Interest in making electric vehicles is mounting globally and Thailand’s state-owned PTT, an oil and gas group, sees the writing on the wall: eventually—not right away-- EVs will replace gas-powered cars.
On Sept. 14, PTT entered a joint venture with Taiwan’s Foxconn with a joint investment of $1 billion to $2 billion over five to six years to build a plant in Thailand’s Eastern Economic Corridor special zone. The deal is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter, with PTT’s subsidiary Arun Plus holding a 60% stake in the venture and Foxconn affiliate Lin Yin holding 40%.
PTT and Foxconn expect production in Thailand to start in two to three years with 50,000 four-wheel EVs produced a year, moving gradually to 150,000 units a year, and helping move Thailand into the top position as producer and exporter of EVs in Southeast Asia.
Separately, Foxconn announced on a deal with Lordstown Motors on Oct. 1 for the production of EV light duty electric trucks at Lordstown’s 6 million square foot plant in Lordstown, Ohio.
Foxconn first displayed a prototype of its open EV development platform a year ago, opening up the possibility of working with any number of auto OEMs in creation of production EVs. Foxconn is also working with CATL and SES on a solid state battery.
Thailand and PTT see potential for working with any number of carmakers, but none have been announced.
As everybody in tech knows, Foxconn is a long-time supplier to Apple for iPhones. Reports have persisted that eventually Apple could be making an EV with Foxconn’s involvement, but the actual carmaker is unknown. Apple reportedly held talks with Hyundai in January, but that negotiation was a bust.
The speculation of Apple’s interest in making a car is more than tantalizing to PTT and other companies that want to leap full-force into EVs, even if it is not clear who makes the actual Apple car yet.
“The Thailand government has set up EV goals and we cannot miss this opportunity,” said Ekachai Yimsakul, vice president of ON-I On Solutions, a division of PTT. “We can make a car for an OEM.” He spoke in a Zoom interview with Fierce Electronics from Thailand.
“At the moment, we are not sure how many people want EVs, but the important thing is we are doing the platform and the platform will help us decide the direction and estimate the demand,” Yimsakul said.
“Foxconn is working a lot for Apple…if we can catch Apple [to help make an EV], we won’t need to put out any effort,” he said with a laugh because of Apple’s legendary ability at producing successful products.
“With EV’s, it’s like the early days of the iPhone,” said Pakapong Pongtarakulpanit, project engineer with PTT who joined on the call. “When PTT decided to go with Foxconn on the platform, we are betting for the future.” He admitted that 80% of car OEMs “say it’s [wrong] for PTT to take such a big leap rather than partnering with one brand.”
“Whether [the joint venture] is a success or not depends on so many factors, but we had to take a big leap and bet with the future and hope the landscape will shift,” Pongtarakulpanit said.
In fact, Yimsakul said PTT sees “no option” other than gradually moving Thailand’s gas and oil business to electric. “For EV sales we need to [collaborate] with potential partners. We cannot do it alone. We will try our best to contribute to the jigsaw” puzzle of companies.
PTT recognizes that growing EV requires converting 2,000 gas stations in Thailand to charging stations over time, but how that is done is still unclear. “It’s a chicken and egg. Some want to see EV demand first before investing in charging stations,” Yimsakul said.
Pongtarakulpanit is young and has worked with PTT six years, recently spending time in the U.S. after receiving an engineering degree in metallurgy. He wants to make his next car an EV, which he expects to purchase in two to three years. One thing holding him back is the lack of charging stations in his condominium building in Bangkok.
He described himself as being like many other young people in his country, worried about the environmental impact of carbon emissions from gas-powered engines in cars. “People are aware that using electricity instead of gas provides gas savings. In Thailand, especially Bangkok, the pollution is really bad, and EV will be the answer to that.”