Thailand wants to pay owners of old cars to switch to EVs

Thailand is planning to take its next step to make the Thai automotive sector even more eco-friendly. This time, the Thai Ministry of Industry is aiming at an electrified future with a special tax incentive to encourage car owners to change their current cars for new electric vehicles.

Talks are now underway between the Ministry of Industry, private agencies and related agencies regarding the suggested tax incentive scheme.

If successful the tax incentives will be offered to both individuals and companies who exchange their old cars for new eco-friendly cars or even electric vehicles (EV).

The scheme will specifically target used cars 15 years old or older, the government hopes that this will boost sales for EVs and even new cars that adhere to Thailand’s strict emission guidelines like the 2020 Honda City, 2020 Nissan Almera and 2020 Toyota Yaris Ativ.

The government aims to increase electric car production to 30 percent of the country’s total car production for over 10 years. The short-term goal is to produce more than 60,000 – 110,000 government vehicles, public buses, electric taxi motorcycles and other personal vehicles.

They hope that in 5 years, the country will have mobilised about 300,000 EVs and Smart City buses. The Ministry of Industry’s ultimate goal is to produce 750,000 EVs by the end of 10 years.

Of course, the plan will also depend on the experience of owning an EV. Other than the tax incentive to further encourage migrating from internal combustion engine cars to an electrified future, the government will also look to accelerate the quality of EVs.