Government powers up new incentives for electric vehicles

Thailand’s government is committed to powering up the Kingdom’s electric-vehicles sector by developing a new package of incentives for investors and consumers to achieve a target of 30 percent of all vehicles on the Kingdom’s roads being EVs by 2030.

Shifting gears to EV production will keep the Kingdom competitive as an automotive manufacturing power while also supporting its goals of building a greener more advanced economy.

“This is to encourage operators to accelerate the production of electric vehicles in the country to meet increasing demand,” said Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana, government spokesman.

The Ministry of Energy is working on the specific details of the incentives and expects to announce them soon. But Thanakorn said that the hope is for the measures to reduce the price of an electric vehicle by $2,000 to $5,000 depending upon the vehicle and manufacturer.

Advanced automotive technologies and manufacturing are a priority sector in Thailand’s national strategy to achieve a higher level of development. The government is continually adjusting and improving its incentives to facilitate investment in the 12 priority sectors.

But part of the strategy is that the Kingdom’s development should be more environmentally friendly and sustainable. Electric vehicles would help steer the economy towards a greener direction.

The Kingdom has a policy to be a regional manufacturing hub for zero-emission vehicles along with a goal to ensure 30 percent of Thailand’s total auto production are EVs by 2030. Thailand is also committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris climate agreements, and to reach net-zero emissions nationally by 2065.

Photo courtesy of: https://www.boi.go.th/