1 hour ago, vinny41 said:

MG ZS EV 2019 414,000 km big battery change at 370,000 km Battery SOH was 57% could run 100 Km on full charge battery degraded due to always DC charging

Video start point 22.0

Video is in Thai with english subtitles

 

 

WOW! thanks for sharing that.

Cant believe the couple drove with the suspension until 400,000 km! that's even dangerous.

Considering that both batteries are NMC, the degradation seemed like normal.

 

The MG ZS EV was a direct conversion from an ICE car to EV, they just replace the Engine and added a battery. I dont think there any more of these cars being sold anymore. 

This makes sense on how the car did fairly well in general,  except for the battery and the battery cooling which was really bad.

Given that, it did pretty well after all.

 

I had the same model and sold for 620,000 baht before BYD started to crash the market with discounts. one month later I would have fetched 300,000 baht at most. 🤣

The range was really bad at the end, I was getting 100km on a 90-20% charging habit. NEVER DC charged, maybe only once to test.

 

Video Summary from Gemini 2.5-Pro

 

This video, "รถไฟฟ้าวิ่งมาแล้ว 4 แสนโล!! สภาพแบตเป็นยังไง ต้องเปลี่ยนอะไรบ้าง!? MG ZS EV 2019 (ตัวแรก)" (Electric car driven 400,000 km!! What's the battery condition? What needs replacing!? MG ZS EV 2019 (first model)), from the Welldone Guarantee channel, investigates the long-term durability of an early model MG ZS EV.

The host visits Siam Thon EV Service, a garage specializing in MGs [01:42], to inspect a 2019 ZS EV that has accumulated over 414,000 km [19:51]. The car is used for a ride-hailing service by a husband and wife who drive in shifts, meaning the vehicle is in nearly continuous operation [20:07].

 

Here is a summary of the vehicle's condition and maintenance history:

• Owner's Verdict: The owner, who previously drove combustion engine cars for the same job, states the EV is significantly less "fussy" (จุกจิก) and far cheaper to operate [34:41]. His daily fuel costs dropped from ~500-1,200 THB for gas/petrol to under 300 THB for electricity [35:06], [35:17]. He confirms that in 414,000 km, he has not even had to replace the brake pads [34:46].

• Suspension: This is a primary wear item. The garage notes that suspension components (ball joints, stabilizer links, etc.) on this model often start showing wear around 80,000 km, likely due to the EV's higher weight [09:37], [12:37]. The 400,000 km car had its front suspension components replaced just before the video [21:47], [29:03].

• Battery Condition: The car's original battery was replaced at 370,000 km. Its State of Health (SOH) had degraded to 57% [22:22]. This severe degradation was attributed to two main factors: constant DC fast charging and a failed water pump, which compromised the battery's liquid cooling system [22:43], [22:54].

• Battery Replacement: The battery was replaced with a used unit (from a wrecked vehicle) that had 91% SOH [22:01], [31:34]. At the time of filming (about 44,000 km later), the replacement battery's SOH was 83.5% [26:05]. This continued degradation is linked to the owner's habit of DC charging while running the air conditioning, which puts a high load on the cooling system [26:18], [28:33].

• Common Design Flaw (Water Ingress): The video highlights a separate MG ZS EV with battery failure from water ingress [13:56]. This is identified as a design flaw in the 2019 ZS EV and EP models, where plastic pressure-release valves are located on the front of the battery pack, making them vulnerable to water [14:24], [14:30]. The garage recommends preventative measures, such as replacing the valves annually (around 450 THB) [16:52] or installing an aftermarket waterproof cover (1,300-1,500 THB) [18:04].

• Other Components:

  • Electronics: Contrary to early concerns about EV longevity, the main electronic units (onboard charger, PDU) on the 400,000 km car are all original and have not failed [21:24], [23:32].

  • Air Conditioning: The AC compressor is vital as it's part of the battery cooling loop [26:51], [30:54]. These may require overhaul or replacement around 150,000-200,000 km [30:08], [30:47].

  • Water Pumps: The 400,000 km car had its cooling system water pumps replaced, which was a factor in its original battery's failure [19:02], [29:36].

The video concludes that high-mileage EVs are very durable and economical, with maintenance needs being significantly lower than combustion cars [31:55]. The key areas for preventative maintenance are the suspension and the battery's cooling system (AC, pumps, and water-sealing) [32:58].

You can watch the full video here: รถไฟฟ้าวิ่งมาแล้ว 4 แสนโล!! สภาพแบตเป็นยังไง ต้องเปลี่ยนอะไรบ้าง!? MG ZS EV 2019 (ตัวแรก)

https://www.gstatic.com/images/branding/productlogos/youtube/v9/192px.svg

 

 

So I told chatgpt I wanna be bold and push the envelope. In 10 years time I wanna change EV, as sodium ion will reach nirvana level and solid state will pass early adopter stage.

So my questions are:

1) how many km more I can drive to end with 70% soh after 10 years, and how IR degradation will be

2) instead of driving more, I wanna use the EV as home battery at night by discharging V2L or V2H. How much extra kwh I can discharge to reach 70% soh and how about IR degradation

 

BTW. I estimated both DIY V2L vs V2H installation cost.

 

My house uses 90 kwh per month, during the day I sell surplus kwh to PEA.

A simple DIY V2L installation that will supply my home during power outage or just on turn of main breaker switch costs below 6k baht.

V2H is much more expensive and not worth the investment in Thailand, between 100-150k, as I need a bidirectional dc-dc charger, a hybrid inverter and extra 500v+ solar array, if I wanna charge dc. Besides I will loose my PEA FIT contract.

 

✅ Option A — More driving

LFP rough rule in warm climate:
Every +10k km/year ≈ +1.5–2% extra loss over 10 years

Annual km	10-year SOH	Notes
10k	82–85% ✅	current baseline
15k	78–81%	minor difference
20k	72–76% ✅ hits target band
25k	68–72%	comfortably at 70% goal

➡️ 20–22k km/year will typically land you at ~70–75% SOH
➡️ Still reasonable in Thailand if charging mostly at night

---

✅ Option B — More V2L/V2H discharging

Baseline 10k km driving = ~2,000 kWh/year cycling

To reach ~70% SOH, add ~50–60% cycling:

✅ Add ~1000–1500 kWh V2L per year

That’s:

• 3–4 kWh/day (1000–1500 kWh/year)

• Similar to running small appliances every night

Extra V2L annually	10-year SOH effect
+500 kWh	Small impact (84→82%)
+1000 kWh	80–78%
+1500 kWh	75–72% ✅ target
+2000 kWh	72–70%

➡️ Daily V2L for home consumption = enough to hit ~70–75% SOH

---

 

I also wanna know the cost of extra wear and tear of V2L/V2H discharging in terms of charging pins and internal electronic equipment

✅ Total Longevity Comparison

System	More Driving (20k)	V2L Heavy (10k + 4 kWh/day)
Battery life (to 70% SOH)	✅ same	✅ same
DC/AC charge port wear	Low	High
AC + cooling system wear	Low-medium	Medium-high
Drivetrain	Medium wear	✅ Very low wear
Overall cost impact	Neutral	+10k–30k THB over 10 yrs

---

🔍 Bottom Line Recommendation

If you want 70% SOH after 10 years and also want:

Priority	Best choice
Lowest long-term maintenance cost	✅ Drive more (20k km/yr)
Highest utility from car energy	✅ V2L nightly usage
Lowest stress on mechanical parts	✅ V2L path
Lowest stress on EV electronics	❌ NOT V2L (connector + AC wear)

 

Even though the electricity cost gain in 10 years [45k baht] is higher than the wear and tear cost, there is discomfort, if the EV cannot be used due to extra wait & repair time. So better use V2L for your home moderately.

4 hours ago, Bandersnatch said:

Currently at BYD for my Seal AWD's 2 year service. Another 6 years to go of completely free servicing.

 

This seems to be a "check everything" service so takes a bit longer. They offered to drive me to Robinson, but I decided a 20 minutes walk would help with my step count for the day. They couldn't believe I wanted to walk.

 

 

 

Any “ other stuff “ offered at a price, last time ( 1 year/20k ) i had wheel rotation but had to pay for balancing ( 418 baht if i remember correctly ).

I think i have read somewhere that they will offer to clean the air condenser at some dealerships.

 

Mine is due end of this month, have done just over 37k km.

21 minutes ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

Any “ other stuff “ offered at a price, last time ( 1 year/20k ) i had wheel rotation but had to pay for balancing ( 418 baht if i remember correctly ).

I think i have read somewhere that they will offer to clean the air condenser at some dealerships.

 

Mine is due end of this month, have done just over 37k km.

you dont need balancing if you rotate the full rim without removing the tires, however alignment is good and it aligns the suspension angle with the rims.

You can do tire rotation outside for 600-800 baht including alignment. I do it between 15k KM, 10K km is overkill for modern tires.  (Dealer wont do mine because I have aftermarket alloy rims.)

 

The tire pressure sensors are automatically adjusted, the software will re-learn the position... At least one great thing BYD did on these cars.

Below is an excellent article on EV battery State of Heath (SOH) determination....click on the weblink.   

 

Now although the article is excellent in my view this Clear Watt company in the UK is also trying to sell SOH reports via products they sell like their mobile app reports, OBD2 type device report, etc.   Based on reviewing some of the videos on their Youtube channel and looking at their app info, their SOH Report would "not" be that informative and it's just based on their own data analysis which may be no better than the SOH reading you would get from any OBD device.   But I'll say it again the 26 June 2025 article regarding SOH estimation is really good in my opinion. Go to the weblink below.....it's a short read...in layman's talk.

 

https://clearwatt.co.uk/blog/ev-onboard-soh

4 hours ago, brfsa2 said:

you dont need balancing if you rotate the full rim without removing the tires, however alignment is good and it aligns the suspension angle with the rims.

You can do tire rotation outside for 600-800 baht including alignment. I do it between 15k KM, 10K km is overkill for modern tires.  (Dealer wont do mine because I have aftermarket alloy rims.)

 

The tire pressure sensors are automatically adjusted, the software will re-learn the position... At least one great thing BYD did on these cars.

You are right on all accounts, except of the tire rotation frequency - that is mostly a function of the drivetrain: FWD-RWD-AWD has a significant impact on which tires wear the quickest. Its best to check visually for wear every 5,000 km, lest be surprised to find the inner shoulder of the rear tires to show the belt in all its glory. 

 

This guy will not rotate his tires anymore..........lol

MG ZS EV X model, special price 499,900 baht 

MG ZS EV Special price only 499,900 baht THE LAST OFFER only 117 last cars

 

MG ZS EV X model, special price 499,900 baht from the normal price 899,900 baht, for customers who book online booking through the mgcars.com website only
[Customers can pick up their vehicles at Maxus Motors (Thailand) Co., Ltd., On Nut Road, Bangkok.

https://www.mgcars.com/th/promotions/MG-ZS-EV-Special-EV-Campaign

13 hours ago, mistral53 said:

You are right on all accounts, except of the tire rotation frequency - that is mostly a function of the drivetrain: FWD-RWD-AWD has a significant impact on which tires wear the quickest. Its best to check visually for wear every 5,000 km, lest be surprised to find the inner shoulder of the rear tires to show the belt in all its glory. 

 

This guy will not rotate his tires anymore..........lol

 

That image you shared looks like very severe unbalanced wheels and suspension, because of the wear in the inner tires. even under inflated tires (more wear on the edge) wouldn't do that.

Over inflated will wear in the center of the tires, under inflate on the edges.

 

yes of course. It definitely depends on how you drive, the tire pressure and alignment. 

I usually rotate front to back, back to front crossed in my FWD, I check my tires with a quick inspection every day. monthly I check thread wear with a device.

 

OBD monitoring for EV battery longevity
If you are serious with battery health monitoring please read this.

This info is the result of some research I have done with the help of various AI chatbots i.e. perplexity, gemini, claude and brave. Note that the recommendations I made here are from these chatbots as I have not yet tested these apps and dongles before.

 

What to monitor 
Earlier we have learned from chatgpt for longevity of your EV battery, it is best to monitor in real time these parameters:

• Min/max cell voltage
• Max cell temperature
• Voltage delta under load

I would like to add also min cell temperature to see if the cooling is uneven. 
Other parameters like SOH, SOC and power draw are nice to have, but does not tell you much about issues in cooling or that you need to trigger a cell balance.

 

Custom sensors [PIDs] and which apps
Parameters like min cell voltage and max cell temperature are not standard OBD2 parameters. You need custom or extended PIDs that are first defined by the EV’s ECU and that can be read out by the app. Therefore the sensor must be provided in the app’s profile database or added and maintained by user communities. Car scanner is best in boiler plate profiles for these custom PIDs, while Torque Pro is better, if there are user communities maintaining these PIDs. For chinese EVs, it is better to stay with Car scanner, because there are hardly any good user community profiles yet.

 

Is your EV supported by Car scanner?
You can check here whether your EV has a profile and how often it is updated:

 

https://www.carscanner.info/author/overzealus/.

 

Chinese EVs sold in Thailand that are currently missing in this log are for example GAC Aion, Changan Deepal, Changan Avatr, Geely EX5.

Which obd dongle?

 

Bottom line: best is OBDLink MX+ but expensive and overkill. A good value that has all the features is Vgate icar pro 2S. If you don’t need autowake or a fast refresh rate Vgate icar pro is sufficient. In all situations, best is to also have the extension cable with a switch for security. Avoid noname brands without proper specs as they advertise on facebook EV groups, like the Chinese one I mentioned before.

 

Konnwei KW90x as recommended by some has limited ISO-TP support and may struggle with reading reliably custom PIDs.

 

 

Here the gory details of the aspects needed for a OBD dongle:

 

1) for reading custom PIDs the dongle must support UDS (service 0x22) and ISO-TP for robust flow control. Also good firmware updates are needed to ensure quality.

Good support for 0x22 and firmware updates are: OBDLink xx, Vgate xx, Veepeak BLE+. 

Note that the Konnwei KW90x has limited ISO-TP support and may struggle with custom PIDs, while Vgate icar pro has full support for custom pids. Chatbots confirm they are different products and not the same white label product.

 

2) in some situations you want to read out the parameters fast enough from the EV. For example when accelerating, your CAN bus might be busy with loads of data and the dongle must have a good speed. 

For a good sample speed of 3-5Hz for about 10 custom PIDs while the EV is accelerating, it is then best to get a dongle that supports Bluetooth 5.x. Top of the line is OBDLink MX+ but overkill. Vgate icar pro 2s is good enough. Vgate icar pro and Veepeak BLE+ may struggle when CAN bus is busy, because of lower BT4.0 support.

3) Not necessary for battery health monitoring. An autowake is a very good feature that you need if you want to monitor and log intermittent issues. Some dongles have issues with autowake with an EV, like some reddit users reported on Vgate icar pro. Good candidates: OBDLink MX+, Vgate icar pro 2s.

4) If you don’t need to log intermittent issues, you can buy an extension cable with a switch. This switch will prevent autowake issues and will also prevent any remote access, when you are leaving the car. 

5) If you want to have good charger trip planning connected with realtime SOC data, you could use ABRP with a dongle. Best is to have the same dongle for ABRP and battery health monitoring. Good candidates reported by users are the same mentioned before: OBDLink xx, Vgate icar pro xx, Veepeak BLE+
 

 

On 11/5/2025 at 2:37 PM, brfsa2 said:

 

• Battery Replacement: The battery was replaced with a used unit (from a wrecked vehicle) that had 91% SOH [22:01], [31:34]. At the time of filming (about 44,000 km later), the replacement battery's SOH was 83.5% [26:05].
  
  This continued degradation is linked to the owner's habit of DC charging while running the air conditioning, which puts a high load on the cooling system [26:18], [28:33].

 

Thanks for the summary. The point they made that battery degrades faster while dc charging and the owner sits in the cabin and turns on the AC is a good one. This is the case to most EVs, as the AC system loop is shared between cabin evaporator and battery/motor heat exchanger.

 

The point is not the high load of the cooling system, but that the cooling system has a finite cooling capacity, and  the battery gets less cooling, if the cabin also needs to be cooled. So best is to turn off the cabin AC and get body cooling in Cafe Amazon or 7-11.

13 minutes ago, 4myr said:

 

Thanks for the summary. The point they made that battery degrades faster while dc charging and the owner sits in the cabin and turns on the AC is a good one. This is the case to most EVs, as the AC system loop is shared between cabin evaporator and battery/motor heat exchanger.

 

The point is not the high load of the cooling system, but that the cooling system has a finite cooling capacity, and  the battery gets less cooling, if the cabin also needs to be cooled. So best is to turn off the cabin AC and get body cooling in Cafe Amazon or 7-11.

When O&A, we have the car on w/AC going pretty much the whole time the car is charging.   Almost a necessity with the dog.  If we're not eating in the food court, vendor or rare occasion, KFC, then we're also in the car munching those fine delights from 7-11 

 

After 3 yrs, we're averaging about 1% a year, degradation.    First year, almost half our kms (9350 of 20k kms) were O&A, with about 25 DC top ups.  Few less O&A the past 2 yrs, and only about 14k & 17k kms added last couple year.

On 11/5/2025 at 4:38 PM, Andrew Dwyer said:

Any “ other stuff “ offered at a price, last time ( 1 year/20k ) i had wheel rotation but had to pay for balancing ( 418 baht if i remember correctly ).

I think i have read somewhere that they will offer to clean the air condenser at some dealerships.

 

Mine is due end of this month, have done just over 37k km.

 

Nothing extra offered, but it was a very comprehensive check as you can see that they had all the battery covers and wheels off.

EVs can be good for local commuting.  Somewhat problematic on long trips or really long traffic delays.  Living in an apartment can make charging a problem as one can't have 100 foot extension cords running all over the place out to where your car is parked, and often you can not or do not park in the same spot anyway.  Many people park on the street. Cold weather degradation and drop in mileage is an issue in cold climates (granted not much of an issue in Thailand).

 

I have friends and relatives in the USA which own Teslas and they are very happy with them.  None have had to do any repairs or experienced breadowns yet.  Neither takes long trips

6 hours ago, gk10012001 said:

EVs can be good for local commuting.  Somewhat problematic on long trips or really long traffic delays.  Living in an apartment can make charging a problem as one can't have 100 foot extension cords running all over the place out to where your car is parked, and often you can not or do not park in the same spot anyway.  Many people park on the street. Cold weather degradation and drop in mileage is an issue in cold climates (granted not much of an issue in Thailand).

 

I have friends and relatives in the USA which own Teslas and they are very happy with them.  None have had to do any repairs or experienced breadowns yet.  Neither takes long trips

 

You don't need a charger at home.  My friend has an MG4 X-Power and she can only charge at charging stations.

 

It's only half the cost of running an ICE car instead of a quarter the cost.

6 hours ago, gk10012001 said:

EVs can be good for local commuting.  Somewhat problematic on long trips or really long traffic delays

 

Sounds like you don't own an EV in Thailand. I have owned 3 here and started 5 years ago. 

 

I charge both of our EVs and our electric motorbike from excess solar we produce in the middle of the day for free.

 

When I had a pickup truck, I would fly domestic as driving for more than 6 hours was such an unpleasant experience. My BYD Seal has 600km of range so I have to stop before the car needs a charge. I plan my stops on longer journeys at BYD dealership as I can see how many chargers are free before I arrive and they recognise my car and start charging as soon as I plug in. I can use the customer lounge at the dealer and have a free coffee. On a 900km round trip to BKK,  I do two 20 minute charging sessions. 

 

People think that getting stuck in traffic is a problem for EVs, but why don't you ever see EVs stuck on the side of the road if there is a long traffic jam? ICE cars use a lot fuel sitting in traffic but EVs use only a few Watts

 

 

6 hours ago, gk10012001 said:

Living in an apartment can make charging a problem

 

None of them have diesel or gasohol pumps so you have fill up somewhere else, but increasingly Condos are adding EV charging. Most people find that they only need one charge a week and they do that while they are doing something else, like meeting friends for coffee or going shopping.

 

 

4 minutes ago, JBChiangRai said:

 

You don't need a charger at home.  My friend has an MG4 X-Power and she can only charge at charging stations.

 

It's only half the cost of running an ICE car instead of a quarter the cost.

 

Has she got the Xpower in that metallic green, it looks stunning.

A few cars in a similar green ( Riddara, Deepal and some overseas Seals ) but without that metallic element they don’t even come close.

I used to think that the Atto 3 was the best green until I saw the Xpower in the flesh.

 

Sorry, early morning ramblings 😃

5 minutes ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

 

Has she got the Xpower in that metallic green, it looks stunning.

A few cars in a similar green ( Riddara, Deepal and some overseas Seals ) but without that metallic element they don’t even come close.

I used to think that the Atto 3 was the best green until I saw the Xpower in the flesh.

 

Sorry, early morning ramblings 😃

 

Yes she has the matt metallic green.  She's 78 years old but thinks she's 21.

 

I took her around all the EV dealers in Chiang Rai and I saved the MG for last, I had a suspicion that's what she'd buy, she'd only gone 100 metres on the test drive, floored it and said this is the one.

 

My favourite colours are Porsche FrozenBerry (pink metallic), Mazda/BYD Red metalllic, BYD Atto Blue Metallic, and at a push Silver.

14 minutes ago, JBChiangRai said:

 

Yes she has the matt metallic green.  She's 78 years old but thinks she's 21.

 

I took her around all the EV dealers in Chiang Rai and I saved the MG for last, I had a suspicion that's what she'd buy, she'd only gone 100 metres on the test drive, floored it and said this is the one.

 

My favourite colours are Porsche FrozenBerry (pink metallic), Mazda/BYD Red metalllic, BYD Atto Blue Metallic, and at a push Silver.

Good for her !

 

Yeah, the metallic colours are nice especially on a sunny day.

6 hours ago, gk10012001 said:

EVs can be good for local commuting.  Somewhat problematic on long trips  ...

I have friends and relatives in the USA which own Teslas and they are very happy with them.  None have had to do any repairs or experienced breadowns yet.  Neither takes long trips

 

"Somewhat problematic on long trips  ..."  unfortunately, you keep hearing this argument from people who don’t own an ev, but not from experienced ev owners with several years of driving behind them ... 

 

long trips are only problematic for someone who drives several hundred kilometers five times a week, doesn’t want to take any breaks, counts every minute, and doesn’t mind paying two to three times more per kilometer for gasoline ... according to aseannow, such drivers actually do still exist  

 

by the way, thailand is ideal even for long-distance trips, plenty of charging stations, low electricity costs, etc. on an 8-hour road trip, you can easily combine a toilet / meal break with a charging stop ... no problem at all for ev owners ... 

 

We drove from Tak to Chiang Rai, we stopped at the first charging station to charge up (about a 10km journey) and we didn't need to charge until we got home.

 

We passed dozens of charging stations, stopped for a couple of coffees/comfort brakes and the chargers were unoccupied at both.  By the way, it was a public holiday too.

 

Traveling long distance is definitely not problematic.

9 hours ago, gk10012001 said:

EVs can be good for local commuting.  Somewhat problematic on long trips or really long traffic delays.  Living in an apartment can make charging a problem as one can't have 100 foot extension cords running all over the place out to where your car is parked, and often you can not or do not park in the same spot anyway.  Many people park on the street. Cold weather degradation and drop in mileage is an issue in cold climates (granted not much of an issue in Thailand).

 

I have friends and relatives in the USA which own Teslas and they are very happy with them.  None have had to do any repairs or experienced breadowns yet.  Neither takes long trips

You've let yourself be brainwashed by  watching too many anti-EV videos.  Keeping your EV charged here in Thailand while on long trips and during local, day-to-day driving is not an issue with all the public chargers around the country....even if you live in a condo which currently doesn't have chargers on the premises because there will be chargers elsewhere.

 

And if you live in a residence where you can plug-in a simple, low power mobile 10A/2KW  charger into a standard 220V outlet....or even better install a 32A/7KW wall charger....the only time you will probably use a public charger is on a  l.....o......n.....g  trip, getting some free/reduced rate charging under charging network promotions, and/or doing  some brief charging test to confirm to yourself you can indeed use a certain charging network you are registered with. 

 

Once you move to Thailand fulltime and see all the EVs happily driving on the roads to include "out in the sticks" locations I think you will change your mind about EVs can be good for local community but problematic on long trips.  Just register with with several of the Thai charging networks like PTT EV Station Pluz, PEA Volta, ReverSharger, Elexa, Spark, Altervim, EVolt and maybe a few others (registration is fast and easy) and you will find out that in Thailand you are never too far from a charger (unless you let your battery get close to 0% charge level even after the EV kept warning you it's time to recharge....you can't fix stupid). 

 

And as mentioned if you charge at home you probably only use the numerous charging networks when on l....o.....n.....g trips in Thailand.  Plus, most EVs in Thailand are going to have "at least" a 300Km real world range with many having a 400-600km real world range...just be sure to top-up your charge on long trips before you get too close to 0% charge....like maybe setting personal rule of topping-up when reaching a 20% charge level (i.e., stay above 20%) which for most EVs in Thailand means you probably have around 75 to 125Km range remaining before hitting 0%.

 

No need for range anxiety in Thailand.

2 hours ago, motdaeng said:

by the way, thailand is ideal even for long-distance trips, plenty of charging stations, low electricity costs, etc. on an 8-hour road trip, you can easily combine a toilet / meal break with a charging stop ... no problem at all for ev owners ...

I would agree with you 100%, 5 years ago when I had my first BEV it was already possible to charge many places in Bangkok, it was never a problem for me, My office I had 7kW free charging that I abused for a whole 1 year with the ZS EV.

 

Today what I see is a fierce competition at some stations to get DC Charger, booking is the only way now to not have to wait. 

 

2 hours ago, JBChiangRai said:

Yes she has the matt metallic green.  She's 78 years old but thinks she's 21.

I also have the Green atto3 but I wrapped all the silver parts in Black, to me it looks great with the aftermarket rim.

Sometimes I also think I'm 21 🤣

Registrations for EV’s in Thailand October 2025.

 

https://autolifethailand.tv/register-ev-bev-thailand-oct-2025/
 

 

So, how has MG 4 jumped up to the top like that ?, always been a good seller but it kills it in October registrations.

Could be a promotion?, usually is !

 

What is interesting also is the trend of the smaller EV’s getting great sales, after the MG4 the next four are all smaller end cars !!

Of course with the Motor Show looming the figures get a little distorted and won’t settle until around Jan 2026.

 

 

The full year to date list:

( you will have to look in the link above to get the full list, forum sadly throttling the photo resolution. )

 

 

 

 

Interesting how many EV’s are available here now, i used to know all the models when i was in the market ( MG, ORA and BYD being the majority ) but, tbh, i might have a glimpse inside one of the Omoda or Geely or Aion or Jaecoo or Chery at the local mall and don’t see much new except for the low prices.

Heard about Jaecoo 5 from the attractive price but wasn’t aware until a couple of days ago that there’s a Jaecoo 6 and Jaecoo 7 !

 

I feel like Zeekr and Avatar and Denza will attract attention as always but like Volvo won’t be able to bring in the numbers just a steady small stream of sales.

MG and BYD saw the market and nailed it here in Thailand, quality EV that won’t break the bank .

28 minutes ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

Registrations for EV’s in Thailand October 2025.

 

https://autolifethailand.tv/register-ev-bev-thailand-oct-2025/
 

So, how has MG 4 jumped up to the top like that ?, always been a good seller but it kills it in October registrations.

Co

 

Yeap...regarding the MG4 Electric it's due to pricing promotions, "lifetime battery and drive system warranty", and IMO a MG4 Electric looks really good especially in black.   The MG4 has found a "sweet spot" in pricing, looks, and warranty.

With the upcoming end of year Thailand motor show and end-of-year promotions (i.e., price cuts) Nov, Dec, and Jan registrations will surely be BIG.  Lots of  people (especially Thais) wait till the end of year to buy new vehicles (ICE and EV) as they know that's when the most & biggest promotions occur and IMO the ongoing vehicle price war has just reinforced that line of thought.

32 minutes ago, Pib said:

 

Yeap...regarding the MG4 Electric it's due to pricing promotions, "lifetime battery and drive system warranty", and IMO a MG4 Electric looks really good especially in black.   The MG4 has found a "sweet spot" in pricing, looks, and warranty.

 

yep, it's a great car and fun to drive! it handles really good for such a cheap price.

Unfortunately the future MG4 cars will be FWD, not sure if they will continue with the RWD. so sad.

 

https://carnewschina.com/2025/10/04/sunday-china-drive-mg4-from-rear-wheel-dreams-to-front-wheel-reality/

Quote

The latest MG4 represents a fundamental shift in direction for SAIC’s MG brand. Previously known for its rear-wheel-drive layout and European-tuned handling, the new model adopts a front-wheel-drive configuration and a redefined chassis... 

 

Preaching ot choir when I say FWD vehicles simply cost less to manufacturer than RWD vehicles....not to imply FWD vehicles a "less good" than RWD vehicles.   Lower manufacturing cost typically results in lower pricing for  buyers, sells more vehicles, etc.   I think quoted paragraph taken from above article sums it it well.

 

Also, up until I bought my Atto (which is FWD) in late 2023 I had never owned a FWD vehicle in all my many  decades of life.  So, I didn't have any personal experience in driving a FWD vehicles.  I had always owned RWD/4WD/AWD vehicles.   When I bought the Atto I had a some concern about a FWD vehicle but the initial test drive before buying and my follow-on driving after buying caused that concern to disappear in nothingness real fast.    

 

But I'm a conservative driver....drive the roads of Thailand where the speed limit is generally 90Km....some highways at 120km where if traffic permitting you can maintain 120Km for a while before heavy traffic bogs you down way below 120km.   In the greater Bangkok metro area where I live the roads are good, traffic is always heavy.....any speed above 90km is a brief gap in heavy traffic.    

 

I think whatever benefits/handling/performance RWD cars may provide over FWD cars with current day vehicles into today's driving environment are probably few & quite possibly only the mind of some car enthusiasts.   FWD compared to RWD drive vehicles may have reached the stage of just being a "preference" like color preference.  

 

Partial quote from article.

Verdict

The latest MG4 represents a precise repositioning of the nameplate. The shift to front-wheel drive simplifies packaging and reduces cost, but moves the car away from the driver-oriented DNA that once defined MG’s appeal abroad. What remains is a technically competent, practical compact EV that focuses on range efficiency, ease of use, and interior packaging rather than outright driving precision.

I think FWD cars are generally safer, they tend to understeer on the limit.

 

RWD cars tend to oversteer which is inherently more dangerous.

1 hour ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

Registrations for EV’s in Thailand October 2025.

 

https://autolifethailand.tv/register-ev-bev-thailand-oct-2025/
 

 

So, how has MG 4 jumped up to the top like that ?, always been a good seller but it kills it in October registrations.

Could be a promotion?, usually is !

 

What is interesting also is the trend of the smaller EV’s getting great sales, after the MG4 the next four are all smaller end cars !!

Of course with the Motor Show looming the figures get a little distorted and won’t settle until around Jan 2026.

 

 

The full year to date list:

( you will have to look in the link above to get the full list, forum sadly throttling the photo resolution. )

 

 

 

 

Interesting how many EV’s are available here now, i used to know all the models when i was in the market ( MG, ORA and BYD being the majority ) but, tbh, i might have a glimpse inside one of the Omoda or Geely or Aion or Jaecoo or Chery at the local mall and don’t see much new except for the low prices.

Heard about Jaecoo 5 from the attractive price but wasn’t aware until a couple of days ago that there’s a Jaecoo 6 and Jaecoo 7 !

 

I feel like Zeekr and Avatar and Denza will attract attention as always but like Volvo won’t be able to bring in the numbers just a steady small stream of sales.

MG and BYD saw the market and nailed it here in Thailand, quality EV that won’t break the bank .

Got to love a price war.   MG EP Plus is a surprise, and MG S5 moving into the top 10 👍

 

Hopefully others will join MG & GAC with lifetime warranties.   

 

Rock on TH ... who would have thought

              

6 hours ago, JBChiangRai said:

I think FWD cars are generally safer, they tend to understeer on the limit.

 

RWD cars tend to oversteer which is inherently more dangerous.

 Still miss RWD in the snow/mud/wet , so much fun.