BOI deputy secretary-general Ajarin Pattanapanchai told a seminar that it was a government mandate that the EV industry be developed, although most automakers oppose the plan as they fear that EVs would destroy the existing industry.
Ajarin said Prayut raised the issue at Monday’s BOI directors’ meeting, which he chaired, saying the carmakers’ concerns should be considered. But she said that it was likely that EV production would be minimal during the initial stage and would not affect the established industry.
She raised the example of the United States, where after six years of production, there are still only 250,000 EVs on the road, amid annual auto sales of 14 million to 15 million.
“However, I believe in the ‘disruption’ theory. EV technologies should reach a breakthrough very soon, similar to photovoltaic technology.
“This policy will certainly not be a flop. There are already many people preparing to invest,” she said.
Ajarin said BOI-promoted EV investors would be allowed to import completely built units (CBUs) in limited volumes, to test the market, with no import duty for two years, while they are building their factories.
After the start-up of the local EV plants, they will be able to import essential parts with no import tax, and in the following two years, they will have to start producing at least one of five essential parts in the country. The five essential parts are batteries, battery management systems, traction motors, drive control units and air-conditioning systems.
Mitsubishi Electric is currently the only producer and exporter of air-conditioners for EVs in Thailand.
On-board chargers are another core EV technology, but BOI decided not to include them in the list of essential parts, since there is already a producer in the country, Delta Electronics (Thailand), Ajarin said.
Supot Teachavorasinskun, dean of Chulalongkorn University’s faculty of engineering, said that while just a year ago people were still questioning whether EVs would really happen, now the momentum had changed to when, not if, they will be in use.
“EVs and renewable energy, we believe both will certainly happen,” he said.
Battery prices have shrunk from US$1,000 per kilowatt-hour in 2010 to $300 at present, and if they reach $100, it would make EVs much cheaper, since batteries constitute half of an EV’s cost, said the engineering dean.
Piengjai Kaewsuwan, Nissan Motor Thailand vice president for government relations, said the energy cost per kilometre of EVs was only one-third of internal-combustion-engine (ICE) automobiles. Studies by Thai electricity authorities also confirm the cruising cost of an EV here is under Bt1 per kilometre.
“It is unbelievable that now PTT is interested in putting charging facilities inside their petrol stations. Therefore, facilities to support EVs in the future should not be a concern,” she said, adding that Nissan also planned to develop charging infrastructure.
However, executives from Toyota and Mercedes-Benz told the seminar that hybrid electric vehicles were the most appropriate technologies at the moment.
PTT’s chief operations officer for the Downstream Petroleum Business Group, Sarun Rungkasiri, said many technologies that used to be obstacles for EV development had been overcome and EVs had now started to be competitive with ICE vehicles.
“It’s inevitable in the future. [The only question] is when. The whole system – government, the private sector and infrastructure – will contribute to this transition: how it will be, and if it will be smooth or not,” he said.