Thailand eyes to be world hub of "eTukTuk"

BANGKOK, October 5 (TNA) - Thailand plans to develop the country to become a world hub of electric tricycles (eTukTuk) within the coming decades to help save energy and to ease the problem of global warming or climate change. Energy Minister General Anantaporn Kanjanarat told journalists of the plan on October 4, noting that his ministry will use a 76-million-baht-fund established to promote energy conservation in Thailand to first finance the change of 10 oil or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)-driven TukTuks to be eTukTuks free of charges as a pilot project this year, but being limited not to be higher than 350,000 baht per unit and with the dateline for applying to join the project set by October 10. General Anantaporn revealed that his ministry will continue to use the fund to finance 85 per cent of the cost of the change to eTukTuks for each of another 90 oil or LPG-driven TukTuks by 2018, with the dateline for applying to join the second-year project set during November 10-December 10, 2017. According to the energy minister, the Thai government, through his ministry, targets to increase the use of e-vehicles to 1.2 million units by 2036, with public transport vehicles to be first promoted and supported for the change. Besides, the Thai government is amending laws, opening more charging stations to 150 by 2018 initially and supporting research projects on further developing batteries for e-vehicles to become more practically and efficiently-utilized. Energy Ministry Spokesman Twarath Sutabutr, who is also Director-General of the ministry's Energy Policy and Planning Office, said if all the 100 oil or LPG-run TukTuks are completely changed to be eTukTuks, they will help save energy in Thailand by 0.1 thousand tons of oil equivalent (ktoe) and by 20 ktoe annually if all 22,000 oil or LPG-run TukTuks in the country are totally changed to be eTukTuks over the next five years. The spokesman also pointed out that up to 1.75 ktoe of energy will be saved in Thailand by 2036 if 1.2 million units of e-vehicles are used in the country as targeted by the government. The spokesman explained that e-vehicles also cost their drivers only 0.4-0.8 baht per kilometer in energy expense and emit only 0.06-0.11 kilogram of carbon dioxide per kilometer, while oil or gas-run vehicles cost their their drivers 1.0-1.12 baht per kilometer and emit 0.178 kilogram of carbon dioxide per kilometer. Meanwhile, Thanet Pumpothi, an advisor of Clean Fuel Energy Enterprise Co., Ltd., the manufacturer of Thailand's eTukTuks, told reporters that his company has produced thousands of eTukTuks for exports to European countries, including France, for more than 10 years and it is developing a new type of the batteries for the eTukTuks to be aluminum nickel ion, which is cheaper, lighter in weight and less time consuming while charging than the lithium-type currently. People who are interested in joining in the pilot project on changing oil or LPG-run TukTuks to eTukTuks can contact the Energy Conservation Laboratory (EnConLab) of Bangkok-based King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi at the http://www.enconlab.com/etuktuk website. (TNA)