Study shows that 3 in 4 Thais don’t think the current EV charging infrastructure is enough

While our government struck poses at flood-affected areas and defended over choosing Vellfires as official transport in parliament, the Thai government continued its pursuit of encouraging Thais to switch to EVs as a mode of transport.

Many companies, be it the local electricity board, property developers, or even automakers themselves hopped onto the opportunity to fulfil the government’s vision for a greener Kingdom by 2030. These incentives appear to be working as a recent study showed that many Thais are positive about getting an EV.

Also read: Thailand’s TNB offers cheaper electricity tariffs to encourage more EV users in the Kingdom

More than half of Thais are willing to switch to EVs...

In a new survey on attitudes to EV by ABeam Consulting Thailand, 55% of respondents believed that buying a Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) is more cost-effective than owning a conventional internal combustion (ICE) vehicle in the long run.

Meanwhile, 48% of respondents believed that BEVs offer reliable quality and 41% would enjoy driving a BEV.

Also read: While Malaysia dithers, Thailand and Indonesia have overtaken Malaysia in EV race

The same study shows that 71% of Thais believed that buying a BEV will help mitigate the impacts from climate change and 43% agree that the government is offering enough incentives for promoting BEVs.

Also read: On top of tax cuts, Thailand mulls subsidies to make EVs affordable, EV trucks the aim

...But they won't buy one, for now

Despite the appealing stimulus proposed by the Kingdom’s leaders, a majority of Thais still have some doubts on the feasibility of owning an EV. 72% of respondents believed that there are not enough public charging stations and 67% are concerned they’d run out of power during their journey.

Currently Thailand has only around 1,000 public charging stations nationwide, a meagre number compared to the nearly 30,000 gas stations located around the Kingdom.

Still, Thailand’s number of public charging stations makes Malaysia’s number feel like that benchwarmer who brags about his playstyle but is rubbish on the pitch. Football analogies aside, there are around 300 public charging stations placed all over Malaysia.

Also read: Electric cars are here, but is Malaysia ready for them?

Besides the lacking infrastructure and range anxiety, another concern for Thais being unwilling to switch to EVs at the moment is the charging time. Half of the respondents worry about charging taking too long while 66% want to be able to fully charge in less than an hour.

Also read: China’s week-long holiday: BEV owners fight over charging ports, no A/C for families

In the end, the study concludes that despite the massive growth of charging stations across Thailand this past few years, more needs to be done to strengthen the infrastructure and incentivise collaboration. At least efforts have been made over in the Kingdom unlike the flowery window dressing remarks made by our politicians.

Also read: Adham Baba: EVs can drive Malaysia to be a high-income nation by 2030