WrLife still ok?

[KhunLA]

49 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Decent responses… it will be interesting to see how a lot of this plays out but can’t help think that a lot of this has been politicized to such a degree we may not have the best option and see increasing interest from others parties towards H2 & biofuels… 

Definitely, as they're not going to give up their money train easily.   They've postponed Solar & BEV development as long as they could.

 

Lots of CH haters out there, but if it wasn't for CH, what we're seeing now, with solar & BEVs being affordable, wouldn't have happened for another decade or 2.

 

USA still doing their best to delay progress of both, and keeping both silly expensive compared to here and other countries.   IGORANCE IS BISS 

 

CHINA ROCKS

Edited September 3 by KhunLA

[Sandboxer]

Good. The industry is finally adjusting to reality.

 

Same goes for the whole economy. 

 

Outlook for expat life next 15-ish yrs is still rosy^^

[Lacessit]

41 minutes ago, JBChiangRai said:

 

There are over 300 Toyota Mirai drivers in California suing Toyota for misinformation about their cars and network.

 

They want their money back.

 

HFCEV trials have failed in every country.

 

Tried it in Norway, it failed.

Tried in California, it failed.

Tried it in the UK, it failed

 

Nobody wants expensive to run HFCEV's.  

 

IMO hydrogen is a waste of time until it comes from renewable energy.

 

95% of hydrogen is produced by steam reforming of methane to produce hydrogen and carbon dioxide. It's no better environmentally than simply burning the methane in an ICE.

 

Just like EV's are no better than an ICE, if they are refuelled by power stations burning fossil fuel, except they do reduce the pollution load in cities.

[SABloke]

10 hours ago, brianthainess said:

Such elegant writing, more puns than, Top gear............... 

 

They were going strong until they got lazy and used "potholes" and "engines running" in the caption. Surely there was space for rapids, turbulent waters and keeping new car sales afloat etc. 😁

[john donson]

nose dive?  if you are from EU or USA, you see 10 year old cars that would be worth almost nothing, being sold at 60-70% of new price...

[impulse]

19 hours ago, JBChiangRai said:

I think we will also see cheap city EV cars with shorter range and Sodium batteries.

 

Up here in the Middle Kingdom, there are scads of interesting tiny 2 door city EV's which meet 90% of the driving needs of a city dweller.  And their footprint is so tiny, you can fit 5 of them in the spots that 3 typical cars would take up.  Several of my neighbors drive them and say they're great for what they promise.  The first models were "influenced" by Smart Cars, but they have branched out with several home brewed models that are so ugly they're cute.  I doubt they'd pass collision testing, but they're not meant for high speed roads.  Just getting around town.  For that, they're perfect.

 

At the car shows in China, the advertised price is as low as 35,000 RMB, around $5,000 USD.  I'm not sure what adders there are for taxes, registration, etc.  Since I don't have a Chinese DL, nor a visa that would qualify me to get one, I'm curious more than interested.

 

If I needed a car to get around BKK, they'd be perfect.  But when I lived and worked there, the only time I fired up the pickup was to leave town for long weekends.  Otherwise, it was BTS, MRT, motosais and a very rare taxi trip.

[Spilornis]

At it's simplest it's all riding on new battery technology. Unfortunately while there have been a lot of promising developments the massive breakthroughs predicted about ten years ago are yet to be produced in marketable quantities.

[JBChiangRai]

1 hour ago, Spilornis said:

At it's simplest it's all riding on new battery technology. Unfortunately while there have been a lot of promising developments the massive breakthroughs predicted about ten years ago are yet to be produced in marketable quantities.

 

A lot of the new promised technologies, specifically from Japan are just Vapourware, like Toyota's sold-state batteries that should have flooded the market by now.

[kwak250]

On 9/3/2024 at 11:36 AM, CallumWK said:

 

But have you ever seen that logic in Thailand?

 

I just went looking for a second hand Navara. The top model cost 1.175.000 Bht NEW

 

 

2 year old models from that model are sold at the same price by Nissan. What you expect?

 

https://www.nic-usedcars.nissan.co.th/en/home

 

 

 

Yes but have you seen the stickers on the 2nd hand cars
You don't get those when you buy new.

 

The reason the 2nd hand market is so expensive is a lot of people cannot afford the down payment/deposit to buy a new vehicle but the 2nd hand ones from dealers will let you purchase even with bad credit and will let you drive off for a fraction of what Nissan/Toyota will charge for a new vehicle deposit 
The 2nd hand dealers will be less strict with credit checks/also a small down payment and somchai can sign for you down the road from your house

They also know they will probably get it back in a few months and sell it again.
Win win

Edited September 4 by kwak250