New EV Buying Journey

[Lethalstrike]

On 1/27/2025 at 11:37 AM, Heartlander said:

This kind of shit got reported on many Chinese EVs including BYD yet people are still snapping them up like nobody business.

Value for $$$ quotient is high for the Chinese makes, so I am not surprised the J7 did well in Malaysia. A lot over there will rather take a bet on this than some low-specced and overpriced RAV4 or CR-V in Malaysia. 

[Lethalstrike]

On 1/27/2025 at 1:22 PM, Voodooman said:

Read it is caused by a miscalibration of an automated welding machine at supplier’s facility. This occurred during a facility upgrade when a worn-out welding tip was replaced with a new one, but the equipment was not recalibrated afterward. As a result, the rear trailing arm welds were insufficiently secure, leading to potential failure.

This is still crazy, despite the explanation from Omoda.

With so much price competition (quality may be compromised), really got to do some reading. Not surprised that BYD and Tesla came up top among EV players in terms of QC as they are also major exporters but not sure if BYD rapid expansion will lead to QC issues. 

It is indeed an explanation which doesn't inspires confidence. One will wonder where else on the car is not properly welded due to new factory equipment not being calibrated properly 😅

[Voodooman]

On 1/27/2025 at 3:19 PM, Lala81 said:

Lol even though I'm no expert. But a visual inspection should see what's  properly welded vs a weld that will fail. 

 

I read that most of these 5G factories (don't know what it means) no longer use eye power but AI intelligent visual detection system. Maybe the AI failed. 😂

[inlinesix]

On 1/27/2025 at 3:19 PM, Lethalstrike said:

Value for $$$ quotient is high for the Chinese makes, so I am not surprised the J7 did well in Malaysia. A lot over there will rather take a bet on this than some low-specced and overpriced RAV4 or CR-V in Malaysia. 

That's why i said EV development in Malaysia is more interesting than America.

PRC EV price is in Jap car zone.

Once that segment is saturated, we shall see whether it moves up and/or down the value chain.

[Heartlander]

Came across this video that talked about the rise of BYD. Copy is not such a big crime, but pls do not brag about it lah really shameless. Seems the culture with China in modern history, latest being the Deepseek episode.

 

[Heartlander]

BYD forced its suppliers to drop price by 10% in Nov/24, labelling them as not patriotic if refuse to comply. And under credit terms of 270 days. And its cars garner the most number of complaints from consumers, even the latest models that are selling over here.

 

Edited January 31 by Heartlander

[ER-3682]

I heard alot of EVs's Road Tax higher than ICE,anybody got the list of Road Taxes for Popular Models.?

[inlinesix]

On 1/31/2025 at 5:34 PM, ER-3682 said:

I heard alot of EVs's Road Tax higher than ICE,anybody got the list of Road Taxes for Popular Models.?

Because ICE car road tax outdated.

Cat A EV and ICE car should be about the same 

[Carbon82]

@ER-3682 as if you know what I am doing... I was just thinking where to post the road tax tables I have worked out (I created an excel spreadsheet with formula for calculating road tax of BEV and ICE awhile back)

A few examples for better illustration of the differences in annual road tax between the ICE and BEV variant.

Audi Q3 / Q4

• Q3 1.5TFSI => $684
• Q4 e-tron 45 => $2,148

BMW 5 Series

• 520 / 530 => $1,210
• i5 eDrive40 => $3,398
• M5 PHEV => $4,568
• i5 M60 xDrive => $6,402

Kia Niro

• 1.6 Hybrid => $732
• Electric => $1,550

Lexus RX / RZ

• RX350h => $1,748
• RZ450e => $2,264

MG HS / ZS

• HS 1.5T =>$682
• ZS Electric => $1,496

Mercedes-Benz GLB / EQB

• GLB180 => $586
• EQB250 => $1,738
• GLB35 AMG => $1,202
• EQB350 => $2,178

Mini Countryman

• All4 2.0T => $1,210
• All4 Electric => 2,264

Porsche Macan

• 2.0T variant => $1,194
• 2.9T variant=> $2,262
• Electric => $6,606

Volkswagen Tiguan / ID.4

• Tiguan 1.5 eTSI => $684
• ID.4 Electric => $2,148

Volvo XC40 / EX40

• XC40 2.0T => $1,176
• EX40 Electric => $1,942

[ER-3682]

EVs Road Tax not cheap,those use very little like 12,000Km a Year not much saving.

Edited February 1 by ER-3682

[inlinesix]

On 2/1/2025 at 8:18 PM, ER-3682 said:

EVs Road Tax not cheap,those use very little like 12,000Km a Year not much saving.

On 2/1/2025 at 4:28 PM, Carbon82 said:

@ER-3682 as if you know what I am doing... I was just thinking where to post the road tax tables I have worked out (I created an excel spreadsheet with formula for calculating road tax of BEV and ICE awhile back)

A few examples for better illustration of the differences in annual road tax between the ICE and BEV variant.

Audi Q3 / Q4

• Q3 1.5TFSI => $684
• Q4 e-tron 45 => $2,148

BMW 5 Series

• 520 / 530 => $1,210
• i5 eDrive40 => $3,398
• M5 PHEV => $4,568
• i5 M60 xDrive => $6,402

Kia Niro

• 1.6 Hybrid => $732
• Electric => $1,550

Lexus RX / RZ

• RX350h => $1,748
• RZ450e => $2,264

MG HS / ZS

• HS 1.5T =>$682
• ZS Electric => $1,496

Mercedes-Benz GLB / EQB

• GLB180 => $586
• EQB250 => $1,738
• GLB35 AMG => $1,202
• EQB350 => $2,178

Mini Countryman

• All4 2.0T => $1,210
• All4 Electric => 2,264

Porsche Macan

• 2.0T variant => $1,194
• 2.9T variant=> $2,262
• Electric => $6,606

Volkswagen Tiguan / ID.4

• Tiguan 1.5 eTSI => $684
• ID.4 Electric => $2,148

Volvo XC40 / EX40

• XC40 2.0T => $1,176
• EX40 Electric => $1,942

For Cat A, stripping away $700, it is more or less the same.

$700 represents petrol tax over 12 mths

[Carbon82]

@inlinesix I have said that multiple times, the whole road tax structure is illogical to say the least.

For those who have yet to notice, there is a big jump of ~$1K from 230KW to 240KW. Why? When LTA adjusted the EV road tax formula a couple of years back, they did a half F job, revising the rate for those 230KW and less, while maintaining the rate for those >230KW.

Now about the AFC, $700 is applied across the board, ranging from a Kei car to Rolls Royce Spectre, is it "fair"? Ok let's not make it sounds that AFC favor the rich. What about taxi and PHV, where their mileage is easily 3 to more than 5 times higher than private passenger car, so is LTA providing some perks for these business owners?

If you bother to look at the changes in vehicle taxes in the past 30 - 40 years, it is not hard to see that we are being taken for a ride. COE, WEC/OPC, ERP, CNG, Diesel, CVES/VES, and now EV, go and read the press statement from LTA for each of these scheme, laugh die me.

I know what you are going to say next. Car-Lite, right? Whatever been levied on vehicle owners will eventually be passed down to the consumers, SMEs and MNCs, and it is no rocket science that when our overhead cost get too high, business owners will be forced out of this little red dot and our job at stake.

I shall stop here, let continue with EV discussion.

[Nautilus]

Out of curiosity, with all the hype about EVs these days, how's the resale value of EVs so far? I've heard that used car dealers aren't offering much for EV cars as they've no residual scrap value. It would be interesting to see how its resale value compares to ICE cars as this will ultimately impact the yearly depreciation if the EV is sold <10 years.

[inlinesix]

On 2/2/2025 at 12:41 PM, Nautilus said:

Out of curiosity, with all the hype about EVs these days, how's the resale value of EVs so far? I've heard that used car dealers aren't offering much for EV cars as they've no residual scrap value. It would be interesting to see how its resale value compares to ICE cars as this will ultimately impact the yearly depreciation if the EV is sold <10 years.

 

[Fuelsaver]

On 1/24/2025 at 10:04 PM, Rskc said:

I thought I was crazy to buy EV cos I love the hissing of small turbo and the shift of DCT of ICE. I would at times off the aircon, wind down window to just listen to gearbox shift and turbo hissing. 😁

BUT I realised I don't miss it at all. LOL.

And I hate the wee hour blasting of super cars. Actually hope 2040 is here now. 😆

I'm with u with this on not missing ICE and 2040 coming now

[Fuelsaver]

@ER-3682 wanna see "savings" need to have mileage of some 20,000km, better if cat A coe. Road tax and insurance already some 50 - 100% or more

[Voodooman]

On 1/31/2025 at 4:17 PM, Heartlander said:

BYD forced its suppliers to drop price by 10% in Nov/24, labelling them as not patriotic if refuse to comply. And under credit terms of 270 days. And its cars garner the most number of complaints from consumers, even the latest models that are selling over here.

 

Think HP and many others used to do that. It is relentless cost cutting.

How do you think the price of printers and smart phones got from thousands to hundreds these days at the retail level..  

But it is quite a stretch to call it patriotic. It is just business.

[ER-3682]

On 2/2/2025 at 12:41 PM, Nautilus said:

Out of curiosity, with all the hype about EVs these days, how's the resale value of EVs so far? I've heard that used car dealers aren't offering much for EV cars as they've no residual scrap value. It would be interesting to see how its resale value compares to ICE cars as this will ultimately impact the yearly depreciation if the EV is sold <10 years.

I think let's say you bought a $200,000 EV now with $100,000 COE Sell off before the 5th Year,i think the most can get is $65,000.00-$70,000.