I recently picked up a plug-in Hybrid which is good for 50KM on a charge with the gas motor backing it up.... I do love that I can do all my "local" errands on electric power... My actual concern is the short range of today's EV's... I do many trips in excess of 600-900KM... This wouldn't work for me there... But I am hoping the near future will bring better batteries, which I know are in development so I can get the range I want... By that time the charging station should be in place to allow the travel and charges as needed... So yes, eventually I will go EV...

In my opinion, everybody will be forced to get an electric vehicle or at the very least to scrap their ICE vehicles within 10 years. Anyone who buys an ICE vehicle now or in the future is a fool. They'll force everybody by driving gas prices so high it will be a financial nightmare to own an ICE vehicle. Which will then make all existing ICE vehicles useless and worthless. I would guess, at least in the U.S., that then the government will give a subsidy for everybody to trade in their useless and worthless ICE vehicles for an electric vehicle. 

 

So to answer the original posts question, yes, everybody's next ride should be an electric vehicle unless they want to get stuck with an expensive paper weight. 

8 hours ago, Pilot3Boz said:

I recently picked up a plug-in Hybrid which is good for 50KM on a charge with the gas motor backing it up.... I do love that I can do all my "local" errands on electric power... My actual concern is the short range of today's EV's... I do many trips in excess of 600-900KM... This wouldn't work for me there... But I am hoping the near future will bring better batteries, which I know are in development so I can get the range I want... By that time the charging station should be in place to allow the travel and charges as needed... So yes, eventually I will go EV...

Yes the charging network is the key...currently there are maybe a hundred or so charging points in Thailand and it needs to be in the thousands...almost as ubiquitous as gas stations. This shouldn't be too difficult as it's relatively easy to run the electric lines and install charging stands (certainly cheaper and easier to build a gas station, with all the fuel lines and underground storage tanks).

Edited June 7, 20215 yr by Pattaya Spotter

6 hours ago, runamok27 said:

In my opinion, everybody will be forced to get an electric vehicle or at the very least to scrap their ICE vehicles within 10 years. Anyone who buys an ICE vehicle now or in the future is a fool. They'll force everybody by driving gas prices so high it will be a financial nightmare to own an ICE vehicle. Which will then make all existing ICE vehicles useless and worthless. I would guess, at least in the U.S., that then the government will give a subsidy for everybody to trade in their useless and worthless ICE vehicles for an electric vehicle. 

 

So to answer the original posts question, yes, everybody's next ride should be an electric vehicle unless they want to get stuck with an expensive paper weight. 

Some places, California and China have outright banned the sale of new ICE vehicles after a certain date (2030 or so I think) so in a perverse way, maybe late-model used ICE vehicles will sell for a premium to those who like them and want one last one. But I agree the general trend is for government incentives towards electrics and disincentives for ICE vehicles. 

Edited June 7, 20215 yr by Pattaya Spotter

21 hours ago, Pilot3Boz said:

I recently picked up a plug-in Hybrid which is good for 50KM on a charge with the gas motor backing it up.... I do love that I can do all my "local" errands on electric power... My actual concern is the short range of today's EV's... I do many trips in excess of 600-900KM... This wouldn't work for me there... But I am hoping the near future will bring better batteries, which I know are in development so I can get the range I want... By that time the charging station should be in place to allow the travel and charges as needed... So yes, eventually I will go EV...

The latest Teslas (and upcoming Hyundais/Kias) can charge at about 25km per minute. So a 10-15 min break every few hours makes it perfectly realistic and not intrusive. And unless you have some cybernetic upgrades, I suspect you’ll need to stop every few hours to take a break and pee or eat something.

 

So remember this tech exists right now, it’s just that the import tax laws in Thailand are so unreasonable, the cars end up being priced way too high after they arrive. Also the high speed charging infrastructure is so slow to roll out here. 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 8, 20215 yr by madhav

It will be a Hybrid for me.  Not totally sold on the all electric vehicles yet.  

8 hours ago, Hanuman2547 said:

It will be a Hybrid for me.  Not totally sold on the all electric vehicles yet.  

Hybrid or PHEV (plug-in hybrid)...they're quite different.

Next car will be a Tesla, In Canada. I can get a Model Y long range for 75,000 Cdn, or 1.93 millon baht

 

I wouldn't buy an electric here, can't even deliver reliable power in Udon 24 hours a day. The electrical system in this country is hopelessly out of date. Highways they can build, railways, subways, sure. New power transmission lines without the black spaghetti hanging from them, no can do.

36 minutes ago, kwonitoy said:

Next car will be a Tesla, In Canada. I can get a Model Y long range for 75,000 Cdn, or 1.93 millon baht

Nice ride. I don't know about upcountry, but in Pattaya, there are rarely blackouts, and the ones that happen are usually 10-15 minutes.

5 hours ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

Nice ride. I don't know about upcountry, but in Pattaya, there are rarely blackouts, and the ones that happen are usually 10-15 minutes.

When I lived in the country I had my own house with a backup diesel genset, worth it's weight in gold. Didn't think it would be as much of a problem in Udon Thani, but it's the same reliability as the countryside if not worse.

18 hours ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

Hybrid or PHEV (plug-in hybrid)...they're quite different.

Straight Hybrid with no plug-in.

We are thinking of buying a Nissan Kicks ePower, it's a small crossover hybrid but the petrol engine is strictly only used to generate electricity for the electric motor.

 

The benefits of this I guess are 4.5L/100km, benefits of instant torque that electric motors have, don't have to worry about running out of charge, and I believe less maintenance. 

 

I think 100% EV will be the way to go in a few years, but not now when there is not many charging places and the range is too small.

Nah!!!

 

Wouldn't even consider one until there's a variant with a reliable power source that can be replenished in two minutes (or less). Currently I would need an overnight stay in Ayutthia in order to visit Bangkok.

 

There's up-coming fuels and new sources of energy in the pipeline which will negate the integrity of what's available now. Hence, the mad politicized dash to invest (at an incredible cost) in a sub-standard infrastructure to supplant real advances.