Motor.ru.- As announced by the Economic Commission for Europe Council, a new rule on electric vehicle imports will come into force as of 15 April 2020, concerning the abolishment of customs duties on automobile imports, equipped with fully electric engines. The new act will remain in force until 31 December 2021.
The abolishment will affect both new and used cars and cover all countries within the Eurasian Economic Union: the Russian Federation, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. According to experts, due to the lack of mass production of electric vehicles within the territory of the Eurasian Union, such a decision will result in price reduction and stimulate demand on the vehicles, as well as improving the development opportunities for charging infrastructure.
As one may remember, previously there were attempts to attract electric vehicles to the Russian market by specialists in 2014 and 2016. However, only legal entities were eligible for benefits then, a fact which hindered the increase of electric vehicle numbers in the country. Companies currently have to pay 15% of the cost of electric vehicles during imports. The new regulation will affect individuals, who are required to pay 48-54% of the price of the vehicles under current circumstances, as well as companies.
At the moment, four electric vehicles are officially available in Russia: Renault Twizy, starting form 949,000 rubles, BMW i3, from 3,480,000 rubles, Jaguar I-Pace, from 6,246,000 and the luxury Porsche Taycan, from 7,793,000 rubles.
