Electric Vehicles in Thailand

[KhunLA]

2 hours ago, JBChiangRai said:

I think it's more that the old model was underpriced, I just took my daughter's EP+ out to dinner, it's a fantastic car.

Ah .. but we sit a bit higher & get 20 kms more range, and it only cost ฿180k more ... ????????????????

[JBChiangRai]

7 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Ah .. but we sit a bit higher & get 20 kms more range, and it only cost ฿180k more ... ????????????????

The first thing I noticed getting into the EP+ from the MG4, is how much higher the seating position is, acceleration is very similar, opening the tailgate the floor is much lower.  It feels a larger car, also subjectively it may be quieter at speed but I can't be sure.  It has a really taut chassis and is a joy to drive.

 

I like that the regen mode is on a physical switch, likewise ECO, Sport, Normal driving modes and I also like the lack of LKPITA (Lane keeping PITA).  After nearly 50 years of driving, if I want to straddle or cross a white line, there's a reason and I don't want to fight with a computer that things it knows better.

 

The main thing is the price, 771k baht for a large, quality car with that performance is laughably ridiculous.

 

I don't have any experience of MG ICE cars, but their EV's are incredibly high quality machines.

[ThailandRyan]

9 minutes ago, JBChiangRai said:

The first thing I noticed getting into the EP+ from the MG4, is how much higher the seating position is, acceleration is very similar, opening the tailgate the floor is much lower.  It feels a larger car, also subjectively it may be quieter at speed but I can't be sure.  It has a really taut chassis and is a joy to drive.

 

I like that the regen mode is on a physical switch, likewise ECO, Sport, Normal driving modes and I also like the lack of LKPITA (Lane keeping PITA).  After nearly 50 years of driving, if I want to straddle or cross a white line, there's a reason and I don't want to fight with a computer that things it knows better.

 

The main thing is the price, 771k baht for a large, quality car with that performance is laughably ridiculous.

 

I don't have any experience of MG ICE cars, but their EV's are incredibly high quality machines.

My MGHS X is a very nice ride and a quality vehicle. Interior is roomy and comfortable. I average about 580km per tank full.....can't do that in an EV, but then we have looked at them. I even put a EV charging port in at the house for those friends of ours who visit and have one.  Now that Ford is in the game with a nice SUV, I might look at it and see if the price is right and the features of quality.....not a Tesla fan.   Daughter's boyfriends Tesla S was hit from the side while it was parked on the street, damage looked minimal but there was damage to the batteries underneath and the cost to repair the vehicle was over half the cost of the car so the Insurance company totaled it....

[JBChiangRai]

I think there will be no better time to have an EV in Thailand than now.  2 to 4 charging points at most large highway services is ok now but it's going to have to grow exponentially.  If there are 6 petrol pumps each taking 2 minutes to fill a car, then we are going to need to replace them with 50 to 100 charging points to keep par.

 

Right now we're in the golden point of owning an EV, I am sure there is pain coming.  The US & UK is going through that growing pain now.

[KhunLA]

22 minutes ago, JBChiangRai said:

The main thing is the price, 771k baht for a large, quality car with that performance is laughably ridiculous.

 

I don't have any experience of MG ICE cars, but their EV's are incredibly high quality machines.

Definitely  a bargain for specs & ride.   Same or wee bit more than most popular ICEs sold here.

 

ICE version of ZS is really nice, little petrol thirsty, but again, same price as top end entry models, popular cars in TH, but much nicer all the way around.  A joy to drive.

 

Really hated selling it, but the added performance and operating cost of EV, was hard to pass up.

[Andrew Dwyer]

4 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Definitely  a bargain for specs & ride.   Same or wee bit more than most popular ICEs sold here.

 

ICE version of ZS is really nice, little petrol thirsty, but again, same price as top end entry models, popular cars in TH, but much nicer all the way around.  A joy to drive.

 

Really hated selling it, but the added performance and operating cost of EV, was hard to pass up.

My ZS ICE , a little over 2 years old, was a great buy and has given me 33k trouble free km.

Was competing against the Corolla Cross when I bought it, no doubt I would have been happy with the Cross but the 450k difference sealed the deal.

I don’t find it too thirsty either, with an average 14.5 km/ltr i’m happy.

[motdaeng]

17 hours ago, Bandersnatch said:

Anybody else considering going to the motor show?

https://www.motorshow.in.th/

 

I am making a list of cars to check out along with a visit to Tesla Pop-up showroom at CentralWorld

i went to central world yesterday and got a good look at the tesla Y. even though it would not my first choice, i leave the possibility of a purchase open ...

 

i'll look more closely at a few options in a comparable price range at the motor show this week. i'm also hoping to get prices and delivery dates for ev-cars like:

byd seal - byd han - byd tang - ioniq 5 - ioniq 6 - neta s - gwm lightning car - volvo ex 90 etc.

[CLW]

15 hours ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

The ES does have Emergency Lane Keeping Assistance ( they even seem to have added the word Emergency ! ) and Adaptive Cruise Control which seem to be the most complained about “ improvements “ on the latest MG and BYD cars.

 

https://www.mgcars.com/en/mg-models/new-mg-es/safety

Not only MG and BYD. Don't blame the cars or the systems. Problem is the Thai traffic and roads. especially road marking and signage.

I asked the sales about the automatic traffic sign recognition of the MG 4. She said it has it but also acknowledged that there are rarely speed limit signs along major roads...

[CLW]

22 minutes ago, motdaeng said:

i'll look more closely at a few options in a comparable price range at the motor show this week. i'm also hoping to get prices and delivery dates for ev-cars like:

byd seal - byd han - byd tang - ioniq 5 - ioniq 6 - neta s - gwm lightning car - volvo ex 90 etc.

BYD Han and Tang most likely not coming to Thailand because they won't make a RHD version for it. 

Neta S received bad reviews about built quality and operation comfort.

Ioniq 5 and 6 I guess hopelessly overpriced due to import tax

Ora Lightning, the interior totally turns me off....

Looking much forward to the BYD seal. Pricing and availability in Thailand

[Andrew Dwyer]

1 minute ago, CLW said:

Not only MG and BYD. Don't blame the cars or the systems. Problem is the Thai traffic and roads. especially road marking and signage.

I asked the sales about the automatic traffic sign recognition of the MG 4. She said it has it but also acknowledged that there are rarely speed limit signs along major roads...

Yes but most of the complaints on LKA and ACC are MG4 - U.K. and Atto 3 - Australia and Thailand .

When I was interested in GWM Jolion owners here also slated ACC for picking up crash barriers on bends and slowing the car down unexpectedly.

It has been mentioned before that Thai road markings are not suited for LKA , Björn is always having a go, but I think part of the problem also belongs to the system getting confused at times.

[Yellowtail]

11 minutes ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

Yes but most of the complaints on LKA and ACC are MG4 - U.K. and Atto 3 - Australia and Thailand .

When I was interested in GWM Jolion owners here also slated ACC for picking up crash barriers on bends and slowing the car down unexpectedly.

It has been mentioned before that Thai road markings are not suited for LKA , Björn is always having a go, but I think part of the problem also belongs to the system getting confused at times.

Any driver assistance program that does not work most everywhere is worse than useless. 

[KhunLA]

31 minutes ago, CLW said:

Not only MG and BYD. Don't blame the cars or the systems. Problem is the Thai traffic and roads. especially road marking and signage.

I asked the sales about the automatic traffic sign recognition of the MG 4. She said it has it but also acknowledged that there are rarely speed limit signs along major roads...

Agree ... might work good, but in TH, it's annoying.   Probably would be elsewhere also, as the lightest drift from center of your lane, and it nudges you back.   That's annoying.

 

NO THANKS ... I disabled that.

 

The slowing down on curves with cruise control, isn't necessarily the sensor picking up the guardrail, but the sway of the body, from centrifugal force, as it does it also on back roads, when it's set @ 60 kph, and no guardrail or anything visible.

 

Just shows how improperly roads are made, for the posted speed limits.

Edited March 21, 2023 by KhunLA

[CLW]

16 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

Any driver assistance program that does not work most everywhere is worse than useless. 

That's right. But it is a thing not only related to EVs. Mercs and BMWs will have the same issues here

[Yellowtail]

2 minutes ago, CLW said:

That's right. But it is a thing not only related to EVs. Mercs and BMWs will have the same issues here

No, it's not only related to EVs, but there is really nothing that happens on Thai roads that does not happen on roads in other counties, the only difference is frequency. 

 

[KhunLA]

1 minute ago, CLW said:

That's right. But it is a thing not only related to EVs. Mercs and BMWs will have the same issues here

I think they are silly options to even have, and just marketing.  Since needed for 'self driving' (would prove you're idiot to use), guess they add it to the marketing.

 

For me, it's just another option that could fail, and need replacing, as most complaints about vehicles today, are the options, and why I want as few as possible.

[Bandersnatch]

 

No price yet

 

 

https://www.mgcars.com/th/mg-models/new-mg-maxus9/spec

 

[CLW]

4 hours ago, KhunLA said:

I think they are silly options to even have, and just marketing.  Since needed for 'self driving' (would prove you're idiot to use), guess they add it to the marketing.

 

For me, it's just another option that could fail, and need replacing, as most complaints about vehicles today, are the options, and why I want as few as possible.

You can turn it off and it depends where you are driving.

 

But I don't want to miss ACC and TJA for driving on the motorway and inner city of BKK.

So much easier and relaxed. You don't have to do anything 

[Andrew Dwyer]

800k for the Dolphin, who’s up for it ?

 

 

 

[KhunLA]

45 minutes ago, CLW said:

You can turn it off and it depends where you are driving.

 

But I don't want to miss ACC and TJA for driving on the motorway and inner city of BKK.

So much easier and relaxed. You don't have to do anything 

Use ACC a lot, which I guess uses TJA, but I don't want the car steering for me (self driving) though don't think it would work to well here/TH.

[KhunLA]

25 minutes ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

800k for the Dolphin, who’s up for it ?

 

 

 

BYD Dolphin Specs;

https://www.car250.com/์2-th-byd-dolphin-2023-new.html

 

Body size

Length 4070 mm.

Width 1770 mm.

Height 1570 mm.

Wheel base 2700 mm.

 

BYD Dolphin (44.9 kWh battery, 70 kW motor)

The electric motor provides 93 horsepower and 180 Newton-meters of bit force.

Up to 410 km/NEDC charge

LFP battery 44.9 kWh

0-50 km/h (in 3.9 seconds)

Maximum speed 150 km/h

front wheel drive

AC Charging 7 kW

DC Fast Charge : 30 – 80% SOC 40kW in 30 min.

Total weight 1,780 kg.

 

More @ link above

[BKKBike09]

1 hour ago, CLW said:

You can turn it off and it depends where you are driving.

You can turn it off - in the BYD - but only for that ignition cycle. Then the stupid stuff all turns back on again. Predictive Collision Alert is particularly useless in Bangkok traffic with motorcycles cutting in and out all the time. I've driven various cars with all this gimmickry in Europe (rental VW, Volvo, Vauxhall) and in all of them, it can be turned off permanently if the driver wants.

[KhunLA]

Just now, BKKBike09 said:

You can turn it off - in the BYD - but only for that ignition cycle. Then the stupid stuff all turns back on again. Predictive Collision Alert is particularly useless in Bangkok traffic with motorcycles cutting in and out all the time. I've driven various cars with all this gimmickry in Europe (rental VW, Volvo, Vauxhall) and in all of them, it can be turned off permanently if the driver wants.

That's annoying.  MG, if disable, stays disabled, as I did with lane assist.  Along with a few others ... as I don't need the weather report every day.

[JBChiangRai]

3 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

That's annoying.  MG, if disable, stays disabled, as I did with lane assist.  

Not with the MG4 alas, you have to do it every time you start the car.

[Yellowtail]

45 minutes ago, BKKBike09 said:

You can turn it off - in the BYD - but only for that ignition cycle. Then the stupid stuff all turns back on again. Predictive Collision Alert is particularly useless in Bangkok traffic with motorcycles cutting in and out all the time. I've driven various cars with all this gimmickry in Europe (rental VW, Volvo, Vauxhall) and in all of them, it can be turned off permanently if the driver wants.

Same with the dumba*s start-stop in my 'tuna. Seven years and it still bugs.. 

[Andrew Dwyer]

3 hours ago, KhunLA said:

BYD Dolphin Specs;

https://www.car250.com/์2-th-byd-dolphin-2023-new.html

 

Body size

Length 4070 mm.

Width 1770 mm.

Height 1570 mm.

Wheel base 2700 mm.

 

BYD Dolphin (44.9 kWh battery, 70 kW motor)

The electric motor provides 93 horsepower and 180 Newton-meters of bit force.

Up to 410 km/NEDC charge

LFP battery 44.9 kWh

0-50 km/h (in 3.9 seconds)

Maximum speed 150 km/h

front wheel drive

AC Charging 7 kW

DC Fast Charge : 30 – 80% SOC 40kW in 30 min.

Total weight 1,780 kg.

 

More @ link above

Hmmmm ????

White or purple ??

 

 

 

[ThailandRyan]

3 hours ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

Hmmmm ????

White or purple ??

 

 

 

Can't loose it in a sea of other cars if it's purple....sticks out like a sore thumb.

[KhunLA]

6 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

Can't loose it in a sea of other cars if it's purple....sticks out like a sore thumb.

Anything is better than white.  As much as I like the white MG ZSs I've seen ... I know me and silver hides my lack of keeping a car clean, in this dusty, muddy wet season roads.   White & black just look too dirty if not constantly cleaned.

 

Black is just too hot, but white, they do look nice.  Purple for it's uniqueness ????

 

I've warmed up to silver, since red wasn't available.  Hated the ZS's front grill, in the beginning, as no contrast at all.

 

Now I love it, for it's uniqueness.   Not the same black oval with emblem in center that every car seems to have.   You see the front of a ZS EV, you don't have to wonder what it is.  And if you back in, easy to spot, if you remember what level you parked on ????

[ThailandRyan]

15 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Anything is better than white.  As much as I like the white MG ZSs I've seen ... I know me and silver hides my lack of keeping a car clean, in this dusty, muddy wet season roads.   White & black just look too dirty if not constantly cleaned.

 

Black is just too hot, but white, they do look nice.  Purple for it's uniqueness ????

 

I've warmed up to silver, since red wasn't available.  Hated the ZS's front grill, in the beginning, as no contrast at all.

 

Now I love it, for it's uniqueness.   Not the same black oval with emblem in center that every car seems to have.   You see the front of a ZS EV, you don't have to wonder what it is.  And if you back in, easy to spot, if you remember what level you parked on ????

My HS X is White, with the red and black interior, it gets a bath weekly here at the house....good exercise for the other half, who clocks over 2000 steps while washing and drying it as well as cleaning the inside, I am just the chauffeur....and fund manager....

 

She saw the new Ford I posted above in the OP and likes the style. Just saw that Chevy has a new corvette E-Ray coming out in the US.

Edited March 22, 2023 by ThailandRyan

[Andrew Dwyer]

 

Anyone got any thoughts on the Neta U Pro ?

The longer range , large boot capacity and attractive price ( estimated ) are getting my attention but haven’t seen it in the flesh yet.

 

( those transparent A pillars seem a bit weird though )

[CLW]

17 hours ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

800k for the Dolphin, who’s up for it ?

 

 

 

A bit expensive I would say. But have to see the space inside and dimensions of the real car.

But throw in a little more THB and you'll get the MG4 in basic trim with the size of a VW ID.3