2024-04-12 15:46:31
Grupo K.Kraaee y Tron Energy Technology signed an agreement for the creation of an electric bus assembly and manufacturing plant based in Quito.
Tron Energy President Richard Huang along with his team conduct market inspections in Quito, Ambato, Loja and other regions to search for high-quality Ecuadorian bus body manufacturers. The motor, battery and other hardware and software equipment for the vehicle will initially be imported from Taiwan and will be manufactured in Ecuador in the future.
The objective of both Taiwanese companies is to generate progress, innovation, technology of the highest level, production within the country and a more sustainable future, and this Tuesday, March 26, 2024, their executives and the undersecretary of land and rail transportation of the Ministry of Transport and Public Works, Fernando Amador, reported that they reached this agreement after three years of dialogue.
In this way, Ecuador will become the first investment destination with a view to exporting buses from Ecuador to Latin America with the characteristic “Made in Ecuador.”
Plant will generate 400 jobs
According to the president of K.Kraaee Group, Willis Yang, the new electric bus company will be called Tron K.Kraaee Technologies and will have an initial investment of $20 million that will increase progressively and is expected to employ 400 workers.
The bus manufacturing price will be $300,000, depending on the components it requires. Richard Huang, president of Tron-E, indicated that they plan to start production activities in June of this year.
Augusto Liao, government representative of Taiwan, gave the scoop that the official presentation date of the first exemplary bus will be June 27, 2024.
What are the companies’ plans?
In a first stage, they will import the electric chassis and batteries and will also reach agreements with the best body manufacturers in Ecuador to complement production. Its objective will be to minimize shipping costs, strictly bringing the components that are necessary, using local products, in order to obtain a product with the best prices on the market.
This will be the first electric bus factory with liquid-cooled LFP battery pack. Liquid cooling is an effective thermal management strategy used to control temperature fluctuations in lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, they noted.
The agreement includes the instruction and support of young Ecuadorians to be able to handle this cutting-edge technology and take a step towards the export of an efficient and superior performance product manufactured within the country. One of its future plans is the creation of a smart city within Ecuador.
K.Kraae Group is renowned for water heater and taximeter technology with more than four decades in the country, and Tron-E is a manufacturer of electric buses and batteries in Taiwan and has just entered.
Ecuador and Taiwan maintain economic and trade relations that between 2019 and 2022 have increased, reaching $300 million. A record $363 million was recorded in 2023, making Taiwan Ecuador’s twenty-sixth trading partner. (YO)