Japanese electric cars coming to Thailand soon
Four seat electric car running 100-150km per charge, up to six hours, with exports to ASEAN & Europe as well as sales in Thailand.
Four seat electric car running 100-150km per charge, up to six hours, with exports to ASEAN & Europe as well as sales in Thailand.
AUTOMOTIVE
Japanese electric cars coming to Thailand soon
15/08/2016
Piyachart Maikaew
Japan's FOMM Corporation is set to establish an assembly plant for its compact electric vehicles (EVs) in Thailand, with details likely to be disclosed within this year.
THAI MODEL OF JAPANESE ELECTRIC CAR
Mr Tsurumaki said the company has already finished its Thai prototype model, which will undergo crash testing in Japan by October.
The Thai model meets European standards for compact EVs.
The small car has four seats and is capable of a maximum 90 kilometres per hour and durability of 30,000km or five years.
It can drive 100-150km per single charge, which can run up to six hours.
A four-seat electric car developed by Japan-based FOMM Corp is on test-drive in Bangkok. FOMM is studying a feasibility study to invest and assembly plant for EVs in Thailand.PAWAT LAOPAISARNTAKSIN
WILL COST NO MORE THAN 300,000 BAHT
The price of the vehicle excluding the battery should be no more than 300,000 baht, while four batteries will be rented for 1,000-2,000 baht per month.
"Local content will account for 70% of the production of FOMM's Thai-made vehicles with imported batteries and parts making up the remaining 30%," said Mr Tsurumaki.
FOMM is seeking battery manufacturing partners in China, Japan and Singapore.
FOMM set a Thai sales target of 4,000 units by next year, 16,000 in 2018, 30,000 in 2019 and 40,000 in 2020.
FOMM will also export electric cars to Asean and Europe.
In Thailand, FOMM will install normal plugs for charging at 200 Bangchak petrol stations (gas stations) nationwide and expects to complete installation by 2017.
Mr Tsurumaki said FOMM also plans to set up showrooms and service centres for FOMM vehicles in Thailand.
Staff from Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology (SIIT) research team works on the vehicle.
THAI PARTNERS OF JAPANESE ELECTRIC CAR COMPANY
Chief executive Hideo Tsurumaki said the company has already found two Thai business partners -- Trinex Assets Co and Kusumoto Chavalit & Partners Co (KCP).
FOMM Asia is the local arm of the Japanese company FOMM, which will help support future investment in Thailand.
With registered capital of 360 million baht, FOMM Asia is 49.9% equally held by FOMM and Trinex, and 0.2% by KCP.
Mr Tsurumaki said the new assembly plant facility would require investment of about 33 million baht to make 25,000 battery electric vehicles (BEVs) a year. That investment excludes land and construction costs.
The interior of the car.
CHON BURI, RAYONG & SAMUT PRAKAN POSSIBLE PLANT LOCATIONS
He said FOMM is looking at Samut Prakan, Chon Buri and Rayong as investment destinations.
Chon Buri and Rayong are preferable as the two provinces are designated for development as a high-tech industry cluster under the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) development plan.
The EEC spans three eastern provinces including Chachoengsao, with an eye towards becoming Asean's leading zone for industrial, infrastructure and urban development.
However, a final decision has yet to be made.
"We are mapping out our investment plan, including other government incentives, before making any BEVs in Thailand," he said.
PREVIOUS RESEARCH PROJECT
Previously, Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology (SIIT)'s Centre for Research and Development Collaboration (CRDC) worked with FOMM on a research and development (R&D) project focusing on the electric car.
The intention behind the project was to match the project with the industrial sector to develop the technology into a product to be produced and sold, and this has already been accomplished as today's article shows.
"According to project leader Virach Sornlertlamvanich, CRDC was founded to bring together private sector technologies and skills of SIIT's lecturers and students doing research. Instead of having the research projects left on the shelf, they should be applied for the use of society by matching with the industrial sector."
For more, read full Bangkok Post article from February 2016 here.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/news/1061752/fomm-eyes-eec-for-ev-production
http://www.bangkokpost.com/tech/local-news/874776/roll-out-the-electric-cars
http://www.bangkokpost.com/print/874776/
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