Opinions on HEV cars in Thailand

[sawasdeeman]

Hi there guys,

 

I am new to the forum but have already lived for 4 years in Thailand already :)

 

I just registered to post this for a friend who will be retiring soon in Thailand and is looking for a car (max 900k), desirable to be Hybrid as it spends less petrol.

 

1- What do you guys think about the new HEV cars sold in Thailand? Examples are Toyota Yaris Cross HEV, MG VS EV, Honda City e:HEV and others ... I do not see any thread talking about it, so I made it.

 

2- Is it safe to buy a Hybrid car in a country with a lot of rain and floodings?

 

3- Is it really worth the extra price you pay compared to the savings in fuel?

 

Thank you so much for your advice. 

[josephbloggs]

49 minutes ago, sawasdeeman said:

Hi there guys,

 

I am new to the forum but have already lived for 4 years in Thailand already :)

 

I just registered to post this for a friend who will be retiring soon in Thailand and is looking for a car (max 900k), desirable to be Hybrid as it spends less petrol.

 

1- What do you guys think about the new HEV cars sold in Thailand? Examples are Toyota Yaris Cross HEV, MG VS EV, Honda City e:HEV and others ... I do not see any thread talking about it, so I made it.

 

2- Is it safe to buy a Hybrid car in a country with a lot of rain and floodings?

 

3- Is it really worth the extra price you pay compared to the savings in fuel?

 

Thank you so much for your advice. 

What are his circumstances going to be? Living in Bangkok or out in the sticks? Will he be able to charge it at home? Does he intend to do many long drives?

Depending on the answers to the above he may be better off with a BEV. Or maybe a PHEV - lots of great choices but a big variance in battery ranges between the models so would need to understand how he would generally use it.

[sawasdeeman]

20 minutes ago, josephbloggs said:

What are his circumstances going to be? Living in Bangkok or out in the sticks? Will he be able to charge it at home? Does he intend to do many long drives?

Depending on the answers to the above he may be better off with a BEV. Or maybe a PHEV - lots of great choices but a big variance in battery ranges between the models so would need to understand how he would generally use it.

 

He is going to retire in Hua Hin and will be living in a condo without the possibility to get PHEV, at least for now.

 

I took a look at PHEV at Zigwheels and seems to be out of budget.

 

Thanks for the input :D

[Yellowtail]

If he can't charge at home, better to just buy an ICEV

[Lacessit]

EV's are a good choice for mostly city travel, not so good for long distances. At their best when the owner can recharge from rooftop solar.

 

900K will buy a cheaper EV, the jury is still out on resale value, after-sales service, and reliability.

 

Hybrids are more versatile for a mix of city and country traffic. A flat battery won't mean calling a tow-truck.

[KhunLA]

3 hours ago, sawasdeeman said:

2- Is it safe to buy a Hybrid car in a country with a lot of rain and flooding?

😂😂😂

[vinny41]

8 hours ago, sawasdeeman said:

Hi there guys,

 

I am new to the forum but have already lived for 4 years in Thailand already :)

 

I just registered to post this for a friend who will be retiring soon in Thailand and is looking for a car (max 900k), desirable to be Hybrid as it spends less petrol.

 

1- What do you guys think about the new HEV cars sold in Thailand? Examples are Toyota Yaris Cross HEV, MG VS EV, Honda City e:HEV and others ... I do not see any thread talking about it, so I made it.

 

2- Is it safe to buy a Hybrid car in a country with a lot of rain and floodings?

 

3- Is it really worth the extra price you pay compared to the savings in fuel?

 

Thank you so much for your advice. 

Looking at the models you have listed if  ground clearance is important to your friend then you will find all models are not equal assuming standard size  tyres

example  Fortuner, the Toyota Hilux 220mm

Toyota Yaris Cross 210mm

MG HS PHEV 145mm

Honda City e:HEV 135mm

Toyota Corolla Cross 161mm

As you can see the Yaris Cross ground clearance is fairly close to Toyota Pickup and the  Fortuner

 

 

example 

[Gweiloman]

I assume your friend will be a newcomer to living in Thailand (it doesn’t matter how many trips he’s made in the past as a tourist; living here full time is a completely different ball game). The more prudent route for him will be to buy one of the more common legacy cars from Toyota/Honda/Mazda. Even though these cars don’t represent value for money in my opinion, it will be less hassle for him initially. 

[retarius]

I rented on for a month in the UK a few of years ago. It was brilliant, 80 mpg. A Hyundai Ioniq, I haven't seen them over here. I'd buy a hybrid if the price of gas went up significantly. I see them as much preferable option to pure EVs. Having said that, I wouldn't like to foot the bill for repairing such a complex vehicle, although I haven't heard any complaints. I really think the Japanese car firms are onto something here. 

[Gweiloman]

32 minutes ago, retarius said:

I rented on for a month in the UK a few of years ago. It was brilliant, 80 mpg. A Hyundai Ioniq, I haven't seen them over here. I'd buy a hybrid if the price of gas went up significantly. I see them as much preferable option to pure EVs. Having said that, I wouldn't like to foot the bill for repairing such a complex vehicle, although I haven't heard any complaints. I really think the Japanese car firms are onto something here. 

Hyundai is Korean. 

[Roo Island]

On 1/22/2024 at 5:36 AM, vinny41 said:

Looking at the models you have listed if  ground clearance is important to your friend then you will find all models are not equal assuming standard size  tyres

example  Fortuner, the Toyota Hilux 220mm

Toyota Yaris Cross 210mm

MG HS PHEV 145mm

Honda City e:HEV 135mm

Toyota Corolla Cross 161mm

As you can see the Yaris Cross ground clearance is fairly close to Toyota Pickup and the  Fortuner

 

 

example 

Could you please tell me where you got these specs? Thank you!

[Yellowtail]

They do look a bit suspect

[vinny41]

On 1/31/2024 at 5:58 AM, Roo Island said:

Could you please tell me where you got these specs? Thank you!

from brand websites they are all there within the specs for each model

[HighPriority]

On 1/22/2024 at 12:53 AM, Lacessit said:

EV's are a good choice for mostly city travel, not so good for long distances. At their best when the owner can recharge from rooftop solar.

 

900K will buy a cheaper EV, the jury is still out on resale value, after-sales service, and reliability.

 

Hybrids are more versatile for a mix of city and country traffic. A flat battery won't mean calling a tow-truck.

Bloody born again ev evangelicals pushing their agenda !

🤣

[HighPriority]

On 1/22/2024 at 1:13 PM, Gweiloman said:

I assume your friend will be a newcomer to living in Thailand (it doesn’t matter how many trips he’s made in the past as a tourist; living here full time is a completely different ball game). The more prudent route for him will be to buy one of the more common legacy cars from Toyota/Honda/Mazda. Even though these cars don’t represent value for money in my opinion, it will be less hassle for him initially. 

He’s lived here for 4 years… 🙄

[Yellowtail]

32 minutes ago, vinny41 said:

from brand websites they are all there within the specs for each model

The Toyota Corolla Cross looks off at 161mm. Mix-up with the Yaris?

[Gweiloman]

13 hours ago, HighPriority said:

He’s lived here for 4 years… 🙄

The OP has lived here for 4 years but he’s asking for his friend who is planning to retire here soon.

[HighPriority]

1 hour ago, Gweiloman said:

The OP has lived here for 4 years but he’s asking for his friend who is planning to retire here soon.

You might be right but I took it as his mate picked up a rash last week... 😄

[vinny41]

17 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

The Toyota Corolla Cross looks off at 161mm. Mix-up with the Yaris?

https://www.toyota.co.th/model/yariscross/specification yaris cross here is 210mm

 

https://www.toyota.co.th/model/corollacross/specification corolla cross here is 161mm

 

anyone looking at a European website Europe Yaris cross and Thailand  Yaris cross not the same spec  as the Thai version is built on different platform

UK yaris cross ground clearance is 160-170mm not quoted on Toyota uk website