Seven days and 2,260km from Bangkok to SG in an EV
22 Aug 2023|3,027 views
Staring suddenly at a few spaced out, gargantuan fan-like structures, I catch myself mumbling out loud: "I didn't know Thailand had wind turbines". As we zip past silently, the only sounds are coming from our orange walkie-talkie, the faint lounge-house beats from the speakers, and some wind whistle and tyre roar - no engine note.
So this is the scenic 'windmill drive' the team was telling us about. Just three days into our week-long journey, I've already seen more of Thailand than in my past three trips combined (admittedly all to Bangkok) - a rural wind farm included. That it is here - in the Southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat - however, makes complete sense; we're right along the Gulf of Thailand.
How fitting, too, that its promise of a greener future holds up a mirror to the five retro-looking, albeit unambiguously modern electric hatchbacks we're driving. Coinciding almost perfectly with the launch of the Ora brand in Singapore, the cars have been steadily making pace through Southern Thailand, as part of parent company GWM's 'EV Convoy Tour' (apparently the first of its kind by a Chinese carmaker).
Tonight, we will be recharging in Hat Yai; tomorrow, doing a vehicle swap to Malaysia-registered Good Cats at the border, then gorging ourselves on duck-egg char kway teow in George Town, Penang at night. Our ultimate destination, in fact, was just opened earlier today - Singapore's first GWM showroom, at Cycle & Carriage's Alexandra Road space.
Bangkok to Singapore… by EV?
The Bangkok-Singapore road trip is not a new challenge by any measure.
Perhaps an enduring part of the 'prestige' that comes from completing it, however, is likely down to both its expanse and its opacity. After all, while more is known about the two individual cities, constantly mentioning only the bookends obscures the sights, experiences and infrastructure between.
With an electric vehicle, that sense of mystery is taken to an even further extreme.
The most pressing thought - "What about charging?" - may sound like a single question, but actually has two parts.
Firstly, there is the issue of whether sufficient chargers actually exist en-route to ensure an EV (or its battery, more accurately) gets its fill of electrons. Then, with regards to how far the car can go on a single charge, there's also the matter of how many stops have to be endured along the way, which - in turn - raises the potential of delays, or disruptions to the schedule.
As we carve a path down through the coastal provinces of Prachuap Khiri Khan, and then Chumphon, it turns out that the answer is less complicated than expected.
For starters, powerful partners have been roped in for the trip, and on our first leg in Thailand, that's even taken the shape of government backing.
Thanks to earlier MoUs signed by GWM with the Electricity Governing Authority of Thailand (EGAT), we tap on the authority's EleX-branded chargers, which have been strategically placed in PT petrol stations along the country's most important motorways. GWM's own Partner Store network also forms part of our itinerary here. As we stop over at both Chumphon, and Nakhon Si Thammarat, its own branded chargers are lying in wait.
Malaysia's name should sound less foreign. As we slowly make ground across Days Four and Five from Hat Yai to Kuala Lumpur, 'JomCharge' is dotted all around: At our hotel in Penang (which even has a CHAdeMO outlet), and just off the North-South Highway in a Petronas station near Ipoh, where a Tesla Model 3 pulls up just as we leave to tap on the 50kW DC chargers.
The second main portion, however, naturally lies with our vessels of transport.
On their own, the pride of Good Cats are already among the longer-legged EVs of today. The variant we drive, specifically, is badged as the '500 Ultra' in both Thailand and Malaysia, to denote the 500km range rating managed by its 63kWh battery by the NEDC cycle. While this is too-optimistic a figure for the real world, 420km is within reach - meaning you're not pulling off the highway every hour for a charging station.
Besides, putting range aside briefly, this is the sort of car you will not complain about covering long distances in. For a city hatchback, its commendable cabin insulation and settled ride at speed ensures that even longer stretches do not excessively tire occupants out with noise or sore bums.
The Good Cat's bespoke underpinnings as an electric vehicle also create a good amount of space no matter where you're seated (though both headroom at the rear and boot capacity are admittedly limited).
Then, there is its surprisingly solidly put-together cabin (one doesn't expect this amount of soft-touch materials, considering the Good Cat's more affordable positioning), and cushy front seats. Not once did my lower back feel sore after seven days on the road.
Back in the city: Putting things into perspective
No matter how comfortable the ride, and even with the invaluable presence of a co-driver, seven days non-stop on the road can still take its toll on the not-so-young human body. As the airhorns blare and we pull up under a balloon arch at Alexandra Road, the release of joy, satisfaction but also fatigue, is slow and subtle at first. It's only on the Grab-ride home sometime later that it hits: "That's three countries, two land borders, and 2,260km we've done in the Good Cat."
We'd be remiss not to note that our trip mates included media counterparts from Thailand, and GWM partners from both Thailand and Malaysia. By their accounts, Singapore has it good.
It doesn't even matter (the argument goes) if one's EV will only do sub-300km on a full charge; there's simply not enough road for you to experience full-blown range anxiety anyway. Then, whether it's at a mall, your office, or even HDB carparks now, a charger is bound to be lying around the corner. Hmm. Barring the impatience ingrained into us Singaporeans (anything above a five-minute refill is an eternity, no?), there's a case to be made here.
Even travelling within either Thailand or Malaysia individually, however, scales things up exponentially. That goes even more without saying for an EV road trip from Bangkok to Singapore.
Doing quick math based on the Good Cat's range, you'd arrive at a figure of around six to seven charging stops in total based on our total distance of 2,260km covered.
But perfect divisions are not what you want to do with an EV. What's more, range also drops rapidly when you're gunning an EV (one ostensibly built for the city, no less) at speed - a mistake we'll gingerly admit to have committed more than once. Covering up to 400km sometimes on a single day, we plug in at every longer rest stop - mostly at lunch, and then always overnight. (That's around 12 to 13 times at least.)
There's no questioning that even a medium-paced drive like ours had to be strategically mapped out. In terms of sheer speed, the Bangkok-Singapore journey can indeed be completed more quickly in other cars too.
But at this scale, planning is non-negotiable regardless of what you're driving anyway; it's just a matter of how the route takes shape along the way. Ultimately, what we seek out on a memorable road trip is the guarantee of fresh sights and experiences.
As rural wind farms and 180-second red lights give way to palm oil plantations, and then to our very own PIE, the longer, fully-electrified way home does not compromise the Bangkok-to-Singapore experience. Contrarily, it enriches it.
A carefully calibrated possibility for now - a wholly accessible experience in the very near future?
In May 2023, local charging service provider Charge+ announced that it was establishing a 5,000km EV charging highway from Singapore to Vietnam, fully accessible from within its own app. (Incidentally, EGAT is one of the partners Charge+ is roping in for this megawatt of a project.)
That promises to remove perhaps the most acute pain point felt on this trip: Only local credit/debit cards can be used currently for certain charging apps within Malaysia and Thailand separately.
It's not just the winds of Southern Thailand, but the winds of change in the car industry that matter more than ever today. If anything, our trip has shown that the authorities - no matter in which country - are increasingly recognising that the switch to cleaner vehicles will be made when infrastructure both anticipates and outpaces demand.
As we are collectively stared in the face by climate change, one suspects the novelty of the Bangkok-Singapore EV road trip may just fade away, and become more commonplace as more charging stations fall into place. Otherwise, as our EV Convoy Tour with GWM shows, you can - with the right car, of course - already have a blast while challenging yourself to it today.
Here are a few other articles that may interest you!
Staring suddenly at a few spaced out, gargantuan fan-like structures, I catch myself mumbling out loud: "I didn't know Thailand had wind turbines". As we zip past silently, the only sounds are coming from our orange walkie-talkie, the faint lounge-house beats from the speakers, and some wind whistle and tyre roar - no engine note.
So this is the scenic 'windmill drive' the team was telling us about. Just three days into our week-long journey, I've already seen more of Thailand than in my past three trips combined (admittedly all to Bangkok) - a rural wind farm included. That it is here - in the Southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat - however, makes complete sense; we're right along the Gulf of Thailand.
How fitting, too, that its promise of a greener future holds up a mirror to the five retro-looking, albeit unambiguously modern electric hatchbacks we're driving. Coinciding almost perfectly with the launch of the Ora brand in Singapore, the cars have been steadily making pace through Southern Thailand, as part of parent company GWM's 'EV Convoy Tour' (apparently the first of its kind by a Chinese carmaker).
Tonight, we will be recharging in Hat Yai; tomorrow, doing a vehicle swap to Malaysia-registered Good Cats at the border, then gorging ourselves on duck-egg char kway teow in George Town, Penang at night. Our ultimate destination, in fact, was just opened earlier today - Singapore's first GWM showroom, at Cycle & Carriage's Alexandra Road space.
Bangkok to Singapore… by EV?
The Bangkok-Singapore road trip is not a new challenge by any measure.
Perhaps an enduring part of the 'prestige' that comes from completing it, however, is likely down to both its expanse and its opacity. After all, while more is known about the two individual cities, constantly mentioning only the bookends obscures the sights, experiences and infrastructure between.
With an electric vehicle, that sense of mystery is taken to an even further extreme.
The most pressing thought - "What about charging?" - may sound like a single question, but actually has two parts.
Firstly, there is the issue of whether sufficient chargers actually exist en-route to ensure an EV (or its battery, more accurately) gets its fill of electrons. Then, with regards to how far the car can go on a single charge, there's also the matter of how many stops have to be endured along the way, which - in turn - raises the potential of delays, or disruptions to the schedule.
As we carve a path down through the coastal provinces of Prachuap Khiri Khan, and then Chumphon, it turns out that the answer is less complicated than expected.
For starters, powerful partners have been roped in for the trip, and on our first leg in Thailand, that's even taken the shape of government backing.
Thanks to earlier MoUs signed by GWM with the Electricity Governing Authority of Thailand (EGAT), we tap on the authority's EleX-branded chargers, which have been strategically placed in PT petrol stations along the country's most important motorways. GWM's own Partner Store network also forms part of our itinerary here. As we stop over at both Chumphon, and Nakhon Si Thammarat, its own branded chargers are lying in wait.
Malaysia's name should sound less foreign. As we slowly make ground across Days Four and Five from Hat Yai to Kuala Lumpur, 'JomCharge' is dotted all around: At our hotel in Penang (which even has a CHAdeMO outlet), and just off the North-South Highway in a Petronas station near Ipoh, where a Tesla Model 3 pulls up just as we leave to tap on the 50kW DC chargers.
The second main portion, however, naturally lies with our vessels of transport.
On their own, the pride of Good Cats are already among the longer-legged EVs of today. The variant we drive, specifically, is badged as the '500 Ultra' in both Thailand and Malaysia, to denote the 500km range rating managed by its 63kWh battery by the NEDC cycle. While this is too-optimistic a figure for the real world, 420km is within reach - meaning you're not pulling off the highway every hour for a charging station.
Besides, putting range aside briefly, this is the sort of car you will not complain about covering long distances in. For a city hatchback, its commendable cabin insulation and settled ride at speed ensures that even longer stretches do not excessively tire occupants out with noise or sore bums.
The Good Cat's bespoke underpinnings as an electric vehicle also create a good amount of space no matter where you're seated (though both headroom at the rear and boot capacity are admittedly limited).
Then, there is its surprisingly solidly put-together cabin (one doesn't expect this amount of soft-touch materials, considering the Good Cat's more affordable positioning), and cushy front seats. Not once did my lower back feel sore after seven days on the road.
Back in the city: Putting things into perspective
No matter how comfortable the ride, and even with the invaluable presence of a co-driver, seven days non-stop on the road can still take its toll on the not-so-young human body. As the airhorns blare and we pull up under a balloon arch at Alexandra Road, the release of joy, satisfaction but also fatigue, is slow and subtle at first. It's only on the Grab-ride home sometime later that it hits: "That's three countries, two land borders, and 2,260km we've done in the Good Cat."
We'd be remiss not to note that our trip mates included media counterparts from Thailand, and GWM partners from both Thailand and Malaysia. By their accounts, Singapore has it good.
It doesn't even matter (the argument goes) if one's EV will only do sub-300km on a full charge; there's simply not enough road for you to experience full-blown range anxiety anyway. Then, whether it's at a mall, your office, or even HDB carparks now, a charger is bound to be lying around the corner. Hmm. Barring the impatience ingrained into us Singaporeans (anything above a five-minute refill is an eternity, no?), there's a case to be made here.
Even travelling within either Thailand or Malaysia individually, however, scales things up exponentially. That goes even more without saying for an EV road trip from Bangkok to Singapore.
Doing quick math based on the Good Cat's range, you'd arrive at a figure of around six to seven charging stops in total based on our total distance of 2,260km covered.
But perfect divisions are not what you want to do with an EV. What's more, range also drops rapidly when you're gunning an EV (one ostensibly built for the city, no less) at speed - a mistake we'll gingerly admit to have committed more than once. Covering up to 400km sometimes on a single day, we plug in at every longer rest stop - mostly at lunch, and then always overnight. (That's around 12 to 13 times at least.)
There's no questioning that even a medium-paced drive like ours had to be strategically mapped out. In terms of sheer speed, the Bangkok-Singapore journey can indeed be completed more quickly in other cars too.
But at this scale, planning is non-negotiable regardless of what you're driving anyway; it's just a matter of how the route takes shape along the way. Ultimately, what we seek out on a memorable road trip is the guarantee of fresh sights and experiences.
As rural wind farms and 180-second red lights give way to palm oil plantations, and then to our very own PIE, the longer, fully-electrified way home does not compromise the Bangkok-to-Singapore experience. Contrarily, it enriches it.
A carefully calibrated possibility for now - a wholly accessible experience in the very near future?
In May 2023, local charging service provider Charge+ announced that it was establishing a 5,000km EV charging highway from Singapore to Vietnam, fully accessible from within its own app. (Incidentally, EGAT is one of the partners Charge+ is roping in for this megawatt of a project.)
That promises to remove perhaps the most acute pain point felt on this trip: Only local credit/debit cards can be used currently for certain charging apps within Malaysia and Thailand separately.
It's not just the winds of Southern Thailand, but the winds of change in the car industry that matter more than ever today. If anything, our trip has shown that the authorities - no matter in which country - are increasingly recognising that the switch to cleaner vehicles will be made when infrastructure both anticipates and outpaces demand.
As we are collectively stared in the face by climate change, one suspects the novelty of the Bangkok-Singapore EV road trip may just fade away, and become more commonplace as more charging stations fall into place. Otherwise, as our EV Convoy Tour with GWM shows, you can - with the right car, of course - already have a blast while challenging yourself to it today.
Here are a few other articles that may interest you!
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