In the past years, the electric vehicle (EV) industry in Thailand has undergone accelerated development. Although there is some resistance to fully adopting EVs due to factors like consumer preference, both the public and private sectors are remaining proactive by investing in the holistic development of the industry.
As the market opens to new entrants, it will be important for stakeholders to inform business decisions with accurate information regarding the current landscape of Thailand''s EV industry. Moreover, potential investors should become familiar with the investment opportunities that are present within the country. For instance, there exists an opportunity for interested parties to explore investments in infrastructure which will help drive EV adoption. Read this excerpt from our latest white paper, Electric Vehicle Development and Deployment in Thailand: Moving Towards an Acceleration of EV Adoption, which you can read in full here.
Development of EV Infrastructure in Thailand
To further drive the adoption of electric vehicles in Thailand, the government and associations such as the Electric Vehicle Association of Thailand (EVAT) are promoting the development of EV charging infrastructure.
The National Energy Policy Commission has encouraged the Time of Use (TOU) charging scheme for EVs being charged at home or in charging stations to minimize electricity usage during the on-peak period of 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. During the on-peak period, the electricity price is 4.10 THB (0.12 USD) per unit, compared to the off-peak periods which are cheaper at 2.6 THB (0.08 USD) per unit. However, new charging rates were announced in June 2021 with a standardized rate of 2.6 THB per unit (0.08 USD), disregarding on-peak and off-peak periods.
In addition, the BOI is also promoting investments in the EV charging station business with a five-year corporate tax exemption for charging station investors.
Thailand''s Current EV Infrastructure
As of September 2021, there were 693 EV charging stations in Thailand, with normal chargers (AC outlets) dominating the market at 1,511 units (66%), compared to fast chargers (DC outlets) at 774 units (44%). The AC charging standard is adopted from IEC 62196-2, with AC Type 2 as the standardized AC charger, while DC chargers have complied with the CCS configuration (Combined Charging System).
The major EV charging operators are Oil & Gas companies, electricity state enterprises, and green energy companies. Energy Absolute (EA), a Thai-listed conglomerate, is one of the most active players in the market with over 417 charging locations across Thailand. Charging Station and Evolt are the second and third most active players in the market with 68 and 49 locations, respectively. PTT, the largest Oil & Gas company in the country, also operates its own PTT EV charging stations with 30 locations across Thailand as part of its non-oil business growth plans. PTT aims to construct 300 EV charging stations in the Greater Bangkok areas within 2023, in addition to their network of ~2,000 traditional gas stations across the country.
According to the EVAT, the distribution of EV charging stations is concentrated in central provinces such as Bangkok, Nonthaburi, and Samutprakarn, which make up around 70% of the total locations across Thailand. The number of charging stations in other regions, such as North, East, and South Thailand, remains low.
In addition, EV charger manufacturers can also take the chance to enter the Thai market and produce locally. Currently, the main pain point for stakeholders is that EVC equipment is mostly imported with high taxation, as the development of regulations and incentives for EVCs is still nascent compared to the EV market itself. Local products are also not at a comparable quality level with their imported counterparts, translating into a possible advantage for local players who could raise the quality level while offering more competitive prices leveraging on lower cost of local production.
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Narong Yuenyonghattaporn, a retired civil servant in Bangkok, bought an electric car made by GAC Aion earlier this year. He''s part of a growing number of Thai drivers buying EVs sold by Chinese car companies but made in Thailand, a nation that''s become one of the front lines in the global battle for auto-market supremacy.
In the past two years, Chinese automakers including BYD, GAC Aion, and Chery have announced plans to build manufacturing facilities in Thailand. BYD''s and GAC Aion''s factories started operations in July, and so far Chinese investments in Thai auto plants total at least $1.4 billion.
Narong''s EV is one of the 80,000 battery-electric vehicles the Electric Vehicle Association of Thailand is projecting will be registered this year. Last year, Thailand registered 76,739 BEVs, according to government data, 6.5 times the number in 2022.
Though the pace of EV adoption in Thailand slowed this year, as in many other parts of the world, it''s part of a growing trend. Chinese car companies, led by BYD, are breaking into markets long dominated by automakers from Japan, the U.S., and Germany. Since around 2020, Chinese auto brands, especially EV manufacturers, have been expanding internationally in search of more revenue as fierce competition and oversupply at home eat into their market share.
But with geopolitical barriers impeding the pursuit of car buyers in Europe and North America, these Chinese automakers are aggressively entering middle-income markets like Thailand, Indonesia, Brazil, Malaysia, and Argentina, where there are often no domestic auto champions to protect, and governments have at least a somewhat cordial relationship with Beijing.
In Thailand, Chinese EV manufacturers are starting to challenge Japanese brands that have long dominated the Thai auto market. Chinese brands have bought up huge billboards on highways between Suvarnabhumi Airport and Bangkok. In the city, more showrooms now feature vehicles from China, while Chinese EV production facilities are a little less than a two-hour drive away from Bangkok. Once fully operational, these Chinese EV facilities could together ramp up production to build at least 320,000 vehicles a year.
"There''s a couple of things that make Thailand attractive," says Eugene Hsiao, the Hong Kong–based head of China equity strategy and China autos at Macquarie. "The first and most obvious is that Thailand as a country is relatively friendly to China. I think that''s very important. The second is that the auto supply chain is already fairly well developed. That was pretty much done by the Japanese historically."
Thailand''s central location in the region makes the country a gateway to the wider Southeast Asia market, and Thailand itself has a big domestic automotive market compared to the rest of the region, said a GAC Aion Thailand spokesperson.
As they have in Thailand, Chinese auto manufacturers are making investments around the globe. Led by established brands like BYD, SAIC, and Chery, they are assembling cars in-country either to gain incentives or avoid tariffs.
"Affordability is a universal value proposition."
While Brazil has reinstated import taxes on electric vehicles regardless of origin, the government also has a program that incentivizes companies to decarbonize, and auto companies can qualify for tax rebates based on the energy efficiency of the car models and the density of local production. Manufacturing in Hungary could potentially allow Chinese EVs to bypass EU tariffs, and in Malaysia, despite having local auto brands, the government provides tax exemptions for locally assembled EVs.
There is a clear strategy behind the choice of nations where Chinese manufacturers have set up shop, says Hsiao. In this case, bigger doesn''t necessarily mean better.
"The best markets in terms of GDP per capita would be the big developed markets, meaning the U.S., Europe, and Japan. Those markets are the most closed, you could argue," he says—yet there are "other markets that are smaller but meaningful" for Chinese auto brands.
Beijing identified the EV sector as a strategic emerging industry worthy of state support more than a decade ago, handing out subsidies to both manufacturers and consumers. There were as many as 500 EV companies in China at one point, but competition and a gradual phasing out of subsidies has driven consolidation.
Traditional automakers from Europe and the U.S. are struggling to compete with or match Chinese EV offerings at lower price points. That has eaten into their bottom line, with Volkswagen in late October announcing plans to cut pay and close factories. Japanese automakers have also been slower to transition toward electric vehicles, and Japan''s biggest automaker, Toyota, thinks the EV transition won''t happen as quickly as anticipated, placing its bet on hybrids. That strategy seems to be working for Toyota so far, as it retained its title as the world''s largest automaker last year. Data from Toyota for the first nine months of this year showed Toyota sold almost 3 million hybrid vehicles, a 19.8% year-on-year increase.
Auto Manufacturing makes up 10% of Thailand''s GDP and contributes about 850,000 jobs, according to the International Labour Organization. Its history with carmaking dates to the 1960s, when Japanese makers like Toyota, Nissan, and Mitsubishi opened up production facilities in the country. Not long after, American and European brands followed.
From the beginning, Thailand relied heavily on incentives and tariffs to turn itself into a regional auto-manufacturing hub. It started an import-substitution policy—replacing foreign imports with domestic production—for the automotive industry in the 1960s, attracting foreign automakers to set up production facilities in the country.
Thailand''s trade agreement with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, also means automakers enjoy lower export duties when selling within the region. The Thai government''s high import tax of up to 80% for passenger vehicles and 30% for pickups further incentivizes automakers to keep producing in Thailand.
Bangkok has a "30@30" plan, with a goal of 30% of autos produced to be EVs by 2030. In early 2022, Thailand approved a package of incentives to promote EV adoption in the country, with the aim of eventually making Thailand a regional EV-manufacturing hub.
Tangible investments in manufacturing from Chinese companies can affect the decision-making of buyers like Narong, the retired civil servant. Because these companies have set up assembly plants in Thailand, parts are more readily available and maintenance should be easier, helping reassure him of Chinese cars'' reliability. A less fractious geopolitical relationship, too, may cause buyers like him to be more open to giving Chinese cars a chance.
"They also produce a lot of electric vehicles to serve their own market, and their government gives full endorsement, and I believe these result in good experiences and reliability," Narong says.
But while these Chinese EVs are starting to make inroads in Thailand, they are still the challengers and have not overtaken the incumbent carmakers yet. Charging anxiety remains an issue that needs to be addressed, and for the most part, EV adoption is happening faster in Bangkok. In mountainous regions like Chiang Mai, a Toyota pickup may continue to be the favored choice.
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