The parliament has approved the second reading of the draft law No. 1674, which sets a zero rate of import duty for electric vehicles, but rejected the second reading of the draft law No. 1912, which sets a zero rate of value-added tax for electric vehicles, and returned it for a redrafting, electrocars.com.ua reports.

Now, the cost of major brands of electric cars will reduce by no more than USD 900. Their cost would reduce significantly if both draft laws were adopted: for example, the most popular model, Nissan Leaf, would cost USD 30,000 instead of USD 42,000, a used car of the same model would cost about USD 16,000 instead of USD 20,000, and the price of the base model of a Tesla Model S electric car would fall from USD 100,000 to USD 65,000.

The members of the ruling parliamentary coalition that voted against the draft laws were mostly from the Samopomisch parliamentary faction. They believe that the best stimulus is not abolition of VAT but targeted subsidies.

At the same time, according to research by Electrocars, international practice shows that the best way to stimulate development of the market of electric cars is to grant exemption from taxes and duties. The countries that have decided that it is sufficient to pay subsidies to owners of electric vehicles have achieved significant results. Subsidies remain an effective tool for the urban program for promoting the spread of electric vehicles.

 Experts with the Electrocars community believe that up to 5,000 electric cars could be imported into Ukraine next year if the law were adopted.

 "Of course, the market will not stop. Statistics for this year clearly shows that Ukrainians have begun buying electric cars very briskly even without incentives. The number of electric cars in the country has increased to 500 this year, which represents an increase of 550% compared to last year. However, 5,000 ecological cars could be imported next year if the law is adopted, and we would move closer to Europe not only in words, but in the spirit of European values," Electrocars co-founder Oleksandr Kravtsov said.

According to him, the popularity of electric cars is growing because a network of public charging stations, which currently consists of more than 60 stations in major cities and on highways, has already been established in the country.

"In European countries, incentives for purchase of electric vehicles have been available for a long time, but there is no such growth rate: the price of fuel there is not palpable for people. However, people in Ukraine have already realized that electric cars are primarily a way of saving money. Patriotism and the environment are secondary," Kravtsov said.