Thai buses use EVs to save fuel and the Earth

        Many nations around the world are turning to electric-powered public transportation (EV) to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, which cause global warming.

        Thailand has a policy to add more electric vehicles to the public transportation system, and the government is working on a project to use EV buses to exchange carbon credits with the Swiss Confederation for the first time. It is expected to result in a reduction of 100 tons of greenhouse gasses and 500,000 tons of CO2. The carbon credit plan will be in effect from 2021 to 2030, for a period of ten years, which will encourage people to use modern public buses that emit low levels of greenhouse gasses and pollution, reduce PM 2.5 dust, and smooth the transition from fossil to clean energy. People’s travel patterns are changing, which is helping to improve the environment, quality of life, and people’s health.

        According to the Ministry of Transport, there is a bus reform project that is transforming the Thai transportation system to be better than ever by supporting the change of passenger buses to EV buses, which use battery power to drive electric motors, resulting in no emissions or greenhouse gasses. They are non-polluting; maintenance costs are lower than for petrol buses; they are quieter than diesel engines; and they create much less noise pollution. Charging takes 1 hour and 40 minutes through a fast-charging cabinet with a power of 310 kWh, and they can run up to four rounds, or 280 kilometers, per time.

        The Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) will purchase 2,500 electric buses to replace existing diesel-powered buses on 107 routes. It is expected that by 2023, 10%, or approximately 250 buses, will be in operation.

        Also, private transport operators have been selected by the Department of Land Transport to bring new vehicles to service, such as Line 8, Happy Land - Saphan Phut Pier; Line 1, Rama 3 - Tha Tien; Line 82, Phra Pradaeng Pier - Bang Lamphu; Line 34, Bang Khen - Phaholyothin Road - Hua Lamphong; Line 17, Phra Pradaeng - Victory Monument; Line 38, Ramkhamhaeng University Bangna Campus - Victory Monument; and Line 48, Ramkhamhaeng University Bangna Campus -Tha Chang.

        The Ministry of Transport moved forward in 2022 to have 1,250 EV buses serving 122 routes, and it aims to add another 1,850 vehicles, both private sector buses and BMTA buses, by the middle of 2023.