EV subsidies to come from budget allocated for ‘emergencies and necessities’
The Cabinet agreed during its weekly meeting on Tuesday to allocate 1.024 billion baht to support measures and promote the purchase and production of electric vehicles in Thailand.
A source said on Wednesday that the allocation under the EV3.0 policy was proposed by the Finance Ministry. The funds will come from the amount earmarked for “emergency or necessary expenditure” in the central budget.
Under the EV3.0 policy, EV importers are granted tax incentives and the price of electric vehicles is subsidised by a maximum of 150,000 baht per vehicle. This policy is set to expire on December 31.
The National Electric Vehicle Policy Board (EV Board), meanwhile, has said that without a top-up, the subsidies would have run dry due to a rush to purchase electric vehicles.
The original budget approved for the EV3.0 policy was 29.23 billion baht.
The incentive package under the policy includes a 70,000-baht subsidy for an EV car with a 10 to 30kWh battery for completely knocked-down (CKD) and completely built-up (CBU) units.
The subsidy rises to 150,000 baht for vehicles with a capacity of more than 30kWh going at a recommended retail price of less than 2 million baht.
An 18,000-baht subsidy is also available to buyers of electric motorcycles with a recommended retail price of less than 150,000-baht from eligible manufacturers.
According to the Electric Vehicle Association of Thailand (EVAT), some 37,000 electric vehicles were registered in Thailand during the first seven months of this year, which is far higher than in 2022, which saw some 9,600 registrations.
EVAT believes total EV registrations in 2023 will surpass 50,000 units.
