GOMEL, 12 March (BelTA) – The industrial group Belorusneft intends to open 180 fast charging stations in 2020, the company's press service told BelTA.
Since the beginning of the year Belorusneft's chain of vehicle charging stations has grown larger with 13 stations, bringing their total number to 251 stations. There are 1.4 stations per electric car in Belarus today. For instance, there are 14 electric vehicles per charging station in Ukraine. Belarus' chain of vehicle charging stations can handle up to 9,000 electric cars. The chain offers fast and express charging. For the convenience of motorists the stations are located within an optimal distance on major motorways, in parking lots near business centers, sport and cultural facilities in cities and towns.
Mode 3 and Mode 4 charging stations are in use in Belarus. The former can charge an electric car over the period of 6-8 hours. The latter can do the same within less than an hour. As a rule, by spending 15-20 minutes at a Mode 4 charging station an electric car can get 80% of the maximum charge. It may need another 15-20 minutes to get the remaining 20%. The time requirements are determined by physical and chemical processes going on inside the car's battery and have to be observed in order to extend the battery's service life.
Belorusneft presented Malanka [lightning in Belarusian] as a new brand for the chain of vehicle charging stations in early 2020. “The name symbolizes energy that puts cars in motion as well as speed and advanced technology,” the Belorusneft press service said. As many as 639 charging stations working under the brand Malanka will be available by 2022.
Electric vehicles are getting more and more popular in Belarus and countries of the Eurasian continent. “The ecological trend is bolstered by an economic component. The Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission has backed a draft resolution on introducing zero-rate customs duties on importing electric vehicles. The final decision will be made by the Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission. But owners of electric cars are already exempt from paying the public roads usage tax. Apart from that, the maintenance of electric cars is cheaper,” the press service said.
Experts believe that up to 300,000 electric cars will be in use in Belarus by 2030.
BelTA reported earlier that on 12 March Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko signed a decree on encouraging the use of electric vehicles. In line with the document owners of electric vehicles will not have to pay the public roads usage tax. Natural persons will be exempt from paying VAT for importing electric vehicles for personal use to Belarus. They will be able to get up to 500 base amounts of the VAT they paid to buy the vehicle rebated. Apart from that, owners of electric vehicles will be exempt from paying fees for parking their vehicles in specially equipped places in public parking lots till 1 January 2026.
Manufacturers of electric vehicles and charging stations and companies that operate them have been granted the right to use increased investment tax deductions in line with the Tax Code. Charging stations will be exempt from VAT if they are to be used in Belarus.
The industrial group Belorusneft will be able to get land plots without an auction for building and operating charging stations. The cost of building the charging stations can be transferred without compensation to the legal person that runs these facilities and can be included by the customer (the developer) into non-sale expenses. Land plots for deploying charging stations will be allocated without losing their common land status if authorized by the land user.
