9 hours ago, Pib said:

 

 

Here's the Neta Thailand public relations 29 Apr 2025 media release talking the new parts warehouse that suppose to go operational this month/May 2025.    I've also added the autolifethailand.tv news release links.   See both link for full details.  I wonder "just how stocked" the warehouse will actually be.   Hopefully Neta will pull thru its current challenges. 

 

https://www.neta.co.th/en/news/brands-pr-news/prnews20250429

https://autolifethailand.tv/neta-spart-parts-distribution-center/

 

When seeing pictures of this new looking Neta facility and since it's located in the Nakorn ChaiSi district of Nakhorn Pathom province (bordering western Bangkok) I began thinking that I've seen a building looking very, very similar especially since I drive thru the Nakhorn ChaiSi district on PhetKasem Road (#4) at least once a week when the Thai wife and I visit her mother.   In fact, drove to the MIL's house today. 

 

While setting at the MIL's house killing time I did some more googling on the facility and mostly ended-up on Facebook pages.  Anyway a couple Facebook posts had some more pictures and one guy said it was previously a Honda place.   That's bit of info activated some more brain cells which told me I probably know exactly where this facility is and it was just a month or so ago when I pointed out to the wife the new looking building as we drove along and said it looked like it was going to be some kind of "car place/showroom" based on its designed.

 

On the way back to Bangkok I looked for the facility while driving along....and I found it....and sure enough it was an "old Honda dealership" which is a BIG place when considering the part of the facility you can not see from the road.  Basically it appears Neta bought this Honda place and has renovated it to a Neta showroom (you could see Neta vehicles in the showroom today) and also the other part of the building identified as the Spares Distribution Center.   There was ongoing activity as we drove by.

 

So, the facility truly exists as a showroom/dealership and also a spare parts center (i.e., warehouse).  Now as to how many parts they actually have in stock I couldn't say.   Below are a couple of snapshots from Google Maps satellite/street view that shows the Neta facility when it use to be a Honda facility.   And note the 2nd snapshot that shows the "long" building which could probably serve well as a warehouse for parts....you don't see the long part when just driving by the facility on PhetKasen Rd.

 

 

 

 

 

On 5/16/2025 at 9:36 AM, Pib said:

Yeap, when I saw those three replacement traction batteries I got mixed feeling.  

This might partly explain the high inventory of replacement batteries.

 

1 minute ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

This might partly explain the high inventory of replacement batteries.

 

 

Could be one of the possible reasons for failure.  Not only does the battery pack contain a "lot" of individual blade battery cells like 126 blade batteries/cells in an extended range 60.5KWH battery but there is also a bunch of electronic battery management system (BMS) "daughter" boards across every dozen of so of those blade batteries and then a BMS "mother board" in the front of the battery where the cables connect to.  I expect it's the "electronic" BMS daughter/motherboard that fails and not any of the actual battery cells.  But whether the actual blade battery cell(s) or BMS electronics it still makes the battery pack inoperative/defective.....time for a new one as these type of packs can't be repaired due to their design/construction other than at the factory.   

 

 Now in my Atto I have drove thru water depth two times that was "almost" up to half the wheels height like described above...so far, no problems.   I didn't drive thru that  water height on purpose but instead of kinda get trapped into do it due to flash rain storms that temporary flood low spots/roads and you just need to press on unless you want to stop and let the water rise around you or create a traffic jam because of blocking traffic behind you.

 

And I love where the poster above described the traction battery as "the high pressure battery."     😄

53 minutes ago, Pib said:

And I love where the poster above described the traction battery as "the high pressure battery." 

Just a translation error from high voltage. Maybe the Thai world is closer to potential. 

1 hour ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

Just a translation error from high voltage. Maybe the Thai world is closer to potential. 

Yea....the translation by google translate type apps is usually pretty good....but it's also not uncommon for the translation to present funny type results or even completely inaccurate results based on my experience of using google translate a LOT over the years especially if some slang words, misspelled words, or abbreviations are being translated.

On 5/13/2025 at 2:35 PM, josephbloggs said:

So my brother in the UK has an Audi e-Tron. They are trying to push subscriptions on him for things like swooshy indicators.

The free indicator light ✨️ from China 🇨🇳 is......different 😉 😜. 

 

9 minutes ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

The free indicator light ✨️ from China 🇨🇳 is......different 😉 😜. 

 

Think you will find that is Japanese .

21 minutes ago, still kicking said:

Wow, thats incredible!! How much does it cost to fill up? And where can you fill it up?

(Answers: a lot, and nowhere).

And it isn't the first one by a long way. They haven't taken off for a reason.

1 minute ago, josephbloggs said:

Wow, thats incredible!! How much does it cost to fill up? And where can you fill it up?

(Answers: a lot, and nowhere).

And it isn't the first one by a long way. They haven't taken off for a reason.

Unfortunately, I can't give you details since I forgot to copy the website. 

10 minutes ago, still kicking said:

Unfortunately, I can't give you details since I forgot to copy the website. 

It's the NAM-X HUV and was first presented three years ago. It's a Moroccan company and it has yet to go in to production.......and probably won't as it will never make any money.

It's been done to death in these threads but hydrogen is never going to work for consumer vehicles. Commercial vehicles, maybe, but even then the cost is prohibitive.

@JBChiangRai is our resident hydrogen demystifier.

On 5/19/2025 at 10:21 PM, still kicking said:

Unfortunately, I can't give you details since I forgot to copy the website. 

 

On 5/19/2025 at 10:35 PM, ThreeCardMonte said:

 

 

There are multiple issues with hydrogen, some of them can be fixed.  What can't be fixed however, is the cost.

 

Green Hydrogen is made by electrolysing water, 67% of the energy going in is converted to Hydrogen (33%) to oxygen).

 

You use energy to compress it (a few percent), you use energy & wages to transport it (a few percent), you pump it into service station storage tanks (more losses) and you pump it into vehicles (a few percent).

 

Assuming you have a really good efficient Hydrogen Fuel Cell Car, you get maybe 60% efficiency.

 

So you end up with (say) 62% efficiency when it's in your tank and 37% overall efficiency on driving.

 

Or you can put the energy you were going to use to electrolyse water in the first place, straight into the grid and achieve considerably more than double the efficiency when you drive your EV.

 

However you look at it, Hydrogen Fuel Cell Cars are always going to cost double or treble per kilometer on fuel over an EV.

 

Hydrogen manufacturers have come out and said that it's not for passenger cars, it will be for long distance goods transportation, buses etc.

 

There is a further issue with Hydrogen cars, drivers don't enjoy the experience.  It may take a few minutes to put the Hydrogen in, but it's not uncommon for it take 20 minutes to wait for the nozzle to de-ice so it can be removed from the car.

 

Regarding Tesla's.  I know someone makes a point of telling Farang's driving Tesla's they should know better. It's already happening in the USA and Europe and people are removing the Tesla badges and replacing them with apologies (and so they should).

 

 

Big oil has been using H cars as a distracting from BEV, for almost 30 yrs.   Ever since GM proved you could mass produce an EV (EV 1) and market it, without even trying to, and had a waiting list for customers 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_EV1

There is an enormous amount of Petro and Legacy vehicle manufacturer's money going into advertising the new engine that will kill all China EV's.  Chief amongst these is Toyota.  I read they are spending vast sums lobbying governments to postpone or remove the date at which ICE vehicles can no longer be sold.  I suspect they are behind most of these announcements about mythical technology to kill off EV's.

 

I think most people see right through it.

 

There is no such engine/device and there never will be.

 

Customers love their EV's

 

https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/26/22594235/toyota-lobbying-dc-ev-congress-biden-donation

https://democracychronicles.org/toyota-lobbying-against-shift-to-electric-vehicles/

https://cleantechnica.com/2021/07/30/toyota-actively-lobbying-to-slow-down-ev-revolution/

11 minutes ago, JBChiangRai said:

There is an enormous amount of Petro and Legacy vehicle manufacturer's money going into advertising the new engine that will kill all China EV's.  Chief amongst these is Toyota.  I read they are spending vast sums lobbying governments to postpone or remove the date at which ICE vehicles can no longer be sold.  I suspect they are behind most of these announcements about mythical technology to kill off EV's.

 

I think most people see right through it.

 

There is no such engine/device and there never will be.

 

But but but …. Transman said there was 🥹

ICE technology has reached maturity but EVs haven't. Buying an EV now is like catching a falling knife in terms of pricing. Newer and better models are being launched every 6 months or so which significantly reduces the value of older models.

45 minutes ago, matchar said:

ICE technology has reached maturity but EVs haven't. Buying an EV now is like catching a falling knife in terms of pricing. Newer and better models are being launched every 6 months or so which significantly reduces the value of older models.

what you wrote has some truth in it...

 

but if everyone thinks the same way, no one would buy new technology, because the technology will always getting better ...

 

i waited about 3 years before buying a bev, and i'm really happy with what i have now. it fits my needs! i don't need an extra 200 km of range, 5 minute faster charging, self-parking, or all those fancy features. even after 4 months, i still don’t use many of the car’s functions ...

 

buying a bev now was the right choice for me, and i'm very pleased with it ... 

 

54 minutes ago, matchar said:

ICE technology has reached maturity but EVs haven't. Buying an EV now is like catching a falling knife in terms of pricing. Newer and better models are being launched every 6 months or so which significantly reduces the value of older models.

 

Anyone who thinks this only applies to EV's is deluded.

 

ICE engines have gone through a revolution (pun intended) in the last couple of decades.  They are vastly more efficient, mostly they are vastly more difficult to repair and in many cases vastly more unreliable.  If I had the choice between (say) a W124 Mercedes (1990's E-class) and it's modern day equivalent, I would take the W124 every time.

 

It's true that price lowering affects the value of older models, it's one of the prices early adopters have to pay, but I don't see technological advances affecting that in anything longer than a 3+ year depreciation period.

14 minutes ago, JBChiangRai said:

 

Anyone who thinks this only applies to EV's is deluded.

 

ICE engines have gone through a revolution (pun intended) in the last couple of decades.  They are vastly more efficient, mostly they are vastly more difficult to repair and in many cases vastly more unreliable.  If I had the choice between (say) a W124 Mercedes (1990's E-class) and it's modern day equivalent, I would take the W124 every time.

 

It's true that price lowering affects the value of older models, it's one of the prices early adopters have to pay, but I don't see technological advances affecting that in anything longer than a 3+ year depreciation period.

That's what puts me off buying any newer car. I'm still driving a 20+ year old Toyota which is very reliable and easy to repair.

 

I saw a 1 year old AWD BYD Seal listed for 878,000 (must be eye watering for those early adopters who paid 1.5MB). It looked tempting but then I thought about repairability after the warranty expires which made me think twice.

 

At least a local mechanic might have a chance of fixing an 8 year old ICE car but if you have an EV you are stuck with the extortionate dealer prices.

4 hours ago, matchar said:

ICE technology has reached maturity but EVs haven't. Buying an EV now is like catching a falling knife in terms of pricing. Newer and better models are being launched every 6 months or so which significantly reduces the value of older models.

So are phones and computers. But is this an excuse not to buy a (new) phone or computer?

2 hours ago, matchar said:

That's what puts me off buying any newer car. I'm still driving a 20+ year old Toyota which is very reliable and easy to repair.

 

I saw a 1 year old AWD BYD Seal listed for 878,000 (must be eye watering for those early adopters who paid 1.5MB). It looked tempting but then I thought about repairability after the warranty expires which made me think twice.

 

At least a local mechanic might have a chance of fixing an 8 year old ICE car but if you have an EV you are stuck with the extortionate dealer prices.

Most manufacturers give you 8 years (some extended infinitely) warranty on the car except consumables such as air filter, tyres and brakes. How many people are driving a car longer than 8 years? Our finance goes for five years. We plan to buy another new car after that 

3 hours ago, matchar said:

At least a local mechanic might have a chance of fixing an 8 year old ICE car but if you have an EV you are stuck with the extortionate dealer prices.

 

A lot will change in 8 years.  Somchai down the road will be fixing EV's and repairing batteries.

1 hour ago, JBChiangRai said:

 

A lot will change in 8 years.  Somchai down the road will be fixing EV's and repairing batteries.

Yep, same with solar installations, in just over 3 yrs.  Couldn't really find many, now even have a local one <5 kms away. 

 

Even saw a news blip of a guy in TH, using EV batteries for solar systems.  There's at least one shop, I read about that will convert vehicles to BEV.

 

There's a Thai factory here that puts out low spec'd E-trucks.

 

Nothing goes to waste in 3rd world countries, and everything can be repurposed. 

 

No really market for BEV repair shops yet, as everything is probably still under warranty

1 hour ago, JBChiangRai said:

 

A lot will change in 8 years.  Somchai down the road will be fixing EV's and repairing batteries.

Possibly, although I wouldn't park it too close to your house if the battery has been repaired by Somchai...

13 minutes ago, matchar said:

Possibly, although I wouldn't park it too close to your house if the battery has been repaired by Somchai...

With your opinion of Thai workers, then you'd be less inclined to park a petrol car near the house, as they're more likely to flame up, any day.

 

Buddha forbid a Thai should be working on one.  A ticking bomb just waiting to go off.

 

Better not move to Thailand, they're everywhere, screwing every thing up, I'm afraid to leave the house 

 

Oh crap ... the wife is Thai 

 

The Hate just Rocks On with some people 

17 hours ago, still kicking said:

Unfortunately, I can't give you details since I forgot to copy the website. 

 

 

It was called "Fantasy.com "   😍........ The amount of people who have invested in schemes for hydrogen cars over the years are numerous .

Quite interesting that in the C-segment SUV, electric cars are totally dominating sales in Thailand for the first few months of 2025.

 

13 minutes ago, mistral53 said:

Quite interesting that in the C-segment SUV, electric cars are totally dominating sales in Thailand for the first few months of 2025.

 

 

@ExpatOilWorker, @transam I hate to say it, but,  TOLD YOU SO

For those of you that use Facebook, there is a guy that reviewed his experience and costs driving over 200,000 Kms with his BYD Atto 3.

 

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BcMX8AsZS/