EV Charging Stations (CS)

[josephbloggs]

1 hour ago, mistral53 said:

WOW - this Rever app upgrade rocks! I take this over reservations every time.

Next step is a cam to show whether there are other cars in a cue.

That's cool. I was more interested in the fact that’ll  between 09.00 and 22.00 they charge 8 baht per kWh, but from 22.00 to 09.00 is drops to 8 baht per kWh.

[Pib]

I just took a look to see if the PEA, PTT, EA Anywhere,  Elexa, and Altervim charging network apps show the charging percentage of a charger in use like the ReverSharger app.  PEA does but not the others.

 

[Gweiloman]

18 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

That's cool. I was more interested in the fact that’ll  between 09.00 and 22.00 they charge 8 baht per kWh, but from 22.00 to 09.00 is drops to 8 baht per kWh.

Like Elexa, Rever charges a flat fee with no off peak rates. I will definitely be,looking to charge at PTT or PEA during off peak hours if I have to pay.

[Gweiloman]

20 hours ago, mistral53 said:

WOW - this Rever app upgrade rocks! I take this over reservations every time.

Next step is a cam to show whether there are other cars in a cue.

I was underwhelmed by this update as to me, the more important matrix is the number of cars in the queue. More important than that, I feel they should be restricting free charging up to 80% only and if anyone wants to charge to 100%, this should of course be possible but not for free. This would significantly speed up charging for all users and reduce the queues.

[UWEB]

21 minutes ago, Gweiloman said:

I was underwhelmed by this update as to me, the more important matrix is the number of cars in the queue. More important than that, I feel they should be restricting free charging up to 80% only and if anyone wants to charge to 100%, this should of course be possible but not for free. This would significantly speed up charging for all users and reduce the queues.

You are Thai, me me me. So you are never charge to 100% when it is free? Even it would cost Money to charge full you have to wait.

[Andrew Dwyer]

45 minutes ago, Gweiloman said:

I was underwhelmed by this update as to me, the more important matrix is the number of cars in the queue. More important than that, I feel they should be restricting free charging up to 80% only and if anyone wants to charge to 100%, this should of course be possible but not for free. This would significantly speed up charging for all users and reduce the queues.

I agree knowing how many people are in the queue would be great but how would they do that ? add a button on the screen so people have to physically press to get in line ? which could then appear on the app i guess .

 

I suppose it depends how many people are wanting to free charge in that particular area ?

I have only charged 8 times since Sept 1st ( accruing 528kw ) but only found 1 person waiting 1 time ( ironically i didn’t know she was waiting but she soon let me know ! ) which meant i waited 15 mins.

On the other times it has been very quiet with around 50/50 between sharing the charger or getting it all for myself ( insert evil laugh here ).

So I don’t really agree with the 80% rule but if you frequently encounter queues then i can understand.

[KhunLA]

1 hour ago, Gweiloman said:

I was underwhelmed by this update as to me, the more important matrix is the number of cars in the queue. More important than that, I feel they should be restricting free charging up to 80% only and if anyone wants to charge to 100%, this should of course be possible but not for free. This would significantly speed up charging for all users and reduce the queues.

Agree, there is no real reason to charge up to 100%.   Especially if that is all we're doing, is sitting waiting to be at 100%  I'm not a patient person, if doing nothing.  Walk dog/stretch, P, munch and we're done about same time as car.  Many times car finished to 90-95% before we're don munching.

 

Only if nobody is waiting and we're searching internet will it ever get 100% at CS.

 

Though 90% would be fine, as the MG ZS actually doesn't start slowing down till about 95%, and that last 5% can take 15-20 minutes.

 

I'm definitely not waiting 15 mins for 5%, and really rude to make someone else wait.

 

We rarely charge to 100%, especially if someone is waiting.  90-95% is way more than enough for our next leg, as means we're already 3+ hrs away from home.

[Pib]

2 hours ago, Gweiloman said:

I was underwhelmed by this update as to me, the more important matrix is the number of cars in the queue. More important than that, I feel they should be restricting free charging up to 80% only and if anyone wants to charge to 100%, this should of course be possible but not for free. This would significantly speed up charging for all users and reduce the queues.

 

IMO the most important factor is how many chargers are actually available under the BYD Free/Reduced Rate Promotion as signified by the "charger PIN color" 24 hours a day like shown in the images at the bottom,   And there are not nearly enough in many locations for those folks who want to take advantage of the promotion without encountering usage obstacles such as middle of the night charging, needing to drive numerous kilometers to the nearest Red Pin charger, etc. 

 

- a "Red Pin" charger (i.e., a Red circle with R)  versus being a Black Pin charger where the promotion is available 24/7.  The chargers everyone wants to be nearby.   Fortunately,  during my particular driving in western Bangkok and some provinces due west of Bangkok I have fairly easy access to around a half dozen Red Pin chargers which I don't need to go out of my way to use....and I don't have to queue more than 10 minutes or even queue at all.   But I know for other folks Red Pin chargers are a ring that is hard to reach.

 

- a Black Pin charger where the promotion is "not" available 24/7...not available on any day or during any hours "unless you want to pay Bt8/KWH" then charge all you want at most any time.  Maybe due to charger technical limitations, etc.  

 

- a Gray Pin charger which typically means the promotion is only available during certain hours like only Mon-Fri from 10pm to 8am (a great time if you are a Vampire or a Werewolf but not so great if you like to sleep at night) and also available 24 hrs on Sat/Sun.    Or a Gray Pin can mean "only" available on Sat/Sun; no Mon-Fri free hours....all depends on the location.  And a Grey Pin can also mean the charger is in-operational (i.e., broke).  Basically Grey Pin chargers have charging limitations under the promotion "unless" you want to pay full rate....then charge all your want at Bt8/KWH.   These limitations are probably due to technical limitation of some of the ReverShargers chargers and/or some locations like some BYD Dealerships who have limited parking space want to make the maximum parking space available for "potential vehicle buyers" and vehicles needing servicing during the normal Mon-Fri daylight business...they just don't want charging vehicles to take away from their limited parking space during Mon-Fri daylight hours.    Whatever the reason(s) Gray Pin charger locations have usage limitations but such chargers are endorsed by the Vampire and Werewolf Union.

 

Due to ReverSharger limitations/availability across many parts of Thailand too bad BYD did make a deal with say the PEA and/or PTT charging networks to where free charging would be available "assuming the PEA/PTT chargers have the ability to read the VIN number during the charging process and if a VIN number of a BYD vehicle covered under the promotion then no charge occurs.  I'm pretty sure PEA chargers can read VIN numbers as they also have AutoCharge capability just like the ReverSharger Red PIN chargers.

 

A couple snapshots from the ReverSharger app of certain areas that have few Red Pin chargers at any time or on any day....or only service vampires and werewolfs.😜

 

Central, highrise Bangkok

 

 

Chiang Mai

 

 

 

[Gweiloman]

On 10/17/2024 at 9:30 AM, UWEB said:

You are Thai, me me me. So you are never charge to 100% when it is free? Even it would cost Money to charge full you have to wait.

Most people that I come across are charging to 100% or close to it, even when there are others in line. I think this is because the charging is free and human nature is that people will take advantage of whatever they can. The issue is that it takes about the same amount of time from 80% - 100% as it takes from 20%-80%. Therefore the time taken to charge to 100% is doubled which means longer queues for everyone.

 

I don’t know what you mean by your final sentence. If it costs money to charge from 80%-100%. I would wager that pretty much everyone would stop at 80% and charge the last 20% at home rather than sitting in the car.

[Gweiloman]

23 hours ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

I agree knowing how many people are in the queue would be great but how would they do that ? add a button on the screen so people have to physically press to get in line ? which could then appear on the app i guess .

 

I suppose it depends how many people are wanting to free charge in that particular area ?

I have only charged 8 times since Sept 1st ( accruing 528kw ) but only found 1 person waiting 1 time ( ironically i didn’t know she was waiting but she soon let me know ! ) which meant i waited 15 mins.

On the other times it has been very quiet with around 50/50 between sharing the charger or getting it all for myself ( insert evil laugh here ).

So I don’t really agree with the 80% rule but if you frequently encounter queues then i can understand.

Your first para, yes, something like that. In some videos that I’ve seen, people get a queue number, in this CS where parking can be chaotic and where there are multiple chargers, not the solitary charger that we have here.

 

If you look at Pib’s post above, you can see that CM is rather poorly populated with the red pin chargers. Only one 24/7 charger which has been out of action for over a week due to the floods and 3 off peak chargers only. Thus, there is almost always a queue. As for getting the charger all to yourself (evil laugh), go after 1 am 🙂

[Gweiloman]

23 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Agree, there is no real reason to charge up to 100%.   Especially if that is all we're doing, is sitting waiting to be at 100%  I'm not a patient person, if doing nothing.  Walk dog/stretch, P, munch and we're done about same time as car.  Many times car finished to 90-95% before we're don munching.

 

Only if nobody is waiting and we're searching internet will it ever get 100% at CS.

 

Though 90% would be fine, as the MG ZS actually doesn't start slowing down till about 95%, and that last 5% can take 15-20 minutes.

 

I'm definitely not waiting 15 mins for 5%, and really rude to make someone else wait.

 

We rarely charge to 100%, especially if someone is waiting.  90-95% is way more than enough for our next leg, as means we're already 3+ hrs away from home.

Unfortunately, since the charging is free, courtesy and consideration has flown out the window. I suspect this would be the case whether here in Thailand or anywhere else. Whereas at Rever’s 8 baht per kWh, you can bet that practically everyone will stop at 80% and continue at home (or at PTT/PEA if off peak) if wanting to charge to 100%.

[Andrew Dwyer]

1 hour ago, Gweiloman said:

Your first para, yes, something like that. In some videos that I’ve seen, people get a queue number, in this CS where parking can be chaotic and where there are multiple chargers, not the solitary charger that we have here.

 

If you look at Pib’s post above, you can see that CM is rather poorly populated with the red pin chargers. Only one 24/7 charger which has been out of action for over a week due to the floods and 3 off peak chargers only. Thus, there is almost always a queue. As for getting the charger all to yourself (evil laugh), go after 1 am 🙂

Yes, location plus many Dealerships and Bangchak pumps only giving free electrons at off peak times has made availability competitive.

 

I have few options, 1 BYD 21 km away and 1 Bangchak 30 km away, plus an off peak Bangchak 9 km away. 
The Bangchak 30 km away is my best option as monitoring the app found it to be least frequented, plus it is new and has good facilities.

 

 

Currently at 68% SOC with an impending 450 km tomorrow early morning round trip ( going to pick up the mil to spend a week with us ……… just shoot me now !! ) i knew that i would have to charge on the way back if not closer to 100% and not wanting to subject the old gal to a further hour sitting in the car i chose to charge today ( hope this is appreciated in her will !! ).

 

So, could nip over the highway tonight to the pump or drive to the pump now ( 30 km ) and have a spot of lunch.

Chose the latter and am currently charging on my lonesome ( hee hee hee 😈).

 

So, not ideal, but will suffice.

 

and yes am going for 100% 

 

[UWEB]

1 hour ago, Gweiloman said:

Most people that I come across are charging to 100% or close to it, even when there are others in line. I think this is because the charging is free and human nature is that people will take advantage of whatever they can. The issue is that it takes about the same amount of time from 80% - 100% as it takes from 20%-80%. Therefore the time taken to charge to 100% is doubled which means longer queues for everyone.

 

I don’t know what you mean by your final sentence. If it costs money to charge from 80%-100%. I would wager that pretty much everyone would stop at 80% and charge the last 20% at home rather than sitting in the car.

I will always charging to 100% regardless if somebody else is waiting or not. At first at all BYD Manual tells you that you should charge to 100% at least once a week for Balancing, second a round Trip to a Rever Charger is 50 km for me (probably like for many others), third even if I had to pay for the last 20 percent I would keep on charging as once done the Battery is full again. And last but not least I doubt people would charge the remaining 20% at home, they just would come 20% more often to the Charger to bring it up to 80% again. This would significantly extend the waiting Lines.

[DavisH]

3 hours ago, Gweiloman said:

Most people that I come across are charging to 100% or close to it, even when there are others in line. I think this is because the charging is free and human nature is that people will take advantage of whatever they can. The issue is that it takes about the same amount of time from 80% - 100% as it takes from 20%-80%. Therefore the time taken to charge to 100% is doubled which means longer queues for everyone.

 

I don’t know what you mean by your final sentence. If it costs money to charge from 80%-100%. I would wager that pretty much everyone would stop at 80% and charge the last 20% at home rather than sitting in the car.

Well there is a good reason to charge to 'only' 80%, and all owners should know that reason. keeping the charge between 20% and 80% will maximise the life of the battery. 

[Gweiloman]

1 hour ago, DavisH said:

Well there is a good reason to charge to 'only' 80%, and all owners should know that reason. keeping the charge between 20% and 80% will maximise the life of the battery. 

This is supposedly the case for NMC batteries but for LFP, apparently it doesn't matter.

[JBChiangRai]

7 minutes ago, Gweiloman said:

This is supposedly the case for NMC batteries but for LFP, apparently it doesn't matter.

LFP batteries will last longer if you keep them as discharged as you can without getting close to zero.

 

I try to keep my Seal under 50% with the occasional charge to 100% when I’m commuting between Chiangrai and Chiang Mai.

[josephbloggs]

Just curious: are you guys really going out of your way to go to free BYD charging points even though they seem to be busy often? Is it really worth a journey when it only costs you 200 baht or so in electricity to charge it at home (for those without solar)?

Personally I don't think I would bother.  (200 baht figure is not accurate but my brain remembers it being around that). 
 

[Gweiloman]

3 hours ago, UWEB said:

I will always charging to 100% regardless if somebody else is waiting or not. At first at all BYD Manual tells you that you should charge to 100% at least once a week for Balancing, second a round Trip to a Rever Charger is 50 km for me (probably like for many others), third even if I had to pay for the last 20 percent I would keep on charging as once done the Battery is full again. And last but not least I doubt people would charge the remaining 20% at home, they just would come 20% more often to the Charger to bring it up to 80% again. This would significantly extend the waiting Lines.

The batteries get balanced every time you charge to 100% (somebody can correct me if this is wrong). I don't see the need to balance the batteries every week, once a month is enough for me.

 

Recently, I've been charging to around 90ish % , when the speed drops to around 30kwh. Have done this even when no one is waiting as I know I will be charging again in 2 or 3 days. No point to wait another 10 minutes for the last 10%.

[Gweiloman]

11 minutes ago, josephbloggs said:

Just curious: are you guys really going out of your way to go to free BYD charging points even though they seem to be busy often? Is it really worth a journey when it only costs you 200 baht or so in electricity to charge it at home (for those without solar)?

Personally I don't think I would bother.  (200 baht figure is not accurate but my brain remembers it being around that). 
 

It depends. I'm using about 50 kWh every 2 days so that approximates 700-800 kWh per month. I can't use my solar to charge much as I'm mostly out during the day.

 

Also like I mentioned before, I spend a fair bit of time watching YT so I am happy to do that while charging with the AC running.

[JBChiangRai]

37 minutes ago, Gweiloman said:

The batteries get balanced every time you charge to 100% (somebody can correct me if this is wrong). I don't see the need to balance the batteries every week, once a month is enough for me.

 

Recently, I've been charging to around 90ish % , when the speed drops to around 30kwh. Have done this even when no one is waiting as I know I will be charging again in 2 or 3 days. No point to wait another 10 minutes for the last 10%.

I am fairly sure BYD cars use active balancing which means they are being balanced all the time you don’t need to charge 100% to trigger the balancing cycle.

 

AFAIK the only manufacturer to use the cheaper passive balancing at end of the charge cycle is MG, they probably save a couple of thousand baht in balancing modules.

[JBChiangRai]

It’s very difficult to tell by battery voltage with an LFP battery what the state of charge actually is when it’s charged between 50% and 85%. because the voltage is fairly flat in that region.

 

The purpose of charging to 100% occasionally is to recalibrate the state of charge indicator, it knows when it hits a preset much higher voltage that the battery is 100% charged.

 

The longer the interval between 100% charges, the more likely you are to find in the last 20% the indicated distance you can travel is inaccurate.

[JBChiangRai]

48 minutes ago, josephbloggs said:

Just curious: are you guys really going out of your way to go to free BYD charging points even though they seem to be busy often? Is it really worth a journey when it only costs you 200 baht or so in electricity to charge it at home (for those without solar)?

Personally I don't think I would bother.  (200 baht figure is not accurate but my brain remembers it being around that). 
 

11 months of the year I have more solar power than I can use.  Most years it’s every month.

 

I do commute occasionally to our house in Chiang Mai.  That house has a charging point for my daughters MG4, but it doesn’t have solar power, so it costs me. I would like to be able to charge up at Chiang Mai using my 30,000 baht Rêver credit, but it’s almost impossible because everybody is free charging.

 

I would like to go on a road trip to Khao Lak, but again that’s impossible, unless I pay for all my charging.

[motdaeng]

4 minutes ago, JBChiangRai said:

I would like to go on a road trip to Khao Lak, but again that’s impossible, unless I pay for all my charging.

 

if you fly by plane to khao lak, it will cost you also ... that would be a nice roadtrip, chiang rai to khao lak ... if you change your mind please let us know how the very long roadtrip went ... 

[JBChiangRai]

14 minutes ago, motdaeng said:

 

if you fly by plane to khao lak, it will cost you also ... that would be a nice roadtrip, chiang rai to khao lak ... if you change your mind please let us know how the very long roadtrip went ... 

 

 I will, if I don’t do it this year I’ll probably do it next year.

[JBChiangRai]

55 minutes ago, motdaeng said:

 

if you fly by plane to khao lak, it will cost you also ... that would be a nice roadtrip, chiang rai to khao lak ... if you change your mind please let us know how the very long roadtrip went ... 

 

There is a chance I might go to Khao Lak next month, if the flights are unusually high and if I need to go, I will probably drive.

 

Phuket end of next week but already have 5 tickets for daughters and boyfriends.

[KhunLA]

1 hour ago, JBChiangRai said:

I would like to go on a road trip to Khao Lak, but again that’s impossible, unless I pay for all my charging.

CR airport to KL beach, if we drove, would cost all of about ฿1800  / one way.  1600 kms, 5 full charges (46.3kWh per 320 kms @ ฿8kWh)

 

Come on ... nice road trip 😎

 

That would cost ฿4000 if driving the ICE version of the ZS 

[UWEB]

3 hours ago, Gweiloman said:

The batteries get balanced every time you charge to 100% (somebody can correct me if this is wrong). I don't see the need to balance the batteries every week, once a month is enough for me.

 

Recently, I've been charging to around 90ish % , when the speed drops to around 30kwh. Have done this even when no one is waiting as I know I will be charging again in 2 or 3 days. No point to wait another 10 minutes for the last 10%.

From BYD Seal User Manual

 

[Andrew Dwyer]

3 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

Just curious: are you guys really going out of your way to go to free BYD charging points even though they seem to be busy often? Is it really worth a journey when it only costs you 200 baht or so in electricity to charge it at home (for those without solar)?

Personally I don't think I would bother.  (200 baht figure is not accurate but my brain remembers it being around that). 
 

While it is true that my largest free charging session ( 76.4 kw ) would have cost me 230 baht if charged at home via my TOU meter and wall charger it would take around 12 hours at 6.4 kWh whereas it took just over an hour at the BYD dealer or Bangchak pump at speeds up to 115 kWh.

 

I admit initially i was reluctant to possibly face a queue for a free charging session when it is so cheap at home and some reports that the initial free charging was complicated to ensure the “ free “ part but when i passed a BYD dealer on returning from a 450 km round trip and spotted a vacancy i pulled in more out of curiosity.

Seeing my confused look on trying to activate the initial charge ( after the first time it is plug and play ) a good lady helped me out and the charging commenced. A little toilet visit, raided a few bottles of water from the lounge, feigned interest in the cars in the showroom and played with the resident, and totally uninterested, cat for a while and we were done.

I was converted !

 

It is 5 months free charging so a little more than 200 baht and in my case i haven’t encountered much wait time.

 

I suppose with the price reduction that most of us have fell foul of i guess there’s a little bit of “ getting something back “ involved too.

 

Anyway, after 560 free kw’s i have no regrets other than not starting the free sessions when they first began.

[Gweiloman]

1 hour ago, UWEB said:

From BYD Seal User Manual

 

What’s other BYD owners take on this? Are you following the above “recommendation”? I’m usually charging from 20% or less every couple days but not always to 100%.

 

Is the battery affected detrimentally if we don’t follow the above strictly?

[Pib]

4 hours ago, josephbloggs said:

Just curious: are you guys really going out of your way to go to free BYD charging points even though they seem to be busy often? Is it really worth a journey when it only costs you 200 baht or so in electricity to charge it at home (for those without solar)?

Personally I don't think I would bother.  (200 baht figure is not accurate but my brain remembers it being around that). 
 

I don't as I pass by several Red Pin chargers on my weekly MIL visit and my several times a week groceries run.  Today on the way back from the MIL's I charged-up twice at two different Red Pin chargers.  One at a BYD dealership about half way home/30 minutes after leaving the MIL's house... and then about 20 minutes after leaving that charger and within 10Km of my Bangkok home I topped up at another Red Pin charger. 

 

At the first charger (a BYD dealership) I pulled-in literally when one of the two EVs charging finished charging....my queuing time was about 30 seconds....I charged from 72 to 100%.   Then at the second charger (a Bangckak station) both chargers were available....I topped up from 97% to 100%....took 4 minutes.   By the time I finally got home I was setting at 98%....ready for a probable 300km roundtrip this weekend unless the funky, rainy weather continues in the Bangkok area.   

 

Nope, my limit for queuing is around 10-15 minutes max if I really want/need some free electrons; otherwise, I just wait until I'm able to plug-in to an immediately available Red Pin charger.   Fortunately, on my MIL weekly run I drive by 3 Red Pin chargers and I almost always able to find one free....sometimes all three have available slots as I drive by.   And on a frequent groceries run to Foodland I now have 3 Red Pin chargers I drive by and almost always there is an available slot at one or more of them as I drive by.  I'm lucky in having this easy Red Pin access in my western Bangkok and just west of Bangkok frequent day-to-day travels.