Two deals, one fleet strategy
The delivery, reported by electrive, splits into two agreements. CLVG, a local car rental and mobility provider, bought 100 EVs from GAC and leases them to Grab drivers; ICBC (Thai) Leasing finances the lease. Those 100 cars are part of a broader 2,000-unit supply deal with CLVG first announced last year.
The second handover delivered 15 EVs to Siam Taxi Cooperative — a mix of Aion ES sedans and Aion Y Plus crossovers. GAC said it will deliver 85 more within three months, making 100 under that partnership.
Retail pricing and the fleet arithmetic
GAC quotes Thai retail prices of 519,900 baht (€13,600) or 619,900 baht (€16,200) for the Aion UT, depending on trim; 749,000 baht (€19,600) for the Aion Y Plus; and 846,000 baht (€22,100) for the Aion ES. All are assembled locally at GAC’s Rayong plant, where the 10,000th vehicle rolled off the line last month.
On those retail numbers, the 100 CLVG units represent between €1.36 million and €1.96 million of hardware before any fleet discount, depending on the UT/Y Plus mix. The 15 taxi-coop cars add roughly €294,000 to €331,500, putting the combined retail-value range at about €1.65 million to €2.29 million. Actual lease and financing prices will be lower, but the arithmetic shows why ride-hailing operators find these cars attractive.
61% electric taxi share and a push on running costs
In the first half of 2026, GAC recorded 1,416 electric taxi registrations in Thailand, giving it over 61% segment share. On Tuesday, GAC launched a ‘Taxi Easy’ campaign with EV7 offering qualifying drivers up to 5,000 baht (€131) in support for initial expenses.
GAC positions the Aion ES as a direct competitor to Toyota Corolla, one of Thailand’s most popular ICE taxi models. For ride-hailing drivers, the calculation is not just purchase price: per-kilometre energy cost is where EVs typically win. Our EV savings calculator can be used with local fuel and electricity prices to compare.
Same playbook, different market
This is the same emerging-market push we’ve seen from Chinese brands elsewhere: Leapmotor’s launch in Argentina brought B10 and C10 EREVs at aggressive prices, while BYD took an 89% EV share. In Peru, GM is giving Chevrolet EV buyers free dealership charging as sales jumped 86%. The common thread: cheap, locally supported EV hardware plus financing and charging support is shifting fleet decisions.
Local assembly also matters. GAC builds the Aion UT, Y Plus and ES in Thailand, not just exporting finished cars. We covered the supply-chain side before: CATL’s battery plants are carbon neutral, but 80% of emissions sit in the supply chain — localising assembly is part of that footprint conversation.
What happens next
The next 85 Siam Taxi EVs are due within three months, and the 2,000-unit CLVG framework gives GAC a visible pipeline. If GAC keeps capturing more than 60% of electric taxi registrations while Japanese ICE models remain common, the Thai taxi fleet could electrify faster than retail sales suggest. We’ll be watching whether Grab drivers actually see lower total cost of ownership, not just lower sticker price.
