Is Malaysia’s Electric Vehicle policy lagging behind when it comes commitment from the government?
The landscape of Thailand’s charging infrastructure and the country’s plans as Thailand move towards their commitment on electric vehicles has been a hot topic of discussion among Malaysian electric vehicle (EV) promoters.
“Thailand is certainly going towards clean mobility with plans to implement home charging stations and public charging stations at hotels, department stores and tourist destinations.
The government is certainly supportive of clean mobility and we foresee proactive plans and policies to be rolling out in the near future to support the charging infrastructure in Thailand,” said Dr. Twarath Sutabutr, Chief Inspector General, Thailand Ministry of Energy & Co-chair of Future Mobility Asia Steering Committee which was held recently in Bangkok.
Leading the region with initiatives such as the 3030 EV production policy, Thailand aims to transform 30 percent of the total automotive production to electric vehicles by 2030. The second panel discussion was conducted by representatives from the Thai government and Thai experts to discuss Thailand’s plans in becoming a production hub for clean mobility in Southeast Asia.
“By 2030, Thailand aims to produce 725,000 electric vehicles with plans to penetrate global markets. We are expecting 400,000 units to be sold in domestic markets while the others will be on exports,” said Chanin Khaochan, Deputy Secretary General, Thailand Board of Investment.
The panel discussion further emphasized Thailand’s ambition in high production of electric vehicles while ensuring that existing internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles maintain as the country progresses. The panelists shared their concerns and the challenges foreseen as Thailand adopts clean mobility.
“One of the biggest challenges in adopting electric vehicles is the need for charging infrastructure. Public charging is one of the key factors to ensure that end-users can travel freely with no constraints, similar to how end-users travel with ICE vehicles.
People may rely on public charging facilities due to the absent of home charging facilities. In this case, the government’s support and investments on the implementation of charging stations across Bangkok is important,” said Yossapong Laoonual, Assistant to President for Sustainability, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, Honorary Chairman, EVAT.
Right now with two national car programs that already have partnerships with large and high technology foreign partnerships, it should be easy to introduce localized electric vehicles (maybe to start with small battery systems to reduce purchase costs) and start ‘REAL’ technology transfer and not continue with just rebadging to maximize profits and still obtain high government incentives.
