Curacao exempts electric vehicles from import duty

Exemption of import duties for electro vehicles

Amigoe

WILLEMSTAD — As from today, electro vehicles are duty-free, Minister-President Gerrit Schotte announced this morning during the seminar on eco-vehicles at the Hyatt Hotel. These vehicles that are driven by an electro motor are environment-friendly.  The import duties for hybrid cars will be less than for environment-polluting vehicles. As from January 12th, Customs will charge 10 percent import duties for these cars. Hybrid cars are driven by a combination of various techniques, both by an electro motor and a combustion engine. The advantages are considerable, for instance a hybrid is less environment-polluting, the energy use is relatively low and now there’s the lower import duty. This measure fits within the green policy of the cabinet – as mentioned in the policy document Electricity Supply Curaçao 2001-2015. Permanent energy is one of the spearheads of the new energy policy. The government stimulates alternates energy, such as solar energy and wind energy. Test ride for Premier The Toyota Prius is the most known hybrid vehicle. At the end of the seminar that was organized by Company’s Platform Environment, the Premier made a test ride in the first hybrid car on the island, the Toyota Prius Hybrid from Garage Cordia. Several people from companies that have a link with the subject spoke during the seminar. For instance, from the lectern Christopher Cooper of Toyota Tsusho America spoke about implementation strategies for electro vehicles on Curaçao and the worldwide development in the field of ‘Charging Points’ for vehicles with an electro motor. In the future, gas stations will also offer the possibility to charge batteries of such vehicles.