Re: ඉලෙක්ට්‍රික් කාර් මිල වැඩි කිරීම සාධාරණද

[UkboyTop contributor]

Yes there are 2 sides to this problem.

I think more than anything else Ravi K is looking every avenue to stop local money going out. Leaf is the unfortunate victim of it.
To be fair to him not many people wanted buy Leafs before 2015.
I'm sure things will change again but dont know when.
What he has done is something we desperately needed at the moment.

Personally this hike cost me some money. I lost an extra income generating way. But I'm pretty sure most of the guys who are shouting at this hike on facebook have no intention to buy a leaf or any other electric cars.
Hydrogen cells is the future of energy sources but no cars (well...except 1 or 2) available at the moment. Toyota will release a model next year but doubt Sri Lankans wiling to buy it because of the cost (Rs 13m+). I wouldnt pay over 5m for a Japanese car.

[chutiputhaTop contributor]

previous 5% tax was necessary to popularize the electric cars. but i do not think with that kind of tax govt can maintain road network and other infrastructure related to transportation. now electrics are popular to some extent ,so at some point govt need to increase the taxes. today i saw a news item which says nissan is going to manufacture mass market electric car ,so prices will come down. any way for the use of electric cars  charging station are still not available. therefore  govt should extend the low exercise duty for electric cars for another one year or two until  charging network is developed.

Dont u think about increasing Echo Friendly vehicles in the country and reduce other vehicle????

[Ethical TraderTop contributor]

Yes there are 2 sides to this problem.

I think more than anything else Ravi K is looking every avenue to stop local money going out. Leaf is the unfortunate victim of it.
To be fair to him not many people wanted buy Leafs before 2015.
I'm sure things will change again but dont know when.
What he has done is something we desperately needed at the moment.

Personally this hike cost me some money. I lost an extra income generating way. But I'm pretty sure most of the guys who are shouting at this hike on facebook have no intention to buy a leaf or any other electric cars.
Hydrogen cells is the future of energy sources but no cars (well...except 1 or 2) available at the moment. Toyota will release a model next year but doubt Sri Lankans wiling to buy it because of the cost (Rs 13m+). I wouldnt pay over 5m for a Japanese car.

I think that, Ravi has given into the strong lobby of other motor car vendors because their sales were affected due to this very low 5% tax. This is an unwise decision.

[HUNTERTop contributor]

Eco friendly guys,
I have a small question.

If the gov retained the tax level of electric cars at 5% but reduced all other cars' taxes also to the same level (5%) and reduce fuel prices also further, would you buy a normal car or an Eco-friendly car?

[chutiputhaTop contributor]

For Me,Eco Friendly Vehicle.if the price is low as previous I love to buy

Eco friendly guys,
I have a small question.

If the gov retained the tax level of electric cars at 5% but reduced all other cars' taxes also to the same level (5%) and reduce fuel prices also further, would you buy a normal car or an Eco-friendly car?

[balapasTop contributor]

Govt has a BOP issue. Why not allow paypal withdrawals to SL bank accounts? Pretty sure will help. There is always talk on this no action taken.

[HAL9000Top contributor]

Govt has a BOP issue. Why not allow paypal withdrawals to SL bank accounts? Pretty sure will help. There is always talk on this no action taken.

Definitely a good idea. Many can start their own export business if this is allowed. We all can sell some of our used items as well.

[HAL9000Top contributor]

We all should understand that during election times (anywhere in the World) The air is full of promises, but they are nothing but promises full of air only.

True, but raising electric vehicle taxes to the unacceptable level is one of the dumb decision in this budget. It is not only zero emission, but also minimize the pollution with discarded engine oil, gear box oil etc, and since we  import all our crude oil, in long run could have save considerable amount of foreign exchange. We know that Leaf vehicle selling was sometimes coupled with net metering solar power system as well. However with wide range of protest, this might be amended to an accepted level.
(P.S. Not to forget the tax rate of Electrical vehicle before January 08! So we just had a 10 month bliss is seems)

[HAL9000Top contributor]

Eco friendly guys,
I have a small question.

If the gov retained the tax level of electric cars at 5% but reduced all other cars' taxes also to the same level (5%) and reduce fuel prices also further, would you buy a normal car or an Eco-friendly car?

Good point. Driving an electric car carries some cost and environment benefits as well as risks. Like we discussed in a previous thread, we have to pre plan our journeys if we use electric car and for long range trips this is not the option. Last week for the first time I saw a Nissan Leaf vehicle stopped middle of the road due to a dead battery. Many people electric car as their second vehicle for city limit rides while keeping a gasoline/hybrid vehicle for other trips. but when Electric car price go beyond the price of even a hybrid and gasoline vehicle all above benefits are viped out except environment friendliness.

[Hawk Eye]

Health issues and Traffic congestion are given free with the vehicle.

Pollution given to our children, our money given to Suddhas

[First Guy]

I'll give the benefit of the doubt to chuti but most bought hybrids just to save on fuel and now leafs also for same reason. No one really cared about 'eco'.
They don't think about depreciation even.

Leafs were around for a while but only few were brave enough to try and they were 'rewarded'

like HAL said, many leaf owners use it as second car. So taxing the second car more logic also works

but given the situation it is a bit stupid move. At the same time, as I said in earlier post, in the short term this would have had a heavy load on our national grid.

[smallvilleTop contributor]

I think more than anything else Ravi K is looking every avenue to stop local money going out. Leaf is the unfortunate victim of it.
To be fair to him not many people wanted buy Leafs before 2015.
I'm sure things will change again but dont know when.
What he has done is something we desperately needed at the moment.

You've given the correct answer UkB.. I was reading thru before writing and found yours..

Tru enuf GOVT's problem is foreign currency out. They tried to stop this by without interfering in dollar scene first but even though the prices up, still no slowing of vehicles. Mind you, 2015 is the year that brought so much of vehicles to SL.. Just go to the road in an odd time like 11-12 noon and see... still roads are congested.

Leaf was the cheapest Japanese car besides WagonR.. And looks better than WagonR hence it was a preference. Therefore Leaf was the unfortunate guinea-pig..

However, these things are only short term fixes.. If budget put in to practice in the correct manner, most probably by the next budget these will be removed as well.

[HAL9000Top contributor]

I think more than anything else Ravi K is looking every avenue to stop local money going out. Leaf is the unfortunate victim of it.
To be fair to him not many people wanted buy Leafs before 2015.
I'm sure things will change again but dont know when.
What he has done is something we desperately needed at the moment.

You've given the correct answer UkB.. I was reading thru before writing and found yours..

Tru enuf GOVT's problem is foreign currency out. They tried to stop this by without interfering in dollar scene first but even though the prices up, still no slowing of vehicles. Mind you, 2015 is the year that brought so much of vehicles to SL.. Just go to the road in an odd time like 11-12 noon and see... still roads are congested.

Leaf was the cheapest Japanese car besides WagonR.. And looks better than WagonR hence it was a preference. Therefore Leaf was the unfortunate guinea-pig..

However, these things are only short term fixes.. If budget put in to practice in the correct manner, most probably by the next budget these will be removed as well.

In last few months, Leaf not only drained reserves but also didn't contribute the revenue of treasury as the duty rate was only 5%. So in Shortrun it didn't giva any good to government although long term benefits are there. Car Sales already started selling Leaf cars at hilariously high prices which they bought at low cost. Buying a vehicle is also like stock picking, correct timing is very important. Time to time duty rates changes so we should follow the trends when buying and selling vehicle. We know 2009-11 we had a low duty period, then came BoP issue and duty went up. Again came down by 2014-15 and now up. Soon the BoP issue settles, government will need the massive revenue from vehicle imports so that the duty rates will be slashed to promote buying. But regarding thecElectric Vehicle issue, I guess the decision would ammend sooner than later due to widespread protest. We'll wait and see.

[First Guy]

If you are concerned about 'eco friendly' then can ask govt to give concessions for high fuel consuming old vehicle owners for swapping them for hybrid or electrics. Then pollution will reduce a bit.

But they won't buy these to save the environment but to save their pocket. (most)

but if no concession they will drive old high fuel consuming vehicles.