Electric cars

[Ake109]

On 5/21/2026 at 9:34 AM, Heartlander said:

Actually come to think of it, why should EVs be managed like a mobile device? Just because it has a big battery and look more polished? It is still a car after all, nothing more nothing less. Having an app to serve as remote/key fob and remotely able to control aircon setting could also be implemented on an ICE car, just need more efforts to do. Actually for an EV, the only item that need to change once in a while would be the battery. So we can actually lengthen the design cycle to make it same or even longer than a ICE car  to reap the benefits such as easier spare parts management/availability. Most of us are not tired of exterior look of our ride after even 5 years. Maybe can implement  modular interior structure to allow interior changes such as dashboard and seats designs in authorised workshops, and battery replacements to allow change of capacity as well as adopting latest battery technology for longer mileage and durability. That would truly be a game changer.

Also I will never understand why a car need to have constant OTA updates for what? Only a product that is work-in-progress need to have constant updates, or able to perform more tricks like doing somersaults then maybe will need. I am very happy that my EV van no need to do any of these OTA updates as it is a stable and reliable product as is. I can sleep well knowing its implication. To me an EV is just another car and rightly should be treated as such.

I agree 100% with you but let me be devils advocate here.

Take a Patek or other expensive chronograph. Then take some ninja high tech digital watch (no need update, software stable from day 1).

Let some years pass.

Somehow, the mechanical device retains its charm/allure even when newer mechanical models come up, but that digital watch, gets much more diminished when newer digital watches come up. I cant quite put it in words.

[Ake109]

On 5/21/2026 at 11:01 AM, therock said:

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/ev-electric-vehicles-new-cars-chargers-location-6097106?cid=FBcna&fbclid=IwY2xjawR7UfZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFiMG9sRmVyNGc5N2hzWkl1c3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHum2IW0TZhVrw-ExetMx6uMHRDgsvyJGoefLE0F8uqV9_qP9IrnPYVCNv205_aem_cr2BYjF_PyjSxCb_bySP7A interesting article on demand for chargers...

 

 

Translation : Cibai scholars as usual wait for problem to happen before taking action. Must monitor first.

[simon_simon]

On 5/20/2026 at 10:46 AM, Beanoyip said:

EX60 reviews just dropped! 

Oh dear, its smaller EX30 got into public problem again...

20 May - Volvo Cars faces Thai legal threat after fresh EX30 fires

Two new battery-related ‌fires involving Volvo Cars' (VOLCARb.ST), opens new tab EX30 has prompted Thailand's consumer watchdog to consider civil action, adding to pressure on the Swedish automaker as it grapples with a global recall of the electric SUV.
Reuters reported in February that Volvo would recall more than 40,000 EX30s and replace battery modules due to a defect that could cause packs to overheat and potentially catch fire.

 

 

[Gnahp]

sat in a Grab BYD M6 this morning

car quite new, still got plastic wrappings in the cabin and new car smell

car moved 10 meters I felt something off

there is a vibration felt by my left knee resting on the door card

to confirm it, I placed my left forearm on the door arm rest

I can feel all the small road undulations rolled over by the left rear wheel, though slightly isolated

if you put a row of $1 coins on the road and drive over it, I can count how much in total 😁

otherwise it is a decent car

cabin fit and finishing so so, I spotted a few panel misalignments

seats material is soft and nice to touch, stitching are very good for its price

car is quiet when it is not moving (obviously)

but the NVH when the car is moving, no better than ICE cars of similar price bracket

 

 

[simon_simon]

On 5/21/2026 at 5:24 AM, Ake109 said:

I agree 100% with you but let me be devils advocate here.

Take a Patek or other expensive chronograph. Then take some ninja high tech digital watch (no need update, software stable from day 1).

Let some years pass.

Somehow, the mechanical device retains its charm/allure even when newer mechanical models come up, but that digital watch, gets much more diminished when newer digital watches come up. I cant quite put it in words.

I have bad news for you - there is no such thing as a "stable" software. All s/w releases will have bugs in them.

Else Elon Musk won't have push for OTA feature in all its Telsa models. 

Of course there is nothing wrong if EV owner refuse to acknowledge software updates like those who ignore smart phones software patches.

😉

[desch]

Hi all, looking at EVs but have a question on HDB/condo charging. Say a condo has 500 units, 400 units have EVs, think infrastructure can only support ard 20 chargers? With no idling fee overnight, 20 chargers can only serve 20 cars per night. So each car needs to wait for 20 days before charging if you can't charge in the day elsewhere? That looks unsustainable and stressful. And because you only use 60% capacity (20 to 80%), one probably need to charge every 5 days worsening the charging backlog.

A HDB mscp typically have 300 to 400 lots also, so  this level of load will also apply to HDB mscp?

Anyone already experiencing such strain in finding charger?

We might not see the strain now because EVs are still minority, but will this be reality in 5 years with current growth trajectory? Is this an issue worth addressing or there are already plans and technologies to mitigate this exponential growth?

[Heartlander]

To anyone not knowledgeable enough about firmware updates for smart mobile phones, and always want to use it  to build a case of the need for constant firmware updates for EVs, the reason for firmware update under mobile phones is short and simple - security patches. Having latest security updates would protect the mobile devices better in case of malware attacks. But is there such a need for EVs? Definitely not. So do not equate mobile phones and EVs as same that need constant firmware updates. If the EV is stable enough, there is no need for constant updates. No lousy excuse should be accepted. The only situation when firmware update is needed is when the car makers try to push their cars out early into the market even before it is mature enough, which is what many car makers from a certain country like to do.. Imagine if ICE car makers do it in the past and roll out cars before completing their reliability testing, would the situation be accepted?  And by stable it does not mean perfect, but that it can work reliably thats all.

[Voodooman]

On 5/21/2026 at 9:34 AM, Heartlander said:

 

Also I will never understand why a car need to have constant OTA updates for what? Only a product that is work-in-progress need to have constant updates, or able to perform more tricks like doing somersaults then maybe will need. I am very happy that my EV van no need to do any of these OTA updates as it is a stable and reliable product as is. I can sleep well knowing its implication. To me an EV is just another car and rightly should be treated as such.

That is not where Elon Musk wants you to go.  He wants his subscription model.

I kpkb when my old TV could not add the latest streaming app, so got app/ OTA is better than don't have. Send back to AD to update OS? It is just a faster way to add functions and features. 

Anyway, 20 years ago, the phone is just a communication device, it is now your entertainment device, your mobile office, your fitness / health tracking centres, etc and it will integrate private transport with self drive soon. You can't fight technology.

We are oldies, we don't know what we don't know that we need but apparently someone knows better. Wahaha.

[therock]

On 5/21/2026 at 2:40 PM, Heartlander said:

To anyone not knowledgeable enough about firmware updates for smart mobile phones, and always want to use it  to build a case of the need for constant firmware updates for EVs, the reason for firmware update under mobile phones is short and simple - security patches. Having latest security updates would protect the mobile devices better in case of malware attacks. But is there such a need for EVs? Definitely not. So do not equate mobile phones and EVs as same that need constant firmware updates. If the EV is stable enough, there is no need for constant updates. No lousy excuse should be accepted. The only situation when firmware update is needed is when the car makers try to push their cars out early into the market even before it is mature enough, which is what many car makers from a certain country like to do.. Imagine if ICE car makers do it in the past and roll out cars before completing their reliability testing, would the situation be accepted?  And by stable it does not mean perfect, but that it can work reliably thats all.

Actually the unfortunate thing is some cars need the updates to be functioning 

be it as simple as wireless CarPlay to more serious issues with operating 

YMMV and other cars come pretty complete 

[Tkseah]

Besides bug fixes, we do see some software updates introducing new features that were missing from earlier releases, eg. Wireless apple car play or android auto.. but these are largely for models that are still in production and manufacturers need to improve the software to enhance sales.  But once the model goes out of production, I don't think manufacturers would bother with much software enhancements anymore.  So I am thinking that software updates are important for these first few years, but likely not much use in later years when the model is EOL..

[Mkl22]

On 5/21/2026 at 2:16 PM, Gnahp said:

sat in a Grab BYD M6 this morning

car quite new, still got plastic wrappings in the cabin and new car smell

car moved 10 meters I felt something off

there is a vibration felt by my left knee resting on the door card

to confirm it, I placed my left forearm on the door arm rest

I can feel all the small road undulations rolled over by the left rear wheel, though slightly isolated

if you put a row of $1 coins on the road and drive over it, I can count how much in total 😁

otherwise it is a decent car

cabin fit and finishing so so, I spotted a few panel misalignments

seats material is soft and nice to touch, stitching are very good for its price

car is quiet when it is not moving (obviously)

but the NVH when the car is moving, no better than ICE cars of similar price bracket

 

 

considered lower end model... ala shenzhen taxi version

[Voodooman]

On 5/21/2026 at 2:33 PM, desch said:

Hi all, looking at EVs but have a question on HDB/condo charging. Say a condo has 500 units, 400 units have EVs, think infrastructure can only support ard 20 chargers? With no idling fee overnight, 20 chargers can only serve 20 cars per night. So each car needs to wait for 20 days before charging if you can't charge in the day elsewhere? That looks unsustainable and stressful. And because you only use 60% capacity (20 to 80%), one probably need to charge every 5 days worsening the charging backlog.

A HDB mscp typically have 300 to 400 lots also, so  this level of load will also apply to HDB mscp?

Anyone already experiencing such strain in finding charger?

We might not see the strain now because EVs are still minority, but will this be reality in 5 years with current growth trajectory? Is this an issue worth addressing or there are already plans and technologies to mitigate this exponential growth?

Global average of public charging facilities to each EV is around 15.  I remember reading that Singapore is aiming for ratio of 5-10 due to our higher population density and the fact that we all live in high rise.

Idle fee and discounted off-peak charging rate will come, me think, as CPO (Charge Point Operator) are profit driven and won't allow one charge per day. 

So assuming 3 charges a day for each charger and 1 4-5 hours charge per 4-5 days, each 11-22 kwh AC charger can probably support around 12 EV. Actually with more people adopting charge as you go, the ratio can be even higher with idle fee and discriminatory pricing.

[simon_simon]

On 5/21/2026 at 9:07 AM, therock said:

Actually the unfortunate thing is some cars need the updates to be functioning 

be it as simple as wireless CarPlay to more serious issues with operating 

YMMV and other cars come pretty complete 

He he he....One of the best Telsa OTA added feature is in Update 2024.32.3 which added automatic hands-free frunk!

SaaS as a business model has spread into the EV industry.

EV is not a smart device ? Think again.

🤭

[therock]

On 5/21/2026 at 3:17 PM, Voodooman said:

Global average of public charging facilities to each EV is around 15.  I remember reading that Singapore is aiming for ratio of 5-10 due to our higher population density and the fact that we all live in high rise.

Idle fee and discounted off-peak charging rate will come, me think, as CPO (Charge Point Operator) are profit driven and won't allow one charge per day. 

So assuming 3 charges a day for each charger and 1 4-5 hours charge per 4-5 days, each 11-22 kwh AC charger can probably support around 12 EV. Actually with more people adopting charge as you go, the ratio can be even higher with idle fee and discriminatory pricing.

IMO the main issue is you can’t space usage throughout the day

most people return home hoping to charge 

so the charger remains idle for most of the working day then there’s a rush for them

if it’s a 7kw charger then effectively one car will occupy the lot for the best part of the evening and the average Singaporean isn’t considerate enough to move his car. 
obviously a surcharge will help but I worry about fights and ugly drivers doing nasty things 

[inlinesix]

On 5/21/2026 at 3:32 PM, therock said:

IMO the main issue is you can’t space usage throughout the day

most people return home hoping to charge 

so the charger remains idle for most of the working day then there’s a rush for them

if it’s a 7kw charger then effectively one car will occupy the lot for the best part of the evening and the average Singaporean isn’t considerate enough to move his car. 
obviously a surcharge will help but I worry about fights and ugly drivers doing nasty things 

This is typical of ICE car user or EV new user.

Even i charge office van as when as i could.

[Voodooman]

On 5/21/2026 at 3:32 PM, therock said:

IMO the main issue is you can’t space usage throughout the day

most people return home hoping to charge 

so the charger remains idle for most of the working day then there’s a rush for them

if it’s a 7kw charger then effectively one car will occupy the lot for the best part of the evening and the average Singaporean isn’t considerate enough to move his car. 
obviously a surcharge will help but I worry about fights and ugly drivers doing nasty things 

Why not charge in office and at home?

Financial incentives and penalties will drive behavior. I am not too worried about it. We became first world from third world in 1 generation by being a fine city. 😂

[simon_simon]

On 5/21/2026 at 9:08 AM, Tkseah said:

Besides bug fixes, we do see some software updates introducing new features that were missing from earlier releases, eg. Wireless apple car play or android auto.. but these are largely for models that are still in production and manufacturers need to improve the software to enhance sales.  But once the model goes out of production, I don't think manufacturers would bother with much software enhancements anymore.  So I am thinking that software updates are important for these first few years, but likely not much use in later years when the model is EOL..

Even software made by industry leaders like Apple Inc is not perfect....

Aside from constant upgrades, added features and patches, and they also publish roadmap for EOL devices.

As I shared in my previous post, if legacy car makers like Toyota or Merc or VW treat EV like another "car", then they will suffer in the transition to electrified transport, while other players like Huawei and Xiaomi moved rapidly.

[simon_simon]

On 5/21/2026 at 9:38 AM, Voodooman said:

Why not charge in office and at home?

Financial incentives and penalties will drive behavior. I am not too worried about it. We became first world from third world in 1 generation by being a fine city. 😂

LOL! Behavior change thru financial "incentives"...

It ALWAYS works, be it in our fine city or not.

😜