Electric Vehicles (EV) Thread

[dundrillin]

I test drove the ORA 07 recently. very nice car, good performance and range. But the (mostly) glass roof makes it hot inside.

Two comments -

I have an MGHS with a panoramic sunroof but with the shade in place I’ve not noticed it being particularly hot?

The price of the Ora 07 is similar to BYD’s Seal (the Seal is slightly more expensive) - if you’re considering buying, will you test drive that as well?

I’m not in the market at the moment and of course it’s all very subjective, but I prefer the look of the Seal.


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Actually I saw a Tesla 3 in Paragon , Bangkok and was very impressed. My friend in the UK has one and is very happy with it. Most folks say I should wait awhile but as I'm soon to be 74 I don't think I should wait to long. Incidentally I had the breakdown service to fix my Mazda recently and I asked him if he was called out to rescue many electric vehicles, he said yes but mostly BMW's

[STEVE G]

^Over the weekend with the Bangkok crowd in town, I was surprised at how many Teslas were on the roads.
I saw at least four yesterday, including one in a very noticeable iridescent green colour scheme which might be considered a bit brash if you're not a youth anymore!

[Dannie Boy]

My son has just taken over his bosses “hand-me-down” nearly 4 year old Tesla 3 Performance (dual motor AWD) and as the name suggests it’s very fast, particularly when joining dual carriageways/motorways when he claims it goes from 40-70 in the blink of an eyelid!!

Not sure it would be for me with so many of the controls being via the touchscreen - definitely something for the younger generation (IMO).


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[caller]

I saw a Tesla in the car park of the Ad Lib Hotel in Khon Kaen. A then newly opeened modern hotel, and easily the best in KK. But despite all of that, there were no chargers in their car park, which surprised me.

Some interesting stuff in the BP recently about EVs.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/mo ... -evolution

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/mo ... -ev-sector

And in case you missed it, there was a great article in the Times recently about BYD and Chinese EV's being the next Huawei. It seems, that they can be stopped remotely, bringing gridlock and chaos wherever they choose. It transpires that for security reasons, Teslas are not allowed to enter secure and military areas in China, and I guess there has to be a reason for that? The Times is behind a paywall, but I am sure it would have been covered elsewhere.

[Dannie Boy]

This was in the Telegraph - I’ve pasted the full article because you normally need to subscribe.


Beijing could remotely stop electric cars manufactured in China on UK roads” sounds like the stuff of dystopian nightmares, but this is the real world in March 2024.

MPs have been warned that EVs could be jammed remotely should UK-China relations deteriorate significantly.

But this shouldn’t come as a shock. Electric cars, for all the praise they may receive from politicians eager to burnish their green credentials, have become a sinister threat to the West.

Consider how, just last year, warnings were issued that Chinese tracking devices had been found embedded in the electronics of Downing Street vehicles. At the time, Sir Richard Dearlove, the former head of MI6, warned Chinese EVs could become the “next Huawei”.

It all felt like something you might expect to read in a le Carre thriller updated for the digital age.

If this story were a spy novel, the device would have been planted by a daring mole within the government system.

But this is the age of the Internet of Things (IoT), and yet another proof of what can be done simply by saturating your target country with products that contain a digital Trojan horse.

This is now the signature weapon of the Chinese party state – industrial-scale cyber espionage capabilities weaponised through normal export trade.

And that means that we could all soon be in the firing line, not just early adopters in the EV revolution.

‘Smart’ technology, which is spreading rapidly through the brave new IoT, makes use of an interactive component called a ‘cellular IoT module’ or CIM.

These are currently used in all electric vehicles (EVs), but also in smart energy meters, some cameras, speaker and heating systems and even doorbells.

The essence of CIMs is that they collect various types of data, according to the type of equipment they are installed in. They then share it with other parts of an internet-connected network, from which they in turn can receive data.

Unless this is expressly disabled , e.g. by a user password, CIMs are also continuously connected to their original manufacturers, which may use them to conduct remote repairs and updates.

The risk from CIMs thus becomes obvious. Not only cyber attackers, but also the originators of the CIM can use it to gain access to the data from the device. A single compromised device somewhere in the wider network can also be used for cyber attacks on other parts of the network.

The only real defence against this risk, in the everyday IoT, is to buy smart equipment from reliable sources which set out to protect security.

In April 2023, the US House of Representatives passed a bill to protect US Embassy data from compromise by telecoms equipment sourced from Chinese companies deemed to be ‘untrusted foreign entities’.

Over the last five years, a growing number of Western governments have accepted that China seeks to drain data from targets of state interest using conventional equipment as well as incessant streams of sophisticated cyber attacks.

By degrees, some US allies and partners have begun to strip suspect equipment out of their 4G and 5G structures, in a complex and costly attempt to close the stable door.

But to date, there has been much less attention paid to the increasingly ubiquitous CIM. Many governments, save for their security services, still don’t know what the acronym stands for.

For all of us – given that we might be thinking of buying a cheap and trendy Chinese EV, ‘a device to control our hot water and heating at home or numerous other innocuous-sounding and useful applications – a red flag needs to be hoisted.

[STEVE G]

^Judging by the number of electric cars around Hua Hin, this doesn't seem to be a major concern with Thais.
I'm interested in driving off solar electricity and I can't really imagine China stopping cars in Thailand, even if it's technically possible.

[Big Boy]

Would anybody notice if somebody stopped the cars in Hua Hin? We'd probably just assume Somchai had stopped, and gone to buy his somtam.

[caller]

The Vietnamese are coming!

https://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/202 ... -thailand/

Its a sign of Thailands decline over the last 20 years, that another SE Asian country is ahead of Thailand in producing it's own EV, or any vehicle for that matter.

[Dannie Boy]

Although this report suggests you might not want to rush out and part with your money!!

https://www.motortrend.com/reviews/2023 ... ve-review/


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[caller]

Although this report suggests you might not want to rush out and part with your money!!

https://www.motortrend.com/reviews/2023 ... ve-review/

Oh, I have no doubt tthey need to improve, nor little doubt that they will. Saw plenty of them in Saigon.

[ianc66]

Two weeks ago took delivery of new Tesla Model 3 RWD. Superb.

[Dannie Boy]

Lucky you - be careful with your right foot!!


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[Big Boy]

2 related questions please:

1. I've covered a fair bit of the country over the last 2 days, and have seen a lot of cars on charge. The question that struck me was is there a regulated price for car filling electricity? Do all pumps charge the same/similar per unit?

2. What do drivers do while their cars are being charged? Driving home last night, I stopped at a NGV (I think) filling station just North of Tha Yang, but they also have a couple of charging points. Both points were connected to vehicles, but at the station I stop at, there is nothing there apart from a 7-11 and a toilet after dark. I was the only person in there apart from the assistants. My conclusion was the cars had been put on charge there, and the owners had gone home. Would that normally be an option i.e. somebody follow you to the charging point, and take you home while you leave your car on charge? It just seemed strange to see 2 cars there charging, but no people in attendance.

Presuming this is the norm. Is this not hogging limited pump (is that what they're called?) space once filled? Could the next person just disconnect and re-connect to his motor?

[Dannie Boy]

I’m not an expert but re your last part, you wouldn’t be able to disconnect assuming the cars are locked - you need to open the car to be able to disconnect the cable from the charger (not pump).

As for whether the owner had hooked up and gone home - I guess anything is possible in Thailand but I’m sure you wouldn’t get away with it in the UK (and rightly so)!!


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[Big Boy]

Unless they were hiding in the bushes, they definitely weren't anywhere to be seen. It's such a small station, there is nowhere to hide.