MG makes its ZS electric vehicle affordable

[macahoom]

1 minute ago, alan grice said:

Never mind concept. Get behind Tesla when its trying to make the charging point. Then find a good thing to say about them.


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Sorry, you've lost me!

[alan grice]

 
Sorry, you've lost me!

In the U S they are common , get behind one in Battery Econ mode they hold up Trucks on interstate they have a bad name for them OK for shopping and shorter runs.


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[macahoom]

16 hours ago, alan grice said:

In the U S they are common , get behind one in Battery Econ mode they hold up Trucks on interstate they have a bad name for them OK for shopping and shorter runs.


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Thanks, but that won't be a problem for me as I will not be taking my car to the US.

 

I probably will never even leave Phuket in it.

Edited July 30, 2019 by macahoom

[VocalNeal]

On 6/20/2019 at 5:58 PM, Pilotman said:

It will be many years before all electric cars can even be considered here. The infrastructure for normal consumption is hardly robust never mind for cars. My Son has a Tesla, he asked if I had ever seen one here in Thailand, I haven't stopped laughing. If there is one around, goodness knows how practical it is here. Consigned to Bangkok and district I bet. Has anyone seen or heard of a Tesla in LOS?  

Yes seen two Teslas on the Bangkok Expressway system. Of course it could have been the same one twice! It wasn't exactly breaking any speed limit laws! 

 

Yes there is probably not enough power here for everyone to have an electric car. 

 

It would be really impressive if MG are forward thinking enough to have the car be able to power the house from the charging unit for instances when the power goes out. 

 

As for pricing is the electric version equal to or less expensive than the petrol/diesel version given that manufacturing costs are lower. Hybrid cars get a tax break here don't they? What about fully electric?

 

[alan grice]

Imagine Thailand with even more Cables... we could then trip over the Cables just before the Mocy hits us on the pavement.!.Rats munching away at them , all good fun.!


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[brfsa2]

On 6/23/2019 at 8:57 AM, Kinnock said:

When the battery goes flat in a Bangkok traffic jam, can you nip into 7-11 for a powerbank to get you home? ????

 

But great value for markets with predictable traffic and more charging points.  

 

Though I noticed central has charging point parking spaces now - but they are filled with the usual (non electric) whute Mercs.

 

 

Maybe you're confusing with ICE (internal combustion engines), where stuck in traffic means you're still using gas while the engine is running, potentially running out of gas.

For Electric cars when in traffic you're barely using any electricity apart from the tiny air-conditioner (which be tuned down to 26C, or turned off).

Idle power usage is quite low, technically they are just much more efficient when idling.

 

Contrary to ICE cars, while stopped in traffic you're cooling down the motor and battery rather than heating up.

When you're in a stop-and-go traffic, is where the EV cars shines, if not needed for hard braking, it can be used for regenerating kinetic energy for the battery.

in the MG you can set 3 levels of KERS (kinetic energy recovery system) when you remove the foot from the accelerator. 3 is the hardest and does brake the car quite well, just not to standstill, but very strong. 1 is quite soft and for people who like to coast. ????

 

PS: I also booked this MG ZS EV after my test drive. 

 

[transam]

13 hours ago, brfsa2 said:

 

Maybe you're confusing with ICE (internal combustion engines), where stuck in traffic means you're still using gas while the engine is running, potentially running out of gas.

For Electric cars when in traffic you're barely using any electricity apart from the tiny air-conditioner (which be tuned down to 26C, or turned off).

Idle power usage is quite low, technically they are just much more efficient when idling.

 

Contrary to ICE cars, while stopped in traffic you're cooling down the motor and battery rather than heating up.

When you're in a stop-and-go traffic, is where the EV cars shines, if not needed for hard braking, it can be used for regenerating kinetic energy for the battery.

in the MG you can set 3 levels of KERS (kinetic energy recovery system) when you remove the foot from the accelerator. 3 is the hardest and does brake the car quite well, just not to standstill, but very strong. 1 is quite soft and for people who like to coast. ????

 

PS: I also booked this MG ZS EV after my test drive. 

 

That all sounds coooool, but have you ever had a battery fail on a petrol motor when you thought there was nothing wrong with it...?....Well I have and it's a pain, and my thoughts are, can a similar occurrence happen with an EV....????

 

As for running out of petrol in a petrol ride, that is near impossible if the gauge works...

[brfsa2]

1 hour ago, transam said:

That all sounds coooool, but have you ever had a battery fail on a petrol motor when you thought there was nothing wrong with it...?....Well I have and it's a pain, and my thoughts are, can a similar occurrence happen with an EV....????

 

As for running out of petrol in a petrol ride, that is near impossible if the gauge works...

Yes I have run into a dead battery problem on my CBR650 once, never on cars. it was 4 years and I knew it would die soon, I just wanted to see it really die before I would change.

 

For my cars I had never died because I know how to maintain it and keep it health. Each service interval they do a Battery check for charge holding capacity. Same would be for an EV. People who get dead Battery, mostly they really deserve it.

 

EVs are different. It's very unlikely that ALL cells will die at the same time. There are usually 15-45 cells in Battery Module Array. Each cell module is tested independently and has it's own health check with the computer, if one or more cells die, you can still use the car, just that it will have less range. 

When a cell or two stats falling below parameters, these can be individually recovered, or replaced individually under warranty.

 

 

 

 

So you need to really understand how this technology works. It's not for everyone. You can stay on diesel or petrol for the next 20 years and you will be fine. Others wants something different, like me. 

[macahoom]

1 hour ago, transam said:

That all sounds coooool, but have you ever had a battery fail on a petrol motor when you thought there was nothing wrong with it...?....Well I have and it's a pain, and my thoughts are, can a similar occurrence happen with an EV....????

 

As for running out of petrol in a petrol ride, that is near impossible if the gauge works...

 

I know next to nothing about the mechanics of cars, whether EV or ICE vehicles, so please forgive me and correct me if I’m wrong:

Compared to an EV, does an internal combustion engined car not have more critical components, the failure of which can render a vehicle immobile? 

[transam]

5 hours ago, macahoom said:

 

I know next to nothing about the mechanics of cars, whether EV or ICE vehicles, so please forgive me and correct me if I’m wrong:

Compared to an EV, does an internal combustion engined car not have more critical components, the failure of which can render a vehicle immobile? 

A petrol/diesel ride has a zillion parts, any of which could go wrong but this is the 21st century and mechanical stuff is becoming bullet proof.

For instance, my Vigo at 11+ years old never had problem except failed batteries.

????

Let's not forget, these electric rides have electric motors which I reckon will cost bundles to fix. They still have suspension and steering racks which can have problems....So lot's to think about.. 

 

[fredob43]

An all electric car is a non starter here. Only Just about ok if you live not to far from your residence and go on short trips, so you can recharge it.

 

If you wanted to go any distance you'll be buggered. They state 350km? max distance on 1 charge. What's the good of that. Unless you have a second normal fuel car.

 

I live 350km north of BKK and do that trip a few times a year. I wouldn't be able to even get there, let alone get back. Please don't tell me to push it.

 

I also see that the batteries have an 8 year guarantee. Who the hell is going to buy it once it's 5 years old??? You wont be even able to give it away. 

 

 

Edited August 3, 2019 by fredob43

[sirineou]

 The Electric MG does not make economic sense. 

It costs about 500k more than the petrol version. 500k would buy you a lot of petro.

You need to do a lot of driving, (which you can't do  because you don't have the range) to break even at a reasonable time.

 

[brfsa2]

42 minutes ago, sirineou said:

 The Electric MG does not make economic sense. 

It costs about 500k more than the petrol version. 500k would buy you a lot of petro.

You need to do a lot of driving, (which you can't do  because you don't have the range) to break even at a reasonable time.

 

Except, it's a petrol car.

Anyways, the battery is the expensive part. Doing the math to break even, at the current Oil prices you would have to drive 200K km to break even. so, not a win-win.

Also, the MG Petrol version is definitely inferior in many aspects.

Perhaps you should get the boring MG petrol version, a lot cheaper ????

 

[sirineou]

5 minutes ago, brfsa2 said:

Except, it's a petrol car.

Anyways, the battery is the expensive part. Doing the math to break even, at the current Oil prices you would have to drive 200K km to break even. so, not a win-win.

Also, the MG Petrol version is definitely inferior in many aspects.

Perhaps you should get the boring MG petrol version, a lot cheaper ????

 

Not getting either one of them

 IMO the petro with a 1.5L is underpowered for it's weight 2675 lb  and 112 hp  and the EV does not have the range .    

I am not making any value judgments . simply an economics observation. I am sure  there are aspects where the EV is superior,   and other aspects where it is inferior, 

 

[macahoom]

30 minutes ago, brfsa2 said:

Except, it's a petrol car.

Anyways, the battery is the expensive part. Doing the math to break even, at the current Oil prices you would have to drive 200K km to break even. so, not a win-win.

Also, the MG Petrol version is definitely inferior in many aspects.

Perhaps you should get the boring MG petrol version, a lot cheaper ????

 

Or a 1980 Lada.

 

Now that would be much, much cheaper!

[brfsa2]

38 minutes ago, sirineou said:

Not getting either one of them

 IMO the petro with a 1.5L is underpowered for it's weight 2675 lb  and 112 hp  and the EV does not have the range .    

I am not making any value judgments . simply an economics observation. I am sure  there are aspects where the EV is superior,   and other aspects where it is inferior, 

 

I also agree there, some aspects it is superior some are inferior. 

Probably doesn't make sense for 95% of the population, I still think that if you already have a petrol car and plan to use this EV car mainly for commuting 50-100Km a day (round trip), and even the occasional Hua-Hin or Pattaya trip is a very attractive offer. Mostly because of the 8 year unlimited battery warranty. One could save the extra cost very fast.

There are Fast charge stations in most big cities now, just takes 40 minutes to recharge on those EA-Anywhere stations.

Btw, I'd compare this interior with the top H-RV (1MB), in terms of features, specs and comfort, probably worse about network and service speed.

 

 

[brfsa2]

I also wonder what at the Battery degradation terms for the MG Warranty.

For most cars, if battery degrade to 70% it's replaced or repaired to bring to 100%.

 

Attached is chart from https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1107864_electric-car-battery-warranties-compared 

[alan grice]

Just imagine if the Thais had their Trains running on Electric . It would be like the Northern Lights. My Golf Clubs taken 5 years to sort the Carts out.


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[macahoom]

1 hour ago, alan grice said:

Just imagine if the Thais had their Trains running on Electric . It would be like the Northern Lights. My Golf Clubs taken 5 years to sort the Carts out.


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BTS and MRT in Bangkok.

 

Are they not successfully running on electric?

[alan grice]

Yes its range is about the same as a Tesla.


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[mistral53]

On 7/29/2019 at 4:45 PM, macahoom said:

The main reason: The price.

 

Unlike very other car in Thailand, it's not at least double the price (approximately) of the same car in UK, Europe or USA. 

 

It's just slightly more expensive than the UK price. 

 

I'm intrigued by the whole electric concept. Even though I think all the new MGs are ugly and cheap looking, I still want it.

 

I test drove it. The acceleration from stop is funny - in a good way. Gonna be a laugh at traffic lights!

One concern raised by other posters is the charging infrastructure - what is your take? Have you done some research on this for trips to outside the city? I have an app (EA anywhere) but unfortunately that only shows the Energy Mahanakhon charging points, I have not yet found an app that covers all charging points.

 

I test drove the MG EV, its a nice car for the price, but it is definitely low end, but compared to the Nissan Leaf starting at THB 2 mil, its a mighty attractive package.

[macahoom]

42 minutes ago, mistral53 said:

One concern raised by other posters is the charging infrastructure - what is your take? Have you done some research on this for trips to outside the city? I have an app (EA anywhere) but unfortunately that only shows the Energy Mahanakhon charging points, I have not yet found an app that covers all charging points.

 

I test drove the MG EV, its a nice car for the price, but it is definitely low end, but compared to the Nissan Leaf starting at THB 2 mil, its a mighty attractive package.

 

Lack of charging stations does not worry me. I do not need, or want, to travel outside of Phuket. I'll charge it in my garage. I reckon I'll get at least 300kms on one charge.

 

That said, I don't believe MG would go to the trouble of selling the car in Thailand if it did not intend to install charging stations on main roads throughout the country. According to the dealership there'll soon be one in Central. We'll see! 

 

Regardless, it's electric and I want it! I love the acceleration!

 

With regard to the Nissan Leaf: I think Nissan must be very concerned about the introduction of the MG. Because of the no import tax deal that MG have managed to negotiate with Thailand for this car, the MG is significantly cheaper than the Nissan - almost half the price. 

 

I can't wait to get it. Should be in a week or two, if the dealership is to be believed.

Edited August 11, 2019 by macahoom

[billd766]

On 8/5/2019 at 3:18 PM, macahoom said:

 

BTS and MRT in Bangkok.

 

Are they not successfully running on electric?

Electricity yes, batteries no.

 

If the power goes out, the trains stop.

[mistral53]

16 hours ago, macahoom said:

 

Lack of charging stations does not worry me. I do not need, or want, to travel outside of Phuket. I'll charge it in my garage. I reckon I'll get at least 300kms on one charge.

 

That said, I don't believe MG would go to the trouble of selling the car in Thailand if it did not intend to install charging stations on main roads throughout the country. According to the dealership there'll soon be one in Central. We'll see! 

 

Regardless, it's electric and I want it! I love the acceleration!

 

With regard to the Nissan Leaf: I think Nissan must be very concerned about the introduction of the MG. Because of the no import tax deal that MG have managed to negotiate with Thailand for this car, the MG is significantly cheaper than the Nissan - almost half the price. 

 

I can't wait to get it. Should be in a week or two, if the dealership is to be believed.

I didn't know that MG got a 'no import duty' deal for the ZS - that explains a lot.

 

In Thailand, you will never get the advertised range - the heat will see to that (battery cooling, high AC load) I have a plug in hybrid with an advertised range of over 30 km, on a cooler day I might get 21. I had EV's before relocating to Thailand, its the same with all of them, the fantasy range stated by the factory are unfortunately just that - a fantasy. Nevertheless - if you do mostly urban and short trips, stop and go in your driving, the electrically propelled cars are ideal.

 

If I get an EV in the near future, it will be the MG. Unfortunately, the selection we have in Thailand is very limited, but that alone is not a good reason to move to China.........lol

[macahoom]

36 minutes ago, mistral53 said:

I didn't know that MG got a 'no import duty' deal for the ZS - that explains a lot.

 

In Thailand, you will never get the advertised range - the heat will see to that (battery cooling, high AC load) I have a plug in hybrid with an advertised range of over 30 km, on a cooler day I might get 21. I had EV's before relocating to Thailand, its the same with all of them, the fantasy range stated by the factory are unfortunately just that - a fantasy. Nevertheless - if you do mostly urban and short trips, stop and go in your driving, the electrically propelled cars are ideal.

 

If I get an EV in the near future, it will be the MG. Unfortunately, the selection we have in Thailand is very limited, but that alone is not a good reason to move to China.........lol

 

Yes, the 0% import tax is why it's so relatively cheap.

 

And, if MG sell this all electric car in Thailand in the next year or two, and it also has no import tax, I will be first in line:

 

https://www.motor1.com/news/250796/mg-electric-sports-car-planned/

Edited August 12, 2019 by macahoom

[alan grice]

Yes , the MG CPs are delivered by Submarines from China and retailed by 7/11.Another genuine mistake.!. No mistake in the unlevel playing field Europe has to play on though


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[transam]

 

[brfsa2]

My MG ZS EV has arrived from China today. But I told them to give to another customer and mine I’ll pick up after the 21st of this month.

Tomorrow I’m replacing wires in my house to support higher power and also to reduce power losses. The original 10sq.mm (45A) wires are too low spec.

I am installing  35sq.mm copper wires that can handle easily 100A on any hot day. Also the main meter from MEA will be replaced from 15/45A to a 30/100A.

 

Pretty cheap I would say:

 

100m CU Wires 35sq.mm PVC: 8,500 Baht (Thai Yazaki IEC-01)

100A (10kA) Breaker: 600 Baht

Labor fee + New Grounding with good cable: 6,000 baht

New MEA Meter: 2,700 Baht (from MEA themself)

MG Home charger 7.2kW (32A) + 15m wires: Free

 

With this new setup my power losses will drop dramatically, so I expect to save 100-200 Baht a month just by having better copper wires.

The power loss for charging the car on 10sqmm is 365Watts, on 35sqmm is 105Watts.

 

Charging the car from 5% to 95% at Home I calculated to cost 174 Baht (44kWh * 4.4 Baht * 90% => 174 THB) and should be a safe range of 230-260KM.

at EA anywhere, 5-95% (2 hours) would cost 80 Baht.

 

Also true that the 337KM range they claim is impossible, I'm expecting to be 280KM in the city and 240KM on the highways.

For me at 280KM I can use the car for the whole week, which is totally fine since I use it a lot in traffic jam.

 

About stations in Thailand some have asked. There are already quite many. I.e. Kao yai, Hua hin, Pattaya, etc. There will be many more to come if this car takes off selling.

If someone wanted, could definitely take this car from Bangkok to Chiang Mai if able spare 2 hours after 3 hours of driving at 100km/h. And the whole round trip would cost 480 baht. Not ideal or that I would do it, the trip would longer, but for sure doable. There are EA Anywhere Charge stations every 100KM on the way there.

Edited September 3, 2019 by brfsa2
fixed a few typos

[brfsa2]

Also, I was thinking this car would make total sense to Taxi drivers long term.

Imagine a taxi driver that does 280KM per day, he would spend 80 Baht to charge, instead of spending 25-28 liters of gasoline => 600-700 Baht.

they would easily save 500 Baht a day on the conservative side, or 10,000 baht extra per month which is 120,000 baht/year.

The Toyota Corolla Altis 2019 is 700,000 baht, this MG is 500,000 baht more. Meaning they would need 4 years to break even if being conservative.

 

More aggressive side, if a driver did charge the car twice a day (after 560KM) then the saving cost would 240,000 baht/year, with a break even of 2 years only.

 

Not considering the regular usual Petrol car maintenance: Oil change, oil filter, air filter, brakes (EV brakes last 3x longer due to KER). That could make the break even faster. perhaps 1.5 years? that super short.

 

Long term definitely something to consider...

 

What do ya all think?

 

[madhav]

2 hours ago, brfsa2 said:

Also, I was thinking this car would make total sense to Taxi drivers long term.

Imagine a taxi driver that does 280KM per day, he would spend 80 Baht to charge, instead of spending 25-28 liters of gasoline => 600-700 Baht.

they would easily save 500 Baht a day on the conservative side, or 10,000 baht extra per month which is 120,000 baht/year.

The Toyota Corolla Altis 2019 is 700,000 baht, this MG is 500,000 baht more. Meaning they would need 4 years to break even if being conservative.

 

More aggressive side, if a driver did charge the car twice a day (after 560KM) then the saving cost would 240,000 baht/year, with a break even of 2 years only.

 

Not considering the regular usual Petrol car maintenance: Oil change, oil filter, air filter, brakes (EV brakes last 3x longer due to KER). That could make the break even faster. perhaps 1.5 years? that super short.

 

Long term definitely something to consider...

 

What do ya all think?

 

I believe the maintenance costs are far far cheaper than internal combustion based cars. I have seen quite a few YouTube videos of people who used their EV’s for taxis or commercial purposes. They break down their maintenance costs after 500,000km and it was incredible to see how little they spent. The lack of moving parts the electric motor has a lot to do with it. Now that most EV have a decent warranty on the battery it gives a lot of incentive.

 

So many people go on and on about needing to have 1000km range blah blah.

 

Who the hell drives 1000km without taking a break? And how many of these people drive 1000km regularly? It happens once a year if that. 

 

I have done several driving holidays (including one on the west coast USA with 88hrs of driving over 6 weeks) I would normally take at least 2-3 breaks a day. Especially with women in the car who need to pee all the time. One long one of at least 40 min for lunch and a stretch. Plus another couple for 15 min snack, stretch and pee break. This leaves sufficient time to charge the battery.

 

Battery and charging tech will only improve like with the newest Tesla model 3.

 

Also the recent 350kw fast chargers that are being rolled out in the USA, these can charge batteries seriously quick. For example a 100kw battery from 10-80% in under 15 min. This would be enough for easily 400km of range. Or 10-80% recharge in a smaller 50kw battery in under 10 min. 

 

 

Edited September 3, 2019 by madhav