Within the Thai seaside city of Pattaya, vacationers disembarking on the Bali Hai pier can hail a taxi or cram right into a songthaew, a modified pickup truck. On a latest weekday, a row of shiny white songthaews stood on the pier, a part of a pilot launch of Toyota Motor’s new electrical automobile truck that goals to shake up Thailand’s pickup truck market.
The Hilux Revo-e, a model of the favored workhorse Hilux, is the automaker’s first EV pickup truck. Toyota, which is below strain from Chinese language electrical automobile makers in Thailand, has stated it can manufacture the Hilux Revo-e within the nation by the tip of 2025, and in addition export the automobile. Its Japanese rival, Isuzu Motors, additionally plans to fabricate its electrical pickup truck D-Max in Thailand, and start exports from subsequent yr.
Thailand is likely one of the largest markets on the planet for compact pickups. The one-ton vans, used to haul produce, and modified to move items and other people, make up practically half of whole automobile gross sales within the nation. Toyota and Isuzu account for a lion’s share of the market. However the launch of a hybrid truck from Chinese language EV maker Nice Wall Motor (GWM), and the potential entry of Geely Holding and BYD, have put the Japanese corporations on discover, Hajime Yamamoto, an auto analyst at Nomura Analysis Institute in Bangkok, informed Remainder of World.
“The Chinese language manufacturers need a higher presence within the Thai market, and passenger automobiles are solely half the market. So they should enter the pickup truck market,” he stated. “Toyota and Isuzu have giant manufacturing hubs in Thailand, and export to the EU and different locations. The EU is banning ICE (inside combustion engine) automobiles from 2035, and laws elsewhere are additionally tightening, so they should make electrical vans anyway.”
Thailand has lengthy been an auto manufacturing and export hub dominated by Japanese manufacturers together with Toyota and Honda Motor. The Thai authorities goals to transform 30% of the annual output of about 2 million automobiles into EVs by 2030, and is providing incentives and tax breaks to quicken the transition. Chinese language automakers, led by BYD and GWM, have already dedicated over $1.4 billion for EV amenities within the nation, and have taken a fast lead in EV passenger automobiles in Thailand.
The Japanese automakers have been slower off the mark on EVs, producing principally hybrids. Making electrical vans is tougher than making EV automobiles, as they require bigger batteries, given the load of the automobile and the payload capability. Larger batteries imply larger costs, which pickup truck customers in Thailand is probably not prepared to pay, Yamamoto stated.
10,000 The approximate variety of EV charging retailers throughout Thailand.
“It’s a very totally different market, as customers are far more price-sensitive than EV automobile customers,” he stated. “Plus, most pickup truck customers use the automobile for lengthy distances and for heavy hundreds, and there’s little or no charging infrastructure up-country. EVs have already reached about 10% of passenger automobile gross sales. Pickup vans can be a lot slower to succeed in that determine due to these challenges.”
The automakers haven’t revealed their pricing technique for electrical vans. In the meantime, a broader financial slowdown within the nation has hit output of pickup vans. Within the first 5 months of the yr, automakers in Thailand produced 394,321 compact pickup vans, a 20% decline from the identical interval final yr, information from the foyer group Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) confirmed. Output for the home market fell practically 50% from final yr to 87,786 pickup vans in that interval.
Toyota and Isuzu, with their a long time of expertise promoting pickup vans in Thailand, have larger distribution networks, together with in rural areas. Launching EVs is a pure development, Nithi Thuamprathom, founding father of common publication Autolife Thailand, informed Remainder of World. “These are manufacturers which have a powerful status for pickup vans,” he stated. However with electrical vans, it can all come right down to the vary. “The extra they’re loaded, the quicker the batteries will run out, and the infrastructure like charging stations is just not but absolutely developed,” Nithi stated.
There are about 10,000 charging retailers in fewer than 3,000 places throughout Thailand, with a focus within the cities. For Bussaba Nakpipat, a durian farmer within the jap city of Chanthaburi, it is a downside. Bussaba and her household transport the big, spiky fruit on two Toyota Hilux vans and one Mitsubishi pickup — all of that are diesel-powered. They often drive lengthy distances a number of hours a day, so switching to a completely electrical truck is just not possible, she informed Remainder of World.
“There are days when I’ve to make many journeys, when I’ve to attend in line on the distribution heart to dump the produce, and there are not any charging stations round,” Bussaba stated. “Now, I don’t actually have to fret … I pay 500 baht ($14) for nearly a full tank of diesel and know that when it runs out, I can all the time discover one other fuel station.”
Prospects like Bussaba will in all probability make the shift to hybrid vans first, to recover from “vary anxiousness,” or the concern of getting inadequate battery capability whereas driving lengthy distances, stated Yamamoto. To win their belief, Toyota and Isuzu must check their automobiles for various circumstances, Surapong Paisitpatanapong, vice chairman of FTI, informed Remainder of World. “The exams need to be in depth as a result of pickup vans are used to hold items, usually plenty of weight,” he stated. “They need to be assured that they work in addition to the fuel-powered fashions.”
Toyota’s pilot in Pattaya goals to just do that: testing the electrical pickup truck for a number of use instances in numerous street circumstances and temperatures. A songthaew, which has two rows of seats within the again, can carry about 10–12 individuals, with just a few additionally hanging off the again throughout rush hours. The pilot is a part of an settlement between Toyota and the Pattaya authorities to check 12 Hilux Revo-e vans until December 2025. To fulfill its aim to cut back emissions, the town is open to changing all, or virtually all, of its practically 700 songthaews to EVs, Mayor Poramet Ngampichet informed Remainder of World. “We goal for Pattaya to be a inexperienced metropolis, regardless that there are few charging stations now.”
For songthaew driver Chai, driving an electrical pickup truck has meant just a few adjustments. He fees his truck in a single day at a public station, and the charging payment is kind of excessive, he informed Remainder of World. “I don’t need to shell out 500 baht each two days for diesel. However I’ve to consistently verify the battery cost degree if I do know I’ll cowl a protracted distance that day,” Chai stated.
That’s one thing Bussaba doesn’t need to do. “EVs would be the reply for carbon discount however it’s not the reply for my work,” she stated. “There isn’t any level for me to danger the truck being stranded whereas transporting durians.”
