Cabinet okays measures to accelerate electric vehicle use

THURSDAY, February 17, 2022

THE NATION

The Cabinet has approved six National Electrical Vehicle Policy Board measures to promote the use of electric vehicles (EVs) in Thailand and support the EV manufacturing industry, government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana said on Wednesday.

“The measures proposed by the EV board contain both tax and non-tax measures to attract people to purchase EVs and increase investment in EV manufacturing and related industries,” he said.

According to Thanakorn, the six measures that have been approved are:

1. Import tariffs on battery electric vehicles (BEVs) with less than 10 seats and costing under 2 million baht will be exempted if the original tariffs are less than 40 per cent, and will be reduced by 40 per cent if the original tariffs exceed 40 per cent until 2023. Excise tax on BEVs in this category will also be cut from 8 per cent to 2 per cent until 2025.

Additionally, buyers of BEVs sporting battery capacities of 10 to 30 kilowatts/hour will also receive a subsidy of 70,000 baht per vehicle, while BEVs with batteries of more than 30 kilowatts/hour will receive a subsidy of 150,000 baht per vehicle.

2. Import tariffs on BEVs with over 30 kilowatts/hour batteries and costing 2 million to 7 million baht will be exempted if the original tariffs are less than 20 per cent, and will be reduced by 20 per cent if the original tariffs exceed 20 per cent until 2023. The excise tax on BEVs in this category will also be cut from 8 per cent to 2 per cent until 2025.

3. Buyers of BEV pickup trucks costing less than 2 million baht will receive a subsidy of 150,000 baht per vehicle. This only applies to CKD (completely knocked down) vehicles manufactured domestically with batteries of over 30 kilowatts/hour.

4. Excise tax on BEV motorcycles costing less than 150,000 baht will be cut to 1 per cent, whereas each purchase will receive a subsidy of 18,000 baht, applicable to both imported and domestic motorcycles.

5. To promote new investment in the EV industry, manufacturers or assemblers of BEVs in Thailand which are located in tariff-free zones can use the value of battery cells imported from overseas to calculate the cost of domestic manufacturing at a maximum 15 per cent of the vehicle’s price. This measure is valid until 2025.

6. Import tariffs on selected EV parts will be exempted for domestic manufacturers or assemblers until 2025. These parts include batteries, traction motors, compressors, battery management systems, drive control units, on-board chargers, PCU inverters, DC/DC converters and reduction gear.

To qualify for the reduced import tariffs, manufacturers must build an electric vehicle in Thailand for every vehicle imported until 2024. The deadline could be extended to 2025, but the ratio will be increased to building 1.5 EVs for every vehicle imported.

If the retail value of each EV imported is under 2 million baht, manufacturers can build any EV model to compensate. However, they must compensate for importing pricier models by building the same models in Thailand.

“With the help of these measures, Thailand aims to manufacture electric vehicles at 30 per cent of total automotive production by 2030, or approximately 725,000 EVs per year,” Thanakorn added.

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