Import of electric cars to Armenia increases by more than 5 times

YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 8, ARMENPRESS. Nearly a month ago Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan tasked the government officials to study the possibility of amending the legislation on exempting electric cars from taxes, fees and property tax during the import. This can be considered as an unprecedented step given that in many developed countries there is still no such decision.

ARMENPRESS tried to find out what is the demand for electric cars in Armenia, to what extent they are preferred by Armenian drivers and what consequences this decision can have.

Our studies revealed that in the past there was a less demand for electric cars in Armenia, but this year a significant increase in import of e-cars was recorded which shows that the interest of Armenian drivers towards the electric cars is gradually increasing. Therefore, it can be supposed that the decision to exempt the import of e-cars from taxes can contribute to the considerable growth of their imports.

The State Revenue Committee (SRC) told Armenpress that 5 electric cars have been imported to Armenia from third countries in 2016, and 28 cars in the 9 months of 2017. This means that the import of e-cars has increased by more than 5 times compared to the previous year. The SRC also informed that the e-cars were mainly imported from China, US and Japan. The SRC is not aware of the e-cars imported from the EAEU countries since no customs function for cargo or passenger transportations in the EAEU customs space is being carried out.

The Police told Armenpress that as of September 10, 2017 12 electric cars have been registered in the Traffic Police.

Automobile journalist Vahe Makaryan also gave a comment to Armenpress on the pros and cons of the electric cars, as well as the decision to exempt their import from taxes. “I positively react to this decision, I think it even was late, although in case of a developing country like Armenia when many developed countries of the world still have no such laws. I think this decision will be quite right. The PM gave one month, which is already coming to end, thus, it’s time to see concrete steps”, Makaryan said.

Talking about the advantages of the e-cars, he said they absolutely cause no damage to the nature. This is their major advantage that they have no toxic emissions. As for the saving, according to different calculations these cars save 3-5 times more on the average.

“But there are also disadvantages, however, some of them are temporary, and other depend on their structural features. First of all, there are no fast charging stations in Armenia, there are only one-two stations for luxurious American Tesla, which are not enough, and not all people are able to import Tesla. There are more affordable electric cars, like Nissan Leaf, Chevrolet Volt, which I think will gradually appear in our streets. The next disadvantage is that drive-lovers will not be able to satisfy their desires while driving e-cars”, he said.

Vahe Makaryan added that the Armenian public gradually becomes in favor of driving cost-saving cars. He stated that today car-importers complain about high customs clearance rates, and this change can first of all contribute to importing electric cars.

Shant Khlgatyan