying a BEV.  It was a close call though and I am sure the next purchase will be a BEV.

 

For me, now, I want to be able to buy a BEV for around 800K.  I want to be able to do a 450 to 500 KM journey without having to charge en-route.  I want the 1000baht per night type hotels to have charging points so I can charge overnight on arrival, rather than having to eff around finding a charging location near the hotel or paying for a more expensive hotel which provides charging points as many already do.  Will these requirements be met by 2009/2010?  I think, probably, yes.

 

So, in conclusion, no EV for me this time.  But keep the thread going because next time I am sure there will be!!

Is your real name Dr. Who?

57 minutes ago, mistral53 said:

so realistically, the max range is 450 km max.

On a recent 351km trip in my AWD I got a much better range than you, but it was because of my lower average speed.

I travelled 351 km and used 64% . Extrapolated, that's a total range of 548km.

My speed was mostly between 80 and 90 kph, normal mode (some sport), iTAC on. Two people onboard, and quite a lot of luggage. 

As for the temperature, what do you think?