Electric Vehicles in Thailand

[Pib]

2 hours ago, carlyai said:

We ordered on 10th December, last day under promotion. Salesman said delivery December. Now they say we are top of the que. Believe it when I see it.

Mukdahan is like the end of a run, so not sure they would deliver a 1 off to Muk but wait to drop other cars off on the run.

The longer we wait the more wife will get Ped off and want to buy another Honda CRV.

 

Sounds similar to what many Seal buyers where being told back in late 2023/early 2024 when the Seal was launched in Thailand on 28 Sep 2023 and was what everybody wanted.  And don't be surprised if your BYD dealership starts telling you the particular Sealion 7 model (Premium or AWD Performance) and/or color you ordered is backordered for X-months along with a wishy-washy expected delivery date, BUT if you will accept this other version/color of Sealion 7 you can get it within a week.   

 

Hang in there for exactly what you ordered!!!....and hope it comes in soon.

[Bandersnatch]

55 minutes ago, Pib said:

Sounds similar to what many Seal buyers where being told back in late 2023/early 2024 when the Seal was launched in Thailand on 28 Sep 2023 and was what everybody wanted.  And don't be surprised if your BYD dealership starts telling you the particular Sealion 7 model (Premium or AWD Performance) and/or color you ordered is backordered for X-months along with a wishy-washy expected delivery date, BUT if you will accept this other version/color of Sealion 7 you can get it within a week.   

 

We ordered a Seal RWD in 2023 and after a month of waiting, while all the time seeing the Seal AWDs getting quickly delivered to forum members here, we asked our dealer about an AWD and got it within a week.

 

We recently looked at the Sealion 7 Premium and it is a lovely car if a bit much for a second car. Buriram BYD told us about 3 months delivery. We swapped to the M6 Extended that the dealer had in stock and saved ฿350,000. 

 

It only cost us ฿400,000 to swap a 4 year old PHEV with a 17kWh battery for a full EV with a 72kWh battery and V2L.

[Alotoftravel]

12 hours ago, carlyai said:

e ordered on 10th December, last day under promotion. Salesman said delivery December. Now they say we are top of the que. Believe it when I see it.

was the deposit 4,000 baht like tesla ? Tesla waiting period is also s long time for the model juniper , 5 months (jan-may ) 

[carlyai]

4 minutes ago, Alotoftravel said:

was the deposit 4,000 baht like tesla ? Tesla waiting period is also s long time for the model juniper , 5 months (jan-may ) 

B10000...

[mistral53]

19 hours ago, Bandersnatch said:

 

We ordered a Seal RWD in 2023 and after a month of waiting, while all the time seeing the Seal AWDs getting quickly delivered to forum members here, we asked our dealer about an AWD and got it within a week.

 

We recently looked at the Sealion 7 Premium and it is a lovely car if a bit much for a second car. Buriram BYD told us about 3 months delivery. We swapped to the M6 Extended that the dealer had in stock and saved ฿350,000. 

 

It only cost us ฿400,000 to swap a 4 year old PHEV with a 17kWh battery for a full EV with a 72kWh battery and V2L.

 

How many KM on your MG? I am looking for a trade-in myself.....

[Bandersnatch]

5 hours ago, mistral53 said:

 

How many KM on your MG? I am looking for a trade-in myself.....

 

We sold it through FB rather than through the dealer as they just call round the local tents.

 

The wife did a soft launch to her 1,600 FB friends (I have 110 friends by comparison) before posting on FB market place. 

 

Fortunately she had a already sold it to one of her friends before the FB market place time wasters had taken up too much of her time.

 

The girl had never even heard of regenerative braking and she has booked my wife for an intro to plug-in motoring. 

[KhunLA]

11 hours ago, Bandersnatch said:

The wife did a soft launch to her 1,600 FB friends (I have 110 friends by comparison) before posting on FB market place. 

You have friends ?   What's that like ? 

 

 

[Bandersnatch]

3 hours ago, KhunLA said:

You have friends ?   What's that like ? 

 

They're FB friends so most are friends in name only or guys I was at Boarding School with 40 years ago who hardly spoke to me then but now feel it's imperative that we rekindle our long lost friendship!

[Andrew Dwyer]

1 hour ago, Bandersnatch said:

 

They're FB friends so most are friends in name only or guys I was at Boarding School with 40 years ago who hardly spoke to me then but now feel it's imperative that we rekindle our long lost friendship!

Yup, a lot of my FB “ friends “ are from school who contacted me, I accepted under the false assumption that they weren’t living in the same small town and frequenting the same local ! … I was wrong !

Sadly a lot these friends have since passed on 😞

[4myr]

MG ES5 expected to launch on March Bangkok Motor show

 

Two Thai sources confirmed this, referring to announcements by managing director MG Sales at MG Dealer conference 2025 held in Bangkok:

https://autostation.com/cars/mg-es5-electric-crossover-expected-to-launch-in-thailand-this-march/

https://www.car250.com/mg-es5-ev-2025-th-03.html

 

What's special:

 

Similar size as Atto 3, Geely EX5, Omoda C5, Neta X, etc. Drives as rear wheel drive better than its FWD peers. See reviews below

Will probably get lifetime battery warranty as MG4. Charging speed better than average among peers. VtoL higher than peers.

Has more conventional stuff than peers like normal door handles and more hardware buttons.

 

What's below average than it's peers:

 

Although infotainment system is upgraded and OTA's will be supported, Chinese reviewers still complain about lack of features. Like not many 3rd party apps, no dashcam, no sentry mode. Sofar domestic China sales were mediocre [below 10,000], while Deepal S05 and Geely EX5 exceeded 90,000 during similar launch time. They changed the marketing manager, but his [Zhou Jinkai] first appearance seen as a re-launch event has been ridiculed on dongchedi.com.

 

Reviews

 

Interior, driving and comparison with European peers

Features, interior, exterior, driving

 

Driving dynamics ES5 vs Atto 3 [start at 8:49]

 

 

 

[scorecard]

On 4/22/2022 at 10:13 AM, eezergood said:

the larger issue is the cost of electricity - & of course (yes I know its coming & its great in some areas) the charging networks

 

 Amongst my farang residents acquaintances here in Chiang Mai, recharging is the major heart attack point. So often the response when there's some discussion about buying an EV, the instant trembling response is: but there's nowhere to recharge the car.

 

A recent discussion prompted one farang to pull out his notebook and open a favorites page listing the multiple places in CM where EV owners (regardless of EV brand) can recharge at reasonable cost.

 

Plus of course you can do a recharge at home.

 

Next major panic response, 'but what if the nearby recharge is down for a day!'

 

Again doom and gloom. 

 

This prompted a vote amongst the 6 farang at the table. After a little discussion 5 agreed 'there really is no problem, and it's the same as gasoline fill up, you need to watch the gauge and do a fill up / top up as needed, at one of the multiple locations available.

 

The sixth farang is determined to be negative about everything, including whether Monday really does follow Sunday. 

 

 

[Bandersnatch]

2 hours ago, scorecard said:

 Amongst my farang residents acquaintances here in Chiang Mai, recharging is the major heart attack point. So often the response when there's some discussion about buying an EV, the instant trembling response is: but there's nowhere to recharge the car.

 

A recent discussion prompted one farang to pull out his notebook and open a favorites page listing the multiple places in CM where EV owners (regardless of EV brand) can recharge at reasonable cost.

 

Plus of course you can do a recharge at home.

 

Next major panic response, 'but what if the nearby recharge is down for a day!'

 

Again doom and gloom. 

 

This prompted a vote amongst the 6 farang at the table. After a little discussion 5 agreed 'there really is no problem, and it's the same as gasoline fill up, you need to watch the gauge and do a fill up / top up as needed, at one of the multiple locations available.

 

The sixth farang is determined to be negative about everything, including whether Monday really does follow Sunday. 

 

 

 

Many people who don't own an EV seem to think that they are experts on all EV charger locations; EV Traction battery chemistries; Cradle-to-grave CO2 emissions of all vehicles etc etc. It must be the Dunning–Kruger effect.

 

[scorecard]

11 hours ago, Bandersnatch said:

 

Many people who don't own an EV seem to think that they are experts on all EV charger locations; EV Traction battery chemistries; Cradle-to-grave CO2 emissions of all vehicles etc etc. It must be the Dunning–Kruger effect.

 

So please share your wisdom / knowledge re charging stations in Chiang Mai.

 

Are they all suitable to charge your average EV car?

[KhunLA]

19 minutes ago, scorecard said:

So please share your wisdom / knowledge re charging stations in Chiang Mai.

 

Are they all suitable to charge your average EV car?

 

14 hours ago, scorecard said:

 Amongst my farang residents acquaintances here in Chiang Mai, recharging is the major heart attack point. So often the response when there's some discussion about buying an EV, the instant trembling response is: but there's nowhere to recharge the car.

 

A recent discussion prompted one farang to pull out his notebook and open a favorites page listing the multiple places in CM where EV owners (regardless of EV brand) can recharge at reasonable cost.

 

Plus of course you can do a recharge at home.

 

Next major panic response, 'but what if the nearby recharge is down for a day!'

 

Again doom and gloom. 

 

This prompted a vote amongst the 6 farang at the table. After a little discussion 5 agreed 'there really is no problem, and it's the same as gasoline fill up, you need to watch the gauge and do a fill up / top up as needed, at one of the multiple locations available.

 

The sixth farang is determined to be negative about everything, including whether Monday really does follow Sunday. 

 

 

 

Should you not be all knowing by now  

[Bandersnatch]

5 minutes ago, scorecard said:

So please share your wisdom / knowledge re charging stations in Chiang Mai.

 

Are they all suitable to charge your average EV car?

 

I'm not an expert on EV Charging in CM as I've never charged there, so I would use an app like PlugShare.

 

 

PlugShare uses a community based approach where members update the map as new chargers appear and they report any problems.

 

My house is on PlugShare as one of the first EV chargers in my area for emergency use only

 

As for suitability of chargers. The vast majority of EVs sold in Thailand have the CCS type 2 adapter and so therefore so do the vast majority of chargers. You can filter for them in PlugShare.

 

[scorecard]

7 hours ago, KhunLA said:

 

 

Should you not be all knowing by now  

I suspect you're being sarcastic. I make no claim to be an expert on this subject and right now I / my family don't own an EV. My Thai son and his Thai wife do own a very nice Hyundai family van. They have 4 kids.

 

But I'm interested because my Thai son and his wife are aiming to buy a small EV car in the near future to replace a fast dying old 3 door ICE car, therefore my Thai son, his Thai wife and myself have been focusing on charging options amongst other EV details.

 

My daughter in law (DIL) wants to buy a small BYD vehicle but my son likes to look at all the available cars and the surrounding information.

 

DIL is focused on a small BYD sedan because the car will mostly be used to take / return 4 kids from university, high school, primary school. And she's done her research and discovered there's numerous places for re-charge on the routes she takes. 

 

Ultimately It's a decision for my son and his wife, not for me. My guess is that DIL will win the day because it fits the needs. Also many families living in our moo bahn (Thai, Chinese, foreigners) now have BYD cars and all indicate they are very happy with BYD.

 

As above, I make no claim to be an expert on the re-charge subject and no intention of becoming an expert on this. No doubt the whole subject will go through many changes / adjustments into the future.

[scorecard]

1 hour ago, scorecard said:

I suspect you're being sarcastic. I make no claim to be an expert on this subject and right now I / my family don't own an EV. My Thai son and his Thai wife do own a very nice Hyundai family van. They have 4 kids.

 

But I'm interested because my Thai son and his wife are aiming to buy a small EV car in the near future to replace a fast dying old 3 door ICE car, therefore my Thai son, his Thai wife and myself have been focusing on charging options amongst other EV details.

 

My daughter in law (DIL) wants to buy a small BYD vehicle but my son likes to look at all the available cars and the surrounding information.

 

DIL is focused on a small BYD sedan because the car will mostly be used to take / return 4 kids from university, high school, primary school. And she's done her research and discovered there's numerous places for re-charge on the routes she takes. ADDITION: ...including shopping venues which have EV recharge stations, some at very expensive rates, some at very reasonable rates.

 

Ultimately It's a decision for my son and his wife, not for me. My guess is that DIL will win the day because it fits the needs. Also many families living in our moo bahn (Thai, Chinese, foreigners) now have BYD cars and all indicate they are very happy with BYD.

 

As above, I make no claim to be an expert on the re-charge subject and no intention of becoming an expert on this. No doubt the whole subject will go through many changes / adjustments into the future.

 

[Pib]

Plenty of chargers in the Chiang Mai area. 

Below image is from the Charge Loma app set to only show CCS2 "DC"chargers from the "major" charging networks in the  Muang Chiang Mai area.  So many that the pindrops overlap/mask each other.  And there are surely "minor" networks chargers also in Muang Chiang Mai which are not shown...more minor charging networks popping up all the time.  

 

And of course the charger that will be predominantly used day-to-day is the EV owner's home wall/portable charger.

 

Some people think DC  and AC chargers are of limited quantity because they just don't see them as they drive along...just don't see many signs along the road saying "EV Charger Here."  But use individual charging network apps and/or crowd-sourced apps like Plug & Share, Charge Loma, etc., they are easily found and found to be in many locations...but not in "all" locations like many rural areas.

 

But for trips along most major roads there are lots of DC chargers to choose from...and if you signed-up with multiple charging app networks (I'm signed up with 6) the only problem you'll have is which charging location to pick out of numerous choices available.

 

[Gweiloman]

On 2/3/2025 at 2:06 PM, scorecard said:

 Amongst my farang residents acquaintances here in Chiang Mai, recharging is the major heart attack point. So often the response when there's some discussion about buying an EV, the instant trembling response is: but there's nowhere to recharge the car.

 

A recent discussion prompted one farang to pull out his notebook and open a favorites page listing the multiple places in CM where EV owners (regardless of EV brand) can recharge at reasonable cost.

 

Plus of course you can do a recharge at home.

 

Next major panic response, 'but what if the nearby recharge is down for a day!'

 

Again doom and gloom. 

 

This prompted a vote amongst the 6 farang at the table. After a little discussion 5 agreed 'there really is no problem, and it's the same as gasoline fill up, you need to watch the gauge and do a fill up / top up as needed, at one of the multiple locations available.

 

The sixth farang is determined to be negative about everything, including whether Monday really does follow Sunday. 

 

 

Does any of other 5 farangs at the table own an EV? I remember having a conversation about Porsche among a group of my friends. None of us had ever owned or driven one so we were just talking rubbish…

[scorecard]

1 hour ago, Gweiloman said:

Does any of other 5 farangs at the table own an EV? I remember having a conversation about Porsche among a group of my friends. None of us had ever owned or driven one so we were just talking rubbish…

Mixed picture.

 

The farang around the table who haven't purchased an EV all fit well into the picture 'not yet because there's nowhere to recharge the batteries.

 

One added, 'I haven't purchased an EV because I don't want to go to a service station every time I need to charge and sit on the kerb for 2 hrs.'

 

Others tried to convince this guy there's many locations for recharge with added facilities / shopping, and you can recharge at home.

 

His response was 'but my house is not wired as a commercial premises so that's not possible'. 

 

[JBChiangRai]

54 minutes ago, scorecard said:

Mixed picture.

 

The farang around the table who haven't purchased an EV all fit well into the picture 'not yet because there's nowhere to recharge the batteries.

 

One added, 'I haven't purchased an EV because I don't want to go to a service station every time I need to charge and sit on the kerb for 2 hrs.'

 

Others tried to convince this guy there's many locations for recharge with added facilities / shopping, and you can recharge at home.

 

His response was 'but my house is not wired as a commercial premises so that's not possible'. 

 

 

They sound like some of the EV haters on here, ignorant and bigoted.  Do they also think the earth is flat?

[CLW]

On 2/4/2025 at 3:56 AM, scorecard said:

So please share your wisdom / knowledge re charging stations in Chiang Mai.

 

Are they all suitable to charge your average EV car?

For the 100th time. You are charging 95% of all occasions at your home. And outside you can always find a charging spot if you're not living under a rock. You can even make reservations for some brands of charging stations. 

[CLW]

1 hour ago, JBChiangRai said:

 

They sound like some of the EV haters on here, ignorant and bigoted.  Do they also think the earth is flat?

Seriously, he's starting to act like a troll. Whatever good meant information you feed him, he always finds the negative points 

[Pib]

A 5 Feb 2025 Autolife article on BEV registrations for Jan 2025.  See weblink below for full article.

https://autolifethailand.tv/ev-register-jan-2025-thailand/

 

I've also included a few key snapshots from the article.   BYD is still the 800 pound gorilla among the EV brands.  And the new girl on the block, the BYD Sealion 7, is currently the most sought after (#1)  but with the economical BYD Dolphin still being very popular (#2)...and more BYD models in the Top 20....see below. 

 

Total registrations of 100% electric vehicles in Thailand in January 2025 total 12,376 units | Decreased by 9.4% BYD Sealion7 is the champion

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[KhunLA]

A van in the top 5 is a bit of a surprise, especially starting at ~฿2M price point.

[JBChiangRai]

1 hour ago, Pib said:

A 5 Feb 2025 Autolife article on BEV registrations for Jan 2025.  See weblink below for full article.

https://autolifethailand.tv/ev-register-jan-2025-thailand/

 

I've also included a few key snapshots from the article.   BYD is still the 800 pound gorilla among the EV brands.  And the new girl on the block, the BYD Sealion 7, is currently the most sought after (#1)  but with the economical BYD Dolphin still being very popular (#2)...and more BYD models in the Top 20....see below. 

 

Total registrations of 100% electric vehicles in Thailand in January 2025 total 12,376 units | Decreased by 9.4% BYD Sealion7 is the champion

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If EV registrations are down 9.4%, do we know whether ICE registrations are down? And by what percentage?

 

What really interests me is what is happening to the market share of EV‘s compared to ICE?

 

Thanks in advance if you do have the figures.

[Pib]

46 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

A van in the top 5 is a bit of a surprise, especially starting at ~฿2M price point.

 

Maybe rich folks who like having a premium ICE van are beginning to switch to premium BEV vans like the Densa D9 (BYD owned but mainly  designed by Mercedes).  Another ICE market segment transitioning to EVs.

 

 

[carlyai]

I have ordered the Sealion 7 as you'all probably know.

At present I'm visiting Aus and have been driving a little Toyota hybrid rent a car.

I can see why drivers (specially in Aus) don't go fully EV but make the Hybrid step first.

This little car had a range of over 800km when I picked it up. I did about 600 odd km and cost me $52 to fill up the tank again.

Hybrids seem great value if someone is scared to make the complete jump to EV.

Rental about $100/day but dosen't come standard with a GPS.

I would have thought that all modern cars would have standard GPS. 

Don't think I'd order a BYD car and have to ask for GPS as an add on.

Maybe just the rent-a-cars....stupid.

[Pib]

1 hour ago, JBChiangRai said:

If EV registrations are down 9.4%, do we know whether ICE registrations are down? And by what percentage?

 

What really interests me is what is happening to the market share of EV‘s compared to ICE?

 

Thanks in advance if you do have the figures.

 

I don't have anything handy or really detailed.   But when looking at the DLT stats for RY1, 2, and 3 vehicle categories for Jan 2024 (2567) (see snapshot 1)  total vehicle registrations (i.e., ICE, EV, Hybrid, etc) in those three categories totaled 81,098.   And when looking at the same registration data but for Jan 2025 (2568) the total is 68,009 which is approx 16% lower than Jan 2024.   Vehicle registrations for January of this year is worst than same time last year....an ongoing vehicles sales (and financing) slump.

 

 

Snapshot 1: Jan 2024 registrations

 

Snapshot 2: Jan 2025 registrations

[CLW]

17 hours ago, KhunLA said:

A van in the top 5 is a bit of a surprise, especially starting at ~฿2M price point.

Was thinking the same. Economy can't be so bad then...