Local ambition with global significance

A few business news reports have pointed to an imminent boom in electric vehicles (EV). Production activities have been stepped up, with Thailand picked as one of the potentially key manufacturing bases. A Thai EV brand is also being considered. Major players in the auto and energy industries are also seriously trying to tackle a key stumbling block – the difficulties regarding “charging” facilities.
The Thai ambition covers both the manufacturing of a local EV brand and sufficient setting-up of charging stations, which many experts believe are more important than EVs themselves. If the Thai plans are not disrupted or changed, charging stations will start to look common this year, while a Thai EV may be on display at a “motor show” in the very near future.
All projects will need full state support, not least because a large-scale use of EVs can increase the economic independence of countries, which will rely less on petrol. EVs can, in fact, change the global economy and politics drastically, and that explains their slow development and growth in popularity.
Today, the world economy and politics revolve around oil. Top automakers are also mostly from “superpower” nations. When EVs stop being an exception and become the norm, the world’s economic and diplomatic landscapes will be totally redrawn. Although the world still needs oil to produce electricity, EVs replacing their petrol-driven counterparts will be of massive economic significance all the same.
Big-name carmakers are releasing or planning major EV launches. Experts believe a “tipping point” – the point when EVs outnumber their petrol counterparts, like when touch-screen technology finally replaced phone “buttons”– will come when charging stations become abunDant, thus allowing long trips. Speed is also a factor, but all scientists believe that EVs will certainly become faster than today’s cars. The Thai ambition, however, will have to depend on a lot of external factors. Devaluing oil and gasoline-driven vehicles is something Thais cannot dictate. Simply put, ifthe  economic and political superpowers decide that the world is not ready for an EV boom, what Thailand does regarding a local brand and charging facilities will matter little, if at all.
Thailand’s domestic demand has been very limited, due to a lack of charging infrastructure, the high prices of EVs and their speed issues. Most of the problems are strongly related to external factors that the Thai government and EV enthusiasts in the country cannot control.
But all these don’t mean Thailand should not prepare itself for the inevitability. EVs will continue to pose a bigger and bigger challenge, primarily because their use will benefit poorer countries as well as the environment. Laos, for example, will love an EV boom because its great electricity generating capacity can truly become an economic booster.
Less dependence on oil can greatly change the world, and “true democracy” can be achieved. Today, international politics and ideological rhetoric are very much controlled by the oil factor – who has it or who has access to it. The term “equality” is taught by superpowers in terms of political rights, while it should refer to equal access to quality and affordable energy sources.
The EV political will, therefore, needs to come from everyone who says the current use of world energy is not environmentally friendly. In other words, the political will must be shown by the superpower nations, who have all overseen rapid technological advancements in every aspect except in the world’s reliance on oil.