Thailand wants 30 percent of car production to be electric.

Thailand’s Minister of Industry has sent a target that 30 percent of all cars produced in the Kingdom should be electric vehicles. The goal is to protect the environment and ensure the sustainability of Thailand’s automotive industry.

Industry Minister Suriya Juangroongruangkit said he wanted this goal achieved by the end of this decade. “The government intends to accelerate the use and production of electric vehicles, with national strategies focusing on the environment and air pollution solutions,” he said.

Thailand’s ambition is similar to U.S. President Joseph Biden’s pledge to replace all government vehicles with electric vehicles (EVs) and his calls for all American automakers to completely switch to EVs by 2050. Major American automakers have said they agree with Biden’s target.

Thailand’s government has made electric vehicles a priority sector for investment. The EV industry figures prominently in the national strategy for higher development. While EVs are still relatively new, multinational companies are already manufacturing EVs or hybrid vehicles in the Kingdom, both for domestic sales and exports.

The Board of Investment (BOI) has granted EV privileges to more than a dozen companies, including Nissan, Toyota Motor Corp, Mercedes-Benz AG, BMW and Thailand’s Energy Absolute’s Mine Mobility. Thai tech firms, including Energy Absolute, are also working on setting up charging station networks and developing batteries for EVs.

And Thais are ready to buy EVs. According to a recent survey commissioned by Nissan Motor Company of Japan, 91 percent of Thais said they would buy an EV because of the environmental impact. It also noted that 43 percent of Thais would consider an EV for their next car purchase within the next three years.

A research report by Bloomberg released in early February described the Thai EV market that it still had a room to grow, which showed “great resilience” last year despite the pandemic and grew slightly despite a plunge in sales of other vehicles.

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