Electric vehicles, EV's in Thailand

[KaptainRob]

Whilst Thailand's vehicle manufacturers are gearing up for EV production I cannot foresee a large conversion rate occurring in Thailand other than for city commuters or as the shopping trolley in a 2 car family. 

The reasons are many and varied for Thai's to continue with regular fuelled vehicles for several decades and include:-

• Cost to purchase
• Insufficient charging stations particularly in rural regions and villages
• Non-compatible home electrical supply
• Fear of flood damage, battery fire and other safety issues - also fear of the unknown
• Lack of mechanical repair facilities in rural areas

Full EV or hybrid models are excellent city vehicles though I can't imagine owning one personally.  Tesla and other models are already available > https://tsl.co.th/ < and other Dealerships may appear in due course.

Discussion on the subject is welcome.  What are your thoughts about EV use in Thailand?

[Shark]

too many gov't sponsorship on gasoline & diesel to make this a feasible solution.
So, gasoline/diesel aka fossil fuel is here to stay.

Myself wouldn't be so scared for the flooding part it's all pretty much the same, a engine fossil duel can also be flooded. Where I would get scared is when the EV get's fire... this has been proven by fire departments around the world that it's a bigger deal to deal with. The choose to let the EV burn down completely weather in a controlled way or not.

[KaptainRob]

4 hours ago, Shark said:

Myself wouldn't be so scared for the flooding part it's all pretty much the same, a engine fossil duel can also be flooded. Where I would get scared is when the EV get's fire... this has been proven by fire departments around the world that it's a bigger deal to deal with. The choose to let the EV burn down completely weather in a controlled way or not.

Pick-ups can easily drive thru moderate flood waters which EV's would succumb to in a ... flash!  Thermal runaway leading to fire is a unique EV problem which has to be overcome, eventually.

[Shark]

6 minutes ago, KaptainRob said:

Pick-ups can easily drive thru moderate flood waters which EV's would succumb to in a ... flash!  Thermal runaway leading to fire is a unique EV problem which has to be overcome, eventually.

Well the pick-ups where having a hard time here now during monsoon.

[JamesE]

10 hours ago, KaptainRob said:

Pick-ups can easily drive thru moderate flood waters which EV's would succumb to in a ... flash!

Clearly you have never queried "floating Tesla" on You Tube. Your other points are valid up to the point you actually drive one. The big issue is a Level 3 charging infrastructure. Once that's in place, a feat which took Tesla almost a decade to install continent-wide here and in Europe, EVs will be the only choice. @Shark's fire comment is valid as to the nature of the fire, but gas vehicles burn way more frequently, both spontaneously and in accidents, and gasoline is not an easy fire to put out (except for the century of experience we have in dealing with it). I'm liking the new Chinese entry into Thailand's EV race:

 

[KaptainRob]

3 hours ago, JamesE said:

Clearly you have never queried "floating Tesla" on You Tube. Your other points are valid up to the point you actually drive one. The big issue is a Level 3 charging infrastructure.

Yes I saw that floating Tesla a long time back.  Nice gimmick.   Unfortunately not all EV's will be as 'buoyant' or watertight which was my point.  Diesel pick-ups are often high enough to 'breathe' as they move thru flood waters and don't rely on batteries in the floor pan which could be submerged. 

I gave assistance with a drowned car some years ago and managed to get it restarted once I disconnected many accessories where connections were shorting the electrical system.  The battery was no good but had to remain in-circuit once I jump started the engine.

Charging stations ARE slowly appearing across Thailand, in high population regions, but it's the rural areas where people will be unable to charge at home and it could be 50 to 100 km's between EV stations.

I'm not anti-EV, I've been in a Tesla and thought it wonderful, until I saw the price tag   That was in NZ before tax incentives were introduced.  EV's will become more prevalent there in short time.

[JamesE]

Looks like Thailand is getting serious: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2232707/state-offers-perks-to-increase-sales They're planning to drop the tax on EV imports in exchange for a drop in the retail price and a commitment to build them in Thailand. This could be a nudge in the right direction.

[longwood50]

[Noble_Design]

EV ownership is definitely on the rise in Thailand since Chinese car manufacturers (MG & GW) have been bringing in affordable EVs for the masses. Take for example the MG EP priced at less than 1 million baht, this itself makes it highly competitive with any internal combustion engine car.

Yes charging facilities are still quite lacking at rural areas and even for those in the city sometimes people tend to park and occupy charging spaces with their non-EV cars either out of ignorance or can't find any other parking spaces.

Regular maintenance for an EV is surprisingly cheap, there is no engine oil or filter to replace, no transmission oil, belts etc. Take these 2 comparisons between MG ZS EV vs MG ZS:

From above you can see that an EV only needs to do maintenance once every 40K km whereas an IC engine car once every 10K km. Imagine the time saved as a typical maintenance usually means you're stuck at the shop car-less for at least half a day.

The only 2 things that I can think of that would cost a lot of money to repair would be the battery and the motor but I think we can rule out the motor because an electric motor is infinitely more reliable than an engine - much less moving parts, not much oil or seals required. I can't describe how many times I have seen even new expensive Mercedes Benz keeps giving out alerts and warnings due to sensor faults etc. There are just way too much sensors in a modern engine due to requirements on emission and fuel saving etc. (no thanks to VW's Dieselgate). With an EV I don't need to think about what kind of fuel I need to pump - Gasoline 95, gasohol 95 or 91, E20, E85, Diesel B7, B10, B20 and the lists goes on.

 

[Noble_Design]

Talking about battery costs or lifespan, most car manufacturers now give many years of warranty and with the latest battery tech you don't have to replace the whole set anymore because it comes in modules. Just replace the modules that are damaged. You'll know what I mean by modules if you have ever seen the batteries on an electric forklift truck.

The thing that bothers me is there is still no charging plug standards, this is something that ISO definitely needs to look at. There is at least 4 different types of standards now - Japanese, Chinese, Europeans and American standards. Every region thinks that their plug designs are the best. Kinda reminds me back in the days of Betamax vs VHS or USB vs Lightning. There need to be a standard plug for all car manufacturers globally just like how we are all almost using USB-C now.