Thai authorities are in talks with China-based CATL, the world’s biggest electric vehicle battery maker, and others to build production facilities in the country to fuel its EV production hub ambitions, according to the head of the Board of Investment (BoI).
The discussions come as the country pushes to become a key player in the global EV supply chain outside of China by offering tax cuts and subsidies to drive adoption and production of green vehicles.
“We are talking to many companies, not only CATL but many companies in the battery industry,” Narit Therdsteerasukdi said on Wednesday.
“This is one of our goals — that we would like to attract battery cell producers to set up their factory in Thailand.”
Mr Narit did not give details and it was not clear how advanced the discussions were.
CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd) did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
CATL, the world’s dominant battery supplier with a 37% market share, currently has no production facilities in Southeast Asia, its website shows.
Based in Ningde, Fujian, the company last year announced a strategic collaboration with a subsidiary of PTT Plc to “explore potential cooperation and development opportunities in battery-related business” in the region.
Arun Plus, a PTT subsidiary, is already part of a joint venture with Taiwan-based Foxconn that is building a facility with a goal of making EVs locally as early as 2024.
Thailand is the tenth largest auto manufacturing economy with production dominated by Japanese makes including Toyota and Isuzu.
By 2030, the country aims to convert around 30% of its annual production of 2.5 million vehicles into EVs, according to a government plan.
In the past few years, the country has drawn investments from EV companies, mainly Chinese, including Great Wall Motors and BYD.
But it wants to attract EV suppliers as well as assembly plants, including local production of batteries and other key components, like chargers, Mr Narit said.
He said the government’s goal was to direct support and subsidies to land larger battery production facilities with a capacity of more than 8 gigawatt hours (GWh).
A plant of that size would produce enough cells to power more than 106,000 EVs with a 75 kilowatt-hour battery.
CATL currently has 13 battery production hubs, 11 in China, one in Hungary and one in Germany. Its 14-GWh plant near Erfurt, Germany began ramping up production this year.
CATL, which has been expanding rapidly outside China, has contracts with Ford Motor, Honda and BMW, among others. Its batteries also power the Volkswagen ID series and Tesla cars built in China.