Electrification Aggregation.... or the role of an intermediary in removing friction in EV charging in Thailand

It's been great to watch the increase in Battery (BEV) and Plugin Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV), as car owners we chose to move to PHEV around 18 months ago. 

The rationale for PHEV versus BEV was driven by an observation of the distribution of EV charging stations and our own behaviours in terms of location. If you live in Bangkok and very rarely leave, a BEV is a truly viable option, for us less so (for now).

You might call it hype, you might think about innovation distribution, or some other frame of reference that helps you find the right box to frame your observations on the state of the EV charging in Thailand today. At the time of writing this in May 2023 there are 13, yes thirteen, different EV networks. Each has their own app, and each requires yet another username and password to be remembered.

It shows the latent potential that so many organisations are choosing to invest in network build out, this is not a small capital expenditure process. To me as a user it's just way too much friction. It seems that every time I go to a new venue I find yet another network.

Have a look at this infographic from the Electric Vehicle Association of Thailand (EVAT) as of December 2022:

I have personally tried 5 of these as part of the stumble upon a new network. What's not shown on here is some of the consolidation that is already starting to happen. BMW Thailand entered an agreement with ChargeNow for free charging across BMWe and Mini platforms. That network has been rolled up into evolt so it will be interesting to see what happens next.

When we think about Jobs To Be Done, a Design Thinking concept, what do EV owners really want?:

"As a BEV driver I don't always have the luxury of trying to find a known network, I have to go to what's available near me when I need to recharge."

 So then what are the some options to reduce the friction?

For many years the go to strategy for many companies has been disintermediation, essentially direct-to-customer, no middle-man, transactions. In this case my hypothesis is that there is a role for re-intermediation, putting an aggregator between the EV owner and the 13 network providers. What are the benefits of introducing an aggregator in this case?

1. EV owners have a much lower friction experience, much closer to rolling into a petrol station and simply transacting
2. Network owners get a more reliable demand signal. If I have tried 5 different providers I'm assuming many other owners also have multiple accounts. This false amplification of demand signals has the potential to skew factors that trigger or suppress investment. Having one or a few aggregators will go a long way to filtering real signals and noise.

Within the context of Thailand I see 4 categories of businesses that could be viable aggregators. I will use a few named examples of each and weigh up the pros and cons of each. In no specific order:

1. A Tier 1 Bank - Krung Thai Bank (KTB)

    KTB offers some real advantages as one of the key facilitators of Government funding and payroll. They operate the GWallett/Baotang network and a big driver of PromptPay. With a highly rated mobile app and the payment ecosystem behind them it would be fairly easy to step in and take the role of platform provider and aggregator. Most simply this would be PromptPay enabling all charging stations as a way to bypass the need for D2C username and passwords. KTB would be able to work with EVAT to provide reports on demand side demographics to help further inform investment decisions from existing and future operators.

2. A Superapp Provider - Grab or SCBX

    Grab, the app for everything, came into its own during COVID. Food delivery exploded as people worked through restrictions and limited access to shopping centres and other food venues. As we start to ease out of COVID and to keep investors happy Grab is always looking for new revenue streams. With the proliferation of users and high counts for daily users across Food, Taxis and other Services, being able to offer a facility to use your stored value on your Grab account or direct deduction from your debit card places Grab as a strong candidate to be an aggregator. I would also place SCBX in this category. As the corporate venture arm of one of Thailand's largest commercial banks they are on a journey to their own Superapp with Robin Hood. One of the other ventures, DataX, is already looking into data insight across the EV ecosystem. Here is an example of some of the work they have been doing:

The data muscle they are building would make them a useful ally to EVAT, again to increase the quality of the demand and supply signal.

3. A dominant mobile operator - AIS or True

    To look at the benefits of having a mobile operator take on the platform role I am going to expand the Jobs To Be Done slightly. For sue AIS is well placed with Direct Carrier Billing and their mobile wallet being accepted in many channels for non-telco purchases. The other benefits they bring are the Serenade Loyalty scheme with associated lounges and reserved parking spaces in many shopping centres. These become important for two reasons. Firstly, what can users do to spend the time needed for charging? The Serenade Lounge and Coworking spaces offer a place to do other things whilst waiting. As EV's become more popular the time economy of petrol stations need to change. I foresee two-storey stations with facilities like Serenade for EV users to use whilst waiting as part of the journey break up for top ups. Secondly, the reserved spaces offer one answer to today's problem of charging in a shopping centre: what to do with your car once it's charged and I need to get off of the charging point? This is one additional point of friction that makes me resist charging in Central.

4. eWallet and Stored Value Card - Rabbit

    The Rabbit Card is both akin to London's Oyster Card for the BTS network in Bangkok, as well as being accepted as a payment method in convenience stores and vending machines. With a mobile app and a simple RFID mechanism it would be fairly easy to attach an RFID reader to a charging station (many already have this) and allow Rabbit to take on the role. With the change in their status cards now need to be registered to individuals so this also goes some way in addressing the signal clarity.

So we have four business archetypes with an example logo of who could take on the role, and what makes them good candidates to do so.

Are you an EV user here in Thailand? what have been your experiences and what would you like to see change, stop and stay the same to help you get the most out of your electric vehicle? please leave your comments below.