Thai renewable Energy producer, Energy Absolute, has created an electric vehicle (EV) subsidiary, Mine Mobility, which launched its first passenger electric car in June 2019. The company has already received more than 4,500 orders for the car, including orders of 3,500 cars from a group of five taxi unions.
The price of one vehicle is at around 38,000 USD, which is cheaper than comparable models from competitors. According to the Mine Mobility, their five-seat hatchback has a 30 kWh battery and a range of around 200 kilometers on a single charge. Energy Absolute is also planning two more electric models: a cheaper compact car and a more expensive sports car.
The company is investing THB 200 million (USD 6.5 million) into a factory with an annual production capacity of 10,000 cars. The factory is expected to start operating later in 2019. Energy Absolute is also planning to set up a lithium-ion battery Manufacturing plant, starting with a production capacity of 1 GWh, which could potentially be scaled up to 50 GWh.
The company has set a goal to put 5,000 electric vehicles on the road by 2020 and install more than 700 charging stations. This way, the market share in Thailand would more than triple as there are currently only 1,500 electric cars on the road.
The South East Asian region, a hub for automotive Manufacturing, is seeing increasing activity in the area of electric vehicles from local as well as international players. In neighboring Vietnam, Vinfast has established a joint venture with LG Chem to produce battery packs for Vinfast’s currently under-production electric scooters, and in the future for electric cars. The Philippines’ Department of Trade and Industry is promoting opportunities in the EV industry in the country. In Q1 2018, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Toyota announced plans to produce batteries for electric vehicles in Thailand. Toyota submitted an investment plan to Thailand’s Board of Investment to localize Manufacturing of new eco-friendlier vehicles there. Dyson is setting up an electric vehicle factory in Singapore. All these countries are also taking steps towards developing the necessary Infrastructure for mainstreaming electric vehicles.
(Sources: electrive.com; Electrek; Paul Tan)
