On 5 May 2022, an agreement signing ceremony was held between ENTEC-NSTDA, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), The Stallions Company Limited (Stallions) of Thailand, and Dongguan Tailing Electric Vehicle Company Limited (TAILG) of China, marking the launch of a public-private partnership to promote electric mobility in motorcycle taxi in Thailand. The collaboration will underpin the initiative to popularize electric 2 and 3 wheelers in Thailand that ENTEC has been engaging with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Present at the signing ceremony were ENTEC Executive Director Dr. Sumittra Charojrochkul, EGAT Assistant Governor for Sustainability Management Mr. Suttipong Chalermkiat, Stallions CEO Ms. Areerat Sriprathai and TAILG President Mr. Li Yao. Representing UNEP to celebrate the launch were Dr. Mushtaq Memon, Regional Coordinator for Resource Efficiency in Asia Pacific and Mr. Bert Fabian, Air Quality and Mobility Unit in Asia-Pacific.

This agreement is the continuation of MTEC- UNEP collaboration to mainstream electric 2 and 3 wheelers in Thailand. In the earlier phase, the focus was placed on the policy design to support the electric vehicle transition by performing a study to assess Thailand’s basic transportation and construct a future scenario of electric 2 and 3 wheelers introduction. Results of the study helped shape the electric vehicle policy for Thailand to achieve its carbon neutrality goal by 2050. This phase will involve the policy deployment to push electric motorcycles into the mainstream by piloting a study of electric motorcycles in public transport system.

EGAT and Stallions previously engaged in a project testing the performance of 100 ENGY electric motorcycles. In this current project, the performance of electric motorcycles as motorcycle taxis will be studied. EGAT will select 50 motorcycle taxi riders to participate in the project, in which technical and economic data will be collected for 1 year to assess the performance. Data on riders’ usage behavior, energy consumption, pollution reduction and battery swapping will be analyzed to design a proper model for nationwide expansion. Stallions – a Thai motorcycle manufacturer – will be responsible for user training, maintenance and performance evaluation of electric motorcycles used in the project.

With financial support of the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protections (BMUV), UNEP’s Global Electric Mobility Program has been implementing “Integrating Electric 2&3 Wheelers into Existing Urban Transport Modes in Developing and Transitional Countries” project in six countries in Southeast Asia and Africa, namely the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda to serve as a model for countries in their respective regions to replicate in order to reach global expansion. TAILG – China’s leading manufacturer of electric bike, electric scooter, and electric special bike – has joined UNEP’s Global Electric Mobility Program in several countries providing electric motorbikes and technical support.