Mobil Rakyat...new cars

[jstar]

MG is a brand that has nothing to do anymore with the open two-seater sports car manufacturer that it used to be.

MG Motor UK Limited is owned by SAIC Motor UK, headquartered in London, which again is owned by the Shanghai-based automaker SAIC Motor. Which is owned by the Chinese government. Its manufacturing takes place at plants in China, Thailand and India for instance.

In Europe, MG is rather popular as a low cost EV* provider.

Not here, in Indonesia, they offer four models including the HS. It‘s a midsize SUV and went on sale in 2020 with two variants: Excite and Ignite. The Indonesian HS is imported from Thailand and only offered in 1.5-litre turbo petrol engine and 7-speed DCT. They launched an i-SMART Magnify variant a bit later. That I-SMART offers integration with your phone via an app and voice commands.

Now the HS got a haul-over. Its prices are rather steep: Between IDR 455,800.00
and IDR 545,800,000.

* The MG 4 EV can be reserved as we speak:

 

[Vulgarian]

MG is a brand that has nothing to do anymore with the open two-seater sports car manufacturer that it used to be.

MG Motor UK Limited is owned by SAIC Motor UK, headquartered in London, which again is owned by the Shanghai-based automaker SAIC Motor. Which is owned by the Chinese government. Its manufacturing takes place at plants in China, Thailand and India for instance.

In Europe, MG is rather popular as a low cost EV* provider.

Not here, in Indonesia, they offer four models including the HS. It‘s a midsize SUV and went on sale in 2020 with two variants: Excite and Ignite. The Indonesian HS is imported from Thailand and only offered in 1.5-litre turbo petrol engine and 7-speed DCT. They launched an i-SMART Magnify variant a bit later. That I-SMART offers integration with your phone via an app and voice commands.

Now the HS got a haul-over. Its prices are rather steep: Between IDR 455,800.00
and IDR 545,800,000.

* The MG 4 EV can be reserved as we speak:

Anyone own an EV in Indonesia? How's the practicality? Many chargers about?

 

[Jaime C]

The MG models certainly look stylish. I know that the versions I saw 30-40 years ago were generally not reliably running.

 

[jstar]

Anyone own an EV in Indonesia? How's the practicality? Many chargers about?

I know two people living very close by in the komplek who own an EV. One is the Ioniq 5 from Hyundai. It looks like a Lancia Delta Integrale (cool!) but then two sizes bigger. The other has the Mini Wuling, not in pink or pistachio but white.

The former showed me the PLN has an app that shows all the (33) public charging stations in the city, he had calculated the kWh price was double from at home but still somewhat cheaper than high quality gasoline (not Pertamina Premium). The app looks a bit like that of GoPay/OVO, you need to scan the 3D barcode on the charging station and then enter the amount of kWh you want. But he never uses it, since the >350 km range of the car suffices but also it seems one can only pay with LinkAja (TELKOMSEL wallet payment system mainly owned by governmental companies?!).

He got a free PLN installation at home to be able to charge fast*. And, which is interesting, gets a 30% discount on the electricity used for charging between 10 PM and 5 AM (IDR 1,450 -> IDR 1,100 kWh).

Still need to chat with the guy who owns the Wuling.

* I looked it up, there is a promo; they ask IDR 850K for a 7,700 VA (1 phase), and the price for a 13,200 VA (3 phase) is IDR 3.5 million. This promo is valid until 31 December 2023. So I’m not sure why his installation was for free

 

[jstar]

the versions I saw 30-40 years ago were generally not reliably running.

That has been a bit the everlasting problem with the British car industry of course.
I remember one of my first cars, the Princess from British Leyland. And honestly, I would not consider buying a Jag or LaRo/RR again; worst cars I ever owned were the X-Type 3.0 and Range Rover Sport. And that from someone who has even driven Alfa’s and Fiats in their hay-days of rust.

 

[Hawk256]

I know two people living very close by in the komplek who own an EV. One is the Ioniq 5 from Hyundai.

Is that the one that was recalled? If so, what did they have to do? My wife was telling me about a recall on one of the Hyundai EVs and a lot of people were mad because it had to be returned to the actual factory to be repaired and they weren't getting a lot of dealer support. Since I don't know the full (or real) story, I am curious as to what actually transpired.

 

[Hawk256]

That has been a bit the everlasting problem with the British car industry of course.

Had a neighbor when I was young in the US that had a Triumph TR6 convertible car. It spent more time in the garage for repairs than it did on the road. Really my only experience with British cars growing up but it wasn't a good one. Their mototbikes seemed to suffer the same fate and somewhat ironically were named as a TR6 as well.

 

[jstar]

Ioniq 5

Is that the one that was recalled

Yes, some 5 months ago there was an Ioniq 5 that -when being charged- went in no time from 80% to zero. Panic of course. The car was taken back to Hyundai's factory and after the investigation it was found that the battery of that particular Ioniq 5 had a module which worked on a different voltage [sic]. The standard range version of the Ioniq 5 has 24 modules, the long range version has 30 modules. And they all work on 800V so it would be kind of weird to use a module supporting a different voltage? Can you just use the 356V battery module of a Hyundai Kona?

Anyway, the BMS (Battery Management System) detected there was a problem and it disabled the charging cycle. Obviously Hyundai immediately replaced the battery. As far as I know you could bring your car in for a free check if you didn’t trust it, but there was no global recall. They have a warranty of 8 years (160K km).

This must be Seoul’s nightmare of course. Having a production facility in another country where these problems occur. A little bit related; the LRT (the speed tram / Light Rail Transit) between Rawamangun and Kelapa Gading was (mainly) built by Koreans. Now, there’s also a (much longer) LRT project between Jakarta and Cibubur. This is installed by local companies. And, coincidental or not, the project is having trouble with meeting deadlines and encountering many quality issues in the testing phase.

Btw, Hyundai and LG have started the construction of a battery factory in Karawang, (West Java). It should be operational in 2024.

 

[Hawk256]

Ioniq 5

Yes, some 5 months ago there was an Ioniq 5 that -when being charged- went in no time from 80% to zero. Panic of course. The car was taken back to Hyundai's factory and after the investigation it was found that the battery of that particular Ioniq 5 had a module which worked on a different voltage

So this was just one car? Goes to show why you can't rely on a story you heard (second or third hand) if you don't have first hand knowledge.

 

[Vulgarian]

I know two people living very close by in the komplek who own an EV. One is the Ioniq 5 from Hyundai. It looks like a Lancia Delta Integrale (cool!) but then two sizes bigger. The other has the Mini Wuling, not in pink or pistachio but white.

The former showed me the PLN has an app that shows all the (33) public charging stations in the city, he had calculated the kWh price was double from at home but still somewhat cheaper than high quality gasoline (not Pertamina Premium). The app looks a bit like that of GoPay/OVO, you need to scan the 3D barcode on the charging station and then enter the amount of kWh you want. But he never uses it, since the >350 km range of the car suffices but also it seems one can only pay with LinkAja (TELKOMSEL wallet payment system mainly owned by governmental companies?!).

He got a free PLN installation at home to be able to charge fast*. And, which is interesting, gets a 30% discount on the electricity used for charging between 10 PM and 5 AM (IDR 1,450 -> IDR 1,100 kWh).

Still need to chat with the guy who owns the Wuling.

* I looked it up, there is a promo; they ask IDR 850K for a 7,700 VA (1 phase), and the price for a 13,200 VA (3 phase) is IDR 3.5 million. This promo is valid until 31 December 2023. So I’m not sure why his installation was for free

Thanks for the info. So, doable as long as you begin and end each trip at home. A viable commuter car, but difficult to take a holiday with?

 

[Jaime C]

So, we should be getting our new Toyota Veloz tomorrow.

The yearly insurance is almost triple what we’ve been paying for our 2012 Grand Livina. I guess much of the cost depends on the value of vehicle that’s being insured. Do people with an Alphard pay 30 jt a year?

I was looking at some of the coverages that the policy included. It seemed like personal injury is capped at 10 juta. Does this mean that if you killed somebody that’s all they would pay?

I’ve heard of drivers being jailed after accidents, and I thought the whole reason for having insurance was to cover damages.

 

[jstar]

The fact that damage is covered doesn’t mean someone will not go to jail or be beaten up for that matter.

Btw, BPJS does not cover personal injury because of traffic accidents if it is deemed to be covered by the vehicle insurance.

There are two major types of car insurance; all risk and total loss only. They have eight categories, depending on the price segment and type of the vehicle. A Veloz would be category 3 (for which on average you should count on 2,1%) and an Alphard which is more than 800 juta, would fall in category 5 (and have a rate of approx. 1,1%). Then there are regions which also dictate the prices of course.

OJK is the financial institution which oversees the insurance market in Indonesia, it is rather strictly regulated.

 

[jstar]

The IIMS 2023 will be held next week in Jakarta. Wish they display the 7-seater PHEV SUV there. Unfortunately, not able to visit this time; hv asked my BIL though. If anybody here visit the show, love to hear their opinion.

At first I thought I entered a motorcycle expo. The amount of brands, models and bikes on show was huge. Lot of (Chinese) brands I had never heard of before.

The car section was somewhat disappointing. Practically no new models, very much focused on sales. (You can make test drives.) The Mitsubishi sales reps had no clue about the new PHEV. Suzuki Jimny* five doors? No idea. No new Nissan X-Trail (Rogue) either. Of course it’s kind of nice to try the different cars and see them up close but don’t expect world premieres.

The Chinese DFSK, Chery and Wuling were very well represented. Hyundai and Kia a bit disappointing, BMW had quite some models on show, including the extremely ugly but interesting iX.

* to make a bridge to the investment thread; buy a Jimny and sell it right away when you get it, with a very nice profit!

 

[jstar]

I looked it up, there is a promo; they ask IDR 850K for a 7,700 VA (1 phase), and the price for a 13,200 VA (3 phase) is IDR 3.5 million. This promo is valid until 31 December 2023. So I’m not sure why his installation was for free

After checking with PLN and Wuling, I found out the installation for charging at home is indeed free of charge.

 

[Hawk256]

After checking with PLN and Wuling, I found out the installation for charging at home is indeed free of charge.

I imagine they are happy to be able to sell you the extra power. They will get a return fairly quickly. I had to beg and plead for my wife to agree to a 5,500 watt main supply. Can't imagine talking her into one of these.

 

[Jaime C]

It’s the big day, today for car delivery. Should come around noon. Exciting!

Selling the Grand Livina is looking promising in our neighborhood. My wife mentioned it to our neighborhood Whatsapp group, and we’ve had 3 people interested in it so far.

Whats funny is that my wife also advertised it in her high school group. A few of the ladies were cackling with glee thinking she was already broke after not being in the US for 8 months. Kind of funny.

 

[jstar]

Something which surprised me a bit at the IIMS was -next to the amazing amount of food stalls- the return of ……Subaru!

You probably remember that the importer / distributor didn‘t pay import taxes and that many Subarus were impounded at the port of Tanjung Priok and some other locations in the country. More than a year later there were public auctions to sell these cars. Then the brand disappeared.

Now they’re back. Well, back is kind of relative since I understood there‘s only one dealer, it is located at Alam Sutera. So if you have plans to visit IKEA you could combine it, otherwise it’s a bit of a detour for maintenance etc.

Anyway, the models they sell in Indonesia are the Forester, XV, BRZ and the all new WRX (Wagon). The latter costs approx. 1 billion rupiah.

 

[scouser59]

So, we should be getting our new Toyota Veloz tomorrow.

The yearly insurance is almost triple what we’ve been paying for our 2012 Grand Livina. I guess much of the cost depends on the value of vehicle that’s being insured. Do people with an Alphard pay 30 jt a year?

I was looking at some of the coverages that the policy included. It seemed like personal injury is capped at 10 juta. Does this mean that if you killed somebody that’s all they would pay?

I’ve heard of drivers being jailed after accidents, and I thought the whole reason for having insurance was to cover damages.

I paid extra ,to increase 3rd party insurance from 10 to the value of the veichle which was around 200 juta a more reasonable amount , ya paltry by european standards ..

 

[jstar]

The Mini Clubman does not seem to have a very long life anymore. It will disappear in about a year and we should not expect a successor.

After more than 16 years it will be over and out for this model, Mini will end production of the Clubman in February 2024.

There is no sign of life of a new Mini Clubman since it is essentially handing over the baton to a new family member that will be introduced this year; the fully electric Mini Aceman.

Just like the Clubman, a bigger brother of the Mini hatchback, but obviously not as big the Countryman.

 

[Jaime C]

We got the car yesterday, and the saleswoman and tech guy explained everything. The tech guy recommended turning the front crash avoidance (auto braking) intown, as the number of motorbikes pulling out in front of you could cause problems with it.

Still waiting for the insurance policy to be issued. The insurance pushed by the dealer was more expensive, and covered less than our current insurance quote. (Autocillin/Zurich)