35 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Or any ICE car, sedan or SUV. As under spec'd & overpriced. But there's another thread for that conversation ...

Yes ! There's another thread for that conversation ...
I’m also very interested in switching to an EV in the near future, so I really appreciate all the knowledge shared here.

That said, I sometimes feel that the discussions are becoming extremely technical — topics like home charging setups, wiring, battery technologies, etc. While they are important, they can also feel quite complex (and even a bit intimidating) for someone just starting to explore EVs.

It might be helpful to also come back to more “everyday” questions from time to time. For example:

• Is charging actually simple in daily life?

• Do we always need a specific app, and what happens if we don’t have it?

• Do we need to book charging stations in advance?

• What if we forget our smartphone? Can we still charge ? Credit card ? Online ?

• Does insurance significantly impact the overall cost, especially without solar ?

• Are touchscreen controls distracting while driving for basic functions like air conditioning?

In short, EVs are not only for technical users — many people are coming from ICE vehicles and are simply wondering whether the experience will be just as easy and convenient.

I’m sure many of these questions have already been answered somewhere, but with the growing number of highly technical or data-heavy threads (sell statistics), it can sometimes feel a bit overwhelming — and perhaps less accessible for newcomers.

Just a thought to help keep the discussion welcoming for everyone non technical 🙂
On a personal note, as I am looking for EV (BYD/MG/GEELY), even if Toyota cheating or not for the number of booked card... I really don't care ...

2 hours ago, CLW said:

I still can't figure out why so many people buy that Toyota Ativ. It's a crap car. Cheap plastic, thin doors, no extras. And then it's purchase price plus the running costs with gasoline compared to electric charging. You could get a really nice and better equipped EV for the same price or cheaper. Even with that old argument, city dwellers don't have access to a charging station wall box at their apartment or condo. Do you have a gas station at home?

I've asked the same questions to people here, they say that they can easily sell it if they loose the job 🤣 but EV cannot sell

but I believe it's mostly the Toyota Badge "Tax", the Ativ should be costing 400-550K max, instead of that crazy price.

on the good side, its a car that will last forever if you do the maintenance. EVs have problem that can be easily overlooked, like mine for example that the cooling system was at nearly failure. Have I not used an OBD2 module, would have never knew until too late. With a Toyota, that would never happen.

I'm an EV guy, but EVs do have strange and complicated problems that most people will hate to deal with.

5 minutes ago, khunphil said:

It might be helpful to also come back to more “everyday” questions from time to time. For example:

• Is charging actually simple in daily life?

• Do we always need a specific app, and what happens if we don’t have it?

• Do we need to book charging stations in advance?

• What if we forget our smartphone? Can we still charge ? Credit card ? Online ?

• Does insurance significantly impact the overall cost, especially without solar ?

• Are touchscreen controls distracting while driving for basic functions like air conditioning?

in Short: EV could be good for you if:

• you drive at least 15,000 KM a year, the more you drive the more you will save. (Insurance impact we will discuss)

• you can charge at home, even at 32A is good enough OR you can charge at the station.

• you can take a slightly higher risk purchasing an EV, vs a toyota ice car. let's be honest here, EVs do come with some risks when money is tight.

9 minutes ago, khunphil said:

• Is charging actually simple in daily life?

• Do we always need a specific app, and what happens if we don’t have it?

• Do we need to book charging stations in advance?

• What if we forget our smartphone? Can we still charge ? Credit card ? Online ?

• Does insurance significantly impact the overall cost, especially without solar ?

• Are touchscreen controls distracting while driving for basic functions like air conditioning?

• Yes, charging is piece of cake, easiest thing in the world.

• Yes, you will need specific apps to charge outside your home, like the Charging station (PTT PluZ, MEA EV, PEA Volta, EA anywhere, Elexa, ReverSharger, MG, Tesla, etc.....)

• Yes, you can book or not book, booking is great so you can ensure you will be able to charge, not booking is fine, but you have the risk of not able to charge immediately.

• if you forget smartphone, I believe only PTT can do it with the "Automatic Charge" feature they just added, you need to activate it and not all stations support it.

• YEs, if you drive less than 10,000km 15,000km per year. There is a formula you can use based on your car price, your insurance cost and your yearly KM

• Yes, touchscreen controls are distracting and dangerous... it's a problem not only in EV cars, unfortunately most EVs are like this

17 minutes ago, khunphil said:

On a personal note, as I am looking for EV (BYD/MG/GEELY),

I think that is wise to go Geely, BYD or MG, I am personally not impressed with BYD, so, MG is likely going to be my next car because I want 800V, no way I'm getting another 400V car, unless it's a Tesla. the charging speeds matter too much to me.

MG and BYD will have service centers all over Thailand...

4 minutes ago, khunphil said:

I keep things as simple as possible, leave the techy stuff to others.

• Is charging actually simple in daily life?

  ... way too simple

• Do we always need a specific app, and what happens if we don’t have it?

  ... only need app of CS (charging station) vendor, most, when using

• Do we need to book charging stations in advance?

  ... booking is optional, and in 3.5 yrs, have only reserved once (100+ charging sessions)

• What if we forget our smartphone? Can we still charge ? Credit card ? Online ?

  ... doubt if you'll ever forget your smartphone when O&A (out & about)

• Does insurance significantly impact the overall cost, especially without solar ?

  ... ???

• Are touchscreen controls distracting while driving for basic functions like air conditioning?

  ... I rarely use our touchscreen. How often do you really adjust AC. Our MG ZS has buttons also, and no need to look at screen or take eyes off the road. There's alway a traffic light ahead if really need to adjust.

Only thing to know, is your range, and more than enough warnings that you'll never run out of electrons. 2 verbal & 3 dings with our ZS.

For battery longevity (more cycles), you want LFP chemistry, and upward of 1M kms, before capacity drops to 70-80%. For our 17k kms yearly, that 50+ yrs of driving.

Charging cost ...

... excess solar - FREE

... home charging - 25% of petrol cost, our MG ZS EV vs ICE, owning both

... CS - 50% of petrol cost

Most homes, unless really old, crappy wiring, will accept home wall charging cables. If not, slow emergency charging cable overnight should be more than enough for most daily driving.

3 minutes ago, brfsa2 said:

• Yes, you can book or not book, booking is great so you can ensure you will be able to charge, not booking is fine, but you have the risk of not able to charge immediately.

if I don't book, so I can plug in any available machine ? Example : 10AM I arrive .. free slot ... I plug ... I need 30mn to be at let's say 80% ... But someone did booked (30mn before) for 10.15AM ? So the app will drop me out 15mn later ? Sorry for VERY BASIC question !

4 minutes ago, khunphil said:

if I don't book, so I can plug in any available machine ? Example : 10AM I arrive .. free slot ... I plug ... I need 30mn to be at let's say 80% ... But someone did booked (30mn before) for 10.15AM ? So the app will drop me out 15mn later ? Sorry for VERY BASIC question !

Yes, it's booking or 1st come 1st served. BUT, they book slots, and some charging stations will stop your charging session, for a booked slot. Some charging station, and or hub (multiple chargers) with have reserved & walk in/open cables.

We don't book / reserve charging, and have been bounced off charging, but didn't care. Can avoid being bounced, by charging just after the top of the hour or half past.

We've charged during weekends & long weekends, and so far, no issues, but they can busy. More than a few times, will leave at 90-95%, as don't need more than 90/95%, last 5% takes too long anyway, and there may be someone waiting.

There are so many CS, and apps tells you how many cables available, and some apps even state what % the charging is if being used. Once using, after first couple outings, it really is easy.

We pretty much stick with PTT/EV Station Pluz, as usually charge after 2-3 hrs driving, and want the food options. PEA (PEA & Bangchak stations) being our 2nd choice, with MG as an alternative (restricted to MG owners), and having the service lounge for comfy waiting with snacks & bevs. MG charging cables seem to be the slowest.

Have a couple other apps, but rarely use.

https://aseannow.com/topic/1279914-ev-charging-stations-cs/

Range really does come down to how far your bladder will take you. With us, seems like 2+ hrs, if lucky, me, wife or dog, needs to P or eat. Rarely are we on the road for 3+ hrs, and if so, I want out of the car myself, so a charging stop is welcomed at that point.

Some stations will be super busy for charging, while others not so much.

For me, a PTT station that I need to use, and the only one on my way in and out, needs a booking if I want to charge in the mornings or afternoons. it's always ocuppied!

But if you can have the standard 7kW 32A charger everyone uses a home, that is good enough, you can always get 0-100% overnight, wake up with 100% ready to go.

One time I had book 2 slots, 10:00 and 10:30

PTT will keep your booking until 5 minutes, so I arrived at the station 10:06 and the lady with a NETA was counting down and ready to grab it. she told, sorry you got here too late. but 10:27 her charging session was killed because I also book 10:30am. in the end she charged 22 minutes, and I did 30 minutes. but could top up 40% since the station is only 120kw, thus the atto 3 will only use 56kw.

1 hour ago, khunphil said:

The last news I just get are much more pessimistic, as "backlog has reached around 10,000 vehicles due to strong demand from Motor Expo 2025 and Motor Show 2026, while current delivery capacity averages about 1,000 cars per month.

At this rate, clearing all pending orders would take roughly 10 months unless production or delivery capacity is increased."

Heck, next year's model will probably be released before 10 months. 😁

I expect many bookings will be cancelled by the buyer vs wanting to wait 10 months.

On 4/1/2026 at 5:43 PM, Pib said:

When I bought my Atto in Oct 2023 it came with a free Zhida charger and free installation. The electrical contractor installed the wiring and charger approx 3 weeks later in mid Nov 2023....this is the professional electrical contractor company that had the contract with BYD to install chargers in my area and some areas of Thailand.

"No ground round installed at the charger" because the grounding of my home electrical system is adequate....i.e., it already has a main grounding rod. The 6mm2 ground wire for the charger runs back approx 12 meters to the main circuit panel grounding point which is tied to the main ground rod. And the live and neutral wires running between the main circuit panel charger are 6mm2 also.

Having multiple grounding can possibly create ground loops if they are not properly grounded/linked to the main ground rod for the home. It will vary from home to home as to if another grounding rod is required.

And a technical note, in my Bangkok moobaan of around 500 single family houses all the houses use the "TT Earthing System" where the neutral and ground are "not" linked. In TN-C, TN-S, and TN-C-S Earthing Systems the neutral and ground are linked. Different earthing systems are used in Thailand....and the TT Earthing system is very common and one of the earthing systems used....not only in Thailand but other countries also.

My Zhida 32A single phase charger....no ground rod at charger.

In my earlier post above I showed a picture of my Zhida charger with original "5" meter cable. I finally got off my rear end and constructed a 15 (fifteen) meter cable with new charging gun....see 1st below snapshot.

I ordered/used 4 wire "VCT" cable (sold in many places) which is much, much cheaper than 4 wire EV charging cable and I also ordered a new charging gun. I decided to build this "long" charging cable due to how I prefer to park my EV in my home's carport "and for a EV future buy" which will probably have the charging port on the "left or right rear" of the EV (vs my current Atto with port on front right)...it charging port on rear this would be too far for a standard 5M cable to reach based on how I prefer to park in the carport.

Six months or so ago I even bought a 5M charging "extension" cable for Bt2,360 to solve this future issue but as it turns out if the EV has the charging port on the left rear of the car even a 10m cable (charger 5m original cable plus 5M extension cable totaling 10M) wouldn't be quite enough for an EV with "left" rear charging port based on the way I prefer to park in the carport. So, I decided to just build a new 15M charging cable...total cost was Bt2,964 for 15M of VCT 4 wire 6mm2 wire and a new, quality charging gun....got both on sale on Shopee. With my electronics background and being a DIYer building this kind of electrical stuff is enjoyable for me.

You can't reuse the old charging gun to save money since the cable wires are "crimped" in the charging gun pins which prevents the pins from being reused....i.e., uncrimped. Now, if a person could easily buy "only the correct replacement pins" he could reuse the old charging gun "housing" with new pins to crimp onto the cable wires. However, each charging gun uses slightly different shaped pins designed for that particular charging gun...each charging gun manufacturer seems to use slightly different pins. Exact pins which a person may or may not be able to buy like off Alibaba, Aliexpress, online stores, etc., because there are many different kinds of pins sold and even if a person could find the exact right pins buying the pins costs almost as much as complete new charging gun which comes with new pins....better, easier just to buy a new charging gun which comes with new pins/all required parts to include a new Proximity Pilot resistor for the charging gun.

And to crimp the pins you will need a crimper with the ability to crimp 6mm2 wires into "hard" stainless steel alloy charging gun pins....a mere single-hand crimper can't generate the crimping force required for 6mm2 or bigger wire....you will need a two-hand crimper like below which is for 6mm2 to 50mm2 wire. I have such a crimper that I've had for a while for other electrical work I've done around the house...you can buy two-hand crimpers off Lazada/Shopee for around Bt300 which is where I bought mine....see 2nd image below.

Now I'm sure some of you are wondering how much "power drop" reaching the EV occurs with the 15M cable which is 3 times longer than the original/standard 5M cable that typically come with wall chargers. Well, based on early testing yesterday and today it may be around 50 watts and I have to use EV "OBD" readout to see that since the EV display only reads out to the nearest 100 watts which could mask/not show a small 50W drop depending on how the display rounds numbers. Ex: if "OBD" real time readout for the original 5M cable showed 6.250KW going into the battery (after all the conversion loss) the OBD readout for the 15M cable would be around 6.200....it so minor a person might not even notice it simply from the charging power shown on the EV dash display depending on the display rounds up or down to the single decimal point. Right now I figure the worst case power loss and depending on the displays rounding a person could see a max of 0.1KW max (100 watts) decrease in KW reaching the battery....like if you always saw 6.2KW with a 5M cable a 15M cable might show 6.1KW depending on rounding. Summary: very minimal KW loss by extending the cable length from 5M to 15M.

OK, another project done....I can now reach the charging port on my next EV regardless of where it located on the vehicle (left, right, front, rear) and I can still park in my carport in my preferred way. Time to go eat lunch. Cheers.

My charger now with a "15" meter charging cable.

Two hand 6mm2 to 50mm2 crimper...surprising cheap at around

around Bt300 off Lazada, Shopee, AliExpress, online stores...it's
about as long as from you elbow to tip of your fingers.

31 minutes ago, Pib said:

In my earlier post above I showed a picture of my Zhida charger with original "5" meter cable. I finally got off my rear end and constructed a 15 (fifteen) meter cable with new charging gun....see 1st below snapshot.

I ordered/used 4 wire "VCT" cable (sold in many places) which is much, much cheaper than 4 wire EV charging cable and I also ordered a new charging gun. I decided to build this "long" charging cable due to how I prefer to park my EV in my home's carport "and for a EV future buy" which will probably have the charging port on the "left or right rear" of the EV (vs my current Atto with port on front right)...it charging port on rear this would be too far for a standard 5M cable to reach based on how I prefer to park in the carport.

Six months or so ago I even bought a 5M charging "extension" cable for Bt2,360 to solve this future issue but as it turns out if the EV has the charging port on the left rear of the car even a 10m cable (charger 5m original cable plus 5M extension cable totaling 10M) wouldn't be quite enough for an EV with "left" rear charging port based on the way I prefer to park in the carport. So, I decided to just build a new 15M charging cable...total cost was Bt2,964 for 15M of VCT 4 wire 6mm2 wire and a new, quality charging gun....got both on sale on Shopee. With my electronics background and being a DIYer building this kind of electrical stuff is enjoyable for me.

You can't reuse the old charging gun to save money since the cable wires are "crimped" in the charging gun pins which prevents the pins from being reused....i.e., uncrimped. Now, if a person could easily buy "only the correct replacement pins" he could reuse the old charging gun "housing" with new pins to crimp onto the cable wires. However, each charging gun uses slightly different shaped pins designed for that particular charging gun...each charging gun manufacturer seems to use slightly different pins. Exact pins which a person may or may not be able to buy like off Alibaba, Aliexpress, online stores, etc., because there are many different kinds of pins sold and even if a person could find the exact right pins buying the pins costs almost as much as complete new charging gun which comes with new pins....better, easier just to buy a new charging gun which comes with new pins/all required parts to include a new Proximity Pilot resistor for the charging gun.

And to crimp the pins you will need a crimper with the ability to crimp 6mm2 wires into "hard" stainless steel alloy charging gun pins....a mere single-hand crimper can't generate the crimping force required for 6mm2 or bigger wire....you will need a two-hand crimper like below which is for 6mm2 to 50mm2 wire. I have such a crimper that I've had for a while for other electrical work I've done around the house...you can buy two-hand crimpers off Lazada/Shopee for around Bt300 which is where I bought mine....see 2nd image below.

Now I'm sure some of you are wondering how much "power drop" reaching the EV occurs with the 15M cable which is 3 times longer than the original/standard 5M cable that typically come with wall chargers. Well, based on early testing yesterday and today it may be around 50 watts and I have to use EV "OBD" readout to see that since the EV display only reads out to the nearest 100 watts which could mask/not show a small 50W drop depending on how the display rounds numbers. Ex: if "OBD" real time readout for the original 5M cable showed 6.250KW going into the battery (after all the conversion loss) the OBD readout for the 15M cable would be around 6.200....it so minor a person might not even notice it simply from the charging power shown on the EV dash display depending on the display rounds up or down to the single decimal point. Right now I figure the worst case power loss and depending on the displays rounding a person could see a max of 0.1KW max (100 watts) decrease in KW reaching the battery....like if you always saw 6.2KW with a 5M cable a 15M cable might show 6.1KW depending on rounding. Summary: very minimal KW loss by extending the cable length from 5M to 15M.

OK, another project done....I can now reach the charging port on my next EV regardless of where it located on the vehicle (left, right, front, rear) and I can still park in my carport in my preferred way. Time to go eat lunch. Cheers.

My charger now with a "15" meter charging cable.

Two hand 6mm2 to 50mm2 crimper...surprising cheap at around

around Bt300 off Lazada, Shopee, AliExpress, online stores...it's
about as long as from you elbow to tip of your fingers.

Another way to do that…

Our chargers are on 32amp plugs and sockets with the charger hooking over roundhead screws.

I would have put another 32amp socket (or even a couple) in the different places I may want to charge and just move the charger.

If your charger fails, you can plug in another and if you move house you can take your charger with you. If you have more than one EV as we do, you can charge 2 cars at once at the 16amp setting or one at 8 amps and the other at 24amps.

1 hour ago, JBChiangRai said:

Another way to do that…

Our chargers are on 32amp plugs and sockets with the charger hooking over roundhead screws.

I would have put another 32amp socket (or even a couple) in the different places I may want to charge and just move the charger.

If your charger fails, you can plug in another and if you move house you can take your charger with you. If you have more than one EV as we do, you can charge 2 cars at once at the 16amp setting or one at 8 amps and the other at 24amps.

Yea, I thought about doing something kinda similar to that by adding some additional wiring on the wall, manual transfer switch to switch between outlets, etc...etc.....but all of that would have been more "less than pretty" conduit and switches on the walls, probably cost even more to make than my 15m charging cable, etc.

And since I own my home I won't be moving to a new location (heaven or hell) until I die where I will care less about chargers...will be more interested in keeping my white wings & halo clean OR (hopefully not) keeping my horns sharp).👹

When I first acquired the 5M "Extension" cable talked earlier which expands the 5M chargers cable length to 10M I thought that would satisfy my future needs but that was when I was only interested in EVs with the charging port on the "front right or left fender" OR right rear fender like the Sealion 7 with the charging port on the right rear. But as I started expanding my "next EV search" EVs like the Zeekr 7X (which I like a lot) have their charging port on the left rear which makes a 10M cable not quite enough based on how I want/need to park my EV in my home carport....but 15M is more than enough. So, I built the 15M charging cable.

Top 20 BEV "registrations" for March 2026/

Note: Highly, highly unlikely this includes any bookings/sales from the 25 Mar -5 Apr 2026 Motor Show unless a person paid cash the first few days of the motor show and was able to also get it registered before the end of March. But the April registration stats should include many bookings/sales during the motor show assuming the dealerships had ready stock on-hand and that is far from always being the case.

Popular EVs in the Bt500K - Bt700K ballpark for those looking for such an EV.

Shows battery size, DC/AC charging capability, range, and starting price.

21 hours ago, brfsa2 said:

I think that is wise to go Geely, BYD or MG, I am personally not impressed with BYD, so, MG is likely going to be my next car because I want 800V, no way I'm getting another 400V car, unless it's a Tesla. the charging speeds matter too much to me.

MG and BYD will have service centers all over Thailand...

While I'm not in the market at the moment, the new mg4 top spec looks good value. 245hp, 350nm, rear wheel drive. The low clearance makes me think twice about it though. Or the s5 for a higher riding position.

On 4/10/2026 at 11:24 AM, khunphil said:

if I don't book, so I can plug in any available machine ? Example : 10AM I arrive .. free slot ... I plug ... I need 30mn to be at let's say 80% ... But someone did booked (30mn before) for 10.15AM ? So the app will drop me out 15mn later ? Sorry for VERY BASIC question !

As far as I know only PTTs EV station plus has this reservation feature which can be good or bad. I tend to avoid PTT because they are often booked but no one there but you still can't use this slot. On the rare occasion when we are travelling long distance with our EV I try to do some charging whenever we stop for toilet, food or coffee. This takes roughly 15 minutes and if you find a free charger and your battery is between the sweet spot of 20 to 80 % SOC that 15 minute break to charge it gives you plenty of range for the rest of your day. Do that again for another break and you can drive all day

Not really related to EV cars but recently I got this advertisement in my Facebook feed

On 4/10/2026 at 1:08 PM, Pib said:

In my earlier post above I showed a picture of my Zhida charger with original "5" meter cable. I finally got off my rear end and constructed a 15 (fifteen) meter cable with new charging gun....see 1st below snapshot.

I ordered/used 4 wire "VCT" cable (sold in many places) which is much, much cheaper than 4 wire EV charging cable and I also ordered a new charging gun. I decided to build this "long" charging cable due to how I prefer to park my EV in my home's carport "and for a EV future buy" which will probably have the charging port on the "left or right rear" of the EV (vs my current Atto with port on front right)...it charging port on rear this would be too far for a standard 5M cable to reach based on how I prefer to park in the carport.

Six months or so ago I even bought a 5M charging "extension" cable for Bt2,360 to solve this future issue but as it turns out if the EV has the charging port on the left rear of the car even a 10m cable (charger 5m original cable plus 5M extension cable totaling 10M) wouldn't be quite enough for an EV with "left" rear charging port based on the way I prefer to park in the carport. So, I decided to just build a new 15M charging cable...total cost was Bt2,964 for 15M of VCT 4 wire 6mm2 wire and a new, quality charging gun....got both on sale on Shopee. With my electronics background and being a DIYer building this kind of electrical stuff is enjoyable for me.

You can't reuse the old charging gun to save money since the cable wires are "crimped" in the charging gun pins which prevents the pins from being reused....i.e., uncrimped. Now, if a person could easily buy "only the correct replacement pins" he could reuse the old charging gun "housing" with new pins to crimp onto the cable wires. However, each charging gun uses slightly different shaped pins designed for that particular charging gun...each charging gun manufacturer seems to use slightly different pins. Exact pins which a person may or may not be able to buy like off Alibaba, Aliexpress, online stores, etc., because there are many different kinds of pins sold and even if a person could find the exact right pins buying the pins costs almost as much as complete new charging gun which comes with new pins....better, easier just to buy a new charging gun which comes with new pins/all required parts to include a new Proximity Pilot resistor for the charging gun.

And to crimp the pins you will need a crimper with the ability to crimp 6mm2 wires into "hard" stainless steel alloy charging gun pins....a mere single-hand crimper can't generate the crimping force required for 6mm2 or bigger wire....you will need a two-hand crimper like below which is for 6mm2 to 50mm2 wire. I have such a crimper that I've had for a while for other electrical work I've done around the house...you can buy two-hand crimpers off Lazada/Shopee for around Bt300 which is where I bought mine....see 2nd image below.

Now I'm sure some of you are wondering how much "power drop" reaching the EV occurs with the 15M cable which is 3 times longer than the original/standard 5M cable that typically come with wall chargers. Well, based on early testing yesterday and today it may be around 50 watts and I have to use EV "OBD" readout to see that since the EV display only reads out to the nearest 100 watts which could mask/not show a small 50W drop depending on how the display rounds numbers. Ex: if "OBD" real time readout for the original 5M cable showed 6.250KW going into the battery (after all the conversion loss) the OBD readout for the 15M cable would be around 6.200....it so minor a person might not even notice it simply from the charging power shown on the EV dash display depending on the display rounds up or down to the single decimal point. Right now I figure the worst case power loss and depending on the displays rounding a person could see a max of 0.1KW max (100 watts) decrease in KW reaching the battery....like if you always saw 6.2KW with a 5M cable a 15M cable might show 6.1KW depending on rounding. Summary: very minimal KW loss by extending the cable length from 5M to 15M.

OK, another project done....I can now reach the charging port on my next EV regardless of where it located on the vehicle (left, right, front, rear) and I can still park in my carport in my preferred way. Time to go eat lunch. Cheers.

My charger now with a "15" meter charging cable.

Two hand 6mm2 to 50mm2 crimper...surprising cheap at around

around Bt300 off Lazada, Shopee, AliExpress, online stores...it's
about as long as from you elbow to tip of your fingers.

nice DYI mod! I've been thinking to do it as well, I have some Vct-G 2X6/6 Yazaki cable roll I could use. what brand of cable you used? your VCT wire had 2 core cables and 1 ground cable, all 3 6sqmm? And how much was the gun ?

Be careful with cheap copper wires purchased online. it's full of fakes, you need to measure yourself after you received to be sure.

just last month I purchased 2x6 NYY cable from a very large reputable store in Lazada, the copper I got was around 3 sqmm only per core, maybe 3.5sqmm if lucky. far from 6sqmm, and it was labeled exactly like the original Yazaki cables! I got it returned as counterfeit product, and the same store continues to sell the same cable today...

a years ago I purchased 6sqmm ground wire, what I got was also around 3-4sqmm only; I requested to return as Fake, this time, Lazada let me keep the wires and refunded me fully, I ended up using them for a 2.5sqmm wire setup, over provisioned is always good no?

3 hours ago, CLW said:

I tend to avoid PTT because they are often booked but no one there but you still can't use this slot

actually you can use the slot if they dont show up within 5 minutes of booking.

for example, (just what happened to me), if you book 10:00-10:30 and 10:30-11:00 am (1 hour booked) then you show up after 10:05, you just lost that first 30 minutes booking, you can you still use it if nobody took it. or if someone took, you can still wait for the 10:30 booking. :)

12 minutes ago, brfsa2 said:

actually you can use the slot if they dont show up within 5 minutes of booking.

for example, (just what happened to me), if you book 10:00-10:30 and 10:30-11:00 am (1 hour booked) then you show up after 10:05, you just lost that first 30 minutes booking, you can you still use it if nobody took it. or if someone took, you can still wait for the 10:30 booking. :)

Isn't booking two slots frowned upon?

On 4/10/2026 at 3:57 PM, Pib said:

Top 20 BEV "registrations" for March 2026/

Note: Highly, highly unlikely this includes any bookings/sales from the 25 Mar -5 Apr 2026 Motor Show unless a person paid cash the first few days of the motor show and was able to also get it registered before the end of March. But the April registration stats should include many bookings/sales during the motor show assuming the dealerships had ready stock on-hand and that is far from always being the case.

Tesla seems to be doing much better after the new new cheap models eh :)

Also they’re installing superchargers now upcountry. I’m in the middle of nowhere and they just installed one 15km away.

1 hour ago, brfsa2 said:

nice DYI mod! I've been thinking to do it as well, I have some Vct-G 2X6/6 Yazaki cable roll I could use. what brand of cable you used? your VCT wire had 2 core cables and 1 ground cable, all 3 6sqmm? And how much was the gun ?

Be careful with cheap copper wires purchased online. it's full of fakes, you need to measure yourself after you received to be sure.

just last month I purchased 2x6 NYY cable from a very large reputable store in Lazada, the copper I got was around 3 sqmm only per core, maybe 3.5sqmm if lucky. far from 6sqmm, and it was labeled exactly like the original Yazaki cables! I got it returned as counterfeit product, and the same store continues to sell the same cable today...

a years ago I purchased 6sqmm ground wire, what I got was also around 3-4sqmm only; I requested to return as Fake, this time, Lazada let me keep the wires and refunded me fully, I ended up using them for a 2.5sqmm wire setup, over provisioned is always good no?

The VCT-G 2x6/6 you mentioned is only 3 wire with one of the 3 being the Ground wire which is colored with green & yellow stripes. Because of this "special" coloring (i.e., specifically identifying the Ground wire as green-yellow) it typically cost more than a standard VCT 3 wire which does not have the special coloring to signify a ground wire; instead when using the wire you choose which wire/which color you will use as the ground wire. But once again a 3 wire cable will not work; must be a 4 wire cable for an EV 7KW/32A charging cable.

You need a 4 wire cable for a 7KW charging cable....a Live wire, a Neutral wire, a Protective Earth (Ground) Wire....all of which must be 6mm2 wire...and also a 4th wire for the Control Pilot (CP) wire which only needs to be 0.5mm2 (being larger is fine) to carry the 24V/very low amperage communications between the EV and wall charger. An EV charging cable will also use TPU sheathing vs PVC sheathing "only because" the TPU sheathing is much thinner which will make the cable smaller in diameter, a little easier to handle, a little lighter than using PVC sheathed cable, and can handle UV light better if the cable is used out in the sun all the time. But the core reason TPU sheathing just makes the cable smaller in diameter and lighter. A factory made 7KW charging cable with its 3 big wires and 1 little wire also with its TPU sheathing will be approximately 13mm in diameter whereas a cable made with VCT cable will be around 18mm in diameter due to having 4 big wires and a thicker PVC sheathing. The particular Thai Union multi strand copper VCT cable I used has approximately 107 copper strands per 6mm2 wire....yes I counted the number of tiny strands composing each 6mm2 wire....the more stands the better for flexibility purposes.....and that 107 strands is more than the approx 85 strands a Super Cable VCT cable has per 6mm2 wire. The Thai Union VCT 4 wire 6mm2 wire has an diameter of 18mm....that large diameter made it a little of a challenge to insert thru the end of the charging gun grommet but I got it fitted just fine....see image below of the wire I used.

I bought the VCT 450/750V cable from this Shopee store....this store has very fair prices. I ordered 15 meters but they sent 17.2 meters---that made me happy. Wire made by Thai Union. It's "true" VCT wire vs the "IEC53" VCT wire. IEC53 VCT wire has lower specs than true VCT wire....but the IEC53 VCT wire is still much more than good enough for EV charging cable use....just don't use IEC 53 as buried in the ground cable.

"IEC 53" VCT wire vs true VCT wire. True VCT spec'ed wire has higher voltage ratings, thicker sheath, just a better cable. However, with that being said IEC 53 cable is more than good enough for the purposes of a charging cable and typically cost less...but you can find some shops/stores that sell IEC 53 and true VCT cabling at close to the same price.

Charging Gun I ordered/used. Price on Shopee Feyree Store as of 11 Apr 2026 when I looked, but I got it for Bt768 after the various discounts/vouchers/fee shipping. It will come with all needed screws, Proximity Pilot connector 220 ohm resistor, etc. I've seen this charging gun in the Feyee store on both Shopee and Lazada vary week to week from around Bt1000 to around Bt2500 before discounts. Feyree sells various charging guns...I recommend the one below as it's latest generation...extremely well built and pretty easy to assemble. Ditto on how Feyree prices most of it's "wall chargers" on its Shopee and Lazada stores....prices can go up and down by big amounts from week to week, day to day, sale to sale.

Price I paid a month or so ago when I ordered

My Feyree charging gun and VCT 4 wire cable

And yes, it was definitely 6mm2 wire; not smaller like 5mm2 or smaller. Copper wire; not aluminum wire with copper cladding. Over 100 tiny strands per 6mm2 wire...more strands the better for flexibility.

Shopee links for VCT cable and Feyree charging gun shown in my post above....links as of 12 Apr 2026.

Remember, some Feyree store products (like their charging guns and chargers) in their Shopee and Lazada official stores can vary "widely" in pricing from day to day, week to week, sale to sale, etc. I've seen pricing on many of their products sometimes change by over a 100%...like a charging gun be priced at around Bt1,000 before various discounts 8and the next day the exact same gun jump up to around Bt2000 and then a few days later or a week later jump way down in price....like a yoyo. So, watch for their best/lowest pricing as it varies...much more on some products than at a typical Shopee/Lazada store

VCT 4 wire 6mm2 Thai Union cable

https://th.shp.ee/uAbGHJku

32A/7KW Feyree charging gun. Feyree sells various charging guns but this one is the best IMO.

https://th.shp.ee/ohuKZsFJ

Copy and paste from the website:

"The Nissan NX8 was launched with 8,423 orders within 30 minutes, boasting a range of up to 1,450 kilometers. The starting price is approximately 700,000 baht."

Since it debuts in China, I'm wondering what rebadged vehicle it is this time. See Mazda e6 => Changan

https://www.thaidriving.com/nissan-nx8-3/?fbclid=Iwb21leARH0JtjbGNrBEfQeGV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHgedKtQFA-z-nyFcvr3JKcc190dLVso7MsmUEI-M7y75rEBA61SYs637_vvg_aem_9o-HDgCCfZ_ExCmxHuS-oA

54 minutes ago, CLW said:

Copy and paste from the website:

"The Nissan NX8 was launched with 8,423 orders within 30 minutes, boasting a range of up to 1,450 kilometers. The starting price is approximately 700,000 baht."

Since it debuts in China, I'm wondering what rebadged vehicle it is this time. See Mazda e6 => Changan

https://www.thaidriving.com/nissan-nx8-3/?fbclid=Iwb21leARH0JtjbGNrBEfQeGV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHgedKtQFA-z-nyFcvr3JKcc190dLVso7MsmUEI-M7y75rEBA61SYs637_vvg_aem_9o-HDgCCfZ_ExCmxHuS-oA

Since the article says the vehicle is based on the "Tianyan Architecture 2.0" and then googling about that architecture the results show the architecture is owned by a "Dongfeng-Nissan" joint venture. Dongfeng is a Chinese "state-owned" auto manufacturing company. So, Nissan has got in bed with a Chinese "state-owned" company (not privately owned) company.

So, it appears the NX8 could be considered a rebadged Dongfeng vehicle but maybe Nissan gave some input on wheel rims, headlights, upholstery, etc. 😄

6 hours ago, Pib said:

VCT 4 wire 6mm2 Thai Union cable

https://th.shp.ee/uAbGHJku

32A/7KW Feyree charging gun. Feyree sells various charging guns but this one is the best IMO.

https://th.shp.ee/ohuKZsFJ

Thanks! I will probably get the same cable later from LAZ

I have the same black Zhida charger from BYD, I noticed the wire from the 40A breaker to the back Body of the Zhida get pretty hot (wire is only 60-80cm long), it looks like a 3x6sqmm NYY cable. So, I've been contemplating to change it to a 3x10sqmm NYY I had spare to keep things cooler. Also that wire can serve as cooling dissipation aid, because the cable also acts as a longitudinal heat sink for the charger's internal terminals and the 40A breaker. it will help wick heat away from the mechanical connection points, these are often the failure points due to thermal expansion and contraction.

You know, 6sqmm wire is rated for ~40A , so its borderline for continuous 32A pushing it close to the limit.

the only worry is if the Zhida internal terminals use a clamp-style connector, but I think it doesnt, since the engineer did the connections on the spot.

Anyways, I will use high-quality copper ferrules that I have, I got pretty much all high end connectors available at my storage :D

21 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

Isn't booking two slots frowned upon?

Not at all. The app allows you to book up to five slots.

3 hours ago, brfsa2 said:

Thanks! I will probably get the same cable later from LAZ

I have the same black Zhida charger from BYD, I noticed the wire from the 40A breaker to the back Body of the Zhida get pretty hot (wire is only 60-80cm long), it looks like a 3x6sqmm NYY cable. So, I've been contemplating to change it to a 3x10sqmm NYY I had spare to keep things cooler. Also that wire can serve as cooling dissipation aid, because the cable also acts as a longitudinal heat sink for the charger's internal terminals and the 40A breaker. it will help wick heat away from the mechanical connection points, these are often the failure points due to thermal expansion and contraction.

You know, 6sqmm wire is rated for ~40A , so its borderline for continuous 32A pushing it close to the limit.

the only worry is if the Zhida internal terminals use a clamp-style connector, but I think it doesnt, since the engineer did the connections on the spot.

Anyways, I will use high-quality copper ferrules that I have, I got pretty much all high end connectors available at my storage :D

The Zhida charger comes with a VCT 3 wire 10mm2 "input" cable (actually VCT-G 2x10/10) rated with at 40C (degrees) continuous rating of approx 47A. Actually the cable is rated up to 70C continuous where the max continuous current would be a little less. However, that continuous rating applies to "conductors....that is, the wires actually carry current''.....since only two of the wires actually carry current (Line and Neutral) a 2 wire conductor rating is approx 51A continuous. And by "continuous I mean it can safely carry that amount of current for decades. Plus these continuous ratings are "conservative" ratings...error on the side of caution. The cable can actually carry much more amps before its insulations would start getting really hot and melt at some point...but that probably would start happening until a 100 to 150A was continuously flowing thru the cable. Numerous circuit breakers would have tripped long before then like the 40A RCBO installed next to the charger and 40A circuit breaker back the home's main circuit panel.

The Zhida charging "output" cable (i.e., charger to EV) is a 4 wire 6mm2 wire as is almost every 7KW charging cable on the market....7KW chargers simply use 6mm2 wire because it's more than enough to carry 30-31A flowing between the 7KW charger and EV. A typical 4 wire 6mm2 wire cable is going to be rated around 34A "continuous;" however, since only 2 of the 4 wires actually carry current up to around 40A continuously....with continuously being 24/7.

As to input and output cable connectors/lugs the wire is crimped into one end of the connector and screwed down on the other end. See below pictures of my Zhida charger when it still had the "original" 5 meter output charging cable...and the new 15M cable I built I installed used the same style connectors/lugs.

"Output"/6mm2 cable connections for Live, Neutral and PE

Closer view....Brown is Line, Yellow-green is PE, and Blue is Neutral...all 6mm2. And lets not forget the all important small red wire which is the Control Pilot (CP) wire that carries communications between the wall charger and EV...that CP wire only carries a 24V rectangular 1000Hz wave at just a few milliamps...that's why a 0.5mm2 wire size is more than enough for the CP wire.

And here's the 3 wire 10mm2 "input" cable (40A RCBO to charger) and how it's installed...type of connectors used. Out of the box the Zhida charger comes with a little over 1 meter long, 10mm2 input cable and connectors. I "think" it came with the connectors that connector to the charger already attached and they just needed to be screwed onto the board. But the other end of the cable which goes to the 40A RCCO the connectors/lugs are not installed in case a person wants to cut/shorten the 10mm2 cable. A person then installs connectors/lugs on that end with a crimper able to crimp 10mm2 wire/lugs (like that crimper I pictured earlier)...the installed lugs now hook to your 40A RCBO.

Zhida 10mm2 input cable....charger to RCBO

By the way, I have been charging my EV for two hours now. Since I read you post before I started charging I took a temp reading with an IR spot temp digital meter of the 10mm2 input cable and 6mm2 output cable before beginning the charge....their temps were 37.6C (i.e., the ambient temp at the time...it's hot today in Bangkok). After two hours of charging at 31A, the 10mm2 cable had a temp of around 39C and the 6mm2 cable around 41C...or said another way they felt "slightly" warmer than ambient temp.

Cheers.