Locally assembled four-seater electric vehicles (EV) by FOMM Corporation are expected to hit the Thai market at the end of the year with a price-tag of 300,000 THB. Because of this, the Department of Land Transport is amending current laws to allow compact EV vehicles with engine power of below 15 kilowatts to be registered. According to The Department of Industrial Promotion’s Industrial Development Director Pitoon Pholpanichrasmee, compact EV vehicles will be available for use in Thailand by the end of the year or early next year. He has been quoted as saying that the battery cloud system of EV vehicles still needs to be further developed for faster charging. According to Pitoon, the present allocated time of 6 – 8 hours needs to be compressed into half an hour.
An agreement between Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology of Thammasat University (SIIT) and FOMM Corporation, the Japanese electric car manufacturer, was signed yesterday to conduct a one-year joint research on compact EV vehicles, reported The Nation. FOMM has also signed another memorandum with Bangchak Petroleum to conduct research on their battery cloud system. This will also allow them to utilize Bangchak service station. The purpose of these collaboration is to improve the future of EV vehicles. According to Pitoon, most car companies are awaiting Thai government policy on import tax before importing any vehicles onto the market. This is done to ensure prices on them remain affordable.
The Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) pilot project to run 200 EV buses at the end of the year will be brought up at a committee hearing to determine the electricity charging rates for these vehicles, reported Agreements signed for more EV stations by next year A memorandum of understanding has been established by Energy Minister General Anantaporn Kanchanarat at a PTT station in Nonthaburi province. This is in conjunction with six car companies; BMW, Mercedes Benz, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Porches, and Volvo. The Ministry expects to see 1.2 million electric vehicles running on streets in the country within the next 20 years or by 2036.
The memorandum of understanding is relates to two Electric Vehicle stations to be built this year and an additional 14 EV stations by next year, raising total EV stations to 20. Thai PBS
