Government vows to ramp up demand for electric vehicles

THE government says it is committed to transforming Thailand into an electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing hub, emphasising that policy also focuses on stimulating demand for EVs to encourage consumer adoption.

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Deputy Finance Minister Paopoom Rojanasakul said it is essential to build a domestic supply of EVs to meet this demand.

The government shift to an EV production hub from internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle production, through EV3.0 and EV3.5 schemes, aims to aid domestic EV production by manufacturers based on state incentives to promote EV usage, including import tax reductions, excise tax cuts, city and financial subsidies for EV buyers.

EV3.0 reduced the excise tax on EVs from 8% to 2%, lowered import taxes to 20-40%, and provided subsidies for EV buyers ranging from 70,000 to 150,000 baht per vehicle, depending on the battery size, for vehicles priced less than 2 million baht.

Buyers of pickups receive a subsidy of 10,000 baht, while motorcycles are entitled to a subsidy of up to 18,000 baht per unit.

Under the EV3.5 scheme, the excise tax on EVs was again reduced from 8% to 0%, with import taxes capped at 40%. This measure applies to cars priced less than 2 million baht.