BANGKOK: Toyota Motor Thailand has opened a battery life cycle management plant in Chachoengsao, the first overseas facility outside Japan, to circulate batteries of hybrid cars sold in Thailand.

The new facility is a partnership with Toyota subsidiaries and affiliates, comprising Toyota Daihatsu Engineering & Manufacturing (TDEM), Toyota Motor Asia-Pacific, Toyota Tsusho Thailand, Denso Thailand, and Siam Waste Management.

Hybrid cars are the lowest level of technology for electric vehicles, in which the batteries need to be circulated and managed in a 3R scheme (rebuild, reuse and recycle).

He said Toyota started to sell hybrid cars in Thailand in 2009, with 5,000-6,000 batteries exported to Belgium a year under the 3R scheme.

“This facility will serve not only Toyota’s hybrid cars but also batteries from other brands and electric devices,”  Ninnart said. “We are in talks with relevant companies to provide our services.”

The low-efficiency modules, both nickel-metal hydride and lithium-ion batteries, will be sent to recycling then shipped back to Japan to produce new hybrid batteries.

Toyota was the first to bring hybrid models to market in Thailand, with roughly 78,000 such cars sold as of August.

In 2019, Toyota forecasts sales of all EVs at 36,000 cars, of which 19,000 are expected to be hybrid versions.

Toyota has spent 19 billion baht on hybrid car production in Thailand, with plans to assemble 7,000 hybrid cars a year, make 70,000 batteries and produce 9.1 million units of other parts at the Gateway plant in Chachoengsao.

(Agencies)