Bangchak eyes to produce Lithium battery units for EVs

BANGKOK, July 11 (TNA) - Bangchak Corporation Public Company Limited (Bangchak), a leading Thai energy business firm, plans to invest in the production plant of Lithium battery units for electric vehicles (EVs) in the country, after its acquirement of a 16 per cent stake of Lithium Americas Corp. (LAC) recently. Bangchak President and Chief Executive Office (CEO) Chaiwat Kovavisarach told journalists in Bangkok on July 10 that his company's plan on producing Lithium battery units for running EVs is based on the fact that EVs are believed to be increasingly popular by motorists in Thailand in the coming years. Chaiwat said that Lithium battery units can also be used in the domestic power production sector and for running cellphones, noting that the plan will be realized when his company finds the production cost of Lithium battery units reasonable for the new investment plan, or lower from 140-150 US dollars/KWh currently to about 100 US dollars/KWh. The Bangchak president and CEO projected, however, that EVs should mostly replace vehicles run by fuel in Thailand over the next 10-15 years. Meanwhile, LAC, in which Bangchak has a 16 per cent-stake, has targeted its Lithium mine in Argentina to produce Lithium in the first phase of about 25,000 tons/year in 2020, before increasing to 50,000 tons/year in 2022, with an investment fund of about 500 million US dollars. Besides, LAC's Lithium mine in the US Nevada State, under its 990 million US dollar-Thacker Pass Project, has been set to be started the construction in 2020 and to be completed by 2022-2023, with its first-phase production set at 30,000 tons/year, after which a further construction plan will be kicked off with its second-phase production of Lithium set at another 30,000 tons/year. (TNA)