Electric Vehicles in Thailand

[Bandersnatch]

Currently on a trip out of province. Staying at a resort in Sisaket tonight.
 

Stopped at a PTT station to try out their EV Station Plus. 
 

 

I have described the changing options in a post above. The charger was clearly off with no lights on. 
 

Called customer support (no wait to be connected) 2 minutes later PTT staff came out and switched it on at the external power box.

 

฿4.5/kWh - cheaper than PEA. Paid with my debit card on the app.

 

 
 

I used plug share to look for chargers on the route and posted a comment about my experience on the app. I didn’t have to change from the fastest Google maps route to get to my destination.

 

Sat in Amazon coffee aircon with a brownie and a drink while we charged

 

 

 

[Gweiloman]

32 minutes ago, Bandersnatch said:

Currently on a trip out of province. Staying at a resort in Sisaket tonight.
 

Stopped at a PTT station to try out their EV Station Plus. 
 

 

I have described the changing options in a post above. The charger was clearly off with no lights on. 
 

Called customer support (no wait to be connected) 2 minutes later PTT staff came out and switched it on at the external power box.

 

฿4.5/kWh - cheaper than PEA. Paid with my debit card on the app.

 

 
 

I used plug share to look for chargers on the route and posted a comment about my experience on the app. I didn’t have to change from the fastest Google maps route to get to my destination.

 

Sat in Amazon coffee aircon with a brownie and a drink while we charged

 

 

 

What was the charging speed?

[Gweiloman]

@Bandersnatch

In your experience, are the Bang Chak PEA chargers better than PTT’s EV stations?

[KhunLA]

31 minutes ago, Bandersnatch said:

Called customer support (no wait to be connected) 2 minutes later PTT staff came out and switched it on at the external power box.

 

฿4.5/kWh - cheaper than PEA. Paid with my debit card on the app.

Great info ... thank you ????

[Bandersnatch]

56 minutes ago, Gweiloman said:

What was the charging speed?

[Bandersnatch]

1 hour ago, Gweiloman said:

@Bandersnatch

In your experience, are the Bang Chak PEA chargers better than PTT’s EV stations?

PEA Surin have yet to open any chargers in the province, despite many promises. When they do, I will register for an account and try it out on a local trip. 
 

Crazy Ghost, thanks for the reminder. I will pop in chase them up when I get back. 

[mistral53]

On 9/10/2022 at 8:09 PM, Gweiloman said:

In any case, with an EV only mileage of about 8- km, I think there is very little risk that the petrol in a MG HS PHEV will go stale. It doesn’t have a high performance engine so I think they made a rather big boo boo there.

The MG HS PHEV has an EV range of 67+ km - it's over 9 weeks since our last fill-up and the tank is at 92%, wife does around 50 km daily, the electrons for re-charching come from our PV panels on our roof.

[Gweiloman]

10 hours ago, mistral53 said:

The MG HS PHEV has an EV range of 67+ km - it's over 9 weeks since our last fill-up and the tank is at 92%, wife does around 50 km daily, the electrons for re-charching come from our PV panels on our roof.

I think it’s very important for the ICE in a PHEV to run regularly. I had big problems with my bikes’ fuel injection systems as I did not run them enough (Ron 95).

 

I intend to do plenty of long trips if and when I get my PHEV.

 

Quick question about charging from your PV panels. I believe the MG comes with a 7KWh wall charger. Unless your solar setup is producing 10Kwh, some of the electrons will still come from the grid?

[Bandersnatch]

2 hours ago, Gweiloman said:

I think it’s very important for the ICE in a PHEV to run regularly. I had big problems with my bikes’ fuel injection systems as I did not run them enough (Ron 95).

 

I intend to do plenty of long trips if and when I get my PHEV.

 

Quick question about charging from your PV panels. I believe the MG comes with a 7KWh wall charger. Unless your solar setup is producing 10Kwh, some of the electrons will still come from the grid?

Before replying I just checked my facts with Google. Google suggested my own reply to the same question on another forum!

 

 

 

[mistral53]

2 hours ago, Gweiloman said:

I think it’s very important for the ICE in a PHEV to run regularly. I had big problems with my bikes’ fuel injection systems as I did not run them enough (Ron 95).

 

I intend to do plenty of long trips if and when I get my PHEV.

 

Quick question about charging from your PV panels. I believe the MG comes with a 7KWh wall charger. Unless your solar setup is producing 10Kwh, some of the electrons will still come from the grid?

We have 12 KW of solar panels installed - but as Paul explained, the total draw is limited by the car. I wish it could be limited even more - on the MB it is possible to select from 8-10-12 Amp (or 2 to 3 KW), or the max. charge limit to e.g. 80%, etc. - in that respect, Tesla has nailed the details.

[Bandersnatch]

We have 3x5kW inverters the combined output is 15kW adding in PEA would not increase the maximum output. 
 

 

Another option is a second TOU  meter for cheap overnight electricity 

[Bandersnatch]

 

19 hours ago, mistral53 said:

We have 12 KW of solar panels installed - but as Paul explained, the total draw is limited by the car. I wish it could be limited even more - on the MB it is possible to select from 8-10-12 Amp (or 2 to 3 KW), or the max. charge limit to e.g. 80%, etc. - in that respect, Tesla has nailed the details.

MG includes a free Type 1 granny charger as well as a wall charger which typically charges at 2.3kWh if you want to charge slower.

 

I agree it would be nice to be able set the max charge limit or restrict charging speed to only solar production and not draw from the grid on in my case run down my house batteries to charge my car batteries! 

 

[eezergood]

Does the PHEV have some kind of re-gen braking system also? and does it have the ability to charge the batteries from the traditional engine? 

[Bandersnatch]

4 hours ago, eezergood said:

Does the PHEV have some kind of re-gen braking system also? and does it have the ability to charge the batteries from the traditional engine? 

Regen braking yes, recharge no. It has the same 1.5L Turbo engine as the MG HS. It can be driven in EV only,  hybrid or ICE only. 

 

When the 90kW electric motor is used together with the  1.5L Turbo it has 0-100kph of 6.9seconds

 

[Gweiloman]

53 minutes ago, Bandersnatch said:

Regen braking yes, recharge no. It has the same 1.5L Turbo engine as the MG HS. It can be driven in EV only,  hybrid or ICE only. 

 

When the 90kW electric motor is used together with the  1.5L Turbo it has 0-100kph of 6.9seconds

 

I don’t see the need for recharge in a country like Thailand. In some cities around the world with strict emission control, that might be needed to be able to use EV only in the city. Also, burning fuel to generate electricity for the battery is extremely inefficient.

 

I’m a bit confused about the 3 drive modes you mentioned. EV is self explanatory. But what is the difference between hybrid and ICE only? Surely as a PHEV, the “worst “ case scenario will be hybrid mode (like the Prius) even when the battery is ‘fully discharged’. Do you mean sport mode instead of ICE mode?

[Gweiloman]

On 9/12/2022 at 1:10 PM, mistral53 said:

We have 12 KW of solar panels installed - but as Paul explained, the total draw is limited by the car. I wish it could be limited even more - on the MB it is possible to select from 8-10-12 Amp (or 2 to 3 KW), or the max. charge limit to e.g. 80%, etc. - in that respect, Tesla has nailed the details.

My system is only 3KW which is sufficient for my usual daytime usage (ac, washing machine, base load).

 

I believe there is a smart charger made by Zappy UK that can monitor PV production and only uses the excess for car battery charging.

[Bandersnatch]

2 hours ago, Gweiloman said:

I don’t see the need for recharge in a country like Thailand. In some cities around the world with strict emission control, that might be needed to be able to use EV only in the city. Also, burning fuel to generate electricity for the battery is extremely inefficient.

 

I’m a bit confused about the 3 drive modes you mentioned. EV is self explanatory. But what is the difference between hybrid and ICE only? Surely as a PHEV, the “worst “ case scenario will be hybrid mode (like the Prius) even when the battery is ‘fully discharged’. Do you mean sport mode instead of ICE mode?

Apologies if I wasn't clear. For the benefit of those who aren't familiar with the MG HS PHEV:

Driving Modes: Eco; Normal, Sport and Super Sport (Big Red button on the steering wheel)

 

 

There is an EV button which will allow the car to drive without the ICE engine like an full EV

 

If the EV button is not selected and the car is in Eco or Normal and there is charge in the batteries, the car will decide how the car drives, e.g. at low speed it will use just the electric motor and high speeds a combination of Electric and Ice.

 

Once the battery is depleted, the car will drive like a hybrid car, only using the electric motor if power has been generated by regen.

 

Sport and Super Sport will use the maximum power that is available from both electric and ICE.

    

 

 

[Tuvoc]

On 9/11/2022 at 5:47 PM, Bandersnatch said:

Currently on a trip out of province. Staying at a resort in Sisaket tonight.
 

Stopped at a PTT station to try out their EV Station Plus. 
 

 

I have described the changing options in a post above. The charger was clearly off with no lights on. 
 

Called customer support (no wait to be connected) 2 minutes later PTT staff came out and switched it on at the external power box.

 

Sat in Amazon coffee aircon with a brownie and a drink while we charged

 

Yes, for a long journey it is good to take an enforced rest-break while you charge the EV, I have no issue with that, it is actually quite good.  But what if there had been a queue 10 cars long for that charging point? And equally, what if it had been out of order rather than just disconnected with staff on hand to fire it up? They would both be big concerns of mine in the medium term until charging points are numerous and everywhere,

[mistral53]

11 hours ago, Bandersnatch said:

Regen braking yes, recharge no. It has the same 1.5L Turbo engine as the MG HS. It can be driven in EV only,  hybrid or ICE only. 

 

When the 90kW electric motor is used together with the  1.5L Turbo it has 0-100kph of 6.9seconds

 

mmhhhh.........Paul is usually very informed, but on this subject missed: The HV batteries can be charged with the engine while driving, there is a menu setting that is somewhat clumsy in its description, but it will facilitate that goal. However, it is not economical at all, to use the ICE for charging the battery, albeit one reason given is to maintain peak power output of the combined drive train electric and ICE. Another reason is to reach a destination city with a fully charged battery to lower emissions while driving in the city.

 

Mercedes PHEV design goes a step further - one setting allows the on-board brains to do the calculation, all that needs to be done is to use navigation for destination definition, the car then will determine how much the battery charge needs to be to arrive e.g. at a city limit with full battery and all the city travel is done on battery.

[KhunLA]

5 hours ago, Tuvoc said:

They would both be big concerns of mine in the medium term until charging points are numerous and everywhere,

Put your concerns at ease, as they ARE numerous & everywhere.

[macahoom]

6 hours ago, Tuvoc said:

Yes, for a long journey it is good to take an enforced rest-break while you charge the EV, I have no issue with that, it is actually quite good.  But what if there had been a queue 10 cars long for that charging point? And equally, what if it had been out of order rather than just disconnected with staff on hand to fire it up? They would both be big concerns of mine in the medium term until charging points are numerous and everywhere,

You ask two questions.

 

There is a very simple answer which covers both: You plan your trip in advance.

 

In my experience driving around Thailand, it is a simple matter to plan your trip in advance by checking where charging stations are on your route. Contrary to common belief and silly talk (which is very, very boring), there are plenty of charging stations around the country; their locations are viewable on online maps. There are at least 12 different providers.

 

I plan so that, if my first station is out of order or busy, I have two other stations as options. Simple.

 

It is worth mentioning that:
1) Most, if not all, stations can be booked in advance using an app.
2) The various apps also tell you if a station is out of order, being used or is booked at a certain time.

3) You would be more likely to be struck by lightning or win a billion dollars in a lottery than come across a station with a queue of 10 cars. In three years of driving an EV, I have only once had to wait about 15 minutes for another car to finish charging.

 

I hope this helps allay your concerns.

[Bandersnatch]

6 hours ago, Tuvoc said:

Yes, for a long journey it is good to take an enforced rest-break while you charge the EV, I have no issue with that, it is actually quite good.  But what if there had been a queue 10 cars long for that charging point? And equally, what if it had been out of order rather than just disconnected with staff on hand to fire it up? They would both be big concerns of mine in the medium term until charging points are numerous and everywhere,

Been driving an electric car in Thailand (remember this thread is about EVs in Thailand not a general discussion about EVs) for 2 years now. The only time I have ever seen another EV charging when I wanted to charge was at Central Festival Pattaya. They had a few charging stations and only one was busy. On Sunday when I charged at a PPT station one of the staff took a photo of us charging  - it was clearly a very rare event! See the PlugShare Map I posted above the next station was only 10 minutes away.

 

Currently in Thailand there are far more charging stations that there are EVs wanting to use them. The only people that will tell you otherwise do not own an EV in Thailand and therefore don't know what they are talking about.

 

If most of your driving is in your province or nearby provinces you will charge at home.

 

 

[KhunLA]

8 minutes ago, Bandersnatch said:

The only people that will tell you otherwise do not own an EV in Thailand and therefore don't know what they are talking about.

 

If most of your driving is in your province or nearby provinces you will charge at home.

Driving an ICE, why would they notice CSs.  I don't notice karaokes, bars & massage shops, as they don't interest me.  Buddha forbid they would actually look at the PlugShare link provided so many times, and enlighten themselves.

 

I can tell you which PTTs have E85, and harder to find than a CS.

 

I notice all the CSs now, and yes, always seem to be empty & available. 

 

I can tell where all the new & good coffee & cheesecake shops are, especially if they have a view.  Along with most of the beaches on the Gulf (west) and most of the Andaman Sea beaches, as these are the things that I use & interest me.

 

 

[macahoom]

26 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Driving an ICE, why would they notice CSs.  I don't notice karaokes, bars & massage shops, as they don't interest me.  Buddha forbid they would actually look at the PlugShare link provided so many times, and enlighten themselves.

 

I can tell you which PTTs have E85, and harder to find than a CS.

 

I notice all the CSs now, and yes, always seem to be empty & available. 

 

I can tell where all the new & good coffee & cheesecake shops are, especially if they have a view.  Along with most of the beaches on the Gulf (west) and most of the Andaman Sea beaches, as these are the things that I use & interest me.

 

 

For me, the question is not why would they notice charging stations? The question is: why do so many people insist on posting the biggest load of codswallop on here regarding EV cars and charging that they obviously know nothing about? It’s mystifying! It would be funny if it wasn't so boring!

 

There was a poster on the other EV thread yesterday ("The REAL EV vehicle discussion thread....") who said “current lithium BEVs do not work well in very cold or very hot conditions like Thailand”. Where the heck did he/she get the idea from that EV batteries don’t work well in Thailand?

 

No answer (yet) from him/her when I challenged the statement.

[KhunLA]

10 minutes ago, macahoom said:

The question is: why do so many people insist on posting the biggest load of codswallop on here regarding EV cars and charging that they obviously know nothing about? It’s mystifying! It would be funny if it wasn't so boring!

 

There was a poster on the other EV thread yesterday ("The REAL EV vehicle discussion thread....") who said “current lithium BEVs do not work well in very cold or very hot conditions like Thailand”. Where the heck did he/she get the idea from that EV batteries don’t work well in Thailand?

Just trolls, and I ignore their post, along with adding to that ever growing 'ignore list'. 

 

Saw the 'cold/hot' weather post ... too funny & sad.  'ignored' ????

Should be retitled 'the Real 'something else' thread'

 

Self censoring again ... oh my, how I've matured ... ????

[malathione]

3 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Put your concerns at ease, as they ARE numerous & everywhere.

Umm no. My usual haunts, there is one in Bueang Kan, two in Nakhon Phanom and none at all in Mae Hong Son. Certainly not numerous in the more remote parts of the country and none outside the main city in several provinces. That means you're stuck to traveling on the main highways. 

[eezergood]

16 hours ago, Bandersnatch said:

Apologies if I wasn't clear. For the benefit of those who aren't familiar with the MG HS PHEV:

Driving Modes: Eco; Normal, Sport and Super Sport (Big Red button on the steering wheel)

 

 

There is an EV button which will allow the car to drive without the ICE engine like an full EV

 

If the EV button is not selected and the car is in Eco or Normal and there is charge in the batteries, the car will decide how the car drives, e.g. at low speed it will use just the electric motor and high speeds a combination of Electric and Ice.

 

Once the battery is depleted, the car will drive like a hybrid car, only using the electric motor if power has been generated by regen.

 

Sport and Super Sport will use the maximum power that is available from both electric and ICE.

    

 

 

Thanks - for me an EV can work as I return home daily, however I suspect that the convenience of gasoline (dino fuels) will be a hard one to shake and the faff of charging is something the other half (i know) just wont do, thus leaving a white elephant of a vehicle in the drive. At least with the EV mode I can get the benefits when required with the safety net of traditional fuel 

[Bandersnatch]

27 minutes ago, malathione said:

Umm no. My usual haunts, there is one in Bueang Kan, two in Nakhon Phanom and none at all in Mae Hong Son. Certainly not numerous in the more remote parts of the country and none outside the main city in several provinces. That means you're stuck to traveling on the main highways. 

Two of your "usual haunts" are on the Laos border and the other is on the Myanmar border   

 

When you travel between them you want to take the scenic route avoiding all charging stations ????

 

 

 

 

 

 

[malathione]

2 minutes ago, Bandersnatch said:

Two of your "usual haunts" are on the Laos border and the other is on the Myanmar border   

 

When you travel between them you want to take the scenic route avoiding all charging stations ????

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hehe I do tend to wander off the main highways. The point is that the charging network is incomplete and charging stations are far from plentiful. Much as I'd like an EV, it is pretty much impossible for me given that state of affairs. 

[Gweiloman]

A lot of the above posts talk once again about the charging network. I agree that this is arguably the single most important point necessary for wide EV adoption. Itwill be a while before CSs are as common place as petrol stations.
 

However this misses the point that most charging is done at home, unlike with ICEs. After all, in reality, how often does one go on a long distance trip? Once a week? Once a month? If it’s the former, then I would suggest an EV is probably north the best option. 
 

The other thing to ask yourself is the daily distance you would cover on a long trip. Some people like to only drive about 300 km or so. Should be fairly easy to find a resort where you park in front of your room and then charge overnight.