Acquisition of a new Tesla: double the state support: the businessman intends to go to court

From 2020 April 20 Until February this year, the support can be used in Lithuania to buy a new or used electric car.

The Environmental Project Management Agency (APVA) estimates that support has already been provided for 144 new electric cars, a total of 576 thousand LTL has been paid to buyers. EUR (4000 EUR each).

However, Laurynas Boguševičius, a businessman who has applied to Delfi and runs the new car dealership MB Deals On Wheels, complains about the injustice that electric cars registered for the second time are no longer considered new when granting this support. And it is not possible to import Tesla cars in any other way, says the businessman.

“We are not only defending our interests, we are defending the interests of all potential customers and, in general, of any buyer of electric cars; this injustice is relevant to many. Imagine, you came up with the idea to buy a new car, you looked around and saw that there are, say, about 12,000 Nissan Leafs in Hungary. euros cheaper than in Lithuania. You ask to bring it to Lithuania, because you save a lot of money. By law, any car is considered new, the first registration of which is no more than 180 days old, but APVA has decided that a new car is new only when it is registered for the first time in Lithuania, ”says L. Boguševičius.

Under the Road Safety Law, a new vehicle is considered to be one that has not been previously registered or has not been registered for more than six months.

According to the businessman, Tesla does not sell cars directly in Lithuania in general, it does not have direct agreements with suppliers.

“If you want to buy Tesla in Lithuania, we are the pseudo-official representative in Lithuania, because Tesla never awards direct contracts,” explains Boguševičius.

The businessman assures that Tesla forces its dealers to register the cars sold for at least one day in the country in which it operates, and currently the official dealerships are the closest to Poland or Germany. Explain this by competition for market share.

“In November, there was a report that the German new car market is collapsing and the growth of Tesla is 43 percent. Tesla understands that the market share is very important. There is no difference for them to register a car in Lithuania They do not have a store here, but the market share in Germany or Poland is very important for them, because they already trade directly there and each registration counts ”, says the businessman.

Therefore, the car, although not used, is registered in Lithuania for the second time.

“It is only because the car was registered once a day in Germany, you will no longer receive 4,000 euros, but 2,000 euros,” says L. Bogoguevic.

Intends to go to court

The businessman is outraged that the agency is not reviewing the rules and is not giving more support to its clients, he has the sale of 9 electric cars that could qualify for support.

“I can confidently say to our customers that we will go to court and sue why those 9 people didn’t get it and why our customers, who Tesla will be coming to in January, shouldn’t get it under this support scheme. They didn’t do anything wrong, that’s unfair. We will go to court and file a lawsuit, which is cleared in court, ”says L. Boguševičius.

It has already addressed the Ministry of the Environment (MoE) with a proposal to adjust the support procedure so that those whose up to 6 months have elapsed since their first registration are also considered new cars. He received a response thanking him for the proposal to change the description of the benefits scheme: “The proposal is to be welcomed and is very useful to improve the legal framework. However, we regret that we are currently unable to take into account the proposed changes in legislation, as the call for proposals under this Description of Procedure is valid as of this year. February 20 to 2021 on February 1 “.

It is noted that changes in the essential requirements of the procedure description during the call would lead to unequal eligibility for applicants. Applicants would also find themselves in an uneven position due to the extremely short duration of the call.

The businessman assures that this is not only relevant for Tesla electric cars.

“A new Kia e-Niro has been launched, which costs 50 thousand in Lithuania. In Germany, for example, it can be bought for 38 thousand euros. Euros. We found it in Germany, and the same story, a car with a mileage of 200 km, but we are sorry, it is no longer 4000 euros ”, says the businessman.

He is convinced that changing conditions and finding owners of new electric cars would not be difficult because there are not so many. When asked if more flexible rules would not open a loophole for access to support in multiple states at once, he assured that this would not be possible due to applicable deadlines.

The ministry promises new support

Deputy Minister of the Environment Gintarė Krušnienė explains that previously, while the support scheme was being prepared, its rules were coordinated with manufacturers and importers, and no such comments were received.

“As far as we know, the problem he has raised is the problem of a manufacturer. The current conditions have been met for a year and we agreed upon them after a public hearing with representatives of manufacturers and importers. At that time, no one needed or was looking for other legal alternatives ”, Says the vice minister.

He noted that the current measure to support the purchase of electric cars expires on February 1.

“So even if we change the legal conditions, we couldn’t get to the end of this call. And even if we do succeed in replacing them, there would still be a lot of frustrated electric car buyers who have already benefited from APVA’s support. The good news is that we will probably expand the measure of the electric vehicle. Then we will find a way to create the fairest possible conditions for all market participants, “says G. Krušnienė.

The deputy minister noted that no one prohibits Tesla from importing its vehicles through Poland that formally comply with the conditions of the APVA.

Such an explanation mocked the businessman, ensuring that the Lithuanian market is currently not on Tesla’s radar and local importers could not demand anything from the manufacturer.

In a comment sent by APVA, he assured that the applications will be evaluated in accordance with the established procedure, which was approved by order of the Minister of the Environment.

“Will the support change or increase, in what order and so on?” It is decided by the Ministry of the Environment “, – commented APVA.