Cabinet gives green light to EV promotion package
The Cabinet on Tuesday approved subsidies of Bt70,000 -Bt150,000 on purchases of electric vehicles as part of a package to promote Thailand’s EV manufacturing industry.
The package was prepared by the National Electrical Vehicle Policy Board (EV board) and proposed to Cabinet by the Energy Ministry.
A subsidy of Bt18,000 on each EV motorcycle purchase was also approved.
Meanwhile the excise tax on EV cars was cut from 8 per cent to 2 per cent and on EV pickups from 8 per cent to zero.
The import tariff on complete EV cars was reduced to 40 per cent, 20 per cent and 0 per cent, depending on the engine size, until 2023.
The Cabinet also resolved to lift import tariffs on nine items of CKD (completely knocked down) EV cars.
To qualify for the reduced import tariffs, manufacturers must build three EV vehicles in Thailand for every two imported until 2024. The deadline could be extended to 2025.
If the retail value of each EV imported is under Bt2 million, manufacturers can build any EV model to compensate. However, they must compensate for importing pricier models by building the same models in Thailand.
