Tesla in Thailand

[Bangkok Sausage house]

Any news on when Tesla will come to Thailand?  Build Supercharger network infrastructure?

[jay1980]

saw one in Pattaya on Sunday with Thai numberplates

 

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/124787-unexpected-cars/?do=findComment&comment=11030465

 

[Bangkok Sausage house]

Wonder how much that cost here. 

 

How would they tax an electric car because it cant be taxed based on the size of the engine.

[JaseTheBass]

2 hours ago, Bangkok Sausage house said:

Wonder how much that cost here. 

 

How would they tax an electric car because it cant be taxed based on the size of the engine.

 

Thai thinking says - 'If someone can afford something 'exotic' they can afford to pay 300% tax on it'

[mwbrown]

Having converted a Porsche 914 to full electric drive back home, I'm interested in the progress of electric cars here.

 

I was in Bangkok this weekend for a meeting with the Wasutha Group company which is expanding their automotive import, limo and servicing business into electric cars and charging in Thailand.  They have been in contact with Tesla but since the market here is so small Tesla has no plans to enter.  

 

Wasutha has a shiny new Model S 85 kwh that they imported from the UK and it's available for test drives for serious customers.  If you like it, they will import one with the options of your choice.  That Model S's price is 6.5 to 7 million baht.

 

http://www.wasuthagroup.com/en/

[Muhendis]

7 hours ago, Bangkok Sausage house said:

Wonder how much that cost here. 

 

How would they tax an electric car because it cant be taxed based on the size of the engine.

Engines are quoted several different ways. Capacity in cc or litres. horsepower and Kilowatts. I think Kilowatts would be the figure of merit for electric cars.

Edited August 10, 2016 by Muhendis

[Stardust314]

you have to check  this youtube channel 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1Mt6Geg6es

Tesla Model S in Thailand

 

Bjørn Nyland

 

[LNKDES1]

Ludicrous Mode? In Thailand? Spare me.

[pkspeaker]

I read *i think* in the bangkok post, they tested one in bangkok and it was useless, it didn't get even half the range it was supposed to.  Keep in mind, unless you wanna sweat your ass off, you have to run the aircon high in Thailand, a battery powered aircon on top of everything else forget it.  running an airconditioner on battery?  I don't understand why anyone would pay so much (7 Million Baht!) for a car that takes an even an hour to 'refill'  Electric cars are stupid.  its a dumb idea and the only reason tesla is viable is because the us taxpayer is footing the bill.  If you are going to have one being in a cold climate is mandatory because it's easier to forgo the heater than it is the aircon in a warm climate.  You need to have your own house and garage so you can charge it all the time, and you need to have a real car to back up your stupid useless toy.  Ideal candidate is a very rich stupid person who lives in Alaska.

Edited August 10, 2016 by pkspeaker

[johninbkk71]

Electric cars are not the future. The batteries are not Eco-friendly. The strip mining, the transport of raw materials,manufacturing of them, etc.

They should be banned. Where does the electricity to charge these useless rich toys come from? Have you see the size of the Tesla factory? It probably uses more electricity than a small African country, so rich idiots can say look at me. 

 

[OMGImInPattaya]

I doubt Tesla has any plans to enter the Thai market anytime soon...too small a market and unfriendly regulatory environment. There are a couple grey-market importers in Bangkok who source their cars from Hong Kong. The price is about double USA pricing.

[OMGImInPattaya]

1 hour ago, pkspeaker said:

I read *i think* in the bangkok post, they tested one in bangkok and it was useless, it didn't get even half the range it was supposed to.  Keep in mind, unless you wanna sweat your ass off, you have to run the aircon high in Thailand, a battery powered aircon on top of everything else forget it.  running an airconditioner on battery?  I don't understand why anyone would pay so much (7 Million Baht!) for a car that takes an even an hour to 'refill'  Electric cars are stupid.  its a dumb idea and the only reason tesla is viable is because the us taxpayer is footing the bill.  If you are going to have one being in a cold climate is mandatory because it's easier to forgo the heater than it is the aircon in a warm climate.  You need to have your own house and garage so you can charge it all the time, and you need to have a real car to back up your stupid useless toy.  Ideal candidate is a very rich stupid person who lives in Alaska.

You don't really know much about electric cars, or Teslas in particular. Why wouldn't the car get is quoted range...unless they were driving it at supercar speeds throughout the test. Teslas are the number one selling electric car in Norway, and very popular throughout norther Europe due to government e-incentives, environmental concerns, petrol prices, etc. I haven't heard of any of them freezing to death in their cars in winter and I assume it uses about the same amount of battery power to heat a freezing car as it does to cool a hot one; and if you actually knew anything about these cars, you would know that the climate control systems on a Tesla are very efficient and use very little energy/battery power.

 

As for the hour-long refills, it doesn't really matter does it when these refills can be done at nite while sleeping. And even in fossil-cars, one has to stop to refuel and for coffee and food breaks and to let out what one has put in every 4-5 hours or so. These take 20-30 minutes at least so, at least at a Supercharger, it's not any "extra" time. 

[OMGImInPattaya]

59 minutes ago, johninbkk71 said:

Electric cars are not the future. The batteries are not Eco-friendly. The strip mining, the transport of raw materials,manufacturing of them, etc.

They should be banned. Where does the electricity to charge these useless rich toys come from? Have you see the size of the Tesla factory? It probably uses more electricity than a small African country, so rich idiots can say look at me. 

 

The batteries are very eco-friendly as they are almost completely recyclable at the end of their useful lifetimes. The Lithium and other metals in the batteries can (and will) be recovered and made into new batteries. So once a critical mass of vehicles is on the road and enough time has elapsed, there will be minimal need for new batteries from scratch.

 

All of the power for the new Nevada Tesla Gigafactory is provided by onsite solar and nearby geo-thermal power sources. The factory has been designed from the ground up as a net-zero energy consumer.

 

Maybe better to actually know something about what you post on.

 

http://www.treehugger.com/renewable-energy/teslas-gigafactory-will-produce-much-renewable-energy-it-uses-net-zero-energy.html

 

(My Mark of the Beast post   )

Edited August 10, 2016 by OMGImInPattaya

[mortenaa]

1 hour ago, pkspeaker said:

I read *i think* in the bangkok post, they tested one in bangkok and it was useless, it didn't get even half the range it was supposed to.  Keep in mind, unless you wanna sweat your ass off, you have to run the aircon high in Thailand, a battery powered aircon on top of everything else forget it.  running an airconditioner on battery?  I don't understand why anyone would pay so much (7 Million Baht!) for a car that takes an even an hour to 'refill'  Electric cars are stupid.  its a dumb idea and the only reason tesla is viable is because the us taxpayer is footing the bill.  If you are going to have one being in a cold climate is mandatory because it's easier to forgo the heater than it is the aircon in a warm climate.  You need to have your own house and garage so you can charge it all the time, and you need to have a real car to back up your stupid useless toy.  Ideal candidate is a very rich stupid person who lives in Alaska.

 

On a 90KWh battery, you can use the 1500 Watt A/C for three days straight, so shouldn't affect your range too much

 

Oh, btw it takes 20 minutes to reach 80%, or about 300km+ range.

[pkspeaker]

Actually the BBC, and other's have made the same accusation: that tesla exaggerates how much range/time you get from a recharge.  sure you can charge at home, the problem is you have to keep coming home or 'find' some place where you can sit and wait forever for a recharge, you can forget about taking it on long trips-you gotta backup your tesla with a real car.. as someone said earlier the 'environmental' concerns are a sham, there are clean burning fuels and all that environmental impact from rare-earth mining.

 

Its just a big pain in the butt compared to a car that can be refueled in a few seconds and they are expensive as hell, don't getit.

[mortenaa]

3 minutes ago, pkspeaker said:

Actually the BBC, and other's have made the same accusation: that tesla exaggerates how much range/time you get from a recharge.  sure you can charge at home, the problem is you have to keep coming home or 'find' some place where you can sit and wait forever for a recharge, you can forget about taking it on long trips-you gotta backup your tesla with a real car.. as someone said earlier the 'environmental' concerns are a sham, there are clean burning fuels and all that environmental impact from rare-earth mining.

 

Its just a big pain in the butt compared to a car that can be refueled in a few seconds and they are expensive as hell, don't getit.

 

Seriously dude, watch Tesla Bjorn or other peoples YouTube channels. I have so many friends here in Norway with Teslas. They all love their cars. The first few batches had some quality issues with interior, seats etc, but that has all been sorted. And as a bonus, you get acceleration faster than most Lamborghinis and Ferraris

Edited August 10, 2016 by mortenaa

[pkspeaker]

that doesn't say much because i love my yaris  everyone loves their stupid car.

[Berty100]

7 minutes ago, OMGImInPattaya said:

The batteries are very eco-friendly as they are almost completely recyclable at the end of their useful lifetimes. The Lithium and other metals in the batteries can (and will) be recovered and made into new batteries. So once a critical mass of vehicles is on the road and enough time has elapsed, there will be minimal need for new batteries from scratch.

 

All of the power for the new Nevada Tesla Gigafactory is provided by onsite solar and nearby geo-thermal power sources. The factory has been designed from the ground up as a net-zero energy consumer.

 

Maybe better to actually know something about what you post on.

 

http://www.treehugger.com/renewable-energy/teslas-gigafactory-will-produce-much-renewable-energy-it-uses-net-zero-energy.html

 

(My Mark of the Beast post   )

 

 

Welcome to the world of Mr Elon Ponzi Musk, who is creating one of the biggest scams known to mankind, with government money. Read, average Joe's tax money.

 

The solar roof of his factory was installed by Solar City, a company once considered the the leader in solar energy in the US but also owned by Musk, but which strange enough went bankrupt after such a big project. Hey I also can build something massive that speaks to the imagination if I don't have to pay for it.

 

After the bankruptcy Tesla bought the company, which was owned by Musk already, with borrowed money. So in fact he bailed himself out.

 

It is noit a question if this guys projects will blow up, but when.

 

Thanks for the link to the fanboy site of Mr Ponzi Musk

[mortenaa]

1 hour ago, johninbkk71 said:

Electric cars are not the future. The batteries are not Eco-friendly. The strip mining, the transport of raw materials,manufacturing of them, etc.

They should be banned. Where does the electricity to charge these useless rich toys come from? Have you see the size of the Tesla factory? It probably uses more electricity than a small African country, so rich idiots can say look at me. 

 

 

Tesla's Gigafactory will produce as much renewable energy as it uses. It will be a 'net zero' energy consumer and have carbon neutral operations.

[mortenaa]

23 minutes ago, Berty100 said:

 

 

Welcome to the world of Mr Elon Ponzi Musk, who is creating one of the biggest scams known to mankind, with government money. Read, average Joe's tax money.

 

The solar roof of his factory was installed by Solar City, a company once considered the the leader in solar energy in the US but also owned by Musk, but which strange enough went bankrupt after such a big project. Hey I also can build something massive that speaks to the imagination if I don't have to pay for it.

 

After the bankruptcy Tesla bought the company, which was owned by Musk already, with borrowed money. So in fact he bailed himself out.

 

It is noit a question if this guys projects will blow up, but when.

 

Thanks for the link to the fanboy site of Mr Ponzi Musk

 

Was installed? Haha, its not built yet. And when did Solar City go bankrupt? What is your media source? Or is this just wishful thinking? 

Edited August 10, 2016 by mortenaa

[Berty100]

6 minutes ago, mortenaa said:

 

Was installed? Haha, its not built yet. And when did Solar City go bankrupt? Where is your media source? Is this wishful thinking? 

 

You're right, Musk bailed them out, actually bailed himself out before they could go bankrupt.

 

https://www.macroaxis.com/invest/ratio/SCTY--Probability-Of-Bankruptcy

 

http://cleantechnica.com/2016/06/24/thoughts-teslas-stock-price-collapse-following-solarcity-buyout-offer/

[OMGImInPattaya]

1 hour ago, Berty100 said:

 

 

Welcome to the world of Mr Elon Ponzi Musk, who is creating one of the biggest scams known to mankind, with government money. Read, average Joe's tax money.

 

The solar roof of his factory was installed by Solar City, a company once considered the the leader in solar energy in the US but also owned by Musk, but which strange enough went bankrupt after such a big project. Hey I also can build something massive that speaks to the imagination if I don't have to pay for it.

 

After the bankruptcy Tesla bought the company, which was owned by Musk already, with borrowed money. So in fact he bailed himself out.

 

It is noit a question if this guys projects will blow up, but when.

 

Thanks for the link to the fanboy site of Mr Ponzi Musk

This is a thread about Tesla cars in Thailand not about Tesla or Solar City's business plans or the efficacy of government subsidies to the renewable or fossil fuel industries. I did reply to your post about the energy footprint of the Gigafactory just to clear-up your erroneous information.

[pkspeaker]

yea well there's like one place selling them  in thailand and they are expensive as hell..

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/10/automobiles/stalled-on-the-ev-highway.html?_r=0

 

" The federal government has invested in the effort to find a solution. Three years ago, Steven Chu, the Nobel Prize-winning physicist and secretary of energy, proudly announced a $465 million loan to Tesla as part of an advanced vehicles program intended to cut fossil fuel use and address global warming. "

 

pretty sure that $465 mil is just the tip of the iceberg and no global warming since 1997, and of course since most electricity is produced by fossil fuel burning plants, it's pointless. 

 

If they charge in 30 minutes (for a half charge) or an hour, that's pretty impressive, unless you compare to a car that runs on gas which recharges in 1 minute.  and ofcource if more people do buy these things, those really convenient charging stations are gonna get crowded really fast, so you pull into one and guess what, you gotta wait for the other dummy that is 'eating lunch' while he charges.. oh sure it's so convenient because you get to eat lunch.

 

electric cars are stupid.

Edited August 10, 2016 by pkspeaker

[OMGImInPattaya]

2 hours ago, pkspeaker said:

Actually the BBC, and other's have made the same accusation: that tesla exaggerates how much range/time you get from a recharge.  sure you can charge at home, the problem is you have to keep coming home or 'find' some place where you can sit and wait forever for a recharge, you can forget about taking it on long trips-you gotta backup your tesla with a real car.. as someone said earlier the 'environmental' concerns are a sham, there are clean burning fuels and all that environmental impact from rare-earth mining.

 

Its just a big pain in the butt compared to a car that can be refueled in a few seconds and they are expensive as hell, don't getit.

There are plenty of public charging networks in countries making an effort to roll-out e-vehicles. There are also many free or low-cost charging points at apartment complexes, office buildings, shopping centers, parking lots, and other places one might leave their electric vehicle during the day/nite.

 

After hydrogen and helium, lithium is the most common element in the universe; and is found on earth anywhere there is/was a large body of water. There is little impact on the environment from lithium mining (compared to coal, natural gas, and oil extraction) and as previously mentioned, at some point, the batteries will be recycled and the lithium reused in new batteries. Unlike fossil cars, the lithium in a lithium-ion battery isn't "used up" while powering a vehicle and easily be recovered.  In addition, only a small amount of lithium is actually used in a "lithium ion" battery...about 2% by weight.

[pkspeaker]

oh sure, you just need to install one of these $upercharger$ on every parking spot, just like solar panels and wind, these electric technologies are a black hole, it requires massive infusions of government money, endlessly and they wont even get 1% of the vehicles using this and all this stuff always has to be backed up by something that is actually reliable.

 

it wind's up just being a bunch of taxpayer money in uper rich peoples pockets.

[Bangkok Sausage house]

27 minutes ago, OMGImInPattaya said:

There are plenty of public charging networks in countries making an effort to roll-out e-vehicles. There are also many free or low-cost charging points at apartment complexes, office buildings, shopping centers, parking lots, and other places one might leave their electric vehicle during the day/nite.

 

After hydrogen and helium, lithium is the most common element in the universe; and is found on earth anywhere there is/was a large body of water. There is little impact on the environment from lithium mining (compared to coal, natural gas, and oil extraction) and as previously mentioned, at some point, the batteries will be recycled and the lithium reused in new batteries. Unlike fossil cars, the lithium in a lithium-ion battery isn't "used up" while powering a vehicle and easily be recovered.  In addition, only a small amount of lithium is actually used in a "lithium ion" battery...about 2% by weight.

You are right on all your points.  Although this thread was about Tesla in Thailand, it is interesting to think through where all this is leading.  If you compare an electric car like a Tesla to similarly priced BMW or Mercedes, the electric car wins out in almost every category.  You can take things like handling and acceleration which are more quantifiable and Tesla wins, other issues like style of the car and interior design and even ride are more personal preferences but clearly Tesla does very well.  If you take convenience of fill up, today Tesla wouldn't win but that is changing for a variety of reasons.  One, the supercharger network is growing rapidly, batteries are becoming cheaper allowing for lower cost cars - see the model 3 -, charging at home is getting cheaper with solar and soon with battery storage , gas stations are becoming more scarce in built up areas.  Take New York or even Bangkok, we are losing gas stations rapidly, the profit in gas is quite low and selling the land to a developer is a financial no-brainer. 

 

Consider the value of the vehicle after say 150,000 miles.  A BMW or Mercedes can easily go well past that but the value of the vehicle will decrease more than a Tesla.  Tesla's are now spec'd for 1 million miles and without all the moving parts... and engine itself, the repair costs will be much lower. 

 

The stink of regular cars in congested areas compared to electric vehicles.  Tesla wins hands down.  Not breathing particulates would be really nice in congested areas.

 

The Tesla has been built from the ground up to be a technical leap up from every other car.  Updating over the air software, ability to integrate autonomous driving due to the technical nature of the product is step function greater than anything out there today and traditional car companies can never match that unless they develop a Tesla-like car, which would cannibalize their existing cars.

 

In fact this could really be a death knell for traditional cars.  If the model 3 is as good as it's projected to be, who wouldn't want to buy a car that is faster, handles better, doesn't pollute, will last 3 times longer and in future will have more convenient and cheaper charging ability than a traditional car.  If the model 3 can prove a reasonably priced electric can and be built, who would buy a regular car?

 

I can see where customers are going to compare and recognize this and they are going to say, maybe I'll just lease a car for 2 or 3 more years and then buy an electric car.  So the car makers are going to be getting approximately the same sales but they might be weighted more heavily towards leasing and then 3 or 5 years later, the bottom really falls out.  Their sales precipitously nosedive as there are cheaper (due to continually lowered battery prices) and better cars available from Tesla and presumably new E-car entrants. 

 

Plus with autonomous driving, there will very likely be fewer cars sold due to the ability to use driverless services or even Uber services.

 

These are just off the top of my head, I just can't understand how traditional cars will justify their existence in the very near future.

 

If the model 3 is as good as it's promoted to be, this will be a game changer. 

[seedy]

Derogatory, Bickering, post and Quoted Replies Removed

[csabo]

I would think Thailand has enough vehicles with the wheels just falling off.

Never trust a manufacturer of anything who makes you sign a non-disclosure agreement.  Safe to say we won't be seeing any negative reviews on the internet regarding Tesla if their lawyers keep at it.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/11/business/tesla-motors-model-s-suspension.html?_r=0

Edited August 11, 2016 by csabo

[Ace of Pop]

I had the State of the Art Battery Lawn Mower once, in one Year i went back to a Briggs n Stratton. Ah Well, up to you.

[patyh]

I seem to think the BMW i3 Rex seems more well fit for the Thailand market...