Electric Vehicles in Thailand

[Mr Meeseeks]

5 minutes ago, vinny41 said:

And the Thaiger article was also written in BP was authored by Pinyo Tanawatcharaporn, the former president of the Association of Used Cars.

And while you are correct that banks and financial institutions based their loans on appraised value if the value drops in value during the application process they will start the application approval from the beginning against the new revised appraised value 

I have seen it happen many times during mortgage applications where if the seller accepts a reduce offer it starts a new  application approval

This was exactly what happened to me when I bought my Seal Performance. I had to redo the finance agreement because the price of the car dropped by 100,000thb from when I initially went to purchase it. 

[KhunLA]

13 minutes ago, vinny41 said:

And the Thaiger article was also written in BP was authored by Pinyo Tanawatcharaporn, the former president of the Association of Used Cars.

And while you are correct that banks and financial institutions based their loans on appraised value if the value drops in value during the application process they will start the application approval from the beginning against the new revised appraised value 

I have seen it happen many times during mortgage applications where if the seller accepts a reduce offer it starts a new  application approval

Now you're comparing apples & orange/car loans & mortgages.  Long approval times, and what a seller/buyer accepts, is irrelevant when time for approval, and the appraisal is done.

 

I'm not very trustworthy of used car assoc. opinions, as lets be real, does he or whoever have more ICEs in stock, or EVs.

 

They're not going to say EVs are the way to go, easy approval, unless they have a large inventory of.   Read between the lines people, and use common marketing sense.

 

That's how I got to where I am, thinking for myself, not listening to those with a vested interest.

[vinny41]

41 minutes ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

This was exactly what happened to me when I bought my Seal Performance. I had to redo the finance agreement because the price of the car dropped by 100,000thb from when I initially went to purchase it. 

 

28 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Now you're comparing apples & orange/car loans & mortgages.  Long approval times, and what a seller/buyer accepts, is irrelevant when time for approval, and the appraisal is done.

 

I'm not very trustworthy of used car assoc. opinions, as lets be real, does he or whoever have more ICEs in stock, or EVs.

 

They're not going to say EVs are the way to go, easy approval, unless they have a large inventory of.   Read between the lines people, and use common marketing sense.

 

That's how I got to where I am, thinking for myself, not listening to those with a vested interest.

See post from @Mr Meeseeks

When ever there is a change in value of the  vehicle on a loan application the approval process for finance has to start from the beginning with the revised value

It looks like you got lucky again and dodge a bullet not buying that MG EP/EP+ many reports in the facebook groups of losing power 

I have to say well done to BYD for providing refunds to anyone that bought a BYD from January 1st 2024 against the current pricing reductions

[vinny41]

Compare the price of Chinese electric cars at the time of launch VS now, how much is it reduced to in 2024? Is it more economical to buy first or buy later?

https://droidsans.com/ev-price-compare-between-launch-time-vs-now/

CHANGAN Deepal offering Free first class insurance for 2 years

[ExpatOilWorker]

1 hour ago, vinny41 said:

Compare the price of Chinese electric cars at the time of launch VS now, how much is it reduced to in 2024? Is it more economical to buy first or buy later?

https://droidsans.com/ev-price-compare-between-launch-time-vs-now/

CHANGAN Deepal offering Free first class insurance for 2 years

Wow, nearly 400,000 baht discount on the Good cat.

25% down-payment and it is all yours, until the repo-guy knocks on ur door.

 

[Bandersnatch]

9 hours ago, UWEB said:

The Performance AWD for 1.5 million THB.

 

Congratulations, welcome to the Seal Club.  I have driving a Seal AWD for nearly 5 months now and love it.

 

These are  good discussions:

 

 https://aseannow.com/topic/1310792-byd-seal-tips-tricks-and-help/

 

 

https://aseannow.com/topic/1308177-rate-charging-suppliers-based-on-ease-of-use

 

https://aseannow.com/topic/1279914-ev-charging-stations-cs

 

I have a few videos on my YT Channel including this one about using my Seal to power my house

 

 

 

[JBChiangRai]

8 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

 

Yeah, the fuel cost for the Fortuner will go from 2.87 to 2.91 per km...

 

Not bad, only 4 or 5 times more expensive than an EV

[Bandersnatch]

12 hours ago, Eloquent pilgrim said:

 

I hope you do not expect to ever be taken seriously again on this forum.

 

Well on this particular discussion you will never be taken seriously.

 

This is a discussion about EVs in Thailand and all of the top contributors drive EVs in Thailand and willingly answer questions from the EV curious.

 

Your comment about @JBChiangRai says more about you.

 

You have joined a discussion that you clearly have no personal experience or knowledge of and you resort to insults when you loose your argument, not very “Eloquent” 

Perhaps it’s time for this pilgrim to undertake a pilgrimage to another discussion

 

 

[JBChiangRai]

The Tesla Model 2 has just been canceled, although it might live on as a robotaxi but you can't buy it anywhere.

 

https://www.extremetech.com/cars/report-tesla-cancels-low-cost-model-2-ev

Edited April 6 by JBChiangRai
add link

[KhunLA]

6 hours ago, vinny41 said:

Compare the price of Chinese electric cars at the time of launch VS now, how much is it reduced to in 2024? Is it more economical to buy first or buy later?

https://droidsans.com/ev-price-compare-between-launch-time-vs-now/

CHANGAN Deepal offering Free first class insurance for 2 years

Nice link.  Though MG ZS discount expired.  Atto 3 only 50k cheaper till end of April, so don't expect the ZS to be discounted again till Atto 3 price drops a bit more.

Edited April 6 by KhunLA

[Issanman]

1 hour ago, JBChiangRai said:

The Tesla Model 2 has just been canceled, although it might live on as a robotaxi but you can't buy it anywhere.

 

https://www.extremetech.com/cars/report-tesla-cancels-low-cost-model-2-ev

 

 

 

[Yellowtail]

"Over the year as a whole Elon Musk's Tesla (TSLA) still outpaced BYD, selling 1.8 million electric cars. BYD sold 1.57 million electric vehicles, up 73% on 2022, as well as 1.44 million hybrids."

China’s BYD is selling more electric cars than Tesla | CNN Business

 

[JBChiangRai]

49 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Nice link.  Though MG ZS discount expired.  Atto 3 only 50k cheaper till end of April, so don't expect the ZS to be discounted again till Atto 3 price drops a bit more.

 

I think the MG EP+ and MG4 range (excluding X-Power) are already at a price that hurts MG.  BYD I think the same with the Dolphin & Atto and GWM's Good Cat.  I think there is some wiggle room still on the Seal and Grand Cat.

 

Changan/Deepal, Aion & Volvo are currently overpriced, especially the Volvo and we may see some price adjustments on those.

[JBChiangRai]

4 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

"Over the year as a whole Elon Musk's Tesla (TSLA) still outpaced BYD, selling 1.8 million electric cars. BYD sold 1.57 million electric vehicles, up 73% on 2022, as well as 1.44 million hybrids."

China’s BYD is selling more electric cars than Tesla | CNN Business

 

 

They key word there is "Selling" it's not "Sold".  BYD are out selling Tesla and IMHO the gap is only going to increase.

[Yellowtail]

Just now, JBChiangRai said:

 

They key word there is "Selling" it's not "Sold".  BYD are out selling Tesla and IMHO the gap is only going to increase.

And Timex outsells Rolex...

[ExpatOilWorker]

SeñorLA?

 

[Yellowtail]

16 hours ago, JBChiangRai said:

 

They key word there is "Selling" it's not "Sold".  BYD are out selling Tesla and IMHO the gap is only going to increase.

You crack me up

 

"BEIJING, April 2 (Reuters) - BYD, China's biggest electric vehicle (EV) maker, reported first quarter 2024 sales fell 43% compared to the fourth quarter of 2023, handing back the title of world's biggest EV seller to Tesla after winning it last year."

 

BYD hands back top EV seller title to Tesla after Q1 sales decline | Reuters

[JBChiangRai]

5 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

You crack me up

 

"BEIJING, April 2 (Reuters) - BYD, China's biggest electric vehicle (EV) maker, reported first quarter 2024 sales fell 43% compared to the fourth quarter of 2023, handing back the title of world's biggest EV seller to Tesla after winning it last year."

 

BYD hands back top EV seller title to Tesla after Q1 sales decline | Reuters

 

One Swallow does not a Summer make.

[ExpatOilWorker]

On 4/6/2024 at 1:44 AM, vinny41 said:

Compare the price of Chinese electric cars at the time of launch VS now, how much is it reduced to in 2024? Is it more economical to buy first or buy later?

https://droidsans.com/ev-price-compare-between-launch-time-vs-now/

CHANGAN Deepal offering Free first class insurance for 2 years

Very nice article. If you ever come across a similar discount tracking list for ICEV, please share.

So far we seen 150,000 baht off the Ciaz and 800,000 baht on the Mercedes E300, but I am sure there are more out there 

[idealistic123]

18 minutes ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

Very nice article. If you ever come across a similar discount tracking list for ICEV, please share.

So far we seen 150,000 baht off the Ciaz and 800,000 baht on the Mercedes E300, but I am sure there are more out there 

Mazda is offering 100-140k (Mazda 2 - 100k, CX-30 - 140k) throughout their line-up. If you or someone in your family already owns a Mazda there will be another 30k discount. 

 

[KhunLA]

39 minutes ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

Very nice article. If you ever come across a similar discount tracking list for ICEV, please share.

So far we seen 150,000 baht off the Ciaz and 800,000 baht on the Mercedes E300, but I am sure there are more out there 

Daughter is in the need for a new car, in near future.  I want to get her a Neta V  or BYD Dolphin, as that's all she needs.  But she wants to hold on to her Mazda 2 till it dies, which I think will be sooner than she does, as needed a few repairs already.  Pretty sad for < 200k kms.

 

On the Ciaz, seems they aren't selling well, as I've yet to spot one, since the discount was announced, new or older, and that's kind of strange, as I've been looking.   Then peek on google, and seems other countries have discontinued producing, so maybe Suzuki TH is just going to follow suit and blowing out old inventory.  That's a pretty inexpensive sedan, and doesn't have the ugly Celerio box look to it.

Edited April 7 by KhunLA

[KhunLA]

20 minutes ago, idealistic123 said:

Mazda is offering 100-140k (Mazda 2 - 100k, CX-30 - 140k) throughout their line-up. If you or someone in your family already owns a Mazda there will be another 30k discount. 

Seems they are definitely feeling the squeeze from Neta V & BYD Dolphin pricing.  Cheaper and guessing better car than than overpriced Mazda 2 and other entry level ICEV made TH, or even imports from JP, since all about the same price now.

 

Seriously don't know why anyone buys an ICEV now, unless you can't charge at home.  At least people should take them for a test drive.  Stop listening to the troll types, on or offline, spreading the endless negative BS of EV.

 

As stated earlier, and the reason why some of us even reply to the trolls here, to give EV positive, real life experiences they deserve.

Edited April 7 by KhunLA

[BKKBike09]

On 4/6/2024 at 1:44 AM, vinny41 said:

Compare the price of Chinese electric cars at the time of launch VS now, how much is it reduced to in 2024? Is it more economical to buy first or buy later?

https://droidsans.com/ev-price-compare-between-launch-time-vs-now/

CHANGAN Deepal offering Free first class insurance for 2 years

 

950K for the Extended Range Atto 3 (1.2M at launch in Nov 2022) is a bargain. If you brought in USD to buy it, right now would cost just a hair over USD 26,000. I bought in USD (in Oct 2022, because it hit 37 briefly) to buy mine and equivalent was about USD 32,500.

 

They must be trying to clear stock and build sales numbers. Be interesting to see what the 'normal' pricing for the 2024 Atto 3 model will be.

 

As ever, early adopters pay the price. It's a pretty daft situation when (on paper) it makes sense to total your car, collect the insurance (960K total loss value - payout based on pre-discount pricing) and then use funds to buy a new one and have some money left over for a coffee or two! Not that I'm advocating this, of course.

 

[KhunLA]

19 minutes ago, BKKBike09 said:

 

950K for the Extended Range Atto 3 (1.2M at launch in Nov 2022) is a bargain. If you brought in USD to buy it, right now would cost just a hair over USD 26,000. I bought in USD (in Oct 2022, because it hit 37 briefly) to buy mine and equivalent was about USD 32,500.

 

They must be trying to clear stock and build sales numbers. Be interesting to see what the 'normal' pricing for the 2024 Atto 3 model will be.

 

As ever, early adopters pay the price. It's a pretty daft situation when (on paper) it makes sense to total your car, collect the insurance (960K total loss value - payout based on pre-discount pricing) and then use funds to buy a new one and have some money left over for a coffee or two! Not that I'm advocating this, of course.

 

Ditto, same with our MG ZS purchase, 949k end of Oct 2022, and a bargain at $25k USD.

 

Impossible to find same value in USA, or even import of anything from JP here for that price point.

[idealistic123]

1 hour ago, KhunLA said:

Seems they are definitely feeling the squeeze from Neta V & BYD Dolphin pricing.  Cheaper and guessing better car than than overpriced Mazda 2 and other entry level ICEV made TH, or even imports from JP, since all about the same price now.

 

Seriously don't know why anyone buys an ICEV now, unless you can't charge at home.  At least people should take them for a test drive.  Stop listening to the troll types, on or offline, spreading the endless negative BS of EV.

 

As stated earlier, and the reason why some of us even reply to the trolls here, to give EV positive, real life experiences they deserve.

Agree. 

 

I wanted to replace my Ford Ranger with a CX-30 and they offered a discount of 170k (girlfriends owns an old Mazda 2). That's why I'm familar with their current promotions. 

 

However, after test driving the Atto 3 this week I really can't justify buying an ICEV anymore. Especially these old engines that are sold in Thailand and haven't been updated for years. 

[Yellowtail]

With five or ten new brands flooding the market it's not surprising they're giving discounts on cars, particularly on old platforms like the Mazda 2 and others. 

 

That BYD has seen a 47% drop in sales Q1-24 vs Q4-23 might be an indication of how the market is doing.

 

[vinny41]

On 4/5/2024 at 4:07 PM, 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!!

It seems that most car buyers in Thailand agree with you since hybrid is the 3rd most popular choice after petrol and diesel with 122,190 hybrid's registered since January 2023 with Honda and Toyota taking the lion share of the Hybrid market

[Yellowtail]

13 minutes ago, vinny41 said:

It seems that most car buyers in Thailand agree with you since hybrid is the 3rd most popular choice after petrol and diesel with 122,190 hybrid's registered since January 2023 with Honda and Toyota taking the lion share of the Hybrid market

The primary reason hybrids sales are so significant is because they are typically the top variation of a given model.

 

If you want the leather, you have to buy the hybrid...

[vinny41]

8 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

The primary reason hybrids sales are so significant is because they are typically the top variation of a given model.

 

If you want the leather, you have to buy the hybrid...

Not any more Toyota Yaris CROSS : 789,000 – 899,000 all 3 models are hybrid, Honda city HEV price starts from B769K

[vinny41]

MG ZS EV refuses to start after charging, leaves me stranded  HV Battery Shut Off

https://www.team-bhp.com/news/mg-zs-ev-refuses-start-after-charging-leaves-me-stranded

 

What is the cause of the HV Battery Shut off problem??

https://evguarantee.net/2023/01/08/ประเด็นดัง-ปัญหารถดับ-hv-battery-shut/

Solve the HV Battery Shut Off symptom of MG electric cars after charging with DC and the car shuts down