Electric Vehicles in Thailand

[Bandersnatch]

1 hour ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

Then it appeared, BYD Seal Premium with a 650 km ( realistically 550 ? ) range , when I saw it i knew it was the car for me, can’t fault it on any level, beautiful design and a great price.

Just waiting now on delivery, quoted around 40 days.

 

Didn't know you'd ordered a Seal Premium - did I miss the announcement? or was that it?

 

Congratulations. What did you think of the test drive? What colour did you order?

[Alotoftravel]

19 hours ago, Pib said:

We've talked a little bit about ground clearance in relation to driving thru water/flooded area.  As I read my 200 page Atto 3 manual in prep of getting my car this week the manual gives some conflicting info on the depth of water to avoid.  On page 98 is says water depth must not exceed the vehicle's lower edge. The Atto has a ground clearance level of 175mm.   

 

But then just a few paragraphs later on page 99 it says do not drive thru areas where the water level exceeds half the tire height

 

https://www.facebook.com/jess.napasiri.5/videos/640292821583914?idorvanity=606407312868775

[Andrew Dwyer]

2 minutes ago, Bandersnatch said:

 

Didn't know you'd ordered a Seal Premium - did I miss the announcement? or was that it?

 

Congratulations. What did you think of the test drive? What colour did you order?

Ordered today, test drive was as expected ……. tremendous !! although it was in a Performance , Premiums in high demand and nowhere to be seen ! Black Performance test drive and 2 in the showroom, 1 black Dynamic in the local Central mall.

Did get to see the Space Grey in all its glory though ( another Performance ! )

and that’s the colour I ordered.

[Bandersnatch]

21 minutes ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

Ordered today

might need to change the name of this discussion to

 

“Seal Club Thailand” 🦭

 

How many posters here have ordered Seals? 

[Andrew Dwyer]

4 minutes ago, Bandersnatch said:

might need to change the name of this discussion to

 

“Seal Club Thailand” 🦭

 

How many posters here have ordered Seals? 

Yes, I’ll be seeking some advice from the early adopting Sealsters no doubt.

Starting with , which is the best insurance to go with ?, i have read Bangkok ?

Can the synthetic sound be unplugged like the Atto 3 ?

 

In return i will be offering some tidbits of info:

Did you know the Seal can be remote started to cool down using the remote up to 15 metres ? ( the Atto is 10 metres I believe ), limited obviously by distance but easier than messing with the app. Handy when you are in Amazon for a cold refreshing beverage and the sun is attempting to remove your paintwork !!

[Bandersnatch]

1 minute ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

which is the best insurance to go with

First year is free 

 

[Andrew Dwyer]

6 minutes ago, Bandersnatch said:

First year is free 

 

yes but I understand you can choose 1 from 6 insurance companies ?

[KhunLA]

18 minutes ago, Bandersnatch said:

might need to change the name of this discussion to

“Seal Club Thailand” 🦭

How many posters here have ordered Seals? 

What's wrong with you people ?  Interest in MG ZS waning fast.  Nobody wants that cheap A$$ small family SUV 😂  Still in top 10, maybe till next month 🤣

 

Good, maybe MG will discontinue it, and the wife will have a 'classic' in 20 or 30 yrs, and demand one of those silly prices a MGB from the 60s might get today.

[Melpomene]

2 hours ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

It is something to consider definitely especially if travelling on a busy/holiday weekend.

I have been hanging back from placing an order for an EV for this very reason, in fact i have been deliberating which option would be best for me for quite a while now. (I’m the man who put the “ pro “ in procrastination ).

Originally I was decided on an Atto 3 with an estimated, based on my driving style, range of around 380 - 400 km, but that didn’t seem like enough as my frequent middle length journeys are around a 420 km round trip and would have liked just a little bit more.

So then i decided on an HEV for the longer trips and a small EV ( Dolphin or even Neta V ) for the local stuff.

 

But, I am the only driver in a family of 4 so it seemed overkill to have two vehicles.

 

Decisions , decisions …….. what to do ??

 

Then it appeared, BYD Seal Premium with a 650 km ( realistically 550 ? ) range , when I saw it i knew it was the car for me, can’t fault it on any level, beautiful design and a great price.

Just waiting now on delivery, quoted around 40 days.

 

So, yes, an EV needs more deliberation than an ICE and I think there will be a lot of choices in the next couple of years with Changan arriving shortly and I think Neta will up their game here.

 

Fantastic - congratulations on the Seal.  You must be chuffed, they really are awesome.  I test drove one and loved it, have also started seeing a few on the roads round BKK and they look just as good out and about as they do in the showroom

 

I understand what you mean about the procrastination, although to be honest I think I actually enjoy the car shopping as much (if not more than!) the actual buying of the car itself!

 

The Seal is also leading the way for me, but there's a bit of a practicality issue as need to be able to carry a couple of bigs dogs, bikes, family etc.  So I'm considering keeping our current SUV and having the Seal as a second car, a sort of more respectable weekend plaything to what you usually hear about in LOS!  My wife does drive, so there are times when having two cars in the house would be very useful.  I'm even thinking of swapping the SUV and getting her a Dolphin, MG4 or GAC AION, all of which I think with the back seats folded should meet our practicality requirements.  Wouldn't mind taking advantage of the government subsidy as much as possible whilst it lasts.  Then again deciding on one car is hard enough, let alone two, so we'll see about that...

[Melpomene]

1 hour ago, KhunLA said:

Your #s are pretty good.   At 30%, I'll start to think about a CS, as don't like to go below 20%.  Your estimate of 80 kph is about right, and what we average when I got the CC set to 90 kph on open roads.

 

Our MG rated at WLTP 320 kms, so using 300 kms (at speed(>47kph 'tested), we're good for 3+ hrs, which I'm ready for a break by then, if not sooner.  That's 250 ish kms, w/50 kms reserve.  Them longer drives are way behind me.  

 

Important thing, is to know where the next CS is along your route, in case the one you're stopping at is inop.  It has happened.  Or if traveling weekends, may have a Q, not happened yet, and probably just luck.

 

Probably means you won't be looking at MGs, unless a LR version, as all 3 standard versions have a 51kWh (46kWh usable) battery and same specs, ~300 kms on highway at speed/90 kph.  Added plus of MG, can use their CS if having MG or member card to charge, which you get w/the car, and no other way that I'm aware of.  Guess same would apply to BYD.  Actually our preferred CS, unless hungry.

 

Probably mentioned, if multiple stops along the way, you'll get there faster if just charging up to 90%, as the last bit (MGs) is very slow adding.

 

There really is no shortage of CSs, especially on main roads.

 

Thank you - good to know I'm in the right ball park.

 

I am considering an MG, but as a possible second car for the Mrs as we also need the practicality of a hatchback.

 

My current favourite is the Seal, although the way they're selling I'm a bit concerned about them becoming a bit too common 😄.  There'll be pods of Seals all over Thailand if the current demand continues!

[Andrew Dwyer]

3 minutes ago, Melpomene said:

 

Fantastic - congratulations on the Seal.  You must be chuffed, they really are awesome.  I test drove one and loved it, have also started seeing a few on the roads round BKK and they look just as good out and about as they do in the showroom

 

I understand what you mean about the procrastination, although to be honest I think I actually enjoy the car shopping as much (if not more than!) the actual buying of the car itself!

 

The Seal is also leading the way for me, but there's a bit of a practicality issue as need to be able to carry a couple of bigs dogs, bikes, family etc.  So I'm considering keeping our current SUV and having the Seal as a second car, a sort of more respectable weekend plaything to what you usually hear about in LOS!  My wife does drive, so there are times when having two cars in the house would be very useful.  I'm even thinking of swapping the SUV and getting her a Dolphin, MG4 or GAC AION, all of which I think with the back seats folded should meet our practicality requirements.  Wouldn't mind taking advantage of the government subsidy as much as possible whilst it lasts.  Then again deciding on one car is hard enough, let alone two, so we'll see about that...

Checked out the Aion Y Plus a couple of weeks ago at my local mall, while I didn’t care much for the overall look of the car the room in the rear seating area is second to none. The boot space is great too even with a spare wheel in place which is a bit of a rarity these days.

[Bandersnatch]

11 minutes ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

yes but I understand you can choose 1 from 6 insurance companies ?

Didn’t know that

[Pib]

13 minutes ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

yes but I understand you can choose 1 from 6 insurance companies ?

 

For me on 22 Sep which is when I initially booked an Atto 3 here in Bankgok I was offered the following 5 insurance companies:

Tipaya, Bangkok, LMG, KSK, and Navakit. 

 

Now I have been with LMG for many years for my Fortuner but I called my insurance broker of many years to ask which of the 5 companies is probably best for the Atto 3 buy.   The broker said Bangkok followed by LMG in terms of ease of dealing with, claims, etc.   So I told my BYD dealership I choose Bangkok Insurance Co.  And just the other day I reconfirmed that the one they are lined-up for me....I pickup the Atto tomorrow afternoon.

 

[Andrew Dwyer]

8 minutes ago, Bandersnatch said:

Didn’t know that

Saw this on AutolifeThailand about a month ago, forgot to mention it today at the showroom but @Pib ‘s post seems to confirm it.

 

[Pib]

17 minutes ago, Melpomene said:

My current favourite is the Seal, although the way they're selling I'm a bit concerned about them becoming a bit too common 😄.  There'll be pods of Seals all over Thailand if the current demand continues!

BYD can't seem to do anything wrong right now in terms of popularity of the models it offers in Thailand right now: the Atto, Dolphin, and Seal. 

 

The Atto and Dolphin comprised 53% of all registered sales for September....3231 of the 6,099 total Sep BEV registered sales.   Since it takes a month or two for a sales to be registered with the Dept of Land Transportation it will probably take until Nov registered stats come out that the full strength of Seal sales can be seen....Oct registered stats for the Seal will probably be suppressed somewhat.  Kinda like when the Dolphin first went on sale in July with Aug registration stats being suppressed but full strength showing by Sep.   It wouldn't surprise me to see BYD capturing 60% of total sales come Nov stats...and maybe for Oct stats.   See below chart I stole from KhunLA post a little earlier.

 

And with concern the current BEV govt subsidy will be reduced come Jan 2024 or maybe even a slight chance of it going away I expect sales for Oct thru Dec to spike.  Plus with the Revenue Dept rule change to tax funds remitted to Thailand beginning Jan this may motivate some farangs to transfer money in this year to buy a BEV this year.  But farang buys probably only represent 5% of total BEV vehicle buys if even that much.  Yeap, expect BEV sales to spike Oct - Dec.

[Andrew Dwyer]

8 minutes ago, Pib said:

BYD can't seem to do anything wrong right now in terms of popularity of the models it offers in Thailand right now: the Atto, Dolphin, and Seal. 

 

The Atto and Dolphin comprised 53% of all registered sales for September....3231 of the 6,099 total Sep BEV registered sales.   Since it takes a month or two for a sales to be registered with the Dept of Land Transportation it will probably take until Nov registered stats come out that the full strength of Seal sales can be seen....Oct registered stats for the Seal will probably be suppressed somewhat.  Kinda like when the Dolphin first went on sale in July with Aug registration stats being suppressed but full strength showing by Sep.   It wouldn't surprise me to see BYD capturing 60% of total sales come Nov stats...and maybe for Oct stats.   See below chart I stole from KhunLA post a little earlier.

 

And with concern the current BEV govt subsidy will be reduced come Jan 2024 or maybe even a slight chance of it going away I expect sales for Oct thru Dec to spike.  Plus with the Revenue Dept rule change to tax funds remitted to Thailand beginning Jan this may motivate some farangs to transfer money in this year to buy a BEV this year.  But farang buys probably only represent 5% of total BEV vehicle buys if even that much.  Yeap, expect BEV sales to spike Oct - Dec.

I think the Atto 3 started selling in Nov last year so once it had got into its stride, Jan 2023, it took off and never missed a beat, expecting Dolphin to do the same. 
Seal is going to be a slow take off to get into its stride I think, seems to have run out of stock, especially the Premium, and expect late November early December for the next bunch to arrive and be registered.

Don’t see anyone taking their crown for a while, the MG X Power and Cyberster will sell without a doubt but not in such great numbers I think.

Aion Y Plus is here , saw one on the highway on Sunday, but it ain’t too pretty from the front, it’s selling point being put the front seats right back put an inflatable mattress on and you have a good sized bed , but not everyone likes to sleep in their cars !!

Changan are here with a bunch of showrooms planned (12 ?) and looks good but I can’t help feeling they were slow off the mark.

[mistral53]

1 hour ago, Bandersnatch said:

might need to change the name of this discussion to

 

“Seal Club Thailand” 🦭

 

How many posters here have ordered Seals? 

 

I picked-up my performance model on October 3. 579 km driven so far, tomorrow will be the first trip to BKK - we will see which side he consumption surprise will fall.

 

Some day soon I will make a little write up on to good, the bad and the ugly of Seal ownership - suffice to say I have no regrets, but there are as always some disappointments.

[Bandersnatch]

11 hours ago, mistral53 said:

 

I picked-up my performance model on October 3. 579 km driven so far, tomorrow will be the first trip to BKK - we will see which side he consumption surprise will fall.

 

Some day soon I will make a little write up on to good, the bad and the ugly of Seal ownership - suffice to say I have no regrets, but there are as always some disappointments.

 

Did you find a sun blind for the glass roof? My sales girl said it's included.

[Bandersnatch]

"EVs don't work for people who live in apartment buildings - how are they going to charge?" 

 

You will certainly have seen statements like this, but it's nice to see the that condos in Thailand are now being built with EV charging built in.

 

 

[macahoom]

52 minutes ago, Bandersnatch said:

 

Did you find a sun blind for the glass roof? My sales girl said it's included.

Mine says the same.

[JBChiangRai]

1 hour ago, Bandersnatch said:

 

Did you find a sun blind for the glass roof? My sales girl said it's included.

When I test drove one with my Brother In Law, it was a very sunny day.  I didn’t find much heat coming through the roof glass.

 

I think the roof panel cuts down the transmitted heat to negligible, however, I suspect if the vehicle is stationary in the sun then that panel will get hot and radiate heat onto your head until such time as the vehicle is moving and the panel cooled to nearer ambient temperature by the wind over the car.

 

Incidentally, I had to start the test drive and they copied my licence as my BIL only had an Australian licence, the salesman let us swap over half way and he ordered one online in Australia 10 minutes later.

 

I was very impressed with the car, it has a luxury feel and a superb driving position. I found the suspension a little soft, perhaps that firms up on the performance model with Sport selected.

[matchar]

2 hours ago, Bandersnatch said:

"EVs don't work for people who live in apartment buildings - how are they going to charge?" 

 

You will certainly have seen statements like this, but it's nice to see the that condos in Thailand are now being built with EV charging built in.

 

 

They are just for show and completely impractical. My condo of around 800 units has two 7kW chargers but you have to book a slot and it's 50 THB/hour with overtime fees of 100 THB/hour.

[matchar]

29 minutes ago, JBChiangRai said:

When I test drove one with my Brother In Law, it was a very sunny day.  I didn’t find much heat coming through the roof glass.

 

I think the roof panel cuts down the transmitted heat to negligible, however, I suspect if the vehicle is stationary in the sun then that panel will get hot and radiate heat onto your head until such time as the vehicle is moving and the panel cooled to nearer ambient temperature by the wind over the car.

 

Incidentally, I had to start the test drive and they copied my licence as my BIL only had an Australian licence, the salesman let us swap over half way and he ordered one online in Australia 10 minutes later.

 

I was very impressed with the car, it has a luxury feel and a superb driving position. I found the suspension a little soft, perhaps that firms up on the performance model with Sport selected.

How does it compare to your MG 4? Considering it's what, nearly twice the price?

[JBChiangRai]

12 minutes ago, matchar said:

They are just for show and completely impractical. My condo of around 800 units has two 7kW chargers but you have to book a slot and it's 50 THB/hour with overtime fees of 100 THB/hour.

50 baht per hour seems to be the norm, it’s still only about 300 baht to charge up about 42 KwHrs ie 15% to full on an MG4

 

9 minutes ago, matchar said:

How does it compare to your MG 4? Considering it's what, nearly twice the price?

 

I would like to drive the seal and get to know its handling, I doubt the salesman would let me drive it that spiritedly.

 

The Seal looks fantastic, as does the MG4. The Seal looks and feels much more luxurious and is better equipped and the performance model could get it’s 530hp down, the MG4 sometimes struggles to do that with it’s 172 hp.

 

The Seal is worth double the price of the MG4 and is probably the 2nd best EV in Thailand, the best being 5x more expensive.

[Bandersnatch]

28 minutes ago, matchar said:

How does it compare to your MG 4? Considering it's what, nearly twice the price?

I’ve test driven both and my opinion of the MG 4 is that it’s a great little family hatchback. A little slow off the line, but fine once it’s going. It’s practical and great value for money.

 

So why did I order a Seal Premium at twice the price, because it feels like twice the car. It is luxurious and polished and a joy to drive. If you want a car that gets the job done competently, then go for the MG4, but if you want a car that brings a smile to your face every time you drive it, then buy a Seal.

 

[FarangRimPing]

BYD blowing by Japan for Thailand’s EV market
Leading Chinese EV maker is setting up shop and cutting fast into Japan’s long-time dominance of lucrative Thai auto market

 

 

https://asiatimes.com/2023/10/byd-blowing-by-japan-for-thailands-ev-market/

[motdaeng]

if you would like to have some basic knowledge about the byd seal,

have take a look at these videos (available only in thai):

 

https://youtu.be/yGtAORSKVjQ?si=EcimcGwKFeCdJNcg

 

https://youtu.be/6hvm9vbKuqw?si=0teSB5PKrlXVjlU7

 

[Bandersnatch]

21 minutes ago, FarangRimPing said:

BYD blowing by Japan for Thailand’s EV market
Leading Chinese EV maker is setting up shop and cutting fast into Japan’s long-time dominance of lucrative Thai auto market

 

 

https://asiatimes.com/2023/10/byd-blowing-by-japan-for-thailands-ev-market/

 

 "In terms of total vehicles sold in Thailand, BYD has surpassed four smaller Japanese competitors, namely Nissan, Mitsubishi Motors, Mazda and Suzuki"

 

If you own a Japanese ICE vehicle you would be sensible to sell it while it still has some value. 

 

Here in Thailand last month EV sales were over 10% of total vehicle sales: Chinese EVs 6,007 ; Tesla 375; Japanese EVs 19

[Pib]

I just completed my morning dog walk and briefly talked to a Thai neighbor that lives a couples of blocks away from me....he speaks very good English as he was some type of engineer before retiring.  We probably have a couple hundred  words of conversation every year since I walk by his house almost everyday...and sometimes he's outside as I walk by which usually results in a few minutes of conversation.  Today he stopped me to give me some fruit from one of his trees as we stood in his driveway.

 

Anyway, he's the kind of person who keeps his cars for a "long" time....buys them new and just hangs onto to them.  He has some kind of 2000 Honda model and some Nissan model around 20 years old.  I told him I've always admired him as someone who keeps and maintains his cars for a long time---the same thing I do.  Heck, before I moved to Thailand I had a Pontiac Firebird for 25 years (only sold it because of moving to Thailand).and now my Toyota Fortuner for 15 years.  

 

He then said he is seriously thinking about getting a new car...."a BEV"...a Nissan Leaf.  He likes Nissan.  I said, Gosh, I'm getting a BEV also...in fact picking up a BYD Atto today.   I then asked him why he's going straight to a BEV vs maybe a Hybrid.  He said he didn't want to have a mixed drive system....combustion and electric...just more to go wrong with multiple drive systems and generally a Hybrid didn't increase fuel efficiency a big amount.  He expressed the same feeling I have about Hybrids.   Don't me wrong Hybrids are nice vehicles...it's just I would prefer to go straight to BEV technology vs Hybrid technology.....just have an "electric" drive system to worry about vs a Hybrid electric and combustion system....and of course the much increase fuel efficiency.

 

We also talked the ongoing BEV subsidy.  It didn't seem that the subsidy make a big difference to him in preferring to got with a BEV vs Hybrid.   

 

I think a lot of people are seriously considering jumping over the Hybrid generation for their next car and just going all the way to a BEV...make the reason for visiting a fossil fuel station the need to buy some food/take a bathroom break vs pumping some fossil fuel into their vehicle.  This thinking is one reason I thing BEV growth/sales is so rapid right now (in addition to the subsidy).

[KhunLA]

8 minutes ago, Pib said:

I just completed my morning dog walk and briefly talked to a Thai neighbor that lives a couples of blocks away from me....he speaks very good English as he was some type of engineer before retiring.  We probably have a couple hundred  words of conversation every year since I walk by his house almost everyday...and sometimes he's outside as I walk by which usually results in a few minutes of conversation.  Today he stopped me to give me some fruit from one of his trees as we stood in his driveway.

 

Anyway, he's the kind of person who keeps his cars for a "long" time....buys them new and just hangs onto to them.  He has some kind of 2000 Honda model and some Nissan model around 20 years old.  I told him I've always admired him as someone who keeps and maintains his cars for a long time---the same thing I do.  Heck, before I moved to Thailand I had a Pontiac Firebird for 25 years (only sold it because of moving to Thailand).and now my Toyota Fortuner for 15 years.  

 

He then said he is seriously thinking about getting a new car...."a BEV"...a Nissan Leaf.  He likes Nissan.  I said, Gosh, I'm getting a BEV also...in fact picking up a BYD Atto today.   I then asked him why he's going straight to a BEV vs maybe a Hybrid.  He said he didn't want to have a mixed drive system....combustion and electric...just more to go wrong with multiple drive systems and generally a Hybrid didn't increase fuel efficiency a big amount.  He expressed the same feeling I have about Hybrids.   Don't me wrong Hybrids are nice vehicles...it's just I would prefer to go straight to BEV technology vs Hybrid technology.....just have an "electric" drive system to worry about vs a Hybrid electric and combustion system....and of course the much increase fuel efficiency.

 

We also talked the ongoing BEV subsidy.  It didn't seem that the subsidy make a big difference to him in preferring to got with a BEV vs Hybrid.   

 

I think a lot of people are seriously considering jumping over the Hybrid generation for their next car and just going all the way to a BEV...make the reason for visiting a fossil fuel station the need to buy some food/take a bathroom break vs pumping some fossil fuel into their vehicle.  This thinking is one reason I thing BEV growth/sales is so rapid right now (in addition to the subsidy).

I hope you tell him to shop around, MGs, BYDs, GWM ... as the Leaf would be the last EV I'd consider.