24 INTERVIEW
Supporting innovation development for Thailand’s electric vehicle industry
Sorawit Wanitanukul, Director of Electric Vehicles Program, RDI Management for National Strategic, NSTDA Thailand’s National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) is entrusted with the important task of accelerating science, technology and innovation development in order to respond to the needs of the industry and to enhance the country’s competitiveness in the global economy. The Agency has been working with partners from the academic, government, private and non-government sectors, both domestically and internationally.
I believe Thailand is ready to become an EV parts manufacturer rather than a complete EV manufacturer because Thai auto entrepreneurs are already skilled on manufactur ing conventional parts, while the EV infrastructure which includes standard, testing and regulation, and ecosystem of demand are quite ready as well. We must seek the oppor tunity to enter the supply chain for EVs high value par ts, which are batter y and motor par ts either modules or sub-components. We must upgrade our parts to the global supply chain and adjust production technology to customise the processes that follow rapid technology changes. In this interview, Mr. Sorawit Wanitanukul, Director of the Electric Vehicles Program, RDI Management for National Strategy, explains the program’s key collaboration with various organisations to suppor t the research and development projects for Thailand’s electric vehicles (EVs) industr y competitiveness improvement to become a par t of global supply chain. How ready is Thailand to enter the EV industry? We have been performing very well in terms of auto parts production for both domestic usage and expor ts. Last year, Thailand’s automotive industry was ranked eleventh in the world, fifth in Asia and first in South-East Asia. Most of Thailand’s vehicle exports are pickups and eco cars as well as extensive expor ts and impor ts of vehicle parts. Our automotive industry is already internationally recognised. Therefore, we have the capability to expand into the EV industr y and our production standards are quite good.
UPDATE 3/2021
How difficult will it be for Thailand to adjust to produce EV parts? Is achieving its policy of 100% per cent zero emissions by 2035 possible? The goal of 100 per cent zero emissions by 2035 faces challenges in every aspect of the industry, from manufacturing and operating to servicing vehicles. Within the next five years, the government and most of the private sector believe that EV will occur with the niche market group first, such as buses, small cars,three-wheel taxis (tuk-tuks), motorcycles and boats. Local manufacturers can now start producing battery packs for electric buses. As a result, they will gain knowledge of design ing the pack for electric buses and prototype development; they will initially be able to produce one or two prototypes. When Thailand fully promotes EVs in the mass passenger vehicle group or when car companies want to produce EVs, these parts producers or suppliers will have the knowledge and profiles that are ready to produce the high value EVs parts for the industry.
How does the government co-operate and support the private sector in developing the automotive industry for the future? The government’s policy and goals on EVs is becoming more concrete, such as providing support for operators who want to install charging stations. The government has also set a flat rate of 2.6 baht per unit for electricity charging throughout the country, which is cheaper than home electricity fees. The support also includes Board of Thailand (BoI) privileges aimed at promoting investment in the production of high-tech automotive parts such as battery parts, electric motors, power electronics devices, charging stations and even EV production. At the same time, various agencies are trying to provide knowledge among the personnel concerned through various mechanisms in order to support the industry in the future, however, there is still the challenge of how to balance the availability of skilled labour with the rate of production. If the EV industry is definitely coming soon, we will need to speed up increasing human resources at the part development and production level, in a consistent and appropriate manner. NSTDA’s policy is to comprehensively support EV technology and to increase the advanced knowledge among NSTDA personnel and researchers’ network on designing, developing, and testing EV parts, innovation and completed vehicles that could be potentials in EVs niche market. We suppor t prototyping electric buses, motorcycle, boat and EVs conversion with par tners, and also research on EVs demand and sustainable management. What obstacles exist that discourage Thai people from using EVs? According to a Frost & Sullivan survey about few years ago, quite a few factors exist that discourage Asians from buying EVs such as safety, mileage per charge, the number of charging stations and vehicle price. Last year, the number of EVs registered at the
