Posted on 01 Aug 2025
Thailand’s National Electric Vehicle Policy Committee (EV Board) has updated its EV3 and EV3.5 incentive schemes to encourage BEV makers to use the country as an “export base.”
Under the adjustments, the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) proposed that every vehicle produced for export will be counted as 1.5 vehicles, aiming to make the production commitments more achievable. By doing so, it expects to increase the number of EV exports to roughly 12,500 units in 2025, and 52,000 units next year.
The schemes require manufacturers to produce locally to compensate for the vehicles they imported since the start of subsidies in 2022, before they started domestic manufacturing, Kallanish notes.
According to the Thai government, THB 137.7 billion ($4.2 billion) has been invested in the local EV supply chain up until the end of June. So far, 175,064 BEV cars and 34,559 electric motorcycles have been granted subsidies under the two schemes, totalling over TBH 12 billion.
At present, 27 companies take part in the EV3 scheme, including 16 electric passenger car and pickup truck makers, and 11 electric motorcycle manufacturers. The EV3.5 programme has 10 passenger car manufacturers enrolled, which are already participants of the previous EV3 scheme.
In addition, the EV Board will extend the registration period for vehicles produced for the domestic market by one month and enhance subsidy payments to improve the effectiveness of the plan. The EV3 scheme had specified that the cars had to be registered by 31 December 2025. Now, the cars can be sold by that deadline and registered by a month later – 31 January 2026. For the EV3.5 scheme, the registration date has been extended to 31 January 2028.
Other changes include revised criteria to oversee the subsidy disbursement. For example, the excise department will withhold subsidy payments until they have accumulated at least 50% of the total compensatory production and meet the projected production plan.
According to the Thailand Board of Investment (BOI), 57,289 BEVs have been registered in the first half of 2025, representing a 52.4% increase year-on-year and a car market share of 15%.
Narit Therdsteerasukdi, secretary general of BOI and the EV Board, says the government acknowledges the continued expansion of the Thai EV sector and has taken steps to allow further growth and encourage manufacturers to export more. “The revisions approved today will allow greater flexibility and help Thailand, which is already the leader in the region’s automotive manufacturing industry, to become a key EV production base,” he adds.
Source:Kallanish
