Electric Vehicles in Thailand

[Gweiloman]

12 hours ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

I did read that there are 3 regen settings for the Haval cars but not sure if those option settings are available in One Pedal mode.

 

1 hour ago, Sophon said:

It might be different for different charging networks, but I did see one of his earlier road trip videos where the charger stopped charging five minutes before the hour.

 

1 hour ago, macahoom said:

 

Sorry for any confusion, but we've been discussing EV Station PluZ which is the station featured in Bjørn's video a few posts earlier. It stops charging 10 minutes before the hour.

I can confirm that the charger will switch off 5 minutes before the hour, having charged at a few PTT EV Stations.

 

This whole booking system is another fine example of that brilliant Thai logic (similar to 90 day reporting). It will be absolute chaos when demand starts to increase and I shudder to think of the EV charging rage that will inevitably occur especially during NY and Songkran.

 

 I notice for a few charging stations that 10:00 - 10:55 and 11:00 - 11:55 as well as the early hours of the mornings are usually booked due to off peak rates.

 

Also, I have been facing a lot of problems with the app not charging my card(s) which means a call the call centre as you are not able to charge again with a payment outstanding.

 

 

[Gweiloman]

22 hours ago, Longwood50 said:

Well perhaps but I am skeptical.  Common sense tells me, I pay for more the electric car to begin with and as it ages its batteries become exhausted and my range decreases.  As it approaches the age to replace the battery its resale value plummets so whatever "savings" I got from driving an electric vechicle are lost when I factor in the depreciation.  Though you may be happy at this time and perhaps always will, 1 in 5 drivers in Californa said, they will not purchase an EV the second time.  That is a lot 

https://www.businessinsider.in/1-in-5-electric-vehicle-owners-in-California-switched-back-to-gas-because-charging-their-cars-is-a-hassle-new-research-shows/articleshow/82332806.cms

You raise some valid points. First off, not everyone buys an EV or PHEV purely on economic reasons alone. I surely didn’t or I would have just bought a mild hybrid.

 

One of the main joys I’m getting from driving my PHEV is the incredible smoothness and silence of the ride. Having driven fossils for over 40 years, I didn’t initially think it was a big deal by in just one month of ownership, I’m a convert.

 

 Even if the range of my battery degrades by 30% after 8 years or so, I will still have a better electric range than most other current new PHEVs. Furthermore, I do also believe that a few years down the road, swapping out batteries will be the norm and those newer batteries will be significantly cheaper as well.

[Longwood50]

4 minutes ago, Gweiloman said:

 Even if the range of my battery degrades by 30% after 8 years or so, I will still have a better electric range than most other current new PHEVs. Furthermore, I do also believe that a few years down the road, swapping out batteries will be the norm and those newer batteries will be significantly cheaper as well.

Yes and with that "hope" and 30 baht you can get a smoothie at the Night Market. 

Here is the cost of lithium.  And that is with only 2.2% of the cars in the world now being Electric.  Lithium is a rare earth metal and as its supply is exhausted the price will have to go up exponentially.  


 

What percent of the world's cars are electric?

 On a global scale, only 1 in 250 cars on the road is electric. Meaning, electric vehicles account for only 2.2% of the global vehicle market share.

[Gweiloman]

18 hours ago, Longwood50 said:

Again perhaps, but as I drive around Thailand I see precious few charging stations. As to your claim of getting 510 KM perhaps you should advise Mercedes that unlike published reports your car outstrips theirs. 

 

Seek and ye shall find. This is a common criticism of non EV owners. I think the reason is because they are not consciously looking. I never had interest in NGV and had no idea how many refilling stations there were. But I know look at every PTT station I pass to see if there is an EV Station sign and am amazed at how many NGV signs I see.

 

For the first time in over a decade. I’m actually turning into PT and Bangchak stations that have chargers. Tip for dog owners: they are much more dog convenient as usually lots more greenery and less people. 
 

From my recent trip, lack of CS availability was only an issue between Lampang and Phitsanulok (new CSs are popping up in Uttaradit) and between Lom Sak and Khon Kaen (would be nice if they put in a CS in Nam NAO National Park. EV owners might well stop and spend some money at the various outlets there).

[Gweiloman]

11 minutes ago, Longwood50 said:

Yes and with that "hope" and 30 baht you can get a smoothie at the Night Market. 

Here is the cost of lithium.  And that is with only 2.2% of the cars in the world now being Electric.  Lithium is a rare earth metal and as its supply is exhausted the price will have to go up exponentially.  


 

What percent of the world's cars are electric?

 On a global scale, only 1 in 250 cars on the road is electric. Meaning, electric vehicles account for only 2.2% of the global vehicle market share.

To quote Billy Joel, “You may be wrong for all I know or you may be right “. In any case, I will continue to enjoy my ride and if my resale value plummets, I’ll just give the car to someone who needs it. I’m sure there will be no shortage of takers.

[KhunLA]

2 minutes ago, Gweiloman said:

This is a common criticism of non EV owners.....

 

....Tip for dog owners: they are much more dog convenient as usually lots more greenery and less people. 

And EV trolls ... I just put 'em on ignore list

 

Dog owner, and yea, one of main reason I used PTT Parks with ICE, and now both with EV.  Aside from PTTs having market/7-11 & food court, along with a KFCs usually.  Hard to beat them 'wings Zap' ...  Not an Amazon cafe fan.

 

Also when having the ICE, one of the only, and usually just the new larger stations, having E85, which I preferred.  As stated many times, harder to find than any CSs, which are pretty much everywhere now.  With few exceptions.

[Longwood50]

3 minutes ago, Gweiloman said:

Seek and ye shall find. This is a common criticism of non EV owners.

You could be correct but as mentioned as a casual observer, I see precious few charging stations.  Also, unlike the 3 minutes or less it takes to refuel a gasoline powered car it takes in some cases hours to recharge on a Level 2 charger.   Not all the cars or charging stations have level 3 charges even then you are 15 minute to 30 minutes.  Perhaps acceptable if you are the only one in the queue but hardly desireable if there were many waiting to charge.  I know this, in warm or cold weather I certainly don't want to be sitting inside my car for 15 minutes to 30 minutes to have my car charged.  I also know having used electric lithium batteries for a golf cart that they reccomend slow charging since fast charging can degrade the life of the battery. 


Now this may not happen in Thailand however in the PC world of the USA, electric vehicles must now have noise to protect blind pedestrians alerting them to oncoming vehicles. 

[Gweiloman]

18 minutes ago, Longwood50 said:

You could be correct but as mentioned as a casual observer, I see precious few charging stations.  Also, unlike the 3 minutes or less it takes to refuel a gasoline powered car it takes in some cases hours to recharge on a Level 2 charger.   Not all the cars or charging stations have level 3 charges even then you are 15 minute to 30 minutes.  Perhaps acceptable if you are the only one in the queue but hardly desireable if there were many waiting to charge.  I know this, in warm or cold weather I certainly don't want to be sitting inside my car for 15 minutes to 30 minutes to have my car charged.  I also know having used electric lithium batteries for a golf cart that they reccomend slow charging since fast charging can degrade the life of the battery. 


Now this may not happen in Thailand however in the PC world of the USA, electric vehicles must now have noise to protect blind pedestrians alerting them to oncoming vehicles. 

I put it to you that I will probably spend less time at a petrol station than you will, in a typical month. Reason being that I hardly ever need to go to fill up petrol. I’ve done 3,600 kms and filled up once (car came with a full tank from the dealership) for 1,300 baht. Most of my “filling up” will be done in the comfort of my home.

 

I think it’s a good idea for an EV to make some noise at low speeds. I mentioned this in another post that my Haval has a low humming sound at walking speeds.

[KhunLA]

47 minutes ago, Gweiloman said:

Seek and ye shall find....

Indeed ...

 

... for the EV trolls, take a peek here, and you'll realize how silly you sound when repeating the same spew of BS, over & over.

 

It's not good look ????

https://aseannow.com/topic/1279914-ev-charging-stations-cs/#comment-17797581

 

[mistral53]

On 12/24/2022 at 9:21 AM, mistral53 said:

My order has not progressed much, but there is word on the street that:

 

-The film is not paid for, not free.
-Insurance. Cash. Pay by yourself. Pay by installments.
-Wall charge, pay by yourself.
-Register and pay for it yourself.

 

It seems all the freebees usually included for new car buyers are not included with the unique Tesla sales approach.

I just got an insurance quote from my broker for the M3 LR:  THB 91,313.80 for a first class insurance, replacement value at 1.7 mio.........., apparently at the moment almost not insurance underwriter wants to do Tesla's in Thailand.

 

This is almost double of what I pay for a much more expensive Mercedes! If there is anybody on here in the same boat with a better premium, I am very interested to hear about it.

 

 

[TronxII]

5 hours ago, Longwood50 said:

Lithium is a rare earth metal and as its supply is exhausted ...

Lithium is one of the 15 most abundant elements on earth. Your statements are newspaper wisdom.

The same as "water will be scarce in the UK ..."

[mistral53]

17 minutes ago, TronxII said:

Lithium is one of the 15 most abundant elements on earth. Your statements are newspaper wisdom.

The same as "water will be scarce in the UK ..."

Life is much more serene once you put trolls like 'shortwood' on ignore  ????

[josephbloggs]

27 minutes ago, mistral53 said:

I just got an insurance quote from my broker for the M3 LR:  THB 91,313.80 for a first class insurance, replacement value at 1.7 mio.........., apparently at the moment almost not insurance underwriter wants to do Tesla's in Thailand.

 

This is almost double of what I pay for a much more expensive Mercedes! If there is anybody on here in the same boat with a better premium, I am very interested to hear about it.

 

 

Wow, that is incredible.  Yeah, double what I have paid for significantly more expensive cars too. I wonder what is driving that?

[Bandersnatch]

1 hour ago, mistral53 said:

I just got an insurance quote from my broker for the M3 LR:  THB 91,313.80 for a first class insurance, replacement value at 1.7 mio.........., apparently at the moment almost not insurance underwriter wants to do Tesla's in Thailand.

 

This is almost double of what I pay for a much more expensive Mercedes! If there is anybody on here in the same boat with a better premium, I am very interested to hear about it.

 

 

@mistral53 I am sure you seen this but others may want more information

 

Tesla is a very new car in Thailand and I am sure more insurance companies will come on board soon.

 

https://www.tesla.com/en_th/support/faq

 

 

InsuranceHide All

• How can I apply for insurance?

  Voluntary Insurance

  If purchasing via cash (bank transfer), you will be provided with more insurance details as delivery approaches. If you plan to finance your purchase through a bank, the insurance can be included with the financing package. If you need further assistance, contact Tesla or your Tesla Advisors for more information.

  Compulsory Insurance

  Compulsory insurance will be arranged by Tesla or the designated registration agent before delivery.

[mistral53]

5 hours ago, Bandersnatch said:

@mistral53 I am sure you seen this but others may want more information

 

Tesla is a very new car in Thailand and I am sure more insurance companies will come on board soon.

 

https://www.tesla.com/en_th/support/faq

 

 

InsuranceHide All

• How can I apply for insurance?

  Voluntary Insurance

  If purchasing via cash (bank transfer), you will be provided with more insurance details as delivery approaches. If you plan to finance your purchase through a bank, the insurance can be included with the financing package. If you need further assistance, contact Tesla or your Tesla Advisors for more information.

  Compulsory Insurance

  Compulsory insurance will be arranged by Tesla or the designated registration agent before delivery.

There was an even more optimistic if not totally misleading information on various publications of a THB 50,000 cost of insurance to be included when financing.

Verbal gymnastics at its best. I believe or hope the quoted premium I got is based on grey imports, the price of which was almost twice of what the official Tesla selling price is at the moment.

 

Just imagine how many of the 7,700 orders Tesla has on the books now in Thailand would get wiped out if insuring the Tesla low end models goes for a spicy 100K THB a year.

[Bandersnatch]

13 hours ago, Bandersnatch said:

Tesla is a very new car in Thailand and I am sure more insurance companies will come on board soon.

FaceBook seems to know I’m interested in electric cars and I keep seeing this advert for 30% off insurance for electric cars. Unfortunately @mistral53 they don’t list Teslas yet, but maybe worth contacting them.

 

 

[JBChiangRai]

13 minutes ago, Bandersnatch said:

FaceBook seems to know I’m interested in electric cars and I keep seeing this advert for 30% off insurance for electric cars. Unfortunately @mistral53 they don’t list Teslas yet, but maybe worth contacting them.

 

I checked with Roojai for my daughter's MG EP+ and they quoted just over 9,000 baht.  Their policy has historically been that they don't cover imported cars, perhaps the MG EP+ is assembled here?

[Bandersnatch]

2 minutes ago, JBChiangRai said:

I checked with Roojai for my daughter's MG EP+ and they quoted just over 9,000 baht.  Their policy has historically been that they don't cover imported cars, perhaps the MG EP+ is assembled here?

Good price. I know MG has assembled ICE and PHEVs here and that they had plans to do the same for full EVs 

[Bandersnatch]

Today I visited my local MG dealer here in Surin. I asked them about a comments I have seen in this discussion about MG chargers not been open during peak times and was told that was not the case in Surin, but they didn’t know about other dealers.

 

They had a couple of MG4s, one white being prepared for a customer and a blue demonstrator which I took for a spin.

 

There is no start button  - unlocking the car switches it on. Pressing the break pedal allows you to select drive. When you are done click P to park on the rotary dial and get out an lock the car.

 

I was very impressed with the regen breaking which was very close to one pedal driving.

 

The car had a very good pickup once it was going - great for overtaking.

 

There are 2 versions :     D ฿869k and X ฿969k which has more bells and whistles. Prices quoted are after the EV subsidy.

 

Neither version comes with a sunroof ????

 

 

 

They both come with LFP 51kWh batteries with a quoted  425 NEDC (not even damn close) range

They both have V2L

 

 

 

 

Overall I was very impressed with the car.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Bandersnatch]

MG4 in the UK is available in a standard and long range versions. The standard range 51kWh uses an LFP chemistry battery (Lithium iron phosphate) (which is the only one available in Thailand).

 

The LR 64kWh versions uses the standard Lithium ion chemistry. 

 

LFP batteries can be charged to 100% every day while Lithium ion are recommended to only charge to 80% unless you are about to go on a long trip.

 

 

 

[Andrew Dwyer]

Sticking with the MG4 for a minute.

 

Plenty of reviews on YouTube and mostly very positive regarding price, range, quality and general driving comfort .

Negative points are few with average boot space and no designated area for cable storage being the greatest but most reviewers saddened to see lack of rear armrest, no usb port behind r/v mirror ( great for dashcam and frees up the other USB ports  ) , grab handles, settings ( drive mode, regen strength etc ) not being saved upon restarting and NO rear wiper ( MG claims the angle or rear window makes it unnecessary ? ).

 

The two models available here ( X and D ) don’t have sunroofs and the price difference ( 100k baht ) is made up by lack of Sat Nav, 360 degree camera, reversing camera, interior trim level, V2L , some of the safety features ( ADAS etc ) and no smart app connection. Also a rather OTT spoiler on the rear, an additional blue colour choice and all X models have a black roof ( the latest fashion accessory ???? ).

As is usual with the chinese cars available in Thailand the top of the range models get a “ special “ two tone interior which is not always to everyone’s taste , my ZS ICE is okay but I would have preferred a more conservative colour coordination.

 

So the D level misses out on the above features but does have a plain black interior and is 100K cheaper while the X level gets all the bells and whistles but you have to contend with this :

 

 

Would much prefer the plain seating but it’s a lot to give up, despite saving 100k , especially V2L and the cameras, the Sat Nav can always be overridden with Apple Carplay or Android Auto but judging by my current MG Sat Nav it’s a really nice option to have.

 

I’m a big fan of the GWM and MG cars but i just wish their idea of luxury didn’t have to include 3 or 4 colours !!

Hate to fit seat covers but sometimes you just have to !!

[TronxII]

1 hour ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

especially V2L and the cameras,

Well, that's a real incentive to go for the pricier version.

[Andrew Dwyer]

14 minutes ago, TronxII said:

Well, that's a real incentive to go for the pricier version.

Yes, that’s my point, there’s a lot of stuff for the 100k but have to put up with the, imo, bad taste interior .

[JBChiangRai]

10 hours ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

Yes, that’s my point, there’s a lot of stuff for the 100k but have to put up with the, imo, bad taste interior .

It's probably only about 20,000 baht or so to have one of the mom & pop businesses retrim it attractively in real leather, pleated, perforated, piped in a nice contrasting colour or whatever takes your fancy.  I did it in a Vigo years ago.

[KhunLA]

1 hour ago, JBChiangRai said:

It's probably only about 20,000 baht or so to have one of the mom & pop businesses retrim it attractively in real leather, pleated, perforated, piped in a nice contrasting colour or whatever takes your fancy.  I did it in a Vigo years ago.

Wife made seat covers for the ZS ICE, since having a dog.  Her nails would wreak havoc, on vinyl, fake or leather seats.  Haven't done so yet for the ZS EV, as has her 'cushion' for psgr seat, or sits on my lap when I'm driving.  Little bi-atch won't sit in the back seat.

 

Car is in the shade most of the time now, but seats will still get hot, since dark color when O&A, if not in shade, or sun place behind the car.  Just hasn't gotten around to make a set for the EV yet.

 

Don't have tinted windows, as pet peeve of mine, though car cools of quite quickly, and not an issue at all, but surfaces will stay warm if in the sun.

[JBChiangRai]

I think I paid about 12,000 for a 2-tone leather interior (seats & door cards) in my 4 door Vigo about 15 years ago, they did an excellent job.

[Andrew Dwyer]

Anyone have any idea when the Government EV incentive will end ?

[KhunLA]

9 hours ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

Anyone have any idea when the Government EV incentive will end ?

Don't think it has an expiration date, but maybe a cap on amount allotted to the program.

 

[Bandersnatch]

12 hours ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

Anyone have any idea when the Government EV incentive will end ?

Years 2022-2025

 

https://home.kpmg/th/en/home/insights/2022/05/th-tax-news-flash-issue-130.html

[JBChiangRai]

16 hours ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

Anyone have any idea when the Government EV incentive will end ?

If I understand it correctly...

 

It is 2023 for Complete Built Up Units (CBU) i.e. imported as complete items and the manufacturer must make 1 car here for every CBU claiming incentive or 1 to 1.5 in some cases.

 

It is 2025 for cars assembled here from Knock Down Kits (CKD).

 

There are further restrictions on price, but this is for cars retailing at under 2M THB.