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On 1/6/2023 at 3:13 PM, Bandersnatch said:

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 ????

 

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


They both have V2L

 

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Overall I was very impressed with the car.

 

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Have researched quite a bit on the MG4 through some Fb groups and YouTube reviews, it has been around since Sept 2022 in the U.K. so plenty of info available.

It would appear actual range for the bigger battery is 425km ( 265 miles ) and 350km ( 218 miles ) for the smaller battery which is what will be available here in Thailand, but still okay imo. ( obviously these figures are only a guide and driver dependent ).

A couple of early issues:

Oil leak from the gearbox has been fixed by a new breather pipe.

Some owners find themselves locked in their car with no way out other than scrambling out the boot ! has been fixed with an update needing a dealership visit.

Some distortion of the rear undertray has been identified as misalignment of the tray and bolt holes making a “ bulge “ and an opening in which wind and water etc can enter . A new undertray is being trialled apparently but owners are asked to return to the dealership in the short term to check for loose or missing bolts.

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1 hour ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

Some distortion of the rear undertray has been identified as misalignment of the tray and bolt holes making a “ bulge “ and an opening in which wind and water etc can enter .

Sounds promising.

Seems like the Chinese improved the already poor quality of the british MG manufacturing even further.

 

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1 hour ago, TronxII said:

Sounds promising.

Seems like the Chinese improved the already poor quality of the british MG manufacturing even further.

 

More likely rushed the release of the car to compete with the increasing EV market.

Unsure at the moment if the bulge is entirely caused by misaligned fixing holes in the plastic undertray or there is additional heating causing warping .

 The fixing bolts are reportedly M10 threads so should have been picked up if manually fitted, assuming they are fitted by automation.

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On 1/5/2023 at 5:04 PM, 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 ..."

Wasn't the issue with how & where to extract rather than their abundance? 

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22 hours ago, BKKBike09 said:

Picked up BYD Atto last Friday.

 

I'll post something more fulsome once I've driven it around for a couple of weeks etc, but first impressions are broadly very positive. It's well built, comfortable, mostly extremely quiet, loaded with tech (too much IMHO), has a full glass sunroof with a shade, reasonable sized boot, rear a/c vents, built-in dashcam ... all in all, for THB 1.2 million, very happy so far. 

 

There are 3 drive modes: Eco, Normal, Sport aka Sedate, Acceptable, Sprightly. It's claimed 0-100 is 7.3 secs. Don't know if it does that, but floor it in Sport and it responds quickly for a 1.7 tonne vehicle. Regen has two settings, neither of which does much to slow car below about 40-50 kmh. Faster than that, the High setting is pretty good at decelerating the car. The adaptive cruise control works okay, but only okay (it's not great at smooth decel and pickup). 

 

The price includes 1 year free insurance, 8 years warranty / free servicing (you pay for consumables like brake pads) and a free 7 kw home charger. Film is extra. I'm also paying to have the charger installed this week by a third-party because the BYD free service currently has a long wait (likely not possible this month). This will void the wall charger 1 year warranty, but I can't be ar5ed to go and sit at a charger in Bangkok while I wait for the free install.

 

To the all-important range question. Typically the 60 kw battery version is stated to be good for 420 km (here they push the higher 480 km result from some other standard). I picked up car at 98% and since then have done 300 km and am at 22%. That's 90 km of Bangkok stop start ground level commuting including after dark, and a 210 km day time day trip to the Bang Phra reservoir from Bangkok, on Highway 7. I did 110-120 kmh all the way on the highway with a/c at 23 and music on, down one way in Eco with High regen, and back Normal with Standard regen. I also did 20 km around the lake pushing pretty hard on the twisties in Sport. Add to the battery usage 45 minutes one evening of a family member sitting in the car with the a/c going playing Spotify through the entertainment system (that only knocked 1% off the charge)

 

I reckon range of at least 350 km on a full charge would be a reasonable expectation for anyone who wants to drive with a bit of lead in their foot.

 

The stock tyres get a lot of stick from many reviewers because they're Atlas Batman (exactly) 215/55 on 18 inch wheels. My view is may as well give them a chance rather than bin them immediately as some seem to have done. All I can say is that they're not noisy at highway speeds (or the cabin is very well insulated), they don't squeal or feel skittish under heavy acceleration, and they performed perfectly adequately on the Bang Phra twisties. The Atto isn't a sports car, it's a heavy medium size family car. I figure it's 6 months to the rainy season so run them at least till then.

 

Things I don't like:

 

- it makes an irritating whirring noise between 1-30 kmh 'for safety', which you can't disable (hence comment that it's 'mostly extremely quiet')

- it doesn't have a space-saver spare, only a foam inflation kit; i'm investigating whether I can fit a space saver under the tray in the boot (the tray has a high and low position)

- seems like some 

 

So is BEV the future? I think yes, but I do agree with the concerns about the charging infrastructure. I think a BEV is great if you can home charge and rarely if ever make long trips. But when it comes to those long-distance journeys away from home?

 

The BEV strategy right now seems to be large heavy battery with more range, the range being to offset the charging time required. Let's hope the tech moves to a point where the battery is smaller and lighter, and maybe only offers a modest range of 150-200 km BUT can be charged to say 50%+ in 10-15 mins, say through induction systems in normal car park spaces etc. Who knows.

 

Excellent report @BKKBike09 .

Just a couple of questions:

Is the Sat Nav available in English and are Apple Carplay and Android Auto ( wired ) available ? (not available on early released models but promised to be coming soon ).

Is there an app ? ( useful for cooling car remotely but probably very useful for monitoring/controlling charging ).

Just watched a YouTube video ( either AUS or NZ ) and there’s an impressive amount of voice commands, are voice commands available in English ? ( both MG and GWM voice commands are only in Thai I believe ).

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7 hours ago, eezergood said:

Wasn't the issue with how & where to extract rather than their abundance? 

There is no issue, it's all "end of the world is near" propaganda.

If Lithium was as rare as gold, we would still have thousands of tons available per year, as we do with gold.

35 000 tons Li are extracted every year. We will not have a shortage of this by tomorrow, neither will we have a shortage of gold and silver which are much less abundant.

Tobacco ash contains 0.5% Lithium.

But I was wrong, it is only the 25th element by abundance.

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49 minutes ago, BKKBike09 said:

Thanks.

 

1. SatNav: I think it's only in English. I've used it a couple of times in Bangkok and it seems pretty good. I don't recall whose Nav it is (not Garmin or any name I recognised).

 

2. When I picked up car dealer told me Apple CarPlay had been added; not sure about Android Auto. I haven't used either. It has Spotify too.

 

3. I believe a BYD phone app is coming soon. The charger was installed yesterday and that has an app to monitor charging. I couldn't make phone connect to charger but that's just me being dense. Also, it charges at about 6 kwh so roughly one hour charging = 10%. I'm not particularly interested in the detailed stats etc - more overnight plug n forget for me. 

 

4. Voice commands are only in English or Chinese AFAIK. I turned them off.

 

The car does OTA updates via its own cellular data connection. It's done two since I picked it up. Not sure what they've done! Each took about 20 mins and car can't be driven while they're happening. However you can schedule the update for time/date of your choice (ie middle of the night) which I did, and it duly did it then.

 

I do find it a little scary how much information may be being sent back to China: it implies things like phone contacts are not captured but who really knows. You can turn off the data connection and I think I may well do that (but perhaps that horse has already bolted ...)

 

 

 

Thanks for that.

 

The MG app for my ICE is quite basic and only realistically being able to start the air con remotely is any use , although a poster has stated he used it to start his car once a week from oseas . Used it a couple of times to pre-cool the car remotely imagining it was then just a case of approaching the car , unlocking and driving away but it wasn’t that simple and I lost interest in the app.

On an EV the app should be more useful.

 The voice commands also, being in Thai only, are quite limited on an MG, after using them once as a test they also became redundant.

 

It was this video that perked my interest on voice commands available on as Atto 3, hence my question, I could see myself using the “ aircon up one “ “ “set aircon to 25 degrees “ or “ find a charge station nearby “ after seeing this video.

 

 

But I do understand, there’s an awful lot of tech on these Chinese EV’s and using apps and voice controls are probably best put on the back burner until more familiarity with the car is gained.

 

Seeing only positive reviews with this car so far and it has got to be a big contender against MG and GWM especially when the Thailand factory comes on line.

 

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On 1/12/2023 at 10:09 AM, Andrew Dwyer said:

Used it a couple of times to pre-cool the car remotely imagining it was then just a case of approaching the car , unlocking and driving away but it wasn’t that simple and I lost interest in the app.

It's only minimally less simply than you mention. It's: approach the vehicle, unlock the doors, press the start button and drive away.

 

I'll admit that the first time I did it, I thought I could just drive off immediately but once I realized you have to press the start button first, it was an easy adjustment to make and it's now second nature.

 

I also find the app rather handy to send a destination to the car's SatNav system before starting a journey and to lock the doors remotely if I've forgotten to do so (or to check if I have or haven't, when I'm not sure).

 

I would say I use the app almost every time I'm about to drive the car but it's particularly useful to start the AC when it's been parked in the open for a while (which it often is when we've been out).

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On 1/12/2023 at 12:37 PM, Andrew Dwyer said:

Honda HRV EV due in Thailand this year:

Standard range : 53.6kWh battery, range 420 km

Long range : 68.8 kWh battery, range 510 km

Expected price range 1.2/1.3 million baht after government discount. Based on the current HRV with slight changes.

That would be very interesting and - if priced at that level - would really shake up the 'cheaper end' of the local EV market, given Honda's status and brand loyalty here.

 

I think those ranges sound optimistic though: I reckon as a basic rule of thumb work on 15kWh / 100 km. 

 

We're lucky its never very cold in Thailand - quite interesting range info here for loads of EVs:

 

https://ev-database.org/cheatsheet/range-electric-car

 

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On 1/12/2023 at 12:37 PM, Andrew Dwyer said:

Honda HRV EV due in Thailand this year:

Standard range : 53.6kWh battery, range 420 km

Long range : 68.8 kWh battery, range 510 km

Expected price range 1.2/1.3 million baht after government discount. Based on the current HRV with slight changes.

 

https://autolifethailand.tv/honda-enp1-ens1-ev-bev-thailand-mou/?fbclid=IwAR0zmokuPMjAdU2MVN0jY0T0uSU3-mlKnKuN7OpELdt1PwuOjG9JSnQiITA


Made in Thailand but unlikely to be seen before towards the end of 2023.

From link: "Can run up to 420 km. per charge (CLTC standard)"

 

What is CLTC?

In the EV world, Chinese automakers are the only ones that use NEDC to test their electric vehicles’ range, Americans use EPA ratings, European and Japanese manufacturers all depend on WLTP standard. But China has been gradually implementing a new fuel economy/EV range test procedure in its domestic market, namely the CLTC (China Light-Duty Vehicle Test Cycle). This new standard promised to be more accurate than the old NEDC.

The new CLTC standard includes three test phases (slow, medium, fast driving). The testing process lasts 30 minutes, and the car travels about 14.5 kilometers in total. CLTC can be considered the WLTP equivalent of the Chinese automakers. There are some significant differences between WLTP and CLTC, as well. One of which is the idling duration of the car while testing the consumption; it is two times longer in the CLTC tests than the NEDC. The CLTC test cycle also includes more stops than the WLTP cycle, and the CLTC testing speed limit (114 km/h) is lower than both NEDC and WLTP.

https://www.licarco.com/news/ev-range-tests-explained-comparison-between-epa-ratings-wltp-nedc-and-cltc

 

Our MG ZS exceeds the WLTP rating consistently in 'eco' mode, w/KERS set @ #3.  That's  while at highway speeds also, 90 kph, so kind of impressed with that.

 

Rarely exceed NEDC rating. Actually surprised if matching that at all. (NEDC = ~12.4kW/100kms)

 

I'm happy with 14 or 15 kW/100 kms

14 = 357 kms, closer to our average.

15 = 334 kms, still beating WLTP rating of 320.

 

I like to keep a reserve around 30% when O&A, so travel about 250 kms, with the ZS telling me I'm good for about another 100+ kms, before we stop to top back up.  Easily 3 ish hours on Thai roads, so I'm definitely ready for a break by then.

 

Edited by KhunLA
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10 hours ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

This guy explains how to remove that annoying whirring sound ( starts around the 7.45 minute mark ).

Outstanding! Many thanks. Gone in 30 seconds. Doesn't bring up any visible error messages and 'Vehicle Status Check' comes back as all good.

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4 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Our MG ZS exceeds the WLTP rating consistently in 'eco' mode, w/KERS set @ #3.  That's  while at highway speeds also, 90 kph, so kind of impressed with that.

You've more patience than me if 90 kmh is 'highway speeds'! 

 

110-120 kmh for me (and that feels slow compared to my other car). At least with the BYD EV maybe I won't get so many speeding tickets.

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1 minute ago, BKKBike09 said:

You've more patience than me if 90 kmh is 'highway speeds'! 

 

110-120 kmh for me (and that feels slow compared to my other car). At least with the BYD EV maybe I won't get so many speeding tickets.

Yes, they seem to be out in force lately, for enforcement of speeding.   More check points, and people actually being pulled to the side.

 

Was doing 100-115 ish, when roads good enough, right after the 120 kph announcement almost 2 yrs ago, and they seemed to not enforce any speed limits.  Later, recent news-blips explaining in detail, when 120 was allowed, along with signage now.   Apparently we were in violation probably 75 % of the time on the highway, all around the country, and surprisingly, not 1 camera citation.  Which I actually expected to receive. 

 

Now back to 90 kph, and depending on traffic, seems slow.  Wife stated the same, and then we are passing most cars, stated it seems we were driving fast.  All relative to traffic around us.

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16 minutes ago, BKKBike09 said:

You've more patience than me if 90 kmh is 'highway speeds'! 

 

110-120 kmh for me (and that feels slow compared to my other car). At least with the BYD EV maybe I won't get so many speeding tickets.

If I can squeak out a bit more range, I'm happy. 

 

Noticed it's a more relaxed drive for me now, as sometimes at 110+, I didn't feel comfortable, whether the road, or simply too many side sois, u-turns/intersections.  Found myself easing back to 100 or even 90 kph more times than I would in my younger days ????

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3 hours ago, BKKBike09 said:

Outstanding! Many thanks. Gone in 30 seconds. Doesn't bring up any visible error messages and 'Vehicle Status Check' comes back as all good.

Another little thing you might not be aware of:

The info screen rotation seems a little superfluous to me and landscape seems adequate for all situations imo ( unless in Sat Nav mode portrait is a better option ? ).

Anyway, if you hold the screen rotation button located on the steering wheel for a few seconds a screen pops up with options for the use of said button:

a) screen rotation 

b) take a dash cam photo 

c) start a dash cam video ( press again to stop recording )

 

All 3 options a little superfluous imo but maybe a snapshot or being able to start a video at will suits you better ?

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2 hours ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

Another little thing you might not be aware of:

The info screen rotation seems a little superfluous to me and landscape seems adequate for all situations imo ( unless in Sat Nav mode portrait is a better option ? ).

Anyway, if you hold the screen rotation button located on the steering wheel for a few seconds a screen pops up with options for the use of said button:

a) screen rotation 

b) take a dash cam photo 

c) start a dash cam video ( press again to stop recording )

 

All 3 options a little superfluous imo but maybe a snapshot or being able to start a video at will suits you better ?

Thanks. I'll have a look. I agree rotating screen is a bit superfluous, given the screen is pretty big so Nav in Landscape mode seems fine to me.

 

The dashcam records automatically on a loop AFAIK but being able to take a snapshot might be useful.

 

Things I do like about the Atto are the flat-bottom steering wheel (the whole steering wheel has quite a premium feel to it) and the glass roof. Makes the interior very light and airy. I quite like the interior colour scheme but there's a lot of white, which I can see becoming dirty quite quickly.

 

Amusing fact: in Europe, the fake leather is actively marketed by BYD as 'Vegan leather' ...

 

image.jpeg

 

 

Atto steering.jpg

Edited by BKKBike09
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5 hours ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

So it looks like i am on a 15/45 meter , what would be required, if anything, to get suitable for an EV in-house charging on a 7kw charger ?

PEA was previously offering a service to install a second meter free of charge for EV charging, but that was a few years ago.

 

If I didn't have solar I would install a second Time Of Use meter and charge my EV over night with half price electricity. 

 

2119589343_MEATimeOfRate.jpg.d8be0518889931c235a1f7a33eff9776.jpg

 

I think all the companies selling EVs outsource to the same 3 companies to install the wall charger for them - the company I dealt with knew nothing about my EV, nothing about solar and very little about electrics. 

 

I have a friend who just purchased an MG ZS EV and is being told he needs to upgrade to 3 phase electrics to get a wall box! He asked to install the box himself and was told that it would invalidate the warranty on the wall box. 

 

As I have solar I do not have warranty on the wall box.

 

 

Edited by Bandersnatch
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