Electric Vehicles in Thailand

[Bandersnatch]

As I continue to research my next EV in Thailand one factor that I consider is very important is whether the car is suited to the climate in Thailand. 

 

 

 

Now that Tesla has registered to sell cars in Thailand I have added the model Y to my potential next EV, however I am concerned about its expansive glass roof.

 

Tesla does claim that a 2% tint film is combined with other different types of films that reflect solar radiation.

 

 

However, I am always on the lookout for customer real world experience, so I was concerned to see this video from the UK

 

 

[KhunLA]

4 minutes ago, Bandersnatch said:

As I continue to research my next EV in Thailand one factor that I consider is very important is whether the car is suited to the climate in Thailand. 

That's the main reason we didn't get the ZS model with the sunroof, as much as we wanted the red or blue color.  Also not a fan of option, especially electric ones, as simply one more thing to fail.  Most complaints of cars, are the options failing, and not the drivetrains. 

 

We don't use the options in the ZS (ICE) now, let alone need more we won't use or want.  I didn't even bother downloading the iSmart app.

 

I'm not a big fan of tinted windows, any tint.  Haven't yet tinted any car's windows.  Saying that, the black surface of the Vios & Mazda2 did heat up, and hold it for longer than wanting.  A good 5 minutes.  The MG ZS seems to cool off very fast, about 1 minute, so find the tint really isn't needed.  Always crack the window a tad, if parked in the sun, so heat doesn't build up to the max.  Surprised how fast it cools down.

[mistral53]

14 hours ago, Bandersnatch said:

As I continue to research my next EV in Thailand one factor that I consider is very important is whether the car is suited to the climate in Thailand. 

 

 

 

Now that Tesla has registered to sell cars in Thailand I have added the model Y to my potential next EV, however I am concerned about its expansive glass roof.

 

Tesla does claim that a 2% tint film is combined with other different types of films that reflect solar radiation.

 

 

However, I am always on the lookout for customer real world experience, so I was concerned to see this video from the UK

 

 

I had a Fisker Karma 10 years ago, it already had a PV solar roof - so sad this is not pushed harder today.

[seedy]

On 7/19/2022 at 5:36 AM, KhunLA said:

 many skeptical or ignorant of the practicality of owning (forum shows that). 

So ... Those who do not find themselves as EV adopters - due to may different circumstances, are labeled as 'skeptical' or 'ignorant ?

As well as those who choose a car based on different factors than the EV faithful ?

Nice, well balanced, considerate opinion you have expressed. Congrats !

 

[KhunLA]

14 minutes ago, seedy said:

Nice, well balanced, considerate opinion you have expressed. Congrats !

Thank you ...

 

... next time, don't take one part out of context.  Use the whole statement:

"That and the economy, many skeptical or ignorant of the practicality of owning (forum shows that).  Availability to charge at home, or even the need for a new car, after 2 years of stagnant economic growth.

 

More than a few, waiting to see what's around the corner, and waiting for newer tech & batteries to hit mass production."

 

With statements from members thinking the battery is dead after the warranty, and not enough charging stations ... then yes, many are skeptical & ignorant of the practicality of owning.  Some even think EVs are more expensive, and whole battery packs have to be replaced.  

 

The MG EP is about the same price as 2 of the most popular cars sold in Thailand.  And yet cost 100s of thousands of baht less to operate over the 8 yr warranty period.

 

I'd say their ignorance shines.  

 

 

[seedy]

55 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

... next time, don't take one part out of context. 

I quoted what you posted and which I wanted to reply too.

Did you post that or not ?

No Forum rule says I must answer all of the 'points' you raised.

 

[transam]

58 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Thank you ...

 

... next time, don't take one part out of context.  Use the whole statement:

"That and the economy, many skeptical or ignorant of the practicality of owning (forum shows that).  Availability to charge at home, or even the need for a new car, after 2 years of stagnant economic growth.

 

More than a few, waiting to see what's around the corner, and waiting for newer tech & batteries to hit mass production."

 

With statements from members thinking the battery is dead after the warranty, and not enough charging stations ... then yes, many are skeptical & ignorant of the practicality of owning.  Some even think EVs are more expensive, and whole battery packs have to be replaced.  

 

The MG EP is about the same price as 2 of the most popular cars sold in Thailand.  And yet cost 100s of thousands of baht less to operate over the 8 yr warranty period.

 

I'd say their ignorance shines.  

 

 

You keep quoting a Chinese ride because it's cheap, perhaps folk would rather go for a brand that they can depend on from their previous purchases, even if it is more expensive.....????

[seedy]

7 minutes ago, transam said:

You keep quoting a Chinese ride because it's cheap, perhaps folk would rather go for a brand that they can depend on from their previous purchases, even if it is more expensive.....????

Many people do just that - buy the cheapest car or pickup as possible.

While remaining blissfully ignorant (there's that word again !) of what will happen down the road with their purchase.

Believe all the hype, adverts published by the - Wait for it ... Manufacturers of what a rosy future YOU will have if you buy our product. Think VW diesel claims ...

But it has always been so - fanatics of any stripe will not even consider any other possibility or even listen to arguments against their 'Chosen' one.

Balance not in their repertoire - only zealous adherence to a creed or dogma.

Fuel economy is one of the last - if not the last - consideration in my buying a vehicle of any type - 2,4,10 wheels, prop, etc

 

[KhunLA]

7 minutes ago, seedy said:

Many people do just that - buy the cheapest car or pickup as possible.

While remaining blissfully ignorant (there's that word again !) of what will happen down the road with their purchase.

Y'all purchase what makes you happy.  I've been very satisfied with my 'thrifty' car purchases, and they've served me well.  Got a good resale price on all of them.

 

Toyota, Mazda, MG (SAIC) ... all excellent manufacturers with good reputations, and fine products.  Choose wisely and you'll have no regrets.

 

Topic is 'EVs in TH'  ...  moving on ... ????

[Richard 2020]

I was very interested in an e-car!

 

But as long as there is no permission to install a charging station (wallbox) in a condo, it will probably nothing!
Even if I pay the and make it accessible to other E-car owners!!?

 

Reason is always the same: 
On "public areal" you may not allow any use ...????

I would claim with my wallbox yes common area for me!  That is forbidden!

Great behavior, where do hundreds of thousands of conoominium owners charge their e-car?

Since other countries have long since changed the legal situation!!!

 

[seedy]

46 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Topic is 'EVs in TH'  ...  moving on ... ????

Which I was replying to - EV's, and your posts on the subject.

 

[Tuvoc]

1 hour ago, Richard 2020 said:

Great behavior, where do hundreds of thousands of conoominium owners charge their e-car?

Since other countries have long since changed the legal situation!!!

A very good point. I wonder if brand new Condos being built now would have the charge points for every parking space ? 

[KhunLA]

1 hour ago, seedy said:

Which I was replying to - EV's, and your posts on the subject.

 

Actually you post had nothing to do with evs, (never mentioned) while replying to the anti china guy on my ignore list.

 

Yours was about people's choices and doubting manufactures product claims.  The usual off topic stuff since neither of you have any interest in evs.

 

 BYE BYE

 

 

[vinny41]

3 hours ago, transam said:

You keep quoting a Chinese ride because it's cheap, perhaps folk would rather go for a brand that they can depend on from their previous purchases, even if it is more expensive.....????

Many people in this facebook group are cancelling their reservations  because there is no feeback on delivery times once they have placed their reservation

 https://www.facebook.com/groups/2572340166118367

It appears that Volvo do provide an app called My volvo which does provide the end customer with feedback such as when you vehicle is scheduled to start the production line, when it leaves the factory and when it arrives at the dealership.

Look forward to the time when all brands offer a similar type of progress update service

[KhunLA]

1 hour ago, vinny41 said:

Many people in this facebook group are cancelling their reservations  because there is no feeback on delivery times once they have placed their reservation

 https://www.facebook.com/groups/2572340166118367

It appears that Volvo do provide an app called My volvo which does provide the end customer with feedback such as when you vehicle is scheduled to start the production line, when it leaves the factory and when it arrives at the dealership.

Look forward to the time when all brands offer a similar type of progress update service

For the 1+ million more baht they're paying for the Volvo EV, I'll let MG surprise me, sometime in the next 6 months, and spend that mill on something else.  Almost the price of a nice house ... ????

 

Playing Devil's Advocate, there could be a bunch of people on there 'stating' they are cancelling, to motivate others to cancel, so they can get one earlier.

 

It's a sick world ... 

[transam]

1 minute ago, KhunLA said:

For the 1+ million more baht they're paying for the Volvo EV, I'll let MG surprise me, sometime in the next 6 months, and spend that mill on something else.  Almost the price of a nice house ... ????

Yeah, riiiight, but you forget, folk buy a car they want and can afford, you bought a Chinese ride because that's what you could afford. 

 

Strangely, you bought a brand that you slagged off on the motoring forum, MG, yet you bought one because of its price....????

 

 

[vinny41]

6 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

For the 1+ million more baht they're paying for the Volvo EV, I'll let MG surprise me, sometime in the next 6 months, and spend that mill on something else.  Almost the price of a nice house ... ????

 

Playing Devil's Advocate, there could be a bunch of people on there 'stating' they are cancelling, to motivate others to cancel, so they can get one earlier.

 

It's a sick world ... 

I didn't see any posts where people stated they were buying a Volvo EV what they did state is they prefer the order processing system where Volvo provides updates to the  the end customer of the progress on their order and estimated delivery schedule.

Its not that diffcult to setup Dealer submits reservations to manufacturer,

manufacturer confirms receipt of reservation to end customer, together with ETA for when vehicle will enter production line and ETA for when vehicle will arrive at dealership

[KhunLA]

8 minutes ago, vinny41 said:

I didn't see any posts where people stated they were buying a Volvo EV what they did state is they prefer the order processing system where Volvo provides updates to the  the end customer of the progress on their order and estimated delivery schedule.

Its not that diffcult to setup Dealer submits reservations to manufacturer,

manufacturer confirms receipt of reservation to end customer, together with ETA for when vehicle will enter production line and ETA for when vehicle will arrive at dealership

I agree, and probably easy enough to do, for Volvo.  But ... if it means higher overhead for MG, which is passed to the end buyer, then I'm happy to be surprised.  Not really, as I'd wouldn't mind a date.

 

BUT ... don't give me a date, if you don't know one.   Got the MG ZS ICE, given date, and arrived on that date, actually before.

 

The 'situation' has changed.  They apparently aren't sure when, due to many factors probably;  supply chain, raw supplies, dependent on battery supplier (their own issues), possible lock down of employees due to outbreaks.

 

So yes, don't give me a date, you can't commit to.  Reality, they gave me a date, 6 months after signing contract.  If it gets here earlier ... lucky me.

[motdaeng]

i don't know what is holding hyundai back to bring more
ev-models to thailand ... waiting since months for the ioniq 5!

 

if you are into design, a great video about the very new hyundai ioniq 6:

 

 

 

 

[Bandersnatch]

7 hours ago, Richard 2020 said:

I was very interested in an e-car!

 

But as long as there is no permission to install a charging station (wallbox) in a condo, it will probably nothing!
Even if I pay the and make it accessible to other E-car owners!!?

 

Reason is always the same: 
On "public areal" you may not allow any use ...????

I would claim with my wallbox yes common area for me!  That is forbidden!

Great behavior, where do hundreds of thousands of conoominium owners charge their e-car?

Since other countries have long since changed the legal situation!!!

 

This has been discussed a couple of times in this topic.

 

Condo charging is not a thing yet in Thailand, but if it can be done elsewhere, then it can be done here. 
 

If the condo building can make money selling electricity at a premium to EV owners, then it will happen.
 

Installing a power outlets with RFID controlled access and back office recharging software would be the way to go. 

 

On 6/13/2022 at 9:56 AM, Bandersnatch said:

Thailand is about 5 years behind where Europe is with regard to EVs. Overnight 3 and 7kW charging (destination charging) will become more common here as they are in Europe.

 

 

 

I own condos in the UK and will be installing EV charging when I get a rental void. The UK is now offering £300 grant for landlords to install charging for tenants.

 

 

[vinny41]

8 hours ago, KhunLA said:

I agree, and probably easy enough to do, for Volvo.  But ... if it means higher overhead for MG, which is passed to the end buyer, then I'm happy to be surprised.  Not really, as I'd wouldn't mind a date.

 

BUT ... don't give me a date, if you don't know one.   Got the MG ZS ICE, given date, and arrived on that date, actually before.

 

The 'situation' has changed.  They apparently aren't sure when, due to many factors probably;  supply chain, raw supplies, dependent on battery supplier (their own issues), possible lock down of employees due to outbreaks.

 

So yes, don't give me a date, you can't commit to.  Reality, they gave me a date, 6 months after signing contract.  If it gets here earlier ... lucky me.

You haven't really been given a meaningful date what you have been given is a date that the salesperson thought might be acceptable to you in order to secure your reservation.

Its unlikely that your salesperson at the dealership  would know total number of orders allocated to the production line that will assembly your car, its also unlikely that a salesperson at the dealership will know which weeks car's designated for Thailand will be built or what priority sequence for different paint colours.

Personally I see the Volvo app as a value added product that provides their customers at what stage their order processing is at I suspect Volvo doesn't provide a definitive end date until the car has cleared both outbound and inbound customs and is on the delivery truck to the dealership.

Brands that current have long waiting lists you have to think how much resource and costs for the resources for both the local dealerships, in country head office and parent company head office is trying to provide the end customer with the information that they are seeking.

I suspect Volvo have done their homework and found they can reduce those costs by providing the app

[Andrew Dwyer]

7 hours ago, motdaeng said:

i don't know what is holding hyundai back to bring more
ev-models to thailand ... waiting since months for the ioniq 5!

 

if you are into design, a great video about the very new hyundai ioniq 6:

 

 

 

 

They seem to be more interested in pushing the Creta at the minute, saw some a couple of times on show and was surprised to see no Hybrid, no PHEV, no EV.

[Bandersnatch]

Thailand is a great place to combine Solar with an EV. Last month I powered my house and my car 100% from solar. 

 

 

One of the problems with my current system is that I have to monitor 2 apps at the same time. One for the car to check the state of charge, the other for my solar system. During the rainy season in Thailand we can quickly go from bright sunshine to dark clouds with no warning and I can find myself running my house batteries down or worse still using PEA to charge my car. A better system is a smart charger that can be set to only use solar to charge the car. Unfortunately these smart chargers have not been available in Thailand, until now.

 

 

[Excel]

On 7/19/2022 at 11:33 PM, mistral53 said:

I had a Fisker Karma 10 years ago, it already had a PV solar roof - so sad this is not pushed harder today.

I think the development of solar paint will eventually take that idea forward.

[KhunLA]

21 minutes ago, Excel said:

I think the development of solar paint will eventually take that idea forward.

I think I'll be long dead before that is mass produced to an affordable level, if ever.

[eezergood]

On 7/20/2022 at 1:17 PM, Tuvoc said:

A very good point. I wonder if brand new Condos being built now would have the charge points for every parking space ? 

the answer is no, most dont even have the requisite number of parking spaces available 

[Tuvoc]

3 hours ago, eezergood said:

the answer is no, most dont even have the requisite number of parking spaces available 

That is a shame, because cities tend to be best suited to EVs !

[CLW]

On 7/16/2022 at 1:49 PM, guzzi850m2 said:

Only Chinese EV's on the last few pages, I just don't want one of those, period!

 

On below links, I think there is one from China but okay many of the brands showed are not even sold here.

 

I like the Volvo XC40 & C40, very good looking but 2.6 mill baht.

 

 

https://www.topgear.com/car-news/electric/top-gears-top-20-electric-cars

 

https://www.edmunds.com/electric-car/#luxury-electric-cars

 

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/best-cars/top-10-best-small-electric-cars

 

https://www.volvocars.com/en-th/cars/c40-electric/

You're funny. You know that Volvo is owned by Chinese company Geely since 2010...

[CLW]

On 7/20/2022 at 6:13 PM, motdaeng said:

i don't know what is holding hyundai back to bring more
ev-models to thailand ... waiting since months for the ioniq 5!

 

if you are into design, a great video about the very new hyundai ioniq 6:

 

 

 

 

Hyundai has a very strange sales policy in Thailand. Except their VIP people carriers they never made attempts to penetrate the car market here. Anyone knows the reason?

[KhunLA]

1 hour ago, CLW said:

Hyundai has a very strange sales policy in Thailand. Except their VIP people carriers they never made attempts to penetrate the car market here. Anyone knows the reason?

Maybe busy trying to sort out a few issues:

https://lemberglaw.com/2022-hyundai-ioniq-5-problems-complaints-lemon/