Cabinet allots B7.12bn for EV subsidies

The cabinet has approved the allocation of 7.12 billion baht from the central reserve budget for emergency and essential purposes to fund the EV subsidy programme.
Speaking after the weekly cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Jirayu Huangsab, an advisor to the prime minister, said the budget will be used to subsidise buyers of electric vehicles (EVs) 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 amounting to 6.87 billion baht. A budget of more than 5 billion baht is awaiting disbursement.
Under the EV 3.0 promotion (first phase), the Excise Department provided subsidies of up to 150,000 baht for EVs priced less than 2 million baht, and up to 18,000 baht for electric motorcycles priced less than 150,000 baht.
The government disburses these subsidies directly to car manufacturers. Once EV buyers register their vehicles, they can submit a request to the manufacturer to claim the subsidy.
Thailand aims to have EVs account for 30% of total vehicle production by 2030, targeting a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by that year from current levels.
EVs are expected to align with sustainable development goals, from production to usage, significantly reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
Under the EV 3.0 scheme, EVs priced less than 2 million baht with batteries smaller than 30 kilowatt-hour (kWh) receive a subsidy of 70,000 baht per vehicle, while vehicles with batteries of 30 kWh or larger receive 150,000 baht per vehicle.
Under the EV 3.5 scheme (second phase), set to run from 2024-2027, EVs priced less than 2 million baht with batteries of 50 kWh or larger receive a subsidy of 50,000 to 100,000 baht per vehicle, and those with batteries smaller than 50 kWh receive 20,000 to 50,000 baht per vehicle.
Based on these incentives, various manufacturers have invested to establish production bases in Thailand, with investment exceeding 80 billion baht.
The measures mandate by 2024, participants must produce EVs domestically to offset imports equal to the volume of sales that received subsidies from the government. If this production requirement is not met by 2024, by 2025 participants must produce 1.5 times the sales volume. This rule caused manufacturers to set up production bases in Thailand, generating new investments and industries.