More electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers are expected to invest in Thailand, although the latest EV incentive package is believed to be less attractive than its predecessor, says the Electric Vehicle Association of Thailand (EVAT).
The existing package of incentives, including tax cuts and subsidies granted to car manufacturers and importers, ranging from 70,000 baht to 150,000 baht per unit, is meant to promote EV consumption and production between 2022 and 2023.
Car manufacturers participating in this EV promotion policy are committed to developing EV production facilities in Thailand.
EV manufacturers are waiting to see what the latest EV incentive package launched by the Srettha Thavisin administration will be composed of.
Though some foreign EV makers may delay making a decision regarding their business expansion in Thailand until the new EV policy becomes clear, many other companies have expressed an interest in investing in the EV industry in the country, said Krisda Utamote, president of EVAT.
"We expect one to two new EV investors, especially from China, to seek investment opportunities in Thailand," he said.
The new EV incentive package needs the approval of the new National EV Policy Committee.
Mr Krisda expects the new package to have fewer incentives than the current one, which was approved by the Prayut Chan-o-cha cabinet early last year, because the government then had just begun to build the domestic EV industry and needed foreign investors, with technology know-how, to fuel its growth.
"It is possible that the new EV incentive package will have a maximum subsidy of 100,000 baht," he said.
The former National EV Policy Committee announced in 2021 it wanted EVs to constitute 50% of locally made vehicles by 2030, part of an ambitious plan to make Thailand a regional EV hub.
Greater use of EVs could also help Thailand achieve its carbon neutrality goal, a balance between carbon dioxide emissions and absorption, by 2050.
From January to July this year, sales of battery EVs in Thailand soared by 1,605.4% to 35,781 units, compared with sales of internal combustion engine-powered cars which fell by 15.7% to 381,453 units, according to the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI)