Nissan Confident Thailand Ready for Leaf EV

BANGKOK – Nissan becomes the first major OEM to launch an electric vehicle in Thailand, saying it is taking orders for the Leaf a year after announcing it would add the sedan to its lineup.

Nissan concedes Thailand’s EV-charging infrastructure is in its early stages, but it believes consumers are ready for the Leaf.

“We looked and talked to customers. A survey (conducted by Nissan) a few months ago showed a high level of awareness of electrification technology in the market,” Antoine Barthes, president of Nissan Thailand, says at the Thailand International Motor Expo here.

“We are talking around 44% of the people we have been talking to are saying, ‘When we look (for their next car to buy), we will look at an alternative with full battery.’”

A significant proportion of those consumers say they will be prepared to pay a higher price. “On top of that, amongst those people, around 60% said, ‘We understand that new technology has a cost and we understand that a full battery EV isn’t likely to be at the same price as an (internal-combustion engine) car,’” Barthes says.

The Leaf will be priced at TB1.99 million ($60,500), about double the price of most C-segment cars now on sale in Thailand.

With deliveries to begin in April, Nissan is working with stakeholders including the Metropolitan Electric Authority (MEA) and the Electric Vehicle Association of Thailand to ensure Leaf buyers will be able to charge their vehicles, Barthes says.

The automaker particularly wants customers to be able to charge safely at home.

“We need to ensure safety,” Barthes says. “To secure that, Nissan Leaf customers will get a full diagnosis at home to ensure infrastructure at home is adequate to support the charging capacity, and in parallel to this we have been working with third-party entities (so) that there is a plan to grow the level of infrastructure across the country.”

For its part, the MEA will facilitate home charging through offering advice, infrastructure upgrades and installation kits. It’s confident the grid is ready to supply power requirements for mass-market EV charging, according to Manat Aroonvatanaporn, the authority’s assistant R&D director.

Leaf buyers still must pay for any extra charging facilities they require, but Barthes explains this is because requirements will differ from customer to customer.

“The price doesn’t include some additional supporting infrastructure,” he says. “We give the choice to the customer (as) the variety (of ways) to charge your car is very wide. Some customers might not wish to add a facility to charge at home if they have a good charger at their office, for instance, so in that point, there is no need to include it in the price of the car.”

Nissan will designate 33 dealerships across Thailand that not only will “be fully trained in terms of selling the (electric) vehicle but also trained in terms of servicing and offering support in charging infrastructure as each of them will have a quick charger available,” Barthes says.

Nissan will import Leaf models as completely built-up units from Japan, he says, adding the automaker, for now, is forgoing government tax incentives to assemble the EVs as complete-knocked-down units.

No sales targets for the Leaf have been announced. But Sureetip La-Ongthong Chomthongdee, vice president-marketing, says besides consumers considering an EV, Nissan will target government agencies and “companies that are focused on zero emissions and ready to buy.”