Apart from salmon, reindeers, exotic glassware and the region’s “matter of fact” attitude, Scandinavia also takes pride in its scenic roads and world-famous landscapes.

Last week, Mazda Sales Thailand organised the “Mazda Passion Drive to the New Horizon” caravan consisting of 10 Mazda CX-5 crossovers driving through the Nordic region, with the climax being the visit to North Cape for the spectacular Aurora Borealis.

Mazda has been organising overseas driving events for many years in a row, whether in Asean, China, Mongolia and Russia. Last year the caravan went all the way to Moscow and the new mission takes place in Scandinavia.

While a large number of Thais visit Scandinavia (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden) during the winter for various Nordic attractions (oh, we love selfies with the snow and other landmarks), those who want to explore the countryside by driving rather than take a tour bus can avoid tricky road conditions by visiting during other parts of the year.

The event, which kicked off on September 17, was divided into two groups. I was placed in Group A and our part of the journey kicked off in Denmark, routing through Sweden, Finland and Norway, where the cars would be handed over to the Group B at North Cape.

Thanks to modern GPS technology, it is easy to drive in Europe using Google Maps, and the light traffic in Scandinavia makes it even easier. There are speed limits everywhere (generally 80-120kph), but you are able to get a good average speed because the roads are so clear. Covering 500 kilometres isn’t as exhausting as you think. And with the CX-5’s adaptive cruise control system, you also enjoy semi-autonomous features. too, taking the burden off driving long distances.

Initially Mazda had planned to use Thai-made cars and had already shipped them for this event. Unfortunately (actually fortunately), storms delayed the shipment and local left-hand-drive CX-5’s were used instead.

The vehicles came of course with European specs including heated seats (all four) and steering wheel, diesel engine and all-wheel-drive. There were navigation as well as full infotainment including four USB ports and 12V outlets that were really used by the three people assigned to each vehicle.

Group A landed in Denmark and we started driving from Copenhagen airport – just after a 10-km underwater tunnel we had crossed over to Sweden. The destination of the day was Stockholm, before taking a ferry on the following day right across the Baltic to Helsinki.

We visited Thai restaurants for lunch during the first three days and learned that there is a huge population of Thais in Scandinavia, and Thai food is highly popular here. While dinners are more exotic and pricey, many offer cheaper lunch buffets that help keep customers coming in. Thai food is hardly authentic at all the places we visited (but you might scrape through if you’re not as picky as me).

As for the local food, if you’re adventurous, try the pickled herring (I didn’t). In general food here is simple and very salty, so some of you might need to watch your sodium levels. The best meal in Scandinavia for me was a pizza Napoletana in Stockholm for lunch (thank you Google Maps) while my buddies were having the usual Euro Thai food like Panaeng Pla Salmon.

We spent the night on the ferry crossing to Helsinki (you can purchase a package for both parking and room with buffet meals), and the ferry proved to be an entertaining experience. While it’s not as luxurious as a cruise, there are attractions such as duty-free shops, bars and restaurants, as well as live entertainment.

Whenever a European asks me where I’m from, the first reaction is always: “Hey, I have been to Thailand before”. Well that happened a lot on the ferry – we even had a nice Finnish guy who started speaking northeastern Thai dialect (Esarn) to us, describing his love for our country (the guy was a trainee at the Finnish embassy and actually graduated from Khon Kaen University), and helping our group order drinks at the bar.

The ferry ride was smooth most of the way, and if I hadn’t gotten up for the toilet in the middle of the night, I wouldn’t have seen how high and aggressive the waves were. OK, it wasn’t “The Storm” size, but you know that’s more than strong winds out there.

Nevertheless the weather turned around completely once we arrived at Helsinki port the following morning. Vehicles were driven out of the ferry and the driving commenced once again.

Finland’s beautiful natural roadside scenery had the caravan stopping several times for photography. Pine trees are everywhere along with the thousands of lakes (actually over 188,000) giving the region its own signature.

We didn’t have time to check out the spa and sauna at the resort in Kuopio, and drove another 500 kilometres the following day to Rovaniemi, the official hometown of Santa Claus and the perimeter of the Arctic Circle. A large number of Asian tourists come here every year, and it couldn’t be more obvious when I spotted packs of Mama instant cup noodles on the snack shelf.

As we head up north the temperature also started to drop to a single digit, and those heated seats do come to the rescue. Arriving late, there was no time to explore what the city had to offer.

But no worries, as the highlight of the trip was near. On the fifth day, the caravan covered as much as 680 kilometres in the final leg, crossing into Norway and finishing at Honnigsvag. Towards this destination the scenery and weather gets more extreme, and the caravan gets to take several long tunnels, some measuring over 20km in length.

After covering as much as 2,700 kilometres by land and sea, we met Group B members here and it was a pity that all took the bus to North Cape rather than driving the CX-5. North Cape has a strong Thai presence as King Chulalongkorn had visited there during the 1900s. Inside the reception area of the visitor centre lies the stone on which His Majesty carved out his initials, dated 1907. There’s also a Thai museum located here, and of course a very large gift shop.

There was no guarantee that we’d see the dancing Northern Lights, and with the cloudy skies (this isn’t exactly the right time of the year for this), we had our fingers crossed. Fortunately, closer to midnight the skies started to open up and the curious Thai visitors finally found what they were looking for – the chance to take selfies with the famous Aurora Borealis.

The light show is caused by collisions between electrically charged particles released from the sun and gases in our atmosphere such as oxygen and nitrogen. Photography is difficult; you need to know the right settings and use a tripod.

As the Group B members take over the caravan the following morning for their own adventure (it snowed heavily during their shift), Group A members, completing their 2,700-kilometre drive, embark on another journey back home with beaming hearts.

The C 220 d is priced at Bt2.349 million for the Avantgarde trim, Bt2.69 million for the Exclusive trim and Bt2.89 million for the AMG Dynamic trim.

Mercedes-Benz Thailand vice president Frank Steinacher said the C-Class is the best-selling model of the brand, with 415,000 units sold worldwide last year.

The 4-cylinder diesel turbo engine develops 194 horsepower and 400Nm of torque. New features include a multi-beam LED headlight system.

Musk tweeted August 7 that he had “funding secured” to privatize the electric automaker at $420 a share, causing a brief spike in Tesla’s share price.

The SEC said Musk’s statements on Twitter were “false and misleading” and that he had never discussed the plans with company officials or potential funders.

Musk later said he later decided against the plan.

But Musk quickly rejected the SEC’s allegations on Thursday, calling the charges baseless and vowing to defend himself.

“This unjustified action by the SEC leaves me deeply saddened and disappointed,” Musk said in a statement.

“I have always taken action in the best interests of truth, transparency and investors. Integrity is the most important value in my life and the facts will show I never compromised this in any way.”

Tesla expressed support for Musk on Thursday, saying the company and the board of directors “are fully confident in Elon, his integrity, and his leadership.”

The SEC’s charges pose a potentially devastating threat to Musk’s future as an entrepreneur, as the agency is seeking fines and the return of ill-gotten gains, as well as potentially barring him from ever serving as an officer or board member of a publicly-traded company.

‘As firm as it gets’

Stephanie Avakian, the SEC’s co-director of enforcement, told reporters that Musk knew his statements lacked any basis in fact.

The Tesla CEO “had not even discussed key deal terms, including price with any potential source of funding,” she said at a news conference.

The charges were a fresh blow to the embattled silicon valley entrepreneur and his company, which has been buffeted in recent months, struggling to reach production targets.

Musk has baffled investors with emotional and seemingly erratic media appearances, including one where he appeared to smoke marijuana, and a public battle with a rescuer who helped save a group of boys trapped in a cave in Thailand.

Steven Peikin, SEC co-director of enforcement, told reporters Thursday that Tesla’s investor relations department had scrambled to contain the fallout from Musk’s tweets, falsely assuring investors the matter was effectively a done deal.

“The investor relations department told analysts that there was a quote firm offer, and that quote — the offer is as firm as it gets,” Peikin said.

Tesla’s share price closed up nearly 11 percent the day of the tweet — which caused the Nasdaq to suspend trading for an hour and a half.

The company’s fortunes on Wall Street worsened considerably Thursday, sinking about 10 percent in after-hours trading to $277.50, down 25 percent since the day of the go-private tweet.

He will report directly to Yukontorn ‘Vickie’ Wisadkosin, president of Ford Asean.

Wichit is currently deputy managing director in charge of customer service and dealership.

Ford’s sales through August increased 26 per cent to 43,578 vehicles, helping drive overall market share up 0.3 percentage points to 6.6 per cent.

Wichit has been with Ford for more than 22 years, serving in roles of increasing responsibility, including leadership positions across sales, customer service and dealer development.

He first joined Ford in 1996 as a technical service operations manager.

Wichit earned a bachelor’s degree of education science in mechanical engineering and master’s in business administration in marketing.

“There won’t be any Porsche diesels in the future,” CEO Oliver Blume told the newspaper Bild am Sonntag.

Instead, the luxury sports car brand would concentrate on what he called its core strength, “powerful petrol, hybrid and, from 2019, purely electric vehicles”.

The Porsche chief conceded the step was a result of the three-year-old “dieselgate” scandal at auto giant Volkswagen.

VW in 2015 admitted to US regulators to having installed so-called “defeat devices” in 11 million cars worldwide to dupe emissions tests and obscure its much higher emissions on the road.

It has so far paid out more than 27 billion euros in fines, vehicle buybacks, recalls and legal costs and remains mired in legal woes at home and abroad.

Diesel car sales have dropped sharply as several German cities have banned them to bring down air pollution— a trend that Chancellor Angela Merkel was due to discuss with car company chiefs in Berlin later Sunday.

“The diesel crisis has caused us a lot of trouble,” Blume said, months after Germany’s Federal Transport Authority ordered the recall of nearly 60,000 Porsche SUVs in Europe.

City driving bans

Stuttgart-based Porsche in February stopped taking orders for diesel models, which it had sold for nearly a decade.

Blume said Porsche had “never developed and produced diesel engines”, having used Audi motors, yet the image of the brand had suffered.

He promised that the company would keep servicing diesel models on the road now.

Blume also defended diesel as a viable technology, which the broader VW group plans to keep using.

“I think modern diesel engines are highly attractive and environmentally friendly,” he said. “They will continue to be of great importance to the auto industry in the future.”

However, he added, “for us as a sports car manufacturer, where the diesel has traditionally played a subordinate role, we believe that we can do without diesel in the future.”

According to the paper, Porsche also faces new claims of having manipulated engines to produce a more powerful sound with a technique that was deactivated during testing.

Blume acknowledged that German regulators had pointed to irregularities in the 8-cylinder Cayenne EU5, affecting some 13,500 units.

The fallout from dieselgate has been wide ranging for Germany and its auto sector which employs some 800,000 people.

Courts are increasingly pressuring German cities to clean up their air, with a diesel ban on two major roads in Hamburg and city-wide exclusion zones for older vehicles coming into Stuttgart and Frankfurt to reduce harmful nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions.

Consumers have reacted to the prospect of more bans by shunning diesel vehicles, sending its share of the new car market plunging from 46.5 percent in August 2015 to 32.6 percent last month.

The EU has meanwhile toughened emissions testing and car companies hope a flood of new battery-powered vehicles will help meet tighter fleet-wide CO2 targets that bite from 2021.

The German government hopes to see one million fully electric and hybrid vehicles on the road by 2022, up from fewer than 100,000 at the start of this year.

Blume said that the matching infrastructure was emerging, telling Bild that by late 2019, some 400 electric charging stations along European highways would allow drivers of battery-powered cars to “get across all of Europe.”

The mighty Ford Ranger Raptor is definitely the most talked about pickup truck in Thailand this year.

I said “mighty” because the Raptor, priced at Bt1.699 million, is also currently the most expensive pickup made and sold in Thailand, and probably the best one too.

Development of the Ranger Raptor was approved by Ford executives after the tremendous success the American automaker had with its F-150 Raptor pickup truck sold in the United States. Other major automakers, including Toyota and Isuzu, lack interest in the small upper-end pickup market as they already own the major share in this extremely competitive segment.

While the Japanese offer special models that come with cool features and add-ons (such as the Hilux Revo Rocco), there’s not much to boast about their engineering. The Raptor, on the other hand, gets big tweaks and upgrades, turning it into a race-ready cross-country vehicle.

Everyone who has driven the Raptor agrees that it is the top pickup model ever produced in this country, but is it really worth the money? Well, that depends.

Some argue that you would spend less money customising a standard Ranger into something like the Raptor with matching performance. That might be true, but then you would lose the warranty.

Meanwhile, the Raptor may appear pricey, but the truck comes with a full warranty from Ford. And that’s something that would benefit the customer, despite Ford’s poor image in terms of warranty claims.

On Friday, Ford Sales and Service Thailand Co Ltd was ordered by the Thai court to pay compensation to 296 Fiesta and Focus customers, ranging from Bt15,000 to Bt240,000 per person, for the faulty Powershift transmission. The total amount is over Bt24.7 million. This follows the AUS $10 million fine slapped on Ford in Australia earlier this year for “unconscionable conduct” in the way it treated customers for the same Powershift gearbox case. Over 10,000 customers were affected in Australia.

Nevertheless, future problems are not something one can predict, and let’s hope that the Raptor doesn’t fall into the same pattern. I do hope so, as the four-day encounter with the Raptor turned out to be a highly positive experience.

No, I didn’t take it to a cross-country track and perform jumps and slides like those who went to the Raptor test-drive events in Australia and Thailand. Instead, I just used it like an ordinary truck in Bangkok in everyday driving.

The first thing that I loved about the Raptor was its presence on the road. It is wider than a standard Ranger and gets the large “FORD” logo on the front grille. The fenders are also much wider with larger wheel arches, instantly giving it a cross-country racer look, especially with those matching all-terrain tires. The side step rails on both sides have holes that allow sand and dirt to travel through, so no dirt build-up when going cross-country.

There’s a 2.3mm bash plate under the engine, while the bumpers have been redesigned to provide a better approach and departure angle. The track is wider than the standard version.

Towards the rear end, there are also special decals to enhance the sporty character of the Raptor and distinguish it from the other Ranger models (like the Wild Trak).

The interior also gets special treatment. The truck I borrowed from distributor Ford Thailand came with sporty seats with Alcantara leather, blue stitching and the latest FORD SYNC 3 infotainment system. There’s also a special Raptor multifunctional steering wheel and sports instrument panel.

The Raptor is powered by a new 2.0-litre Bi-Turbo diesel engine that’s also offered in the Ranger. Maximum power and torque is claimed at 213hp and 500Nm.

Apart from the wider track and increased ride height, Raptor also gets upgraded suspension components including FOX shock absorbers to improve ride and handling. The Watts link rear set-up also contributes to improved cornering performance. There’s just a slight hint that this is a pickup suspension, not an SUV, when going over deep potholes or speed bumps.

There’s also a Terrain Management System (TMS) that offers six driving modes, including the BAJA cross-country mode. There are two recovery hooks up front, and disc brakes all-round.

I loved the suspension set-up of the Raptor – you can easily feel the difference in terms of ride quality over the standard model. However, I felt that the all-terrain tires on the 17-inch rims are more suited to slippery gravel roads rather than smooth highways. There’s more noise from the tires when driven on smooth roads, and at high speeds it starts to feel jiggly compared to normal road tires.

That’s the only thing I didn’t fancy in the Raptor, which means that it’s near perfect. While the price may be high for a pickup truck, there are plenty of people who are willing to place an order for the Raptor as there is no competition in the market.

Ford Ranger Raptor specs

Engine: 4-cylinder DOHC 16-valve bi-turbo diesel

Displacement: 1,996cc

Bore and stroke: 84x90mm

Compression ratio: 16.0:1

Max power: 213ps/3,750rpm

Max torque: 500Nm/1,750-2,000rpm

Transmission: 10-speed automatic

Ratios: 4.696/2.985/2.146/1.769/1.520/1.275/1.000/0.854/0.689/0.636

Final drive ratio: 3.73

0-100kmh: 10.5 secs

Top speed: 170

Average fuel economy: 12.1 km/litre

Average CO2: 212 g/km

Suspension (f/r): McPherson strut/Watts Link

Steering: powered rack-and-pinion

Turning circle: 12.9 metres

Brakes (f/r): vented disc/vented disc

Dimensions (mm)

Length: 5,398

Width: 2,028

Height: 1,873

Wheelbase: 3,220

Track (f/r): 1,710/1,710

Ground clearance: 283

Approach angle: 32.5 degrees

Brakeover angle: 24 degrees

Departure angle: 24 degrees

Weight: 2,324 kgs

Wheels: 17-in alloys

Tires: 285/70 (all-terrain)

Fuel tank capacity: 80 litres

Price: Bt1.699 million

Distributor: Ford Thailand Co Ltd

File photo

According to Porsche AG, which sells the Panamera and Cayenne in Thailand, the owner must understand and strictly adhere to the charging sequence.

“An incorrect charging process, non-observance of generally applicable safety precautions and improper handling of the high-voltage battery can cause electric shocks, short circuits, explosions, fire or burns,” its user manual states.

Porsche says owners must – before starting the vehicle – complete the charging sequence, remove the cable, close the cover and charge-port door, and store the cable safely.

File photo

The right charging equipment, such as wall-sockets, wall-boxes and cables, must be installed professionally – not just any cables will do. And the vehicle must be parked close enough to the electrical outlet because using extension cables is also risky, as are multiple-socket extensions and travel adapters.

The charging cable can become a hazard if not stored properly. “Always transport the vehicle-charging cable in the luggage compartment, never in the passenger compartment (for example on or in front of the seats),” Porsche warns.

File photo

Owners are further advised not to charge during thunderstorms. If they’ve already begun, they should stop and disconnect the charging equipment to prevent the risk of jolts of voltage entering the power supply.

Baromkoch Leenutaphong, an electric vehicle enthusiast, also loves and sells upmarket electric motorbikes.

THAILAND has enthusiastically adopted electric vehicles over the past few years but reaching a critical mass is unlikely until 2025 when EVs are projected to take a more than 10 per cent market share.

Many green consumers remain discouraged by the exorbitant EV prices, unclear safety and other issues. The cheapest imported 100 per cent EV still costs nearly Bt2 million due to high import duties while locally assembled models are not yet available.

In addition, some Thais were shocked by images of a recent accidental fire at a Bangkok home where a Porsche plug-in hybrid EV was badly damaged during an overnight charging.

Another issue is the availability of public charging facilities outside Bangkok, since the latest versions of 100 per cent EVs currently have a maximum driving range of only about 400-500 kilometres.

Overall, Thai consumers are now more comfortable with hybrid EVs and plug-in hybrid EVs which still have internal combustion engines using petrol along with large batteries, while the adoption of 100 per cent EVs, which have no such engines, is still in the very early stage.

At present, there are more than 100,000 HEVs and PHEVs on the road in Thailand. but the number of 100 per cent EVs is quite small.

All EVs are subject to an import duty of 80 per cent based on cost, insurance and freight, while another 8-10 per cent excise tax is levied on the retail price, compared to an excise duty of 30-35 per cent levied on combustible engine vehicles.

For PHEVs (plug-in hybrid EVs), the excise duty is 10 per cent so a few automakers have set up local assembly lines for these vehicles.

BMW, for instance, is highly involved in electrified vehicles at the domestic level. Apart from offering locally assembled PHEV models for the 3, 5 and 7 Series in addition to the X5 (it also imports the i8 hybrid sports car), the German automaker also works with the King Mongkut Institute of Technology Thon Buri campus in terms of technology transfer.

“Sales of our PHEV models grew by as much as 269 per cent last year,” said Krisda Utamote, corporate communications director at BMW Group Thailand Ltd.

“And this year, from January to July, PHEV sales have grown by 59 per cent.”

According to Krisda, BMW will start producing high-performance lithium-ion batteries for PHEVs in Thailand in 2019.

The batteries are to be supplied to PHEV models assembled here, but could also be used for fully electric battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in the future if BMW decides to assemble one here.

While electric technology may seem like a feature for luxury cars – BMW 330e is priced at Bt2.32 million compared to Bt2.22 million for the non-electric 320d – it is available in lower price ranges as well.

The Toyota C-HR Hybrid, for example, is more affordable, retailing from Bt1.069 million to Bt1.159 million.

Nissan, the largest producer of electric cars in the world, is also expecting to offer its LEAF BEV in Thailand soon, with retail pricing expected to be in the Bt1-million-plus range.

But one thing that all manufacturers taking part in the electric vehicle race agree, is that the Thai government needs to provide more encouragement to users of electrified vehicles. Such encouragements could include buyer incentives such as more access to public charging infrastructures and parking privileges.

Earlier this year, Michael Grewe, president of Mercedes-Benz (Thailand) Ltd, said in order to ensure a smooth transition to EV (Electric Vehicle) use in Thailand, the government needs to make sure that there is adequate infrastructure to serve users.

Grewe said: “Right now we [Mercedes-Benz] are offering PHEVs which can be charged and that is good. But it can also operate without being charged [since it has an engine],” he said. “But for EVs, charging is mandatory.”

He said EV owners would charge their vehicles at home or at the office, and there needs to be special infrastructure to serve these vehicles.

Mercedes-Benz is also building a lithium-ion battery plant, to be operational next year. The German automaker states that by 2022, as much as 30 per cent of its product line-up would be electrified.

Both Mercedes and BMW are busy equipping charging equipment at venues where customers are expected to show up, such as shopping centres, hotels and service centres.

As the number of PHEVs and EVs grow in Thailand, customers also need to adapt to the change in lifestyle, similar to what has happened with smartphones of today, which require battery charging.

FORD THAILAND was ordered on Friday to pay compensation amounting to Bt23 million to buyers of two of its models that were found to have defective clutch and gear systems.

The verdict was described as a “victory for consumers” by a lawyer representing the car buyers in this “historic case”.

The lawsuit was filed against Ford Sales and Services (Thailand) Co Ltd by 308 buyers of Ford Fiesta, Ford Focus and Ford EcoSport models who had demanded compensation totalling Bt24.7 million.

The case was taken to the South Bangkok Civil Court on April 3, 2017 and the court accepted the case for review in May this year.

The lawsuit alleged that the company sold Ford cars that were defective in the manufacturing process. It said the quality of the company’s products was not in accordance with its advertisements and therefore put the consumers at risk.

All 308 co-plaintiffs and their lawyers were present for the reading of the verdict. The court said Ford manufactured about 90,000 versions of the three models a year but the company found only 500 vehicles with the defect and so far no one hds been injured or killed because of the problem.

Although Ford admitted that the cars involved had defective clutch and gear systems, they said they could be fixed and the parts could be changed so the three models were not regarded as dangerous substandard goods.

As a result, the court had no power to force the company to buy the cars back from their purchasers or recall models that were already in the market. The company, however, was ordered to compensate the buyers of the defective cars for the loss of market value, Bt20,000 for each repair and Bt1,000 per day for the loss of use of their vehicle during its repair.

The 296 plaintiffs will receive compensation varying from Bt15,000 to Bt240,000 for a total amount of Bt23 million, plus interest at the rate of 7.5 per annum from the lawsuit date. The court ordered Ford to pay the compensation within seven days. The court also rejected suits filed by 12 buyers, as six of them modified the cars to use LPG gas and the others had failed to send their cars for regular maintenance servicing.

Jinna Yaem-uam, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs, said the verdict was a victory for consumers and showed that if they joined forces, they could fight and win against a giant conglomerate.

The lawyer said the case would set a precedent that consumers big companies could not take advantage of consumers. “This is a historic case because [the company] was sued based on the amendment to the Civil Code on May 25, 2015 on class action lawsuits,” he said.

Jinna said that the court did not order a recall of the defective vehicles because they were not considered “unsafe goods” in an applicable law.

“Regarding this point, we reserve the right to appeal,” the lawyer added.

Korpsak Noomnoi, a representative of the plaintiffs, said they had achieved their goal and were partly satisfied. However, Korpsak said the plaintiffs would also consider appealing part of the verdict and had 30 days to consider doing so.

Originally, there were 416 co-plaintiffs in the case against the company. However, 113 of them later managed to reach an out-of-court settlement following negotiations mediated by the South Bangkok Civil Court.

The company agreed to remedial conditions asked by the buyers, who later opted not to pursue their case.

Ford’s statement to media

“We respect the Court’s ruling which, in effect, recognises each customer on a case-by-case basis, while also presenting that the PowerShift transmission does not pose any risk to vehicle safety.

“This ruling reflects our position that each customer has a different experience with respect to the PowerShift transmission, and that our process of individually evaluating customers on a case-by-case basis is appropriate.

“We apologise for any inconvenience caused by issues related to the PowerShift transmission and remain committed to helping resolve any outstanding issues through our comprehensive customer satisfaction programmes.”

He’s greatly impressed by American-built Tesla and owns an S 2015 and an X SUV 2017, as well as other electric vehicles.

For both short- and long-distance trips, he prefers the Tesla X, which has battery power of 100kwh for a range of 420 kilometres at an average speed of 100km per hour.

In and around Bangkok, the range is never a problem, but for a longer trip to, say, Hua Hin, a stopover for recharging the battery pack becomes necessary.

Baromkoch always has a charger with him so that an overnight stay at one of his resort condos allows the car to be fully recharged within 6-8 hours.

To ensure safety, the power outlet needs to have at least 32-amp capacity. Public concern arose over news reports of a Porsche EV catching fire following an overnight charge, but he says that was due to the use of inappropriate power outlets. Connecting power cables from the car to the outlet also has to be done according to safety standards.

Besides his two Teslas worth more than Bt8 million each, Baromkoch has a Nissan Leaf with 24kwh capacity. The 2011 model produces an equivalent of 110 horsepower, so it’s quite economical, with an energy cost of just Bt0.6 per km.

The Tesla X is probably more sophisticated. The manufacturer updates its software regularly through an Internet connection, for example, using a built-in Sim card.

On auto-pilot, Baromkoch said, the Tesla is more like an assisted-driving system that helps reduce the driver’s stress, especially in Bangkok’s inner-city traffic snarls. In addition, Tesla vehicles use both cameras and radar equipment to help drivers, such as keeping a safe distance from the next vehicle.

Another brand of electric vehicles being tested on the Thai market is BYD from China. A fleet of BYD E6 vehicles with a range beyond 300km will serve as limousines at Suvarnabhumi Airport, according to Baromkoch, whose family has long been in the automobile business.

Due to relatively cheap petrol and diesel prices in Thailand of around Bt30 per litre, there is less financial incentive to switch to EVs here compared to Europe, where fuel is much more expensive, he noted.

The Board of Investment has been encouraging automakers to set up 100-per-cent-EV assembly plants in Thailand, even though some luxury brands prefer for now to focus on boosting sales of plug-in hybrid |vehicles.

To boost EV popularity, there should be a consumer tax credit |per vehicle so as to make them more affordable for the masses, especially among pro-environmental groups.

According to Baromkoch, the global market for EVs is being shaped by China, which is currently the world’s largest automotive market, accounting for 30 per cent of the total annual sales of 100 million vehicles.

The Chinese government has announced plans to phase out registration of combustible-engine vehicles in favour of EVs.

The worsening air pollution in big Chinese cities is a key driver for China to accelerate the adoption of EVs via tax and state measures, so as to improve the quality of life.

In Thailand, Baromkoch said, EV safety is not an issue, but affordability is, due to the current high prices, running from nearly Bt2 million per unit to above Bt10 million, so only the rich can afford them at this stage.

In addition, the infrastructure, such as public charging facilities, is not yet widespread. The few available tend to be at luxury shopping centres, hotels and condos.

To help promote EV adoption, there is a proposal to require auto companies to sell a certain number of EVs based on assigned quotas, as determined by each company’s overall sales of automobiles.

Incentives needed

Yossapong Laoonual, president of the Electric Vehicle Association of Thailand, said there was no safety standard for the installation of electrical outlets for charging electric vehicles yet, resulting in a recent accidental fire at a Bangkok home.

To boost the popularity of EVs, he said, the government needs to provide more incentives and subsidies to make EVs more affordable to the general public. At present, EV models are still very expensive due to high battery price and import duties.

Regarding government policies, he said, China, Britain and some other European countries have set a deadline to stop registering combustible-engine vehicles in favour of 100 per cent EV production.

In Thailand the outlook is still uncertain, despite a strong consumer interest to buy more environmentally friendly EVs.

Yossapong said Thailand is projected to have a critical mass market for EVs around 2025, when annual sales reach 10 per cent of total auto sales, which currently stands at about one million units.