Swiss firm keen to make electric tricycles in Thailand
A Swiss company has expressed interest in investing in three-wheel electric vehicles in Thailand to promote clean energy, Yongyuth Nakdang, deputy director-general of the Department of Land Transport, said.
He was speaking after a meeting on Thursday with Helene Budliger Artieda, Switzerland's ambassador to Thailand.
“This is the first time that the Swiss are interested in doing business in electric tricycles," Yongyuth said. "Yesterday, they sought information on the approved tricycle models and found that some of their designs do not meet the legal requirements of Thailand. Therefore, the Swiss company would improve the blueprint for the next proposal," said Yongyuth.
According to the latest report, 19,620 three-wheel vehicles have been registered in Thailand, comprising 1,512 petrol-powered vehicles, 11 diesel, 13,088 LPG, 3,639 LPG-petrol, 1,202 CNG, five CNG-diesel, and 166 electric.
Total car registration nationwide as of August 2020 was 41 million. Of the total, 177,000 are electric cars, divided into 4,799 electric, 161,000 petrol-electric, 11,470 diesel-electric, 30 LPG-petrol-electric, and 75 plug-in petrol-electric.
In 2017-20, there were 16 companies and 26 projects seeking investment promotion benefits from the Board of Investment, totalling production of 560,000 vehicles, of which about 120,000 are electric vehicles. The government aims to produce 750,000 electric vehicles by 2030.
