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Are you thinking of buying a BYD EV?


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11 hours ago, Pib said:

OK, know lets talks "Scheduled Maintenance Costs" to maintain the BYD warranty.  Once again, it was in Australia last year when folks were shocked/mad about the "costs" associated with the Scheduled Mx required to keep the warranty valid.  That is, bring the vehicle in every so often for a checkup.

 

This webpage article below gives an overview of the uproar....and some pretty high scheduled maintenance costs over the warranty period.    I've also included a snapshot of a costs chart from the article.  Costs in AUD.  

 

https://www.drive.com.au/news/byd-atto-3-service-prices-cut/

Chart from article talked scheduled mx costs in Australia

image.png.b11e9c3e87f61810d720182521282ed7.png

 

OK, when talking with the BYD Thailand dealership today I started out by saying their sales literature says Free Scheduled Maintenance for 8 yrs/160K km....they came armed with the BYD Thailand Schedule Maintenance Checklist (I had already downloaded it)....it's below....shows what each Schedule Mx visit ( 9 of them) encompass over the 8 yrs/ 160K km.  I said I need to know what each Mx visit costs....their answer was "zero". 

 

I then asked again after explaining what BYD charged in Australia....once again the dealership reps answered zero.  They said Australia has a different warranty and scheduled mx costs and how high labor costs in Australia probably cause BYD not to provide free schedule mx in Australia.     

 

Yeap, as advertised by BYD Thailand the  Atto 3 Scheduled Mx visits/checkups (9 of them over 8 years) are free to include any parts replaced during the scheduled mx.  See below PDF file for details of what is checked on each checkup.

Maintenance_Schedule_for_BYD_ATTO_3_3485e3e5e2.pdf 882.79 kB · 3 downloads  


In closing,  after the warranty and schedule mx discussion today the wife and I booked ( Bt10K deposit) an Atto 3 Extended Range.   Normal price is Bt1,459,000 but with the government subsidiary the price is Bt1,199,000 until the end of November.  Thank you Thailand for a Bt260,000 subsidiary on this BYD model.  If I remember right if I had instead bought a MG EZ EV the subsidiary on that model was approx Bt246,000 but the MG folks said their subsidiary ends 30 Sep although they were pressing the govt to extend it. 

 

Estimated Atto 3 delivery date is about one week....the dealership estimates 28 or 29 Sep.  It includes 1 yr free 1st class insurance, a 7KW Type 2 Wall Charger including installation, a 1.2KW slow/granny charger, a Vehicle to Load Adapter, free registration, and a variety of free small stuff.   But no free window tinting/film...I paying about Bt12K extra for some very good quality Lamina film like I have on my Fortuner.  

 

Yeap....looks like I'm jumping on the EV bandwagon BUT I'm keeping my dinosaur burning 2009 Fortuner 3.0L Diesel (a great SUV).  Guess I will be a card-carrying member of the Big Oil "and" EV Enthusiast camps.   

 

Congratulations on your new vehicle.  Your choice is well throughout and I think you picked the right car, model, size and time to buy. What color did you get it in?

The delivery time and Free warranty is mind-boggling. Please keep us posted over the years if BYD honor this commitment. 

Which dealer/showroom did you use?

Will be interesting to see if you go full EVangelist and let cobwebs take over the old Fortuner.

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15 hours ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

I bought two 4-20 mA submersible Chinese pressure transducers, both lasted less than 2 month before water ingress killed them. 

Not in a professional capacity, I hope.???? Best to keep the electronics outside the process or above the liquid. 

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14 hours ago, Pib said:

Yeap, as advertised by BYD Thailand the  Atto 3 Scheduled Mx visits/checkups (9 of them over 8 years) are free to include any parts replaced during the scheduled mx. 

No, they are built into the purchasing price.????

 

More correct to say the  Atto 3 Scheduled Mx visits/checkups (9 of them over 8 years) including any parts replaced during the scheduled mx are built into the vehicle purchase price. 

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1 hour ago, VocalNeal said:

No, they are built into the purchasing price.????

 

More correct to say the  Atto 3 Scheduled Mx visits/checkups (9 of them over 8 years) including any parts replaced during the scheduled mx are built into the vehicle purchase price. 

Is there a reason why they put down a value of B31,128 

 

Maintenance services inclduing labor costs and spare/replacement parts for a full eight-year coverage*

Our customers can rest assured that their BYD electric vehicles will be provided with proper maintenance services by supporting labor costs and spare parts according to standard periodic checks for up to eight full years with a total value of more than THB 31,128.

https://www.reverautomotive.com/en/rever-care

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People just forget that major European electric vehicle brands or even a Benz,  Audi and of course the Tesla, is strongly dependant on chinese components.

 

The Covid showed the world that it is just not possible for the moment to shut down ties with China, no matter what the mummy in power at the White house or the other clowns in European nations may claim or may howl.

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12 hours ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

Congratulations on your new vehicle.  Your choice is well throughout and I think you picked the right car, model, size and time to buy. What color did you get it in?

The delivery time and Free warranty is mind-boggling. Please keep us posted over the years if BYD honor this commitment. 

Which dealer/showroom did you use?

Will be interesting to see if you go full EVangelist and let cobwebs take over the old Fortuner.

Thanks. 

 

The wife and I agreed on White (or should I say Frost as BYD calls it).  The Atto 3 comes in 5 colors....Solar (red), Lagoon (blue), Emerald (green), Graphite (gray), and Frost (white).   Of course there an many variations of red, blue, green, gray and white.  A person has to actually see the color on the vehicle with their own eyeballs vs a TV/computer/smartphone to see if they like the color on that vehicle....and of course some vehicles look good in a certain color while another make/model with the exact same color may not look good.  At the dealership we used they had 4 of the 5 colors on their showroom floor and a red one in the garage area so we got to see all 5 colors up close, hands on.

 

Funny thing about the "red" Atto 3 (or really any "red" make/model in Thailand) they might be hard to find because both the BYD dealership for the Atto 3 and two MG dealerships regarding the MG EZ EV said they don't sell that many vehicles in red.   I can easily believe that because excluding taxis I guesstimate around 80-90% (or of the cars and pickup trucks in Thailand are either white, black, gray, or silver and then around 10% are red, blue, green, brown, pink, yellow, etc.  The Thai wife has always told me that most Thai's don't like bright colors on vehicles for various reasons but prefer the conservative colors of white, black, gray, and silver.  And boy, that is easily confirmed by just looking at the color of vehicles on Thai roads, parking lots, etc.   Additionally, I haven't seen a red Atto 3 on the road yet but plenty of the other colors.

 

Anyway, while I liked a red Atto the wife didn't want to have anything to do with red.  She preferred the white or green and I also liked the white and green....but both of us agreed that between white and green we both preferred the white.   So white it is...whoops, I mean Frost as it is a variation of white that does indeed look like Frost.   This also means our black Fortuner will soon have a white younger sibling setting next to it in our carport.

 

Colors and dealership locations can be found at the BYD Rever Automotive website as it appears Rever is official distributor of BYD vehicles in Thailand.   https://www.reverautomotive.com/en

 

By the way, the dealership called today....said our Atto 3 Extended Range will be delivered 27 Sep (next Wed)....we booked/made a deposit/ordered on 21 Sep.  Don't know if it's inbound from China or already in Thailand somewhere.  I sure hope my GoFundMe to help Pib buy a new car reaches Bt1.2M by next Wednesday morning.  ????

 

Dealer also asked which insurance company we wanted (i.e., the free 1st class insurance for one year)....the 5 insurance company choices offered by BYD at this time are:  Tipaya, Bangkok, LMG, KSK, or Navakit.  I already have LMG insurance on my Fortuner...but I called my insurance broker I've use for many years to ask her recommendation since a broker deals with dozens of insurance companies....she recommended Bangkok Insurance in this case.  So, I got back with the dealership saying I wanted Bangkok Insurance.  Cheers.

 

BYD Rever Dealer Locations

https://www.reverautomotive.com/en/locator/dealer-station

 

Atto 3 Colors

https://www.reverautomotive.com/en/model/atto3/overview

image.png.0c8ac59593286864f120654491c79d1a.png

 

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Before I forget as mentioned in my earlier posts BYD provides a  free 7KW Wall Charger to include installation.....they have the specific wall charger on display at dealerships and I'm "assuming" that will be the model installed at my house.    I took a picture of the charger model identification plate  and it's made by ZHIDA with a model number of:  ZHIDA-DC1- C12E.   I found it listed on Lazada for approx Bt12K.

 

 

image.png.7e5137a93ef5e6b585606a226db93a74.png

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42 minutes ago, Pib said:

Before I forget as mentioned in my earlier posts BYD provides a  free 7KW Wall Charger to include installation.....they have the specific wall charger on display at dealerships and I'm "assuming" that will be the model installed at my house.    I took a picture of the charger model identification plate  and it's made by ZHIDA with a model number of:  ZHIDA-DC1- C12E.   I found it listed on Lazada for approx Bt12K.

 

 

image.png.7e5137a93ef5e6b585606a226db93a74.png

BYD changed the wall charger supplied from Duosida to Zhida , to include an improved part built into the charger. Something to do with the breaker tripping with the original wall charger, I don’t remember the exact details.

 

But the warranty has gone from 1 to 2 years so has to be an improvement .

 

IMG_1273.jpeg.0f0d4cfada95e8fbe9817e745d110d7e.jpeg

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12 hours ago, Pib said:

Before I forget as mentioned in my earlier posts BYD provides a  free 7KW Wall Charger to include installation.....they have the specific wall charger on display at dealerships and I'm "assuming" that will be the model installed at my house.    I took a picture of the charger model identification plate  and it's made by ZHIDA with a model number of:  ZHIDA-DC1- C12E.   I found it listed on Lazada for approx Bt12K.

 

 

image.png.7e5137a93ef5e6b585606a226db93a74.png

If there is any chance you may move house in the future, then I'd recommend you buy the attached *Lazada/Shopee etc) and tip the installer to fit it next to the charger between the cable to your consumer unit and the charger itself.  you can simply unplug it and take it with you when you move.

 

 

32 amp 3 Pin Plug Socket Male Female Camping Industrial IP44 220V ...

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14 hours ago, Andrew Dwyer said:

BYD changed the wall charger supplied from Duosida to Zhida , to include an improved part built into the charger. Something to do with the breaker tripping with the original wall charger, I don’t remember the exact details.

 

But the warranty has gone from 1 to 2 years so has to be an improvement .

 

IMG_1273.jpeg.0f0d4cfada95e8fbe9817e745d110d7e.jpeg

 

Yea...thanks.   At the bottom are a couple of Youtube short videos showing the Duosida and Zhida wall chargers and associated circuit break/junction boxes which BYD has been using.  

 

At my house it's going to be interesting as to how hard (or not so hard) the install turns out to be since my main circuit breaker panel is full already (16 of 16 circuit breaker slots in use), running a new circuit to the box or an auxiliary/supplement breaker box they might have to install, drilling thru a concrete wall in a bad location, running the wire between the 2nd story concrete floor & sheetrock first floor ceiling, etc.   No problem in have enough power as my house has a 100A single phase system and I typically on run 10A at any one time....but it can be higher for short period when using the clothes dryer which pulls 25A or shower water heater that also pulls 25A.  

 

Will have to wait and see what the installers say/recommend....but I'm just not going to let them do it the "easy" way if their easy way looks like crap after the install.   I've seen a few wall charger installs in my moobaan where they ran electrical conduit all the way from the back of the house on the outside house walls to the front carport....it must have been a 25 meter run and with all the PVC conduit stuck on the outside walls....it didn't look to good in my opinion....but maybe for those houses it was simply the only way to do it.

 

BYD said the installers will come around 3 days after I accept car so it will be around 30 Sep to the first few days of Oct before I find out just how hard (or easy) it will turn out to be....how much additional install cost "might" be required as every install is different since every install location will have different challenges.   Yeap, after a concrete house is built doing certain major electrical or water pipe modifications can turn out to be a real challenge....I just hope it don't turn out to be a pain.    I don't think it will be in my case "if", repeat, if a certain approx 5 meter run from the main circuit box inside the house thru a thick concrete wall and between the 2nd story floor and 1st floor ceiling turns out to be doable without too much effort....if that part of the electrical conduct run turns out to be doable then I figure the total length of the run will be about 10 meters (5 of the 10 meters in the carport area).   But hey, the electrical installers may say "no can do"....have to do it a way which might not turn out to not be aesthetically pleasing to the discerning eye. 

 

But with the wall charger being an all important device to make EV use "a lot" easier, I'm definitely going to get it installed as I sure wouldn't want to use the "granny" charger all the time since I can use a granny charger immediately since the carport already has a 16A socket....but the wiring to that 16A socket is 2.5mm2 wire that is not big enough to handle a 7KW/32A wall charger.   I shall overcome.

 

Duosida charger

 

Zhida Charger

 

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3 hours ago, JBChiangRai said:

If there is any chance you may move house in the future, then I'd recommend you buy the attached *Lazada/Shopee etc) and tip the installer to fit it next to the charger between the cable to your consumer unit and the charger itself.  you can simply unplug it and take it with you when you move.

 

 

32 amp 3 Pin Plug Socket Male Female Camping Industrial IP44 220V ...

That would denfiitely work.  But no plans to move from the house we have owned for almost 16 years here in Bangkok.  That type of connector would definitely work and it's the type of connector routinely seen in factories, warehouses, on the outside of buildings where mobile/moveable electrical equipment like electric fork lifts, portable/moveable machines, etc., are used.....just some type of equipment (usually high power) you want to be able to immediately unplug and move to another location and immediately plug-in again....no messing around with reconnecting wires with screws/nuts. 

 

But with above being said, if I was moving just unscrewing the three wires on the back of the charger wouldn't take but  5 minutes assuming I didn't forget to turn of the breaker feeding the charger and then electrocuted myself while disconnecting/unscrewing the three wires.  ????

 

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On 9/22/2023 at 12:41 PM, vinny41 said:

Is there a reason why they put down a value of B31,128 

 

Maintenance services inclduing labor costs and spare/replacement parts for a full eight-year coverage*

Our customers can rest assured that their BYD electric vehicles will be provided with proper maintenance services by supporting labor costs and spare parts according to standard periodic checks for up to eight full years with a total value of more than THB 31,128.

https://www.reverautomotive.com/en/rever-care

It's just a way of emphasing how much the free maintenance is worth "if" it wasn't free.

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I see a lot of Atto 3's around in Pattaya lately. I quite like them and the warranty of 8 years on the main drive train and most expensive components is amazing. When I was young an 8 year rust warranty would have been a dream. Pun intended.

 

I own a Honda City and the rust problem is horrendous.

Edited by ozimoron
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This morning when the wife and I drove to  a mall about 15 minutes away here in Bangkok we noticed five Atto's and what was amazing each one was a different color that represented the five available colors for an Atto....red, white, blue, green, and gray.  

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10 minutes ago, Pib said:

This morning when the wife and I drove to  a mall about 15 minutes away here in Bangkok we noticed five Atto's and what was amazing each one was a different color that represented the five available colors for an Atto....red, white, blue, green, and gray.  

I don't like any of them much. I like the Honda grey colour.

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1 hour ago, Pib said:

At my house it's going to be interesting as to how hard (or not so hard) the install turns out to be since my main circuit breaker panel is full already (16 of 16 circuit breaker slots in use), running a new circuit to the box or an auxiliary/supplement breaker box they might have to install, drilling thru a concrete wall in a bad location, running the wire between the 2nd story concrete floor & sheetrock first floor ceiling, etc.   No problem in have enough power as my house has a 100A single phase system and I typically on run 10A at any one time....but it can be higher for short period when using the clothes dryer which pulls 25A or shower water heater that also pulls 25A.  

 

I have just figured out that the 16 of 16 breakers should "not" be an issue because 7 of the 16 breakers are dedicated to my 7 wall air conditioners in my house.  No, I don't use 7 A/Cs frequently....I only use one 24/7 and another one at night only....the other 5 A/Cs are rarely used.   Each one of the A/Cs is on a 20A breaker/dedicated circuit but none of the A/Cs individually pull anything close to 20A....far less.  

 

So, what I'm going to tell the BYD charger installers if the "your box is full" issue comes up is to connect the circuit/wire for breaker #11 which is a small bedroom A/C pulling a max of 5A to breaker #10 which is another small A/C in an adjoining room which also pulls a max of 5A.  I have confirmed this individual/total amperage pull since I installed a voltmeter and ammeter into my main box years ago to make is easy to see voltage/amps being used real time...and I also used a clamp-on ammeter to double check the amps draw.   So, both A/Cs running at once (which would be rare) would pull a total max of 10A....only 50% of the max allowed on a 20A circuit/breaker.   

Now with the breaker #11 slot freed-up removing the current 20A breaker and replacing it with a 32 or 40A breaker to feed the 32A max charger with a new wire run (probably 4mm2 sized wire) should work fine.  The only possible challenge then will be the actual wire run from the main breaker box thru a hard to get to concrete wall obstruction....but maybe that will be easy-peasy for these installers which have probably overcome much bigger install challenges.   

 

Yea...feeling better now that I should be able to free-up a main box breaker position if necessary for charger dedicated use.

 

So, far I've had more concerned (some worry) with the wall charger install because so far the buying process of the car has been super easy....the BYD folks handling everything like I'm some VIP or something. 

 

Edited by Pib
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7 minutes ago, JBChiangRai said:

It needs to be 40A, a 32A breaker will probably trip after an hour or two.

Yea...I agree....I have a couple of 32A spares on-hand but will probably have to buy (or the installers buy) a 40A Square D breaker which should only cost a couple hundred baht.  My main box is a Schneider Square D box with Square D breakers like shown below.

 

image.png.bf84ba5f1fb22d0d7d91c30026881322.png

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On 9/19/2023 at 4:02 AM, Pib said:

I'm seriously considering buying either BYD Atto 3 EV or MG ZS EV.....really torn between deciding between them. The wife and I visited BYD and MG dealerships today/19 Sep and test drove a MG ZS EV this afternoon....I was impressed with the drive quality and power.   We also visited the BYD dealership this morning to look at the Atto 3 and also could have done an offerred test drive but didn't take them up on the offer....but going back tomorrow morning and do a test drive.

 

For the Atto 3 Extended Range model with 60KWH battery the price is Bt1,199,900 until the end of November when the govt subsidiary will dry up for that BYD model.   The freebies include:

 

- a basic warranty on vehicle 8 yrs/160Km,

- Traction battery warranty is also 8 yrs/160Km,

- Free Maintenance for 8 yrs/160Km,

- free road service 24 hrs a day for 8 yrs,

- free 1st class insurance for 1 yr, 

- free home wall charge (7KW) including installation,

- free portable (granny) charger,

- free Vehicle to Load adapter, 

- free car registration,

- and free matching carpet matts, rear luggage, license plate frames

 

Now for the MG EZ EV with 50KWH battery the price is Bt1,013,000 until the end of September....only another 10 days or so....appears the govt subsidiary on this model goes away before the subsidiary for the Atto 3.....beyond my brain power to figure out why the govt subsidiary length of time is shorter on the MG model vs the BYD model....but it is what it is.   But here are the freebies included in the MG dealership quote today:

 

- Free 1st class insurance for 3 (three) years....normally it's 1 yr but a special deal right now adds 2 more free years for a total of 3 yrs 1st class insurance

- free labor for 5 times/visits

- basic warranty on vehicle 4 years/120Km

- traction battery warranty 8 year/160Km

- free home wall charger (7KW) and installation

- free portable (granny) charger

- free ceramic windows film (40/60/80% light blocking)...I would go with 80% on the side window/sunroof and 40% on the front window

- free vehicle to load adapter

- free roadside assistance 24hrs/day for 4 years

- free towing 100Km in case of emergency

- free spray rust proofing

- free car registration

- free license plate frames

 

Yeap....seriously considering these two models.  I need to sh$t or get off the pot deciding on which one especially since the govt subsidiary soon runs out, especially for the MG at the end of September/this month....got until end of November for the Atto 3.  

 

The BYD warranty coverage pretty much 8 yrs/160Km across the board for the car and traction battery is better than the MG car warranty of 4 years/120Km & 8 yrs/160Km for the traction battery.    The MG free 1st class insurance for 3 yrs vs only 1 is definitely a good thing as 1st class insurance ain't cheap.    For the external appearance of both the MG and BYD the wife and I like them both....but when it comes to the interior we undecided on which is best.  The interest of the BYD is definitely bigger probably due to its chassis being designed solely for an EV whereas the MG chassis was originally designed for a combustion engine and adapted for an EV/electric motor.   The MG interior is more classic where the BYD interior is more eccentric but still nice....much of this is a matter of opinion that will vary from individual to individual.

 

Wish the wife and I luck as to "if" we can decide to buy either the MG or BYD....but if we are going to do it we do to do it ASAP if wanting either car at a much lower price due to the soon to go bye-bye govt subsidiary although there is talk the subsidiary may continue in a new form/lower amount in the coming months/for 2024 but I doubt any future subsidiary will be a good as the current one.

 

P.S.  I currently drive a 2009 Toyota Fortuner 3.0L diesel which I will be keeping....a great car that I bought brand new, kept well maintained, and it still runs and looks great with 315,000Km on it's odometer.   But at the same time I want to get an BEV....have one car that totally electric...cheap to drive at least "fuel" wise.

 

 

 

My understanding is that the manufacturer sells you the vehicle at the price including the subsidy but the manufacturer only receives reimbursement once the car is registered and you have your white plate hence the end of September deadline for MG and the end of November deadline for BYD. Both manufacturers have to be confident that they can deliver and register the vehicle before the end of this year

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23 minutes ago, Pib said:

Yea...I agree....I have a couple of 32A spares on-hand but will probably have to buy (or the installers buy) a 40A Square D breaker which should only cost a couple hundred baht.  My main box is a Schneider Square D box with Square D breakers like shown below.

 

image.png.bf84ba5f1fb22d0d7d91c30026881322.png

Why not getting a breaker with RCBO/ELCB?

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4 minutes ago, ExpatOilWorker said:

Why not getting a breaker with RCBO/ELCB?

I may do that...I have RCBO/ELCB installed for my two shower water heaters.  But from the YouTube videos I think the BYD charger installers install a mini breaker box with RCBO/ELCB capability next to the charger.

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There’s a white ( Frost ) Atto 3 near where I live, it’s a strange colour, at times it appears grey or even a very light purplish tinge. Green would have been my choice.

 The guy parks it half on the street and half on the pavement with a granny charger and extension lead disappearing into some bushes.

Strangely it still has red plates and I figure it appeared in mid April.

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