Electric Vehicles in Thailand

[motdaeng]

27 minutes ago, carlyai said:

One of the Thai guys on a Sealion 7 BYD forum posted this pic.

It is a bolt sticking out near the accelorator pedal.

They said it was common with all Sealion 7s.

I can't believe that.

 

that doesn't look right ...

... can you share the forum (facebook?) link ... thanks ....

[Andrew Dwyer]

11 minutes ago, motdaeng said:

 

that doesn't look right ...

... can you share the forum (facebook?) link ... thanks ....

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1B4FLS3iUH/?mibextid=wwXIfr

 

quite a few responses that they have the same and some suggesting to put a plastic nut with a flange on it .

 

 

just had a look at my Seal and it has similar although not quite so obvious.

 

[motdaeng]

a bev is ordered, i sold my ice car yesterday ... for now i'm dependent on my wife's car ... :-(

 

i have some questions with the installation of a wall charger. i trust the expertise of some forum members

more than most electricians here in thailand:  

 

- what cable dimensions for L ...... mm2, N ...... mm2, G ...... mm2 are needed? (total cable length approx. 15 meters) 
- when adding a new schneider breaker 40a to the existing consumer unit, do i need an another safty breaker (40 a ?) next to the wallbox?

  or would an on/off switch make sense, or be ok? what type of switch would you recommend?  
- if i want to monitor the kwh going into the wall charger, what's a simple solution?

  is maybe a breaker with monitoring mode available, that can be installed in the existing consumer unit?  

 

thanks a lot for your help, input, and for sharing your experiences, motdaeng!  

 

 

the "diagram" below shows the existing electrical installation and the new setup for the wall charger ...

 

 

 

[Pib]

 

Same kind of stuff on an Atto 3 "if you put your heads & eyes down to seat level so you can see under the dash."  Just bolts and nuts.  In the Atto's case it easy to see if you look under the dash since the carpet don't go as high up like the Sealion 7 to cover the nuts and bolts in some places.  See below.  

 

On the Sealion I expect there is a nut on that protruding bolt if the person looks closer.  Nothing to worry about.   And when looking under the dash a person can see all kinds of nuts and bolts, wires, stuff, etc.  Nothing to worry about.

 

 

 

 

[Pib]

9 minutes ago, motdaeng said:

a bev is ordered, i sold my ice car yesterday ... for now i'm dependent on my wife's car ... :-(

 

i have some questions with the installation of a wall charger. i trust the expertise of some forum members

more than most electricians here in thailand:  

 

- what cable dimensions for L ...... mm2, N ...... mm2, G ...... mm2 are needed? (total cable length approx. 15 meters) 
- when adding a new schneider breaker 40a to the existing consumer unit, do i need an another safty breaker (40 a ?) next to the wallbox?

  or would an on/off switch make sense, or be ok? what type of switch would you recommend?  
- if i want to monitor the kwh going into the wall charger, what's a simple solution?

  is maybe a breaker with monitoring mode available, that can be installed in the existing consumer unit?  

 

thanks a lot for your help, input, and for sharing your experiences, motdaeng!  

 

 

the "diagram" below shows the existing electrical installation and the new setup for the wall charger ...

 

 

 

A 40A circuit breaker is required in the main circuit box.....from that breaker 10mm2 wire (live, neutral  & ground) to a 40A (30ma) "RCBO" just before input to the wall charger.   Yeap, regular breaker on one end of the 10mm2 wire run and a RCBO breaker on the other end.   Installed by BYD electrical contractors.

 

 Later, I added a wattmeter/voltage/100A meter with CT on the input of the wall charger so I could see/monitor electron flow.  Bought it off Lazada.  I also have a similar meter on my main circuit box panel to monitor voltage, amps, etc. 

 

 

[Andrew Dwyer]

25 minutes ago, motdaeng said:

a bev is ordered

 

Was it only me or did anyone else hear a fanfare when reading that ??

 

 

Seriously though, welcome to the club !!

Are you willing to divulge which one you went for so we can nod our collective heads in approval ??

[motdaeng]

7 minutes ago, Pib said:

A 40A circuit breaker is required in the main circuit box.....from that breaker 10mm2 wire (live, neutral  & ground) to a 40A (30ma) "RCBO" just before input to the wall charger.   Yeap, regular breaker on one end of the 10mm2 wire run and a RCBO breaker on the other end.   Installed by BYD electrical contractors.

 

 Later, I added a wattmeter/voltage/100A meter with CT on the input of the wall charger so I could see/monitor electron flow.  Bought it off Lazada.  I also have a similar meter on my main circuit box panel to monitor voltage, amps, etc. 

 

 

thank you very much for the detailed answers, i truly appreciate your help ... motdaeng

[JBChiangRai]

33 minutes ago, motdaeng said:

- when adding a new schneider breaker 40a to the existing consumer unit, do i need an another safty breaker (40 a ?) next to the wallbox?

  or would an on/off switch make sense, or be ok? what type of switch would you recommend?  
- if i want to monitor the kwh going into the wall charger, what's a simple solution?

  is maybe a breaker with monitoring mode available, that can be installed in the existing consumer unit?  

 

thanks a lot for your help, input, and for sharing your experiences, motdaeng!  

 

 

the "diagram" below shows the existing electrical installation and the new setup for the wall charger ...

 

 

 

This is what I would do.

 

If your existing RCBO Safety cut is working properly, I don’t see why you would need another.

 

You have 3 phase, if your planning on staying in that house, I would go for a 3 phase 22Kw charger, if your buying a Sealion 7 (for example) it will charge at 11Kw (don’t buy a 3 phase 11Kw wall box under any circumstances).

 

I would put your wall box on an industrial plug and fit an industrial socket where you want your wall box (red 3 phase 32 amp or blue single phase 32 amp) then you can take the charger with you if you move house.

 

To be neat, I would go for a charger that records what it pumps into the car.

[Pib]

Here's some pics of my 7KW wall charger setup. 

 

EV charger 40A regular breaker in main home box

 

 

Wall charger setup in my carport.  40A (30ma) breaker box at top, charger at bottom, and that power meter I added on later

 

 

Closeup of 40A(30ma) RCBO 

 

 

Close up of the meter I added to monitor input to the charger.  Bought the meter off Lazada and the plastic electrical junction box the meter is  at the hardware store....I just cut out the front of the box to fit the meter in.  Easy.   I even fired-up the charger and was charging my EV for a few seconds to show the type of meter readout provided. 

 

 

 

 

 

[motdaeng]

10 minutes ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

Was it only me or did anyone else hear a fanfare when reading that ??

 

 

Seriously though, welcome to the club !!

Are you willing to divulge which one you went for so we can nod our collective heads in approval ??

 

i came close to buying a bev (volvo, hyundain or zeekr) several times over the past two years. during this time,

i’ve learned a lot about bev's, and now the moment has finally arrived to say goodbye “for good” to the ice world 

 

i’ve ordered the byd sealion 7 performance. the issue i had with limited headroom was resolved during the test drive

by adjusting the steering wheel, which let me shift my seating position further back ... so far so good!

[Pib]

 

 

[motdaeng]

14 minutes ago, Pib said:

Here's some pics of my 7KW wall charger setup. 

 

EV charger 40A regular breaker in main home box

 

 

Wall charger setup in my carport.  40A (30ma) breaker box at top, charger at bottom, and that power meter I added on later

 

 

Closeup of 40A(30ma) RCBO 

 

 

Close up of the meter I added to monitor input to the charger.  Bought the meter off Lazada and the plastic electrical junction box the meter is  at the hardware store....I just cut out the front of the box to fit the meter in.  Easy.   I even fired-up the charger and was charging my EV for a few seconds to show the type of meter readout provided. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

thank you once again for your consistently helpful support ...    

i hope you don't mind if i maybe copy your clean and neat setup ... 

[carlyai]

As I'm just new on this forum I didn't want to rush in with the way I would do it.

Sorry for late reply.

 

[Pib]

 

I just noticed below  car250 article that details the BYD Sealion 7 "scheduled maintenance costs" a person needs to pay over the car's warranty period....that is, labor/parts costs when you take the car in for its "periodic scheduled checkups" to keep the warranty valid. 

 

What surprised me was the scheduled maintenance labor/spare parts checkup costs are "not" free as I was assuming the free checkup labor/parts costs still applied to most BYD vehicles sold like when in late 2023 I bought my 2023 Atto Extended range as it came with free scheduled maintenance and even a free wall charger including installation.

 

But from looking at the BYD Rever Automotive website and the "current" promotions for 11-31 Dec 2024 there is no free labor/spare parts for checkups and also no free wall charger with installation for models recently released by BYD like the Sealion 7, M6, and Sealion 6.  

 

When I continued to look at the other BYD models it showed the current promotions for the Seal and Atto did include free maintenance labor/spare parts costs and free wall charger.  Current promotion for the Dolphin did not include free maintenance/parts costs or wall charger.  And the current 11-31 Dec promotions are not to be confused with promotions offered during the recent motor show which were different promotions.

 

So, it seems as BYD is slowly cutting back on freebies such as free scheduled checkups and wall chargers especially for the new models it released this year in Thailand like the Sealion7, M6, and Sealion 6 while still offering those freebies for the Seal and Atto.  And the Dolphin continues not to receive freebie checkups and wall charger.   Guess that helps to maintain profit in the ongoing price war.

 

 

Car250.com 18 Dec 2024 media release....partial snapshots below...see weblink for full article and full scheduled maintenance costs over the 8 year/160,000km warranty period.

https://www.car250.com/byd-sealion-7-ev-2024-18-1.html

 

 

 

 

[CLW]

4 hours ago, Pib said:

Here's some pics of my 7KW wall charger setup. 

 

EV charger 40A regular breaker in main home box

 

 

Wall charger setup in my carport.  40A (30ma) breaker box at top, charger at bottom, and that power meter I added on later

 

 

Closeup of 40A(30ma) RCBO 

 

 

Close up of the meter I added to monitor input to the charger.  Bought the meter off Lazada and the plastic electrical junction box the meter is  at the hardware store....I just cut out the front of the box to fit the meter in.  Easy.   I even fired-up the charger and was charging my EV for a few seconds to show the type of meter readout provided. 

 

 

 

 

 

Could you please post a link for this meter. Thanks 

[Pib]

21 minutes ago, CLW said:

Could you please post a link for this meter. Thanks 

 

Just for example...many Lazada/Shopee vendors sell it.....get the 100A with CT model. 

 

Two different CT (current transformer) types...one type where you must remove the wire to place the CT around it (1st image below) and another type (2nd image) where there is no need to remove the wire as it's a open-close clamp-on type.  The clamp-on type is bigger and the clamp jaw contact points can corrode over time which could affect the current measurement.  I prefer the first type....a little smaller and no clamp-on jaws prone to corrosion.  

 

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/diymore-pzem-018-5apzem-020-10apzem-022-100a-80-260v-ac-digital-energy-meter-used-for-closed-ac-voltmeter-testing-of-ct-series-energy-meters-i2870557510-s10478435915.html?

 

 

or

 

 

 

[4myr]

32 minutes ago, Pib said:

 

I just noticed below  car250 article that details the BYD Sealion 7 "scheduled maintenance costs" a person needs to pay over the car's warranty period....that is, labor/parts costs when you take the car in for its "periodic scheduled checkups" to keep the warranty valid. 

 

What surprised me was the scheduled maintenance labor/spare parts checkup costs are "not" free as I was assuming the free checkup labor/parts costs still applied to most BYD vehicles sold like when in late 2023 I bought my 2023 Atto Extended range as it came with free scheduled maintenance and even a free wall charger including installation.

 

But from looking at the BYD Rever Automotive website and the "current" promotions for 11-31 Dec 2024 there is no free labor/spare parts for checkups and also no free wall charger with installation for models recently released by BYD like the Sealion 7, M6, and Sealion 6.  

 

When I continued to look at the other BYD models it showed the current promotions for the Seal and Atto did include free maintenance labor/spare parts costs and free wall charger.  Current promotion for the Dolphin did not include free maintenance/parts costs or wall charger.  And the current 11-31 Dec promotions are not to be confused with promotions offered during the recent motor show which were different promotions.

 

So, it seems as BYD is slowly cutting back on freebies such as free scheduled checkups and wall chargers especially for the new models it released this year in Thailand like the Sealion7, M6, and Sealion 6 while still offering those freebies for the Seal and Atto.  And the Dolphin continues not to receive freebie checkups and wall charger.   Guess that helps to maintain profit in the ongoing price war.

 

 

Car250.com 18 Dec 2024 media release....partial snapshots below...see weblink for full article and full scheduled maintenance costs over the 8 year/160,000km warranty period.

https://www.car250.com/byd-sealion-7-ev-2024-18-1.html

 

 

 

 

 

This does not surprise me at all about BYD, or maybe specifically Rever Automotive.

I still cannot understand why BYD Thailand charges so much for maintenance of a BEV.
Why every 40k km instead of 80k km a gear oil change?
Compare this to MG, GWM ORA, Riddara with reasonable maintenance frequencies and prices.

 

 

[Pib]

Hey, with BYD no longer offering "for some models" free labor/spare parts for the schedule maintenance checkups which is valued at around Bt35K and also not offering a free wall charger with installation for some models valued around Bt30K at least that combined Bt65K helps to offset somewhat the higher price us folks paid for some of our BYD vehicles which did include those freebies before the price war went into full swing.  😜

[Pib]

13 minutes ago, 4myr said:

This does not surprise me at all about BYD, or maybe specifically Rever Automotive.

I still cannot understand why BYD Thailand charges so much for maintenance of a BEV.
Why every 40k km instead of 80k km a gear oil change?
Compare this to MG, GWM ORA, Riddara with reasonable maintenance frequencies and prices.

 

 

BYD Thailand is still a LOT cheaper than BYD Australia.  See example of 24 month Atto checkup cost cost in Oz...see weblink for each of the checkup costs over the entire Oz warranty period.

 

https://bydautomotive.com.au/service-and-warranty

[Andrew Dwyer]

15 hours ago, motdaeng said:

 

i came close to buying a bev (volvo, hyundain or zeekr) several times over the past two years. during this time,

i’ve learned a lot about bev's, and now the moment has finally arrived to say goodbye “for good” to the ice world 

 

i’ve ordered the byd sealion 7 performance. the issue i had with limited headroom was resolved during the test drive

by adjusting the steering wheel, which let me shift my seating position further back ... so far so good!

Yeah, i hear you, i took ages to make the move myself, was torn between Atto 3 and MG4, considered a Dolphin together with a HEV for a while, almost bought an Atto 3 but then Seal came along and i knew that was the one for me, no regrets after 1 year.

Sealion 7 would be my choice today.

Starting to see some red plates around already, hopefully you don’t have too long a wait, see some having Feb/March delivery dates !

[Andrew Dwyer]

@motdaeng

If you are looking at updating your dash cam arrangement and are in Bangkok then i recommend you look at Sinjet

 

https://www.facebook.com/share/1Ee9ZqteTW/?mibextid=wwXIfr

The guy is a whizz kid, started up with the Seal model kit imported from China and now covers all BYD’s in Thailand (M6,  Sealion 6 and 7 included ) plus MG4, Xpeng, Changan and others.

 

[Yodarapper]

15 hours ago, Pib said:

 

I just noticed below  car250 article that details the BYD Sealion 7 "scheduled maintenance costs" a person needs to pay over the car's warranty period....that is, labor/parts costs when you take the car in for its "periodic scheduled checkups" to keep the warranty valid. 

 

What surprised me was the scheduled maintenance labor/spare parts checkup costs are "not" free as I was assuming the free checkup labor/parts costs still applied to most BYD vehicles sold like when in late 2023 I bought my 2023 Atto Extended range as it came with free scheduled maintenance and even a free wall charger including installation.

 

But from looking at the BYD Rever Automotive website and the "current" promotions for 11-31 Dec 2024 there is no free labor/spare parts for checkups and also no free wall charger with installation for models recently released by BYD like the Sealion 7, M6, and Sealion 6.  

 

When I continued to look at the other BYD models it showed the current promotions for the Seal and Atto did include free maintenance labor/spare parts costs and free wall charger.  Current promotion for the Dolphin did not include free maintenance/parts costs or wall charger.  And the current 11-31 Dec promotions are not to be confused with promotions offered during the recent motor show which were different promotions.

 

So, it seems as BYD is slowly cutting back on freebies such as free scheduled checkups and wall chargers especially for the new models it released this year in Thailand like the Sealion7, M6, and Sealion 6 while still offering those freebies for the Seal and Atto.  And the Dolphin continues not to receive freebie checkups and wall charger.   Guess that helps to maintain profit in the ongoing price war.

 

 

Car250.com 18 Dec 2024 media release....partial snapshots below...see weblink for full article and full scheduled maintenance costs over the 8 year/160,000km warranty period.

https://www.car250.com/byd-sealion-7-ev-2024-18-1.html

 

 

 

 

What is the current promotion and what do you get?

I think I got the motor show promotion as I paid the booking fee but have to sort everything out in January as had to go on holiday…..will find out next year!

 

but I would be interested to know if the promotion now is better? Price and what’s included?

 

cheapest quote for charger was the one you have in your picture for 25k

 

 

[Yodarapper]

20 hours ago, motdaeng said:

a bev is ordered, i sold my ice car yesterday ... for now i'm dependent on my wife's car ... :-(

 

i have some questions with the installation of a wall charger. i trust the expertise of some forum members

more than most electricians here in thailand:  

 

- what cable dimensions for L ...... mm2, N ...... mm2, G ...... mm2 are needed? (total cable length approx. 15 meters) 
- when adding a new schneider breaker 40a to the existing consumer unit, do i need an another safty breaker (40 a ?) next to the wallbox?

  or would an on/off switch make sense, or be ok? what type of switch would you recommend?  
- if i want to monitor the kwh going into the wall charger, what's a simple solution?

  is maybe a breaker with monitoring mode available, that can be installed in the existing consumer unit?  

 

thanks a lot for your help, input, and for sharing your experiences, motdaeng!  

 

 

the "diagram" below shows the existing electrical installation and the new setup for the wall charger ...

 

 

 

Congrats I’m hoping to get mine end of Jan.

what quotes did you get for the wall

charger??

 

I’ve been quoted 42,35 and 25

[Pib]

10 minutes ago, Yodarapper said:

What is the current promotion and what do you get?

I think I got the motor show promotion as I paid the booking fee but have to sort everything out in January as had to go on holiday…..will find out next year!

 

but I would be interested to know if the promotion now is better? Price and what’s included?

 

cheapest quote for charger was the one you have in your picture for 25k

 

 

Go to the Rever webpage for the current promotion.

[Andrew Dwyer]

So here’s a new one on me !!

Spotted in Saraburi.

Attended EV station, no app to contend with, pay the attendant ( not sure of modes of payment , cash or card or qr code etc ) .

120 kw

Mon - Fri 7.50 baht 

Sat - Sun 5.80 baht 

 

 

[KhunLA]

14 minutes ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

So here’s a new one on me !!

Spotted in Saraburi.

Attended EV station, no app to contend with, pay the attendant ( not sure of modes of payment , cash or card or qr code etc ) .

120 kw

Mon - Fri 7.50 baht 

Sat - Sun 5.80 baht 

 

 

I like it, and hopefully that will become a standard thing.  Would eliminate people not unplugging when done, rare.  

 

Hopefully, they stop charging @ 95%, as the last 5% simply takes too long.  Instead of 5 ish mins, as <95% goes in at,  it could be 20 mins, for that last 5% min of top up.  Charging cable & Make/model dependent.  

 

Really is rude now to go to 100% is someone is waiting.  Depending how far our next leg of the journey is, if not last stop, well leave anywhere from 80% and up, if someone is waiting. 

[motdaeng]

6 hours ago, Yodarapper said:

Congrats I’m hoping to get mine end of Jan.

what quotes did you get for the wall charger??

 

I’ve been quoted 42,35 and 25

 

i haven’t a quotation yet, but i estimate "my setup" will cost around 17k to 20k ... 

i'm not sure when i got my car; i think it might be next year as well, so i'm not in a hurry to install the wall charger ...

[impulse]

On 12/18/2024 at 4:21 PM, Pib said:

On the Sealion I expect there is a nut on that protruding bolt if the person looks closer.  Nothing to worry about.   And when looking under the dash a person can see all kinds of nuts and bolts, wires, stuff, etc.  Nothing to worry about.

 

With no specific knowledge, and not seeing under the carpet, I suspect they use longer screws to facilitate assembly, and there's nothing (generally) to worry about.  If someone's bothered by a few mm protruding, that's why God invented acorn nuts.  Not the squirrel food kind.  This kind... 

 

 

They'll also keep from snagging your sock in the rare case that's a problem.

 

 

 

 

[Pib]

3 hours ago, KhunLA said:

I like it, and hopefully that will become a standard thing.  Would eliminate people not unplugging when done, rare.  

 

Hopefully, they stop charging @ 95%, as the last 5% simply takes too long.  Instead of 5 ish mins, as <95% goes in at,  it could be 20 mins, for that last 5% min of top up.  Charging cable & Make/model dependent.  

 

Really is rude now to go to 100% is someone is waiting.  Depending how far our next leg of the journey is, if not last stop, well leave anywhere from 80% and up, if someone is waiting. 

Your MG must charge super slow during the last 5%.   I think your MG must have a very slow final 5% based on how it balances/calibrates the BMS.

 

My Atto charges at the same rate from 85% to 100%....a rate of 32KW.   And below that the Atto's charge curve is 88KW up to 65%..then from 65% to 85% it's 57KW...and then as already mentioned 32kW 85% to 100%.   Or said another way, charging from 95% to 100% (that final 5%) takes the same time as charging from 85% to 90%, 90% to 95%.   Each one of those 5% increments takes approx 7 to 8 minutes.   And in the final minute of charge just before it reaches 100% it goes into "calculating" mode where it's calibrating the charge percentage indicator.  

 

And I seriously doubt such chargers where you pay an attendant vs needing an app will become wide spread....I expect it to remain very rare.  Heck, Thailand don't even do "self-serve, self pay" petrol/diesel fuel pump where you insert your debit/credit card into a card reader built into the pump.   PTT did some "testing" on the concept about 10 years ago but after almost 20 years in Thailand I've never seen a self-serve/self pay gas pump.

[josephbloggs]

3 hours ago, impulse said:

 

With no specific knowledge, and not seeing under the carpet, I suspect they use longer screws to facilitate assembly, and there's nothing (generally) to worry about.  If someone's bothered by a few mm protruding, that's why God invented acorn nuts.  Not the squirrel food kind.  This kind... 

 

 

They'll also keep from snagging your sock in the rare case that's a problem.

 

 

 

 

I'm a big BYD fan and when I get round to changing my car I'll probably go for a BYD, but I think saying just get an acorn nut is not the right answer. No car should have protruding bolts so close to your feet - BYD need to do better. They should be installing the nuts, not the customer.