TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Foxconn Technology Group will begin manufacturing electric vehicles (EVs) in Thailand within a year, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said Thursday (June 30).

Previous reports had set 2024 as the start for EV production by a joint venture between the Taiwan iPhone maker and Thai state-run energy company PTT Plc. However, at a business seminar, Prayut said that after a meeting with Foxconn Chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) Tuesday (June 28), the company announced it would launch EV assembly within one year.

Total investment in the project will range from US$1 billion (NT$29.77 billion) to US$2 billion, with the factory handling design, manufacturing, and assembly of the cars as well as the production of components, the Bangkok Post reported.

Foxconn and PTT want to start with an annual production of 50,000 cars per year, with a gradual rise to 150,000. The factory will be based in the Eastern Economic Corridor, the region along the coast southeast of Bangkok.

While it was still not known which kind of EVs will roll out of the plant, PTT reportedly signed a document with Chinese EV producer Hozon Auto to explore the possibility of manufacturing cars together.