The Excise Department is poised to charge up to 1,000 baht per electric vehicle (EV) battery to finance tracking battery demolition or recycling, with refunds paid after car owners deliver the battery.
The levy for EV batteries depends on battery size and whether an act is needed for a fund to support and develop EVs, said Patchara Anuntasilpa, director-general of the department.
The department plans to propose establishing a fund for battery management of EVs to seek financing to track the recycling or destruction of EV batteries, he said after a meeting with automakers yesterday.
According to the draft act, EV buyers are subject to a battery surcharge that will be directed to the fund as working capital. The fee will be repaid to car owners after the battery is returned.
Mr Patchara said the fund's task is to track whether EV batteries are destroyed or recycled in an appropriate manner, while automakers will be responsible for demolishing or recycling the batteries.
Given the dearth of EV battery recycling or destruction facilities in Thailand, all EV batteries must be shipped overseas to be disposed of.
Honda ships EV batteries to Singapore for re-export to Belgium for demolition.
To promote EVs, the government's excise tax on EV batteries is lower than 8%, the initial state rate.
Under the government's incentives, EV batteries are tax-exempt during 2020-22, and are levied 2% during 2023-25 for automakers granted Board of Investment privileges.
Those who do not receive incentives will be charged 8% during 2023-25.
He said the fee for old car demolitions was not discussed in yesterday's meeting.
A source at the Excise Department who requested anonymity recently said the department plans to collect an affordable levy when motorists buy new cars that will be refunded after cars 10-15 years old are destroyed.
The surcharge is aimed at tacking pollution problems.
Some 39.3 million vehicles were officially registered as of November.