Clash of titans: The challenges of socio-technical transitions in the electrical vehicle technologies – the case study of Thai automotive industry

The automotive industry is moving towards electric vehicles (EVs) as an innovative transportation tool. This leads to a paradigm shift in the industry and poses challenges of stakeholders engagement and connection during transition. This study combines the strength of global value chain (GVC) and national innovation system (NIS) using multi-level perspective (MLP) to create a new framework that could reveal the interconnections between the actors of social settings and evaluate the sources of innovation and socio-technical transitions by integrating both the national and international analysis together. The global system of innovation (GSI) framework is introduced to point out the key players participating in the transition and investigate the effects of interactions between actors and to explore their effects on the transition in the Thai automotive industry towards EV. The emerging framework offers a more systemic view of socioeconomic and technical aspects of the EV transition and the role of actors than the three limited angles offered by the Triple Helix model. It also offers a mapping tool for stakeholders involved in EV transition. Our research highlights that the EV transition in Thailand is challenging as there seems to be low level of collaborations among stakeholders. The Thai government should carefully analyze the EV situation and collaborate with carmakers and local suppliers before introducing policy support.