EV Charging Stations (CS)

[Pib]

As some of you know BYD has an free charging promotion from 1 Aug 2024 until 3 Jan 2025 for those folks who bought a Dolphin, Atto, or Seal between 1 Nov 2022 thru 31 Aug 2024. See partial snapshot of promotion at bottom...and weblink for full details.

 

For some folks charging was totally free (like in my case since I bought my Atto in late 2023) and for others a reduced rate of Bt4 per KWH vs ReverSharger's normal Bt8/KWH.  Whether you get free or reduced rate charging depends on when you bought your BYD. 

 

This promotion came about because of BYD vehicle BIG price cutting which generated a lot of consumer complaints to the government although BYD doesn't admit the charging promotion came about due to govt pressure and consumer complaints.   

 

Anyway, I got my first free charge in early August and as of yesterday/mid December I squeaked over Bt10K in free charging.  Maybe I'll get to Bt11K before the current promotion ends 3 Jan 2025.   I haven't used my home wall charger since very early August.

 

In the last few days of July the govt announced that in talks with BYD they would provide free/reduced rate charging for 12 months; HOWEVER, when BYD formally implemented a promotion it was only for 5 months and a few days....well, short of 12 months as the govt representative announced.  I guess BYD never agreed to 12 months, but probably told the govt they will "think about doing it for 12 months" and ultimately decided on only 5 months.  

 

Or maybe BYD will end-up extending the current promotion by 7 months thru 31 July 2025 just before the current promotion expires---but my gut feeling is they will not extend it.  Instead, it's just another case of the govt announcing something that ends-up falling short of their announcement.

 

Now, it would take about a decade for free charging to fully offset the price-war vehicle BIG price reductions we've seen over the last year or so, but me being able to claw back around Bt10K is better than a kick-in-the-pants I guess.  😁

 

 

https://www.reverautomotive.com/en/news/sharger-existing-customers-privilege-campaigno

 

 

[JBChiangRai]

I am hoping they don't extend the free charging promotion.

 

I have 30,000 THB free charging credit for introducing another customer and the only place I want to use it is when I drive to Chiang Mai to see my daughters.  I'm not prepared to queue for an hour to then be only able to share the charger with someone else.

 

I may also do a road-trip next year but not if I have to take pot-luck whether I can charge or not.

 

There is no point in me charging my car at BYD in Chiang Rai as most of the time one or two of my grid-tied inverters shut down because we are producing more solar power than can be used.

[Pib]

2 hours ago, JBChiangRai said:

I am hoping they don't extend the free charging promotion.

 

I have 30,000 THB free charging credit for introducing another customer and the only place I want to use it is when I drive to Chiang Mai to see my daughters.  I'm not prepared to queue for an hour to then be only able to share the charger with someone else.

 

I may also do a road-trip next year but not if I have to take pot-luck whether I can charge or not.

 

There is no point in me charging my car at BYD in Chiang Rai as most of the time one or two of my grid-tied inverters shut down because we are producing more solar power than can be used.

You'll probably never be able to use anything close to the Bt30K charging credit since if I remember right that privilege/credit expires 2 years after issue.  And since you can charge for free at home using your solar I wouldn't want to spend any time queuing for/setting at a ReverSharger charger to get some free electrons unless I was on a long trip.

 

And really for me where I posted above that I just squeaked out a few baht over Bt10K of free electrons from BYD that they valued at Bt8 per KWH that works out to 1,250KWH of free electrons.   That same 1,250KWH of electrons would have cost me Bt6.5K if I had charged at home with my wall charger where the electric company charges approx Bt5.2 (inc taxes/Ft/fees) for each KWH I use at home.    So, really I have only gotten Bt6.5K in charging savings due to the BYD free/reduced charging promotion.

 

While the BYD free/reduced charging promotions are nice they don't really provide the customer any BIG cost savings nor do they end-up costing BYD that much since such promotions can't be fully utilized due to charger access, promotion expiration date, etc.  Such promotions are eye-catching on the surface, but usually not as pretty as expected when trying to take advantage of the promotion. 

 

But hey, like I said in my earlier post it's better than a kick-in-the-pants, nothing at all, etc.   I hope BYD extends the promotion, but I'll be surprised to the point of falling out of my chair if they do.

 

[JBChiangRai]

My promotion expires end of December 2026, maybe they extended it because of the other promotion.

 

But you’re right, I will only be able to use a fraction of it, though it does make me think about driving to Khao Lak instead of flying

[Pib]

When opening the ReverSharger app today it said an update is required.  I pressed update and it downloaded/installed the update from Google Play....then the app started up.   

 

I then noticed I had a "Wallet" where I could add credits via PromptPay instead of just being able to pay via debit/credit card.   Now the Wallet icon down at the bottom of the app has been there for a while and when opening it that's were I added debit/credit card(s) to pay for charging.  But today it also showed a "Wallet Number" and a red link titled "Add Credits" that I had never seen before.  And by clicking that Add Credits link I can add funds (credits) to the wallet via Prompt Pay which gives a person another way to pay for a charging session instead of using a debit/credit card.  

 

Now if the Add Credits to your Wallet ability has always been there and I just noticed it today maybe because of the app update emphasizing it/displaying it in a way that finally caught my eye then bad on me.   

 

But if it is a new where you can now pay via a Wallet balance where you top-up via PromptPay vs only being able to pay via debit/credit card then this new capability is a good thing especially if a person couldn't get the ReverSharger app to accept their debit/credit card as a Payment Option....or just didn't want to load their debit/credit card as a payment option.

 

[Pib]

See below post regarding a ReverSharger promotion announced today/25 Dec.  Happy Holidays.

 

 

[UWEB]

I have an ABB Terra Wallbox installed and all was fine, but on 25. of December the Charger has stopped to record the Charger Sessions. Anybody else has the same problem?

Wallbox is still connected to Internet and the connection is working, may be the ABB Server has an outage?

[Andrew Dwyer]

44 minutes ago, UWEB said:

I have an ABB Terra Wallbox installed and all was fine, but on 25. of December the Charger has stopped to record the Charger Sessions. Anybody else has the same problem?

Wallbox is still connected to Internet and the connection is working, may be the ABB Server has an outage?

There was an update on Dec 28th, maybe that resolved your problem ?

 

I haven’t used my wall box since the end of August so have no idea about your problem or if this update will fix it but worth checking ?

 

[UWEB]

1 hour ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

There was an update on Dec 28th, maybe that resolved your problem ?

 

I haven’t used my wall box since the end of August so have no idea about your problem or if this update will fix it but worth checking ?

 

Thanks, I have version 1.8.2 installed, but it is may be causing the problem and not resolving.

[Pib]

On 12/13/2024 at 10:13 AM, Pib said:

As some of you know BYD has an free charging promotion from 1 Aug 2024 until 3 Jan 2025 for those folks who bought a Dolphin, Atto, or Seal between 1 Nov 2022 thru 31 Aug 2024. See partial snapshot of promotion at bottom...and weblink for full details.

 

For some folks charging was totally free (like in my case since I bought my Atto in late 2023) and for others a reduced rate of Bt4 per KWH vs ReverSharger's normal Bt8/KWH.  Whether you get free or reduced rate charging depends on when you bought your BYD. 

 

This promotion came about because of BYD vehicle BIG price cutting which generated a lot of consumer complaints to the government although BYD doesn't admit the charging promotion came about due to govt pressure and consumer complaints.   

 

Anyway, I got my first free charge in early August and as of yesterday/mid December I squeaked over Bt10K in free charging.  Maybe I'll get to Bt11K before the current promotion ends 3 Jan 2025.   I haven't used my home wall charger since very early August.

 

In the last few days of July the govt announced that in talks with BYD they would provide free/reduced rate charging for 12 months; HOWEVER, when BYD formally implemented a promotion it was only for 5 months and a few days....well, short of 12 months as the govt representative announced.  I guess BYD never agreed to 12 months, but probably told the govt they will "think about doing it for 12 months" and ultimately decided on only 5 months.  

 

Or maybe BYD will end-up extending the current promotion by 7 months thru 31 July 2025 just before the current promotion expires---but my gut feeling is they will not extend it.  Instead, it's just another case of the govt announcing something that ends-up falling short of their announcement.

 

Now, it would take about a decade for free charging to fully offset the price-war vehicle BIG price reductions we've seen over the last year or so, but me being able to claw back around Bt10K is better than a kick-in-the-pants I guess.  😁

 

 

https://www.reverautomotive.com/en/news/sharger-existing-customers-privilege-campaigno

 

 

 

Well, unless BYD announces an extension of above free/reduced rate charging promotion over the coming hours the promotion ends 2 Jan 2025 at 11:59pm....just a few hours from now.

 

Yeap, when the clock strikes 3 January the promotion is dead.  A 5 month and 2 day promotion (it started 1 Aug 2024) that a government spokesperson announced in late July would be a "12" month program, but I guess BYD had a different idea like BYD maybe told the govt they would "think" about doing 12 months and the govt took that as a "for sure" 12 month promotion.   

 

Anyway, I topped-up with some more free electron this evening/2 Jan....get my last taste of the free electrons.   This was my 80th free charging sessions as I've had very good access to ReverSharger Red Pin chargers in the greater Bangkok area that I typically drive around.  I stopped at the Red Pin chargers frequently in my normal, day-to-day travels to the grocery stores, mails, mother-in-law visits, etc.,...and rarely did I have to queue more than a few minutes.  In fact, I would say around 95% of the time I did not queue at all because I pretty much would only stop to charge if a charger was available or the charging app showed a charger would be available within a few minutes of me arriving at the charger.  About the longest I ever queued (the few times I did) it was only for around 10 minutes.     On the "average" I would top-up when having around 70% SoC..but quite a few times I could be starting from over 90%...and one time I started from a SoC of only 8%.  I basically would top-up if driving by a Red Pen charger that was open and it was part of my normal, daily driving routine; I "did not" make any special trips just to charge.  On 1 Jan when the wife and I went on a 416Km round-trip road trip I added 15% (about a 10 minute charge) of free electrons during the trip to ensure I had SoC-to-spare to get back to Bangkok.  And then once getting back home to Bangkok I refilled the electric tank the next morning with free electrons from around 25% % SoC....this promotion paid our fuel bills for our New Years Day drivefest.

 

At Bt8 per KWH, which ReverSharger charged during each session, I got a little over Bt12.3K in free electrons during the promotion.  For my BYD EV with a 60.5KWH traction battery (my electric tank size) that amounts to over 1,538 KWH which equates to over 25 tankfuls of free electrons.   Starting tomorrow/3 Jan I'll dust off my wall charger and return to charging at home at a total cost of approx Bt5.2 per KWH.  

 

 

[Pib]

Oh yea, for those folks who rely on DC chargers for all/majority of their EV charging and preferred ReverSharger Red Pin chargers due to whatever reason(s) but found those Red Pin chargers usually occupied, well, come tomorrow/3 Jan when those Red Pin chargers are no longer free for the many BYD vehicle owners who were hogging those particular chargers to get free/reduced cost electrons I expect those Red Pin chargers will be easily available....pull right in...no or little queuing.

[Andrew Dwyer]

2 hours ago, Pib said:

 

Well, unless BYD announces an extension of above free/reduced rate charging promotion over the coming hours the promotion ends 2 Jan 2025 at 11:59pm....just a few hours from now.

 

Yeap, when the clock strikes 3 January the promotion is dead.  A 5 month and 2 day promotion (it started 1 Aug 2024) that a government spokesperson announced in late July would be a "12" month program, but I guess BYD had a different idea like BYD maybe told the govt they would "think" about doing 12 months and the govt took that as a "for sure" 12 month promotion.   

 

Anyway, I topped-up with some more free electron this evening/2 Jan....get my last taste of the free electrons.   This was my 80th free charging sessions as I've had very good access to ReverSharger Red Pin chargers in the greater Bangkok area that I typically drive around.  I stopped at the Red Pin chargers frequently in my normal, day-to-day travels to the grocery stores, mails, mother-in-law visits, etc.,...and rarely did I have to queue more than a few minutes.  In fact, I would say around 95% of the time I did not queue at all because I pretty much would only stop to charge if a charger was available or the charging app showed a charger would be available within a few minutes of me arriving at the charger.  About the longest I ever queued (the few times I did) it was only for around 10 minutes.     On the "average" I would top-up when having around 70% SoC..but quite a few times I could be starting from over 90%...and one time I started from a SoC of only 8%.  I basically would top-up if driving by a Red Pen charger that was open and it was part of my normal, daily driving routine; I "did not" make any special trips just to charge.  On 1 Jan when the wife and I went on a 416Km round-trip road trip I added 15% (about a 10 minute charge) of free electrons during the trip to ensure I had SoC-to-spare to get back to Bangkok.  And then once getting back home to Bangkok I refilled the electric tank the next morning with free electrons from around 25% % SoC....this promotion paid our fuel bills for our New Years Day drivefest.

 

At Bt8 per KWH, which ReverSharger charged during each session, I got a little over Bt12.3K in free electrons during the promotion.  For my BYD EV with a 60.5KWH traction battery (my electric tank size) that amounts to over 1,538 KWH which equates to over 25 tankfuls of free electrons.   Starting tomorrow/3 Jan I'll dust off my wall charger and return to charging at home at a total cost of approx Bt5.2 per KWH.  

 

 

This message from 3 days ago states that the free charging ( and reduced for some customers ) will end at 23.59 on Jan 3rd ( payment to be confirmed by 00.15 on the 4th ).

 

So unless anything has changed i will be squeezing another round of free electrons in tomorrow.

 

[mistral53]

1 hour ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

This message from 3 days ago states that the free charging ( and reduced for some customers ) will end at 23.59 on Jan 3rd ( payment to be confirmed by 00.15 on the 4th ).

 

So unless anything has changed i will be squeezing another round of free electrons in tomorrow.

 

 

I am actually glad it's over and I can go back to use my electrons, produced from photons I collect on my roof. Yesterday was my last day to (almost) fill up, and what a nuisance it was: The first charger at a BYD dealer had a faulty charger head, the second charger 30 km away topped out at a miserly 28.8 kW instead of 56 when both piles are used....... Thailand's charging infrastructure is in serious need of stable, reliable and densely dispersed high power chargers, without which this great idea will peter out soon.

[JBChiangRai]

I’m currently in Chiang Mai for a few days, hanging paintings and installing a washing machine in our house there.

 

I am glad the free promotion will end tonight, I have 24 months of free charging (or ฿30,000, which ever comes first) and I will finally be able to use it.

 

I would rather pay PEA rates in Chiang Mai than risk the drive then needing to queue.

 

I do feel sorry for the coffee shop next to the Bangchak charger in Chiang Mai as their trade is about to drop enormously.

[Pib]

11 hours ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

This message from 3 days ago states that the free charging ( and reduced for some customers ) will end at 23.59 on Jan 3rd ( payment to be confirmed by 00.15 on the 4th ).

 

So unless anything has changed i will be squeezing another round of free electrons in tomorrow.

 

 

 

BYD has apparently did a very recent one day extension/clarification as their previous notice and even their current promotion on the Rever website says it ends at 23:59 hrs on 2 Jan 2023...see below snapshot...as in once the first second of 3 Jan arrives the promotion is over.   They probably did this update as there may have been confusion as to whether the promotion ran "thru" or "until" 3 Jan.  "Thru" implies all day 3 Jan while "until" implies once the first second of 3 Jan arrives the promotion is over.  

 

Anyway, "thru all the seconds of 3 Jan is good."  I was at a BYD dealership about an hour ago/early morning 3 Jan and people were still using the chargers like it was free and in the ReverSharger app it still shows the privilege/promotion as "Active."   So, a few more hours to get more free electrons.

 

https://www.reverautomotive.com/en/news/sharger-existing-customers-privilege-campaign

[Pib]

31 minutes ago, JBChiangRai said:

I do feel sorry for the coffee shop next to the Bangchak charger in Chiang Mai as their trade is about to drop enormously.

Ditto for a coffee/tea/fruit drink shop next to a Bangchak charger here in western Bangkok....a charger I probably did two-thirds of my 80 total free charging sessions at.   While charging at this place I saw MANY people (mostly females) who were charging next to me go into the shop to get a sweet, sugar-to-the-max drink drink (paving the way to future diabetes) while their EV was charging

 

Drinks that are way too sweet to my liking...but it seems most females just lover very sweet drinks.    Gosh, I hope some anti-EV Youtuber don't make a video blaming the high amount of diabetes in Thailand on EVs. 😜

[Pib]

22 hours ago, Pib said:

.... and in the ReverSharger app it still shows the privilege/promotion as "Active."   So, a few more hours to get more free electrons.

 

And this fine morning of 4 Jan my ReverSharger app no longer shows the free charging privilege as active....in fact the privilege is gone...no longer shown.  So, the free charging promotion has ended.

[Andrew Dwyer]

6 minutes ago, Pib said:

 

And this fine morning of 4 Jan my ReverSharger app no longer shows the free charging privilege as active....in fact the privilege is gone...no longer shown.  So, the free charging promotion has ended.

Yes, I squeezed out a couple yesterday as we are embarking on a little road trip up North !.

 

 

See my accumulator is rising again after resetting at the end of 2024.

 

 

The discounted charging, good for 6 months, looks like it might be setting up for a further term.

Reminds me of my airmile collecting days !!

[Pib]

As of 4 Jan/Saturday morning at 9:50am I just used the ReverSharger app to look at 10 of the dozen of so Red Pin chargers I used during the 5 month BYD free/reduced rate charging promotion.  Those 10 chargers had 18 total DC chargers connectors....the great majority had 2 DC connections per charger but a couple only had 1 DC CCS2 connector....that's how I came to 18 DC charging connectors.  

 

As of 9:50am only 1 of those 18 DC charging connectors was in use.  Normally at least 75%....or around 14 connectors of the DC connectors would have been in use pump-out free electrons to BYD vehicles. 

 

Yeap, now there should be no problem finding ReverSharger chargers with available connectors....no queuing....pull right in and plug in----and then pay for those electrons.     Well, I'll take that back...according to one of Murphy's Laws all chargers would be in use or broke if you were fast approaching a zero percent SoC.  😁

 

Appears "Free" does make a difference in charger usage.😜

[JBChiangRai]

I will be charging my car later today in Chiang Mai, I’ll be very surprised if anybody’s charging up, it will be interesting to see the speed I get with nobody else on the charger.

[Andrew Dwyer]

26 minutes ago, JBChiangRai said:

I will be charging my car later today in Chiang Mai, I’ll be very surprised if anybody’s charging up, it will be interesting to see the speed I get with nobody else on the charger.

On the revershargers i have had 115 kWh a few times.

[Pib]

3 hours ago, Pib said:

 

As of 9:50am only 1 of those 18 DC charging connectors was in use. 

Just took look at 1:17pm 4 Jan at those same 18 DC charging connectors I talked about this morning and only 4 of 18 are now in use. 

 

And I wouldn't be surprised if some folks don't know the free charging promotion is over....and then the surprise comes when they get charged for their charging session and wonder why.

[Pib]

And at 5pm 4 Jan/Saturday only 3 of 18 DC connectors are in use.   Yeap...having to pay for the electrons sure cut down on the DC charger use.  Just charge at home.

[JBChiangRai]

There was a guy charging at the BYD dealership in Chiang Mai but only 12 minutes left on his dolphin.

 

I reminded him the promotion is over but he said he knew but was on platinum.

 

We are currently watching Wallace and Gromit vengeance most foul on Netflix whilst charging.

 

I’ve seen 115 kw too.

 

 

[JBChiangRai]

Just as we were finishing up charging another dolphin arrived, I reminded him the charging for free has finished and he said he has the same 30,000 baht promotion I have.

 

How is that the coincidence!