Thai government approves support package for EV buyers

The Thai cabinet has approved the allocation of THB7.12 billion ($215 million) from the central reserve budget for emergency and essential purposes to fund a electric vehicle (EV) subsidy programme.

Jirayu Huangsab, an advisor to the Prime Minister, said the budget will be used to subsidise EV buyers and motorcycles who already purchased their vehicles, but have not yet applied for the government subsidy under EV promotion measures.

Since the implementation of the EV promotion measures, subsidies have been disbursed for 55,000 EVs with a total amount of THB 6.87 billion. A budget of more than THB5 billion is awaiting disbursement.

Under the first phase of the EV 3.0 promotion, the Excise Department provided subsidies of up to THB150,000 for EVs priced less than THB2 million, and up to THB18,000 for electric motorcycles priced less than THB150,000.

The government provides these subsidies directly to car manufacturers. Once EV buyers register their vehicles, they can submit a request to the manufacturer to claim the subsidy.

Under the second phase of the EV 3.5 scheme, set to run from 2024-2027, priced less than THB2 million with batteries of 50 kWh or larger receive a subsidy of THB50,000 to 100,000 per vehicle, and those with batteries smaller than 50 kWh receive THB20,000 to 50,000 per vehicle.

Based on these incentives, various manufacturers have invested to establish production bases in Thailand, with investment exceeding THB80 billion.