Thailand poised to target 50% EV use, carbon neutrality by 2050

Kulit Sombatsiri, permanent secretary for energy, said during the launch day ceremony for EGAT EV Business Solutions on Thursday that for hundreds years car industry has evolved from a combustion engine to an electric vehicle (EV) where the combustion engine is the leading cause of 72.5 per cent CO2 emissions, airborne toxicity and the cause of PM 2.5.

Today, many countries around the world are aware of this issue and announced a clear goal for carbon neutrality, one of which is to promote the use of electric vehicles (EVs). The price of EVs predicts to be equal price to that of combustion vehicles by 2025, and by 2040, the number of EVs will be greater than that of combustion vehicles to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality.

However, for Thailand, National Electric Vehicle Policy Committee has been established which was chaired by Supatthanaphong Phanmechaow, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy.

National Electric Vehicle Policy Committee has set the goal of 2030 to produce 30 per cent of the total vehicle production or about 750,000 EVs, and by 2040 the number of EVs will increase to 2.5 million.

"At this meeting, It must be clear in what year to target carbon neutrality and the number of EV cars. The private sector offers to increase the number of EVs to 50 per cent by 2030. It is possible because all over the world are now accelerating the promotion of EVs, but we have to wait for clarity from the meeting," said Kulit.

Yesterday (March 11), the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) launched EGAT EV Business Solutions under the event name The Next Future Journey EGAT EV Business Solutions. EGAT and partners from 6 leading automobile companies including Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, MG, Nissan and Porsche has signed an agreement to provide cooperation in the field of charging station, linking application data link, and promotion.