EV subsidies planned for pickups and motorcycles

EV subsidies worth about 12 billion baht are being prepared by the Excise Department, with one scheme aimed at replacing old pickups and another at locally made electric motorcycles, The Nation Thailand reported on 8 November.

Director-general Pornchai Thiraveja said each programme would require borrowing of about six billion baht under an emergency decree that lets the Finance Ministry raise funds for the energy transition. The two proposals sit in the later 200 billion baht tranche set aside for that shift, alongside a public solar programme that opened for registration on 27 October 2026.

The plans still have to clear a screening subcommittee, then the National Electric Vehicle Policy Committee, known as the EV Board, and finally the Cabinet. No start date has been set, and the department said it is building payment systems in parallel so money can move once approval is granted.

How the pickup EV subsidies would work

The first scheme is a trade-in for pickups. Owners would scrap an old vehicle and buy a new electric pickup or a pickup that can run on B20 diesel, a higher biodiesel blend the government already supports. The department’s early estimate is a state payment of about 40,000 baht per vehicle, enough to cover around 150,000 replacements if the full six billion baht is used.

Participants would have to deregister the old vehicle and take it out of use for good, so it cannot return to the road. They could sell the scrapped unit to a licensed recycling plant, coded 105, and keep the market value of the metal and parts. Pornchai said buyers would therefore see three possible gains: the state payment, discounts from participating manufacturers, and scrap proceeds.

Finance permanent secretary Lavaron Sangsnit said the first round would focus on pickups and transport vehicles that have been in use for 15 years or more. Not every commercial pickup can switch to a battery model at once, so new vehicles in the scheme would have to meet a clean-energy test, with B20 compatibility as the minimum where a full electric model is not practical. Officials want manufacturers to prepare enough B20-ready pickups for the programme.

That approach matches what the government calls a multi-pathway strategy: cut pollution without wiping out Thailand’s pickup production base, a core part of the domestic auto industry. Government Savings Bank and private finance firms are expected to handle loans, and the Thai Credit Guarantee Corporation would help with guarantees so households and small operators can borrow to replace an ageing truck.

Motorcycle EV subsidies and the cleaner-air goal

The second scheme would pay buyers of new electric motorcycles directly. There would be no requirement to trade in an old bike. Only models manufactured in Thailand would qualify, a rule designed to pull investment into local plants rather than imported stock. The Nation said the programme is meant to cover hundreds of thousands of motorcycles.

Unlike the pickup plan, the motorcycle scheme would not stop owners from reselling or transferring the bike. Officials want the machines in daily use on the road, not locked in a showroom or stored to capture a grant. Finance companies would again be asked to offer instalment loans so the upfront price is not a barrier.

Both packages are framed as public-health and climate tools. Pornchai said the aim is to cut fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, and carbon emissions by changing what people actually drive. Travellers who have followed our guide on how to protect yourself from dust and pollution while visiting Thailand will recognise that roadside exhaust is part of the same problem the grants are meant to shrink.

• Total request: about 12 billion baht, or six billion baht per scheme.
• Pickups: trade-in for electric or B20-ready models, about 40,000 baht each, around 150,000 vehicles.
• Motorcycles: direct grant for Thailand-made electric bikes, no trade-in required.
• Next steps: screening subcommittee, EV Board, then Cabinet.
• Old pickups must be recycled in Thailand and permanently deregistered.

What this means for drivers and the wider market

Lavaron argued that replacing a worn vehicle can be a sound long-term outlay because a new truck or bike should last many more years and cost less to repair. He also flagged separate transition ideas for lorries and public transport, including buses, taxis and vans, that are going to the same screening body. He did not give budgets or subsidy rates for those later proposals.

The announcement lands while fuel costs remain a political issue. Southern groups are pressing the government over pump prices, as covered in our report on the fuel protest convoy heading to Government House. A trade-in grant does not cut today’s diesel price, but it is one of the tools ministers are lining up to change the fleet over time.

Drivers should not treat the figures as money they can claim this week. The schemes are proposals, the per-vehicle pickup figure is a preliminary estimate, and Cabinet has not approved either package. Households watching Thailand’s longer clean-transport push can compare this plan with earlier coverage of the country’s green drive toward electric vehicles, higher taxes discussed for imported electric vehicles, and the capital’s move as Bangkok expands electric buses.

Details of the two programmes were reported by The Nation Thailand on 8 November, based on comments from the Excise Department and the Finance Ministry.

Photo: An electric pickup of the kind EV subsidies would support if Cabinet approves the trade-in scheme (Alexander-93 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0).