New law on electric vehicles, what awaits us?

According to statistics, the number of electric vehicles purchased in Ukraine is growing, and in order to further stimulate their sales, a separate law was adopted to simplify the operation of these machines and make it more convenient. An additional list of benefits and privileges for electric vehicles is also being actively discussed. Let's take a closer look at what will change after the entry into force of the new law.

New Electric Vehicle Act

On July 11, the Verkhovna Rada adopted Law No. 10405 "On Amending Certain Legislative Acts of Ukraine Concerning Creating Access to the Infrastructure of Charging Stations for Electric Vehicles". Its main purpose to protect the rights of car owners on electric motors to parking, special places for recharging, and also introduce new green license plates. President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky signed this law in early August, and now it should come into force on January 1, 2020. The document provides several innovations.

Parking ticket

Now parking a car with an internal combustion engine that runs on gasoline, diesel or gas in places designated for parking or recharging electric vehicles, car owners will be administratively liable in the form of a fine of 20 to 30 tax-free minimums, which will amount to 340 to 510 hryvnia.

The introduction of such penalties can be regarded as the beginning of a period of serious confrontation. If earlier the electric car market in Ukraine was developing peacefully, and they coexisted well with gasoline powered cars, then from January 1, 2020, electric vehicles will be in a special, privileged position. The driver will no longer be able to park his usual ICE engine in places reserved for electric cars. But in ordinary parking lots designed for everyone, parking will be electric.

Special Green License Plates

The law also provides for the introduction of special green numbers for electric vehicles, which will make identification of this type of equipment as simple as possible. As well as some relevant road signs not previously mentioned in the traffic rules.

So far, those green characters that are entered, simply copy existing ones, but will have green color. In particular, the new signs include: the service mark, the sign of the location of the charges and charging stations, as well as electric charges at the gas station.

But the parking sign, for violation of which they introduced a fine, remains black. In electric cars, it shows “tail” with a plug instead of exhaust.

The introduction of green signs and numbers will make it easier to identify electric cars, which means that video cameras will be able to record violators, and parking numbers will be visible from far away. Green signs are a clear confirmation of the car owner’s right to benefits, especially since now they are actively discussing the possible introduction of additional concessions and benefits for electric car owners that would stimulate Ukrainians to buy green electric vehicles.

What other innovations may await us in the future?

The Verkhovna Rada is currently considering bills No. 8159 and 8160, which contain incentives designed to stimulate sales and production of electric vehicles. In particular, lawmakers want to grant the right until 2029 to use the funds spent on the purchase of an electric car in calculating the tax discount. Moreover, even credit, but without interest. They also propose the introduction of several temporary measures, which will also be valid until 2029:

• to free exporters from the import of electric cars from the payment of excise duty.
• to exempt from the payment of VAT companies that import into Ukraine various components used for the production of electric vehicles.
• to exempt from payment of a contribution to the pension fund in the amount of 3% to 5% of the cost of a car with an electric motor at its first registration.
• oblige owners of paid parking equipment Have at least 5% of places with special chargers.

Also, until 2033, it is proposed to free enterprises engaged in lithium mining, the manufacture of lithium-ion batteries, which are used in electric vehicles, and charging stations from income tax.

So far, only at the stage of discussion, but more and more often heard a variety of proposals from supporters of electrification. For example, some lawmakers propose providing an interest-free loan from the state budget for a period of 3 years to buy an electric car. In addition, there is a proposal to build more charging stations in residential areas, and the cost should be minimized so that car owners can be charged at cost. And much more.

Benefits for electric vehicles experience of other countries

When discussing the introduction of possible benefits for electric cars in Ukraine, the experience of other countries is also very actively considered. For example, in the USA, buyers of electric vehicles were previously returned from the state treasury up to a quarter of the cost of the car. And in China they return even more up to 35%. They also provide support in the European Union, for example, in some countries, a person provides a subsidy in the amount of 5-7 thousand euros to a person buying a battery-powered car.

The experience of Norway is very interesting it is the country with the largest number of electric vehicles per capita. Here, in order to intensify the growth in sales of these cars, they allowed electric cars to use separate lanes for public transport, provided free parking and charging.

It is difficult to say which of the discussed privileges will be introduced and implemented. However, the fact that the state decided to take actively to stimulate the development of this industry obvious fact. In our store 130.com.ua you can buy chargers for electric cars in Kiev, Kharkov, Odessa. This is very convenient and will allow you to charge the car even where there are no specialized charging stations from a regular household outlet.

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