Bangkok – Permanent-Secretary of The Ministry of Science and Technology, Soranit Siltharm, said engineers of his ministry have successfully designed an electric bus model for use in public transport to be manufactured by domestic carmakers, under the ministry’s plan to promote the development of the electric vehicle industry in the country.
The design process of the model electric bus was initiated from the reverse engineering process and development from various models used in China, with some adaptations made to better accommodate actual conditions in Thailand, such as the battery being placed in a higher location to enable the use of buses on flooded roads.
The 10.5-meter long “EV – City Bus” model will be able to run up to 50 kilometres at a top speed of 80 kilometers per hour per single charge, which will take only 20 minutes.
The permanent-secretary said Thailand has been importing many electric buses from foreign countries due to the lack of manufacturing and assembly know-how. The development of the Thai electric bus model will enable the country to reduce dependence on imports of vehicles and auto-parts.
