The European Commission has suggested delaying tariffs on electric cars traded between the UK and EU for three years.
Car manufacturers from both the UK and EU said they are not prepared for the new trade rules that will start after Brexit in January.
The rules were supposed to help the car industry in the EU, but the 10% tariffs would probably make things very expensive.
EU countries must still say yes to the plan at a meeting next week.
The Commission said no to waiting to make the rules, even though car makers and the UK government asked them to.
On Wednesday, the Commission said the EU needs more time to help its car industry because it is still facing problems from the pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and competition from US subsidies.
According to EU “rules of origin,” cars made in the EU or UK would need to be mostly made from local parts to avoid tariffs, starting in January.
The goal was to keep European industry safe from cheaper products coming from countries like China, which has become a big player in the global electric vehicle market.
However, when it comes to trading between the UK and EU, electric vehicles would have needed to have batteries made in either the UK or the EU. Many car makers said they would have trouble meeting this requirement.
Battery production in the local area has been slower than we thought, so the manufacturers have to depend on getting batteries from other places.
Expensive expenses
Trade groups worried that the new rules would make European companies lose £3. 75 billion in the next three years.
There were worries that high taxes could make it harder to make electric cars and might raise prices.
The UK government asked the EU to delay the rules.
The carmakers on both sides of the Channel will be happy because the Commission’s decision means they don’t have to pay tariffs that were supposed to start in January.
European makers send the most vehicles to the UK, with 1. 2 million cars being shipped to UK ports last year. The UK sells more cars to the EU than any other place.
The European Commission wants to delay the rules for three years, but it also wants to add a rule to the Brexit trade deal that says the delay cannot be longer than that. It said that its rules of origin would stay the same from 2027.
The Commission will give €3bn to European battery makers over the next three years to help them grow.
The new deadline is making people pay attention to making electric cars in the UK. Companies like Jaguar Land Rover are planning to build big factories to make car batteries, but they haven’t started making any batteries yet.
There are still questions about a place in Blyth, Northumberland that has been chosen to make car batteries.
Tag: electric cars
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EU to postpone tariffs on electric vehicles in UK until 2027
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Govt waives import duties on electric vehicles for 8 years
As part of its fiscal initiatives, the government has announced the exemption of import duties on Electric Vehicles (EVs) allocated for public transportation for a duration of 8 years.
Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta disclosed this information while presenting the 2024 Budget and Economic Statement to Parliament.
Additionally, Ofori-Atta revealed that import duties would also be waived for semi-knocked down and completely knocked down Electric vehicles imported by registered EV assembly companies, also for the same 8-year period.
The remaining reliefs the government is seeking to implement include:
- Extend zero rate of VAT on locally manufactured african prints for two (2) more years.
- Zero rate VAT on locally produced sanitary pads;
- Grant import duty waivers for raw materials for the local manufacture of sanitary pads
- Extend zero rate of VAT on locally assembled vehicles for 2 more years;
- Grant exemptions on the importation of agricultural machinery equipment and inputs and medical consumables, raw materials for the pharmaceutical industry;
- A VAT flat rate of 5 percent to replace the 15 percent standard VAT rate on all commercial properties will be introduced to simplify administration.
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List of tax relief items government will be implementing
Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta has noted that government is currently unable to grant the many appeals for the removal of some taxes.
Presenting the 2024 budget statement in Parliament today, the minister explained that in the short term, fiscal sustainability requires that the country improve its tax ratios significantly; otherwise, its long-term competitiveness will be eroded despite believing in lower taxes for industry.
However, government has come up with some reliefs it is considering for implementation as it aggressively engages with the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA).
- Extend zero rate of VAT on locally manufactured african prints for two (2) more years.
- Waive import duties on import of electric vehicles for public transportation for a period of 8 years.
- Waive import duties on semi-knocked down and completely knocked down Electric vehicles imported by registered EV assembly companies in Ghana for a period of 8 years;
- Zero rate VAT on locally produced sanitary pads;
- Grant import duty waivers for raw materials for the local manufacture of sanitary pads
- Extend zero rate of VAT on locally assembled vehicles for 2 more years;
- Grant exemptions on the importation of agricultural machinery equipment and inputs and medical consumables, raw materials for the pharmaceutical industry;
- A VAT flat rate of 5 percent to replace the 15 percent standard VAT rate on all commercial properties will be introduced to simplify administration.
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BYD of China says it will begin selling EVs in Japan by early 2023
The world’s largest EV manufacturer intends to launch the ATTO 3 sports utility vehicle in Japan in January.BYD Co’s Japanese division has announced that it will begin selling its first battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in the country early next year, as the world’s largest EV manufacturer accelerates its plan to sell or make its vehicles available in major markets. BYD, in which Berkshire Hathaway has a stake, has announced that it will launch an electric sports utility vehicle, the ATTO 3, in Japan on January 31. The car will cost 4.4 million yen ($32,735) and has a cruising distance of 485km (301 miles).
In comparison, Nissan Motor Co’s electric Leaf standard model has a cruising range of 322km (200 miles) and costs about 3.7 million yen ($27,496).
BYD’s Japan chapter is planning to introduce two more models by the end of 2023 and more than 100 dealerships in Japan by the end of 2025, the company said.
Gasoline-electric hybrid models remain more popular than BEVs in Japan. However, the share of battery-driven vehicles is expected to grow, partly due to non-Japanese automakers like BYD and Volkswagen making their way into the market.
BYD’s Japan division is planning to set up tentative retailers in 22 cities starting late January but is eager to cover all 47 prefectures, said Atsuki Tofukuji, BYD Auto Japan Inc chief executive.
“We hope that we can make our presence felt little by little as we work toward carbon neutrality and as our customers demand a variety of choices,” he said.
Japanese automakers have recently been criticised by activists and green investors, who accuse them of not embracing BEVs fast enough.
Toyota Motor Corp began selling its first mass-produced fully electric vehicle, the bZ4X, in May as lease-only in its domestic market, charging 106,700 yen ($792.28) per month for the first four years in a 10-year contract. However, it was forced to recall the model less than two months later due to safety concerns. It began producing again in October.
Just a year into its $38bn EV plan, Toyota is already considering starting again to better compete in a market growing beyond the automaker’s projections, Reuters reported in October.
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Dyson has scrapped its electric car project
Dyson, the technology company best known for its vacuum cleaners, has scrapped a project to build electric cars.
The firm, headed by British inventor Sir James Dyson, said its engineers had developed a “fantastic electric car” but that it would not hit the roads because it was not “commercially viable”.
Read:Kantanka Automobile to produce electric vehicles
In an email sent to all employees, Sir James said the company had unsuccessfully tried to find a buyer for the project.
The division employs 500 UK workers.
Dyson had planned to invest more than £2bn in developing a “radical and different” electric vehicle, a project it launched in 2016. It said the car would not be aimed at the mass market.
Read:Limited edition electric Volkswagen sells out before launch
Half of the funds would go towards building the car, half towards developing electric batteries.
In October 2018 Dyson revealed plans to build the car at a new plant in Singapore. It was expected to be completed next year, with the first vehicles due to roll off the production line in 2021.
Source:Â bbc.com
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Limited edition electric Volkswagen sells out before launch
Volkswagen has sold out the limited edition of its ID.3, the first of a new generation of electric cars that the company is due to unveil at the Frankfurt motor show next week.
The German carmaker said Wednesday it had received 30,000 reservations for the ID.3 1ST since online bookings opened in May.
There were no plans to increase the number of first edition models available for purchase, Volkswagen spokesperson Christoph Oemisch told CNN Business.
People still interested in an ID.3 1ST, or an early model in the ID.3 production series, should still register, as Volkswagen was drawing up waiting lists, said Jürgen Stackmann, the head of Volkswagen passenger car sales, in a statement.“Experience indicates that there may still be some movement on the waiting list up to the deadline for binding orders,” he said.
Read:Volkswagen signs MoU with Government of Ghana
The ID.3 is the first of 70 electric models that the Volkswagen Group plans to release in the next decade as it makes an aggressive move towards electric cars, driven by pressure from regulators and the fallout from its diesel emissions scandal.
But it is not alone among traditional carmakers in pouring money into electric cars, as expectations rise of future mass adoption, encouraged by falling battery costs and government subsidies.
Elon Musk’s Tesla (TSLA) has the headstart — it sold more than 220,000 electric cars in 2018, according to LMC Automotive, roughly 70,000 more than its nearest competitor, Chinese state-owned BAIC Group.
Still, the race is now well and truly underway.
Read:Ferrari will expand its lineup of road cars, but not too much
The ID.3 is the first vehicle to be built on Volkswagen’s new modular electric car production platform, or MEB — a sign of the huge investment the company is making. Volkswagen’s earlier electric cars, the e-Up! and e-Golf, were built on platforms made for petrol and diesel cars.
“The ID.3 has the exterior of a Golf more or less but the interior dimensions of a Passat because there is so much more room inside,” said Oemisch. It has a range of 261 miles (420 kilometers), higher than previous Volkswagen electric models.
Production of the ID.3 will start at the end of 2019, with the first vehicles delivered around the middle of next year. Future electric vehicles include the Audi E-Tron and Porsche Taycan.
Most of the pre-bookings for the ID.3, which required a €1,000 ($1,100) deposit, came from Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom, Volkswagen said. The limited edition will cost less than €40,000 ($44,000) in Germany, while the price of the ID.3 series mass production model will start below €30,000 ($33,000).
Volkswagen will also unveil its “younger, more modern” new brand and logo at the Frankfurt motor show, said Oemisch.
Source:Â cnn.com