Nissan Motor Ukraine will start official sales of the updated Nissan Leaf in Ukraine this summer, according to a press release from the company.
“Nissan Motor Ukraine announces the official start of sales this summer of one of the most popular electric cars in the world. Nissan Leaf has become a pioneer in the segment of mass electric vehicles, and today it is one of the world’s bestsellers, with more than 500,000 cars sold,” the report says.
As reported, only used Nissan Leafs are currently imported to Ukraine, which for a long time held the undisputed leadership in the initial registrations of electric vehicles in Ukraine.
According to the Ukrautoprom association, in 2020 the registrations of Nissan Leaf amounted to 2,180, while Tesla Model 3 ranks second with 865 cars.
However, already in January 2021, the leadership in the Ukrainian market was seized by Chevrolet Bolt with 133 cars versus 107 Nissan Leaf cars, and by the end of the first quarter, the brands were practically equal in registrations.
The press release has not yet clarified the details, including prices and the date of the start of sales of the updated Nissan Leaf.
“This event, which many have been waiting for, became possible thanks to the mid-term plan of Nissan Next and its practical implementation in Ukraine. The official start of sales of Nissan Leaf in Ukraine is the first step in implementing the strategy of promoting Nissan electric vehicles in our country. Closer to the start of sales, we will announce the package, prices and exact dates of the start of sales,” Volodymyr Ivanov, the PR coordinator of Nissan Motor Ukraine, said on his Facebook page.
Nissan Motor Ukraine LLC, a subsidiary of Japan’s Nissan Motor Co, began operations in April 2005, and acts as an importer and distributor of Nissan and Infiniti in Ukraine.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has signed law No. 10405, which introduces green license plates for electric vehicles, as well as streamlines the issues of movement, parking and charging electric vehicles by amending traffic rules and state construction regulations.
According to the website of the Verkhovna Rada, the law was returned with the signature of the president.
According to the text of the document, the Interior Ministry, the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, the Ministry of Regional Development, Construction, Housing and Utilities Services, the Ministry of Health and the State Emergencies Service are obliged within six months from the date of publication to establish requirements for the design of parking space for electric cars: introduce the road signs “For electric vehicles,” “Except for Electric Vehicles,” “Electric Vehicle Charging Station,” as well as introduce license plates for electric vehicles with a green font.
Stopping or parking a car in a place for electric vehicles, as well as creating obstacles for electric car drivers in stopping or parking entails a fine of 20 to 30 non-taxable minimum incomes, while parking inspectors are given the right to detain the offender’s car, including with the help of a tow truck.
The described changes will enter into force on January 1, 2020.
The initial registration of electric vehicles (used and new) in Ukraine in January-July 2019 increased by 53% compared to the same period in 2018, to 4,035 units (3,742 cars and 293 commercial vehicles), the Ukrautoprom association reports.
At the same time, used cars still account for the lion’s share (91%) of the primary electric car market.
The leader in the segment of passenger electric cars remains Nissan Leaf: for the seven months, cars of this model received Ukrainian numbers. Tesla Model S ranks second (318 registrations), while BMW i3 ranked third with 216 cars.
Fiat 500e electric car were chosen by 178 Ukrainians, while the fifth place was shared by two models: Renault Zoe and Volkswagen E-Golf (154 cars each).
In the commercial segment, Renault Kangoo Z.E. still has the best result with 272 registrations.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky on July 6 signed the law that introduces green number plates for electric cars, as well as streamlines the issues of movement, parking and charging electric cars.
Initial registration of electric vehicles (new and used) in Ukraine in January-November 2018 almost doubled compared to the same period of 2017, to 4,812 units, the Ukrautoprom association has reported. At the same time, the share of imported used cars, as in the previous year, was 84%. As reported, in the first half of this year, the growth in the electric vehicle market was 50% compared to the same period last year, and in January-October already 89% (the share of used cars on it is 85%).
According to the association, 598 electric vehicles passed primary registration in Ukraine in November, which is 2.4 times more than in the same month of 2017, but 80% of them were imported cars with mileage.
The most popular electric car in the Ukrainian market (344 units) remains Nissan Leaf, BMW i3 cars rank second with the registration of 41 cars, and Tesla Model S ranked third with 34 cars.
Renault Zoe ranked fourth position with 28 vehicles, while the fifth position belonged to Fiat 500e, which was chosen by 24 customers.
National Energy Company Ukrenergo, private joint-stock company Ukrhydroenergo, DTEK LLC, public joint-stock company Donbasenergo, public joint-stock company Centrenergo, as well as heads of the Association of Solar Power of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Wind Energy Association have urged members of the Ukrainian parliament to extend the preferential period for imports of electric cars.
“The reason for the appeal was the fact that on December 31, 2018, the temporary exemption from VAT and excise tax on imports of electric vehicles expires. At the same time, the Verkhovna Rada did not support amendments to bills Nos. 8487 and 8488 extending these benefits in 2019,” Ukrenergo, which initiated a joint letter with the appeal, said in a report.
According to the document, the entire world is moving in the direction of decarbonization, energy saving and the use of renewable energy, and electric cars are an integral part of this trend. Their presence not only solves environmental problems and reduces the amount of harmful emissions, but also contributes to the emergence of fundamentally new opportunities for the development of the energy system.
In addition, a large number of electric vehicles are a “window” of opportunities for Ukrainian energy. “The Ukrainian energy community shares the opinion that temporary exemption from VAT and excise tax on the importation of electric vehicles into the country will not only stimulate the growth of sales of electric cars, but it is a signal that we are part of the civilized world and are ready for new technological, social and environmental challenges,” the authors of the letter said.
According to their data, in recent years there has been a growing trend in the demand for cars with an electric engine all over the world. In Europe, there are already more than 1 million electric cars, and by the end of 2018, according to forecasts, this number will grow by another 350,000.
“Electric transport has become the object of increased attention of parliaments and governments of developed countries. European states are actively stimulating the growth of the electric vehicle segment through tax incentives to create new opportunities for the development of infrastructure of charging stations and the development of the power grid,” the authors of the letter said.
The active development of sustainable energy creates demand on the introduction of micro-grid systems in Ukraine, and growing popularity of electric cars creates demand on the installation of superchargers. A representative of the company Andriy Panchenko described the new trends at the Swedish-Ukrainian business forum held in Kyiv recently. According to him, the company has already built 25 MW solar power plants under an order of Ukrainian energy companies.
Panchenko told Interfax-Ukraine that ABB on the market of solar power plants offers complex solutions, supplying everything, except solar cell arrays and cables. He estimated ABB’s market share at about 10%.
The representative of the company said that this market is growing, and this year the volume of construction will exceed 30 MW.
With regard to the superchargers, Panchenko said that the company has already installed 15 devices with a capacity of 50 kW, and the largest customer was DTEK. In his opinion, this market will continue to grow rapidly, as Ukraine is now the fifth market in Europe for importing cars, and the number of high-speed charges on the market is still very low. In general, Panchenko said that the ABB business in Ukraine began to grow, and if in 2014 its staff decreased from 200 to 100, now it has about 120 employees.
