EV solutions provider offers assurance on cost of charging vehicles
There will be enough EV charging stations to serve Thailand’s target to have 1.05 million electric vehicles in the next three years and consumers should not worry about running out of power on the road, according to Sharge, a major EV solutions provider.
Sharge Management Co Ltd also mapped out its strategic plans to boost the number of EV charging stations, which will cover, for instance, installing charge stations at home, and finding solutions for public transportation vehicles.
The company held an online press conference “Scale Up EV Future” on Thursday to discuss the prospects of electric vehicles (EVs) in the future.
Each fully-charged EV car should use only 25 per cent of a single house’s electricity consumption. However, the overall electricity capacity is more than 50 per cent of the power consumption, he pointed out.
He added that Thailand would need around 100,000 to 200,000 charging stations if Thailand has 1 million EVs according to the goal, and uses 1 million kilowatt hour (kWh) per week.
He reassured that the cost of electricity would not be more expensive even if the number of EVs is increasing. Meanwhile, the capacity is enough to respond to electricity demand.
“Mass-market EVs, such as Chinese brands MG and GWM, will help the Thailand EV market grow tremendously as I believe they will be able to sell more than 10,000 EVs this year,” Peerapatr said.
The announcement marks Sharge's upscaled business model. The company is positioning itself as the provider of a lifestyle charging ecosystem, covering night (charge at home), day (charge at destination), on-the-go (charge between destination), and fleet (logistics and transportation)
According to the strategic plan, the company is focused on a stronger ecosystem with a target to engage 50 partners in 2025 from the current 27, installing more charging stations, finding new solutions, and creating more innovation.
Peerapatr explained that the company has worked with property developers to put charging stations to both horizontal and vertical properties. He said that people who live in condominiums should be able to use EVs. The trend is that there is a growing demand for EV stations for home use.
The company has already put charging stations at various retail malls and office complexes in Bangkok to charge during the day. The company has also joined hands with energy conglomerate Bangchak Corporation to set up charging stations to allow users to charge their EVs when travelling to other provinces.
As more users require more fast-charge options, the company would expand more DC charging stations to other provinces for users would be able to charge when they are travelling within a few minutes, he said.
Sharge’s High Power Charging Station is the fastest charger in Thailand with a 350-kilowatt charger. It can charge an EV in 10-15 minutes.
Apart from regular users, the company aims to join hands with five fleet operators this year, including Chao Phraya Express Boat, as they have demand to decrease their energy cost and would like to use clean energy.
According to global statistics, more than 16 million EVs were on the road in 2021 and 6.6 million EVs or 9 per cent of total car sales were sold during the pandemic.
Sharge is an EV solutions provider in both charging hardware and software and was founded in 2019. It is also providing a charging ecosystem with a focus to fulfil EVs with “home” and “destination” charging.
