Production of eTuks in Thailand Thailand is well known for its Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) Tuk-Tuk design and industry. However, since the first ICE Tuk Tuks have come to the market, there has been very little innovation on Tuk Tuks basic working principles and technical concepts. This project aims on a completely new re-designed modern electric Tuk Tuk.The project is a joint production initiative of Tuk Tuk Factory B.V. in the Netherlands and UpBeat Co Ltd in Thailand. Tuk Tuk Factory B.V. is the applicant and its core business is the development, homologation, production, assembling, distribution and sales of electric Tuk Tuks. Tuk Tuk Factory Thailand will also be included in the project. At the moment, Tuk Tuk Factory Thailand already produces sub-assemblies of electric Tuk Tuks in Thailand, but on a small individual scale. These products go Tuk Tuk Factory B.V. in the Netherlands.The local partner is UpBeat Co. Ltd. This is a Thai manufacturer of automotive accessories, i.e. trailers, tow hitches and ball mounts.The electric Tuk-Tuks (eTuks) that will be made by the joint venture and be sold on the European and South East Asian (starting from Thailand) markets at, for example, tourism resort. By the end of the project, the joint initiative will have 59 full-time employees on its payroll, seventeen of them will be at high- and medium-level. The factory will be established in Samut Prakarn.Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)The joint venture is going to work according the ILO / OECD principles. At least the following topics will be implemented: workplace health, child labour, corruption prevention, red tape, environmental management.The joint venture will also ensure that these principles will be enforced throughout the supply chain by signing CSR contracts between the joint venture and its key suppliers. Yearly, a CSR training is foreseen. The joint venture will involve an external party to help set up the CSR policy for the joint venture.Impact•	Employment and working conditionsThe joint venture is going to work according the ILO / OECD principles. At least the following topics will be implemented: workplace health, child labour, corruption prevention, red tape, environmental management.The joint venture will also ensure that these principles will be enforced throughout the supply chain by signing CSR contracts between the joint venture and its key suppliers. Yearly, a CSR training is foreseen. The joint venture will involve an external party to help set up the CSR policy for the joint venture.•	Innovation / Transfer of knowledgeThe eTuk of the joint venture is a complete new chassis redesigned around an electric drive train.Thailand is well known for its ICE Tuk-Tuk design and industry. However, since the first ICE Tuk-Tuk’s have come to the market, there has been very little innovation on Tuk-Tuks working principles and technical concepts. There are a few eTuks on the market, but these Tuk-Tuks are not specially designed as eTuks. These Tuk-Tuks have replaced the ICE engine by an older electric drive, like for example is used in existing golf carts.The Tuk-Tuk of Tuk Tuk Factory B.V. is a completely redesign of the Tuk-Tuks according to European quality, safety, business and ergonomic requirements. This led to an electric AC drive train chassis platform and three new eTuk models. This drive train was homologated in 2010. The key design choices are:- Design for EU homologation and safety regulations.- Tubular frame work to create a strong and lightweight frame.- Fibre body to safe weight.- A very large lead acid battery (400 kg) to keep the vehicle affordable and maintainable, anywhere in the world.- AC drive to deliver required peak powers under full load and on mountainous roads.- Revised rear axle for the AC drive train and improved handling, stability and robustness.- 72 V instead of 48 V, that gives it much better power.The electric Tuk-Tuks are not yet produced on series professional scale in Thailand. Currently, production through Tuk Tuk Factory Thailand is organised per single vehicle order, or in very small series (two to four) of handcrafted sub-assemblies and locally sourced parts (i.e. fabrics). Final assembly is now in Amsterdam at Tuk Tuk Factory B.V.. When the joint venture becomes a fact, Tuk Tuk Factory Thailand will merge into this joint venture. The joint venture will take care of the final assembly of the eTuks. Ex-factory they are ready to drive.•	Chain effectsImpact on local suppliersThe joint venture needs a lot of components for the Tuk-Tuk. For at least seven parts the joint venture will organise local supply. For suppliers this will guarantee sales. The joint venture is focussing on CSR with their clients and good environmental behaviour. The local supplier can learn from this.Impact on local customers or consumersLocal resort and clients in remote areas can benefit from this Tuk-Tuk. The eTuk has a stronger torching force which makes it suitable for resort in mountainous areas. By setting up a sales office in Thailand the market is better available for reasonable prices for Thais clients.•	Impact on the sectorThe joint venture will pro-actively collaborate with the School of Automotive Engineering at Siam University to provide internships and training modules, leading to highly improved technical staff for the Thai industry. The joint venture has to deliver an action plan for this.•	EnvironmentThe project has a positive influence on the environment with the production of electric vehicles. This is a clean solution for air pollution. The company itself works with good environmental production processes. They will work out how to deal with the batteries and set up and the in project plan mentioned LCA has to become part of the results.•	Position of womenThey employ eight women of which four in medium/high positions. The Netherlands Enterprise Agency evaluates this as very positive, because in Thailand it is hard to find women working in technical areas. The goal of this project is to establish a scalable production and assembly factory for the production of 300 zero emission Tuk-Tuks (e-tuks) for exporting to Western markets and setting up a marketing department for sales to the South East Asia market.