Electric Vehicles in Thailand

[Bandersnatch]

Many people think they are a myth but I can now confirm that they are in fact real. I have evidence of a Toyota bZ4x in the wild.

 

Over 2 years after it was first launched in Thailand I have seen my first one.

 

 

[Pib]

Yea...those 66 registrations in Jan 2024 was probably Toyota doing some accounting/tax smoke-and-mirrors by selling all their Thailand bZ4X's stock to its Toyota Sure used car division or maybe selling them wholesale to some overseas buyers.   Just some accounting/tax transaction to get them off their new vehicle stock.  

 

Seems like only yesterday when the Toyota bZ4X went on sale in Thailand but it was almost two years ago in Nov 2022. 

 

And according to the article below Toyota hoped the bZ4X would keep them on top of EV sales rankings.   Whoops....that didn't work out as hoped...those durn Chinese EVs got in the way.😜

 

 

https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/technology/subsidised-toyota-bz4x-finally-on-sale-in-thailand

Quote

 

JPublished: 10 November 2022|

 

The long-awaited new electric Toyota bZ4X went on sale in Thailand Wednesday, taking advantage of new government subsidies.

 

The vehicle, which will be manufactured in Japan, will sell for 1.8 million baht (US$50,000) and comes in six colours. The maximum range on a single charge is approximately 400km, making the vehicle one of the longest-range EVs.

 

Toyota has been Thailand’s top car company for years, selling 240,000 vehicles in 2021. It hopes to stay on top of sales rankings for EVs with the bZ4X, but faces stiff competition from more affordable Chinese competitors.

 

Chinese automakers are exporting a record number of new-energy vehicles (NEVs) to Thailand — some 60,000 since January. Thailand is now the third export destination for Chinese EVs, behind Belgium and the UK.

 

 

[Bandersnatch]

One of the problems for me being off-grid and having 2 EVs is that I don't want to waste (curtail) my solar production, so I like to have one of my EVs or my electric motorbike charging once the  house batteries are fully charged .

 

However, what can happen is that it can cloud over and I end up discharging my house batteries into my EV.

 

This product from solar edge is a DC powered DC EV charger for the home.

 

It is capable of sending upto 12kW DC into an EV directly from solar or in combination with an attached battery.

 

I could see me adding 10kW of dedicated PV to the EV charger and adding a 10kWh battery. 

 

I could leave my Seal plugged in without worrying about running down my house batteries. As the sun hits the panels they will start to charge the car. When the car is full of not plugged in the dedicated PV could charge the attached battery. 

 

The EV charger is also bi-directional but the video wasn't clear how that part would work without an extra inverter.

 

 

[mistral53]

 Well, the Nürburgring is not in Thailand, but I sneak this bit of news in here anyway: (machine translated)

 

'Xiaomi SU7 Ultra, the model electric car that broke the record of fastest 4-door car in the Nürburgring race 🚘⚡️
Xiaomi EV, the electric car brand of Xiaomi, has unveiled its prototype car SU7 Ultra at the Nürburgring race track in Germany, clocking a lap time of 6:46.874 minutes, which is the fastest 4-door car in the race track.
The SU7 Ultra model car uses Xiaomi's V8 motor that revs at 27,200 rpm, providing a maximum power of 1,548 horsepower, it can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in just 1.97 seconds and 0 to 200 km/h in 5.96 seconds, with a top speed of more than 350 km/h.
The achievement was achieved by British driver David Pittard, who won the 24 hours of the Nürburgring in 2023.
Xiaomi will launch new products, including the Xiaomi 15 phone, at the launch event starting at 7pm. According to Beijing time today, and the company had earlier said that a version of the SU7 Ultra car will be released for production.'

 

 

Eat that Tesla Model S Plaid......... 

 

Balls of steel!

BTW - notice how little he steps on the brakes - they have dialed the regen-braking up to the max.

 

 

[Pib]

The Bangkok Post is also carrying a 29 Oct 2024 article regarding above speed record.....just google "Chinese EV sets German test-track record" and the Bangkok Post story will be listed....or just go to the Bangkok Post and look for 29 Oct 2024 articles.

[Pib]

37 minutes ago, Pib said:

The Bangkok Post is also carrying a 29 Oct 2024 article regarding above speed record.....just google "Chinese EV sets German test-track record" and the Bangkok Post story will be listed....or just go to the Bangkok Post and look for 29 Oct 2024 articles.

 

Just confirmed we can now once again post weblinks to Bangkok Post new articles...so here's the link.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/motoring/2892323/chinese-ev-sets-german-test-track-record

Chinese EV sets German test-track record

 

[TronxII]

 

Am I the first one to provide the price for the Liddala?

I was waiting for the 29.10. to know the selling price.

[KhunLA]

Riddara RD6 2WD 63kWh ... NEDC 373 kms ????

MG ZS 50.3 (46.3 kWh usable) ... NEDC 403 kms

 

20-25% more battery capacity ... but 

 

What up with that ?  They don't test pick ups w/loads do they ?

Curb wt. ZS 1570 / RD6 2,065 kg

 

... "The 2WD model is equipped with a 200 kW (292 PS) electric motor with a maximum torque of 385 Nm, sending power to the rear wheels. Acceleration from 0-100 km/h takes 7.3 seconds, top speed 185 km/h. There are 3 driving modes: Economy, Comfort and Sport.

 

The battery is a Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) type with a capacity of 63 kWh, driving a maximum distance of 373 km per full charge, and a capacity of 73 kW increases the maximum driving range to 461 km (according to the NEDC standard)."

[HighPriority]

1 hour ago, KhunLA said:

Riddara RD6 2WD 63kWh ... NEDC 373 kms ????

MG ZS 50.3 (46.3 kWh usable) ... NEDC 403 kms

 

20-25% more battery capacity ... but 

 

What up with that ?  They don't test pick ups w/loads do they ?

Curb wt. ZS 1570 / RD6 2,065 kg

 

... "The 2WD model is equipped with a 200 kW (292 PS) electric motor with a maximum torque of 385 Nm, sending power to the rear wheels. Acceleration from 0-100 km/h takes 7.3 seconds, top speed 185 km/h. There are 3 driving modes: Economy, Comfort and Sport.

 

The battery is a Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) type with a capacity of 63 kWh, driving a maximum distance of 373 km per full charge, and a capacity of 73 kW increases the maximum driving range to 461 km (according to the NEDC standard)."

As a still working tradesman, I’ve been told that one “issue” for utes and vans designed to carry stuff commercially is the weight of the batteries eats into the allowable payload.

In this case possibly causing a reduction in the battery capacity ?

For now I’m still running diesel and probably will continue for the 10yrs till retirement, unless of course Toyota comes up with a game changing solid state battery… 😎

 

On Saturday I was visiting my son who took me for a spin in his Tesla.

It took a little while to retrieve my testicles from the pit of my stomach when he planted his foot.

“My wife and I need to be careful because we are both maxed out on driving demerit points” he said… 🤦🏼‍♂️

[TronxII]

21 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Riddara RD6 2WD 63kWh ... NEDC 373 kms ????

MG ZS 50.3 (46.3 kWh usable) ... NEDC 403 kms

 

...

 

The battery is a Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) type with a capacity of 63 kWh, driving a maximum distance of 373 km per full charge, and a capacity of 73 kW increases the maximum driving range to 461 km (according to the NEDC standard)."

 

Well, this type of pickup would consume like 10L of Diesel on 100km where your ZS maybe 6L if it had a Toyota or western made Diesel engine. This part seems ok for me. 

 

But what looks strange to me, is that 10kWh more battery would give 90km more range, where 64kWh only give 373km.

 

Not sure if it's worth the 100k more for the 10kWh battery.

 

 

 

[KhunLA]

6 hours ago, TronxII said:

 

Well, this type of pickup would consume like 10L of Diesel on 100km where your ZS maybe 6L if it had a Toyota or western made Diesel engine. This part seems ok for me. 

 

But what looks strange to me, is that 10kWh more battery would give 90km more range, where 64kWh only give 373km.

 

Not sure if it's worth the 100k more for the 10kWh battery.

The ICE version of the ZS only got ~14 kpL. so 6L isn't off by much.  Surprised RD6 having quite a bit more battery, but not kms gained.  500 kg heavier but once rolling, especially on open road, would hope to get more range.  

 

The slow NEDC test speed, and stop & go drive of a heavier vehicle could explain the lower range rating.  One would hope anyway.

 

NEDC (Not Even Damn Close) is maybe possible, driving slow, knocking around town.  The ZS rated at 403, is rare we actually get that, though have, and even exceeded it a few time, but I'm driving slow, and a bit of regen going on.

 

We usually get a solid 350-360 knocking around town in 'ECO' mode, which is mixed 30-60-90 kph.   On the highway at 90 kph, when we can maintain it, we'll exceed WLTP rating of 320 kms consistently.  Get more kms than that, as regen kicking in, since usually can't maintain 90 kph for long stretches in TH.  Not exactly the best 'inter-province' roads, as too much cross traffic & trucks at times.

 

Highway range is actually impressive, sort of, as WLTP testing averages a speed of 47 kph, while NEDC testing averages a speed of 37 kph.  You really don't start losing range, unless doing 100-120 kph, which you'll get 300 kms, with the ZS.  Not many roads allow for long stretches of 90+ kph.   So a non issue.  BKK to Patts, but so close you wouldn't have to charge anyway, before getting there.  T21 Asoke to T21 Patts is <150 kms.

 

When we go PKK to BKK, there's only a few stretches signed @ 120 kph, which I usually don't exceed 110 anyway.

 

Over the road, when O&A, we average about 80 kph, per leg, if lucky, so that's 3+ hrs before we stop to stretch, P, munch, and charge while doing so.  That's a good size reserve, as still about 25-30% of battery left.  35-45 mins, and we back to 90-95%.

[Pib]

The weight to range of an EV is not a linear function.....get up to a certain EV weight and the KWH usage shoots way up....or said another way range goes way down unless you greatly increase the battery size which in turn increases the EV weight.    See snapshot at bottom. 

 

I don't expect light duty BEV (100% electric) pickup trucks to have many sales in Thailand.   Now I do think Hybrid EV (HEV) trucks where  electric motors are the primary drive with the combustion engine being primarily used as a generator to charge the HEV traction battery as you drive along would sell very well if the price is say no more than 10-15% more of an ICEV truck.

 

There is definitely HUGE potential of light duty EV pickup trucks in Thailand as I see about a gazillion small pickup trucks on the roads everyday in Thailand....especially small pickups fitted with bed covers which are hauling stuff around from sunrise to sunset....pickups of small businesses with multiple trucks and just Somchai with his one-truck unregistered hauling service.     

 

But I just don't think Mr. Somchai   will be interested in a BEV (100% electric) pickups until one charge can keep him running from sunrise to sunset....and such affordable and wide spread technology is probably still a decade away.   But if an HEV version can keep him primarily running on cheaper electric fuel all day then he will be interested as it lowers his cost of doing business. 

 

 

Vehicle Weight Impact on EV Range

https://www.getflipturn.com/blog/how-cargo-weight-affects-ev-range#:~:text=However%2C the extent to which,range by 60-70%.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TronxII]

On 10/31/2024 at 3:56 AM, Pib said:

But I just don't think Mr. Somchai   will be interested in a BEV (100% electric) pickups until one charge can keep him running from sunrise to sunset....and such affordable and wide spread technology is probably still a decade away.   But if an HEV version can keep him primarily running on cheaper electric fuel all day then he will be interested as it lowers his cost of doing business. 

 

 

Vehicle Weight Impact on EV Range

https://www.getflipturn.com/blog/how-cargo-weight-affects-ev-range#:~:text=However%2C the extent to which,range by 60-70%.

 

 

 

 

 

 

But these guys with their hopelessly overloaded 25 years old Toyota pickups might not be the primary target for the EV pickup manufacturers.

There are many "normal" people doing their 50 to 100km per day through the city, shopping and restaurant trips by pickup. And personally I feel much safer in the Hilux than in the Dolphin because of the car size and elevated position.

I'm curious as to what the price of the BYD pickup will be.

 

[KhunLA]

4 hours ago, TronxII said:

But these guys with their hopelessly overloaded 25 years old Toyota pickups might not be the primary target for the EV pickup manufacturers.

There are many "normal" people doing their 50 to 100km per day through the city, shopping and restaurant trips by pickup. And personally I feel much safer in the Hilux than in the Dolphin because of the car size and elevated position.

I'm curious as to what the price of the BYD pickup will be.

~฿1.5M - ฿1.7M  guess we'll find out at auto show end of Nov.

 

฿1.27M in OZ

฿1.9M in MX

[Gweiloman]

5 hours ago, TronxII said:

But these guys with their hopelessly overloaded 25 years old Toyota pickups might not be the primary target for the EV pickup manufacturers.

There are many "normal" people doing their 50 to 100km per day through the city, shopping and restaurant trips by pickup. And personally I feel much safer in the Hilux than in the Dolphin because of the car size and elevated position.

I'm curious as to what the price of the BYD pickup will be.

 

By your reasoning, you would feel safer in a 6 wheeled lorry than in the Hilux by virtue of its size and elevated position. 

[DavisH]

On 10/29/2024 at 8:23 PM, Pib said:

 

Just confirmed we can now once again post weblinks to Bangkok Post new articles...so here's the link.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/motoring/2892323/chinese-ev-sets-german-test-track-record

Chinese EV sets German test-track record

 

"Modified EV" sets lap record. Now they need to run a standard car around. This car had a gutted interior and race slicks. A standard car should be close the the tesla plaid with trackpack, that is 30 seconds slower. It's still a very impressive time though. 

[DavisH]

On 10/31/2024 at 9:56 AM, Pib said:

The weight to range of an EV is not a linear function.....get up to a certain EV weight and the KWH usage shoots way up....or said another way range goes way down unless you greatly increase the battery size which in turn increases the EV weight.    See snapshot at bottom. 

 

I don't expect light duty BEV (100% electric) pickup trucks to have many sales in Thailand.   Now I do think Hybrid EV (HEV) trucks where  electric motors are the primary drive with the combustion engine being primarily used as a generator to charge the HEV traction battery as you drive along would sell very well if the price is say no more than 10-15% more of an ICEV truck.

 

There is definitely HUGE potential of light duty EV pickup trucks in Thailand as I see about a gazillion small pickup trucks on the roads everyday in Thailand....especially small pickups fitted with bed covers which are hauling stuff around from sunrise to sunset....pickups of small businesses with multiple trucks and just Somchai with his one-truck unregistered hauling service.     

 

But I just don't think Mr. Somchai   will be interested in a BEV (100% electric) pickups until one charge can keep him running from sunrise to sunset....and such affordable and wide spread technology is probably still a decade away.   But if an HEV version can keep him primarily running on cheaper electric fuel all day then he will be interested as it lowers his cost of doing business. 

 

 

Vehicle Weight Impact on EV Range

https://www.getflipturn.com/blog/how-cargo-weight-affects-ev-range#:~:text=However%2C the extent to which,range by 60-70%.

 

 

 

 

 

 

1240 pounds is only about half of the payload of current diesel "1 tonne" pickups. The people to buy EV pickups will mostly be 'lifestyle' drivers who usually just put their shopping or small items in the back. At the moment, I don't see  them having a commercial use. 

[JBChiangRai]

Any pickup over 1M baht is likely to be a lifestyle pickup.

[KhunLA]

6 hours ago, TronxII said:

But these guys with their hopelessly overloaded 25 years old Toyota pickups might not be the primary target for the EV pickup manufacturers.

There are many "normal" people doing their 50 to 100km per day through the city, shopping and restaurant trips by pickup. And personally I feel much safer in the Hilux than in the Dolphin because of the car size and elevated position.

I'm curious as to what the price of the BYD pickup will be.

 

[mistral53]

Frontal assault from the left field:

 

(from a FB post, machine translated)

 

'I was at Denza Susco for around 2 hours. I met someone who put a reservation in front of 5 cars.
So I asked how many have booked today?
The unsurprising answer is 40 cars already. Most of them are top AWD 2.69 million, which is cheaper than Alphard around 1.4-1.5 million anyway.

Interesting are my 3 friends
The first person to look at the new Camry. Price 1.6 million.
Another look at Alphard for 4. X million
Last person looking at the Tesla Y for 1.9million
These 3 people stopped booking the top 3 cars.
This movement of Denza D9 shook the market a lot.'

 

The Alphard was an amazing money maker for Toyota, now the newcomers on the block will have Toyota's lunch. This is not a big segment, but it is a lucrative one! and there are other Chinese brands eager to enter Thailand as well.

[Bandersnatch]

Recent post from Autolifethailand to follow on from @mistral53 post above.

 

Which would be your choice?

 

 

 

[KhunLA]

15 minutes ago, Bandersnatch said:

Recent post from Autolifethailand to follow on from @mistral53 post above.

 

Which would be your choice?

 

I've only peeked at MG, and looking damn plush & comfy inside ... but ... out of my 'pocket money' range, for a 2nd vehicle.

 

Especially since I don't have 5 friends.   I would have a hard time using the larger cab of a pick up   Not a fan of, since it uses up the practicality of a larger, useable bed.  

 

Although the MG EV pick up seats do lay flat, if & when it arrives to TH ... that's interesting 💡

[Pib]

None of them as I don't like the exterior look of any of them.  Too boxy looking....and don't like the HUGE front-end grille.  But hey, that's just my personal taste....I know MANY people love the HUGE front grille look which is fine.

[Bandersnatch]

I am currently at BYD Buriram and they have the Sealion PHEV which is getting a good deal of attention. It looks good in the flesh but I'm not interested in a PHEV

 

 

They also have a car I haven't seen before, called the M6. It looks a bit like an upgrade of the e6 which they started selling as a taxi a few years ago

 

 

 

฿800k for a six seater full EV is a great price.

 

 

[JBChiangRai]

I think the E6 is an Atto Station Wagon

43 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Especially since I don't have 5 friends.

 

Vinny & EOW love you.

[Bandersnatch]

Just taken a test drive in M6 Extended the car starts when you open the door (can be disabled) 

 

฿829,000 Dynamic has 55.4kWh 420km and the ฿929,000 Extended has 71.8kWh 530km both come with V2L

 

Compared to my Seal AWD the car was definitely more wafty/floaty. 

 

Good points 

Great visibility

Respectable acceleration 

So much room

 

 

 

But

Definitely more wind noise than my Seal, but it is half the price.

Seats felt a bit firm and not as comfortable as the Seal.

 

The Sealion is definitely a better looking car, but for me why would I pay more for a PHEV

 

[mistral53]

1 hour ago, Bandersnatch said:

Recent post from Autolifethailand to follow on from @mistral53 post above.

 

Which would be your choice?

 

 

 

Imagine the 'driver' of a Zeeker 009 flooring it at a red-light........ instant loss of his employment if he chauffeurs grandma of the owner, giggles ear to ear if he is on the way to kindergarten with the owners kiddo - well, if said kid is a boy, of course!

 

Seriously - who needs a 6 seater that does 4.5 sec to 100 km/h? Conversely, the 116 kWh battery would have my nod.....decisions.....decisions.....

 

Be that as it may - Alphard might not be brightest star in the constellation of Toyoda for much longer, as the price premium in this segment is now under serious attack.

I think BYD was wise to launch their model under the Denza brand - MG clearly has a brand name issue, even if the Maxus 9 is a solid offereing.

[Bandersnatch]

If you are worried about rats or mice getting to your electrics I recommend these ฿98 traps from Thaiwasadu

 

My house sits on 3 Rai of land and we recently added galvanized netting to our fence around the land to keep our dogs from getting out. Unfortunately it also kept the snakes out that had been controlling the mice. 

 

 

 

 

[mistral53]

NETA has a plant in Thailand - and of course this is not good news for owners of this brand, either.

 

https://carnewschina.com/2024/11/06/chinese-automaker-neta-reportedly-halts-production-and-cuts-salaries/

 

It's a pity, their wagon actually has a lot going for it, looks amongst them.

[khunphil]

21 hours ago, mistral53 said:

NETA has a plant in Thailand - and of course this is not good news for owners of this brand, either.

 

https://carnewschina.com/2024/11/06/chinese-automaker-neta-reportedly-halts-production-and-cuts-salaries/

 

It's a pity, their wagon actually has a lot going for it, looks amongst them.

Oh that's sad .. as they have a cheap car, Neta V2, good for school trip and city ...

this market is full of sharks .. war is going on ! Who will be next ?