In the 2021 Nissan Futures webinar, data was presented on the current state of EVs and electrification in the SEA region.

Speaking during the webinar was Iseo Sekiguchi, Regional Vice President of Nissan ASEAN, Vivek Vaidya of Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific, Dusit Anantarak from the Thai Ministry of Industry, and Edmund Araga, president of the Asian federation of EV association.

A data on EVs in the SEA region was presented by Vivek Vaidya of Frost & Sullivan. One interesting highlight of the research is the rate of acceptance of EVs from the average car owners by countries.

The research suggests that 50% of car owners in Indonesia are ready to switch to EVs followed by 45% in the Philippines and 43% in Thailand. Malaysia, on the other hand, is at 35%.

The friction for EV adoption stems from basic fears like range anxiety, limited charging infrastructure, and safety of the EV technology itself. Good news is that these “fears “have statistically reduced over the years.

The research suggests that the majority of EV intenders (39%) right now are “trendy enthusiasts” that are interested in high performance electric vehicles.

The presentation and discussion that took place during the webinar concluded that tax benefits and increased charging facilities are key incentives to encourage the use of EVs. Customers' awareness towards EVs in the SEAN region has also gone up over the years.

Indonesia, having the largest reserve of nickel (for lithium-ion battery production) has attracted investment from LG Chem, CATL, Hyundai, and Tesla.