Amman Hybrid Owners Club

[Laith Zraikat]

If you own a Hybrid car in Amman, please read this post:
Calling on all Hyrbid Car Owners in Amman

Then, join this effort by adding your name to this discussion.

Thanks.

[Nadine Toukan]

In today's JordanTimes:

AMMAN –– Authorities said Tuesday there are currently no plans to levy more fees on hybrid cars as demand on such vehicles has surged recently, a trend attributed to concerns that extra charges are imminent.

According to figures by the Jordan Customs Department (JCD), a total of 4,796 cars have been cleared from the free zone since the beginning of 2009, with 859, or 18 per cent of the total number, entering the market between December 1 and 21.

The value of the environment-friendly cars, which are mostly imported from the US is JD102.5 million, the JCD indicated.

During the past month, people started to speed up clearance procedures for hybrid cars in the free zone, where over 2,850 hybrids were cleared between January and November, said Nabil Abu Rumman, president of the Jordan Free Zone Investors Association.

“There are rumours that the new government plans to impose more custom fees on hybrid cars early next year, but we have not received anything about such plans,” he added.

Current fees on green cars, which use both gasoline and electricity, range between JD1,000 and JD4,000 depending on the size of the engine, according to Abu Rumman.

Earlier this year, the Environment Ministry requested customs fees to be imposed on large-engine vehicles, saying that only hybrid vehicles under 2,000cc should be exempt from taxes and fees because they are more fuel-efficient and environment-friendly. But the Finance Ministry announced then that it had no plans to impose such fees.

JCD Director General Ghaleb Sarayreh told The Jordan Times on Tuesday that there are no plans to introduce more fees or taxes on hybrid cars, saying this issue has not been discussed by the new government.

“Even if a decision in this regard was taken, it will take into consideration the vehicles on display at the free zone,” the official noted.

Nadim Haddad, the marketing and sales manager at the Central Trade and Auto Company, a Toyota agent in Jordan, said that in addition to the availability of maintenance and spare parts for such cars at some dealerships, rumours about new custom fees were the main reason for the increasing demand.

Jordan is the largest importer of fuel-efficient cars in the region due to high fuel prices in addition to the fact that importing vehicles is not exclusive to agents, Haddad said.

According to Luay Shurafa, the regional manager of General Motors (GM) in the Levant area, said Jordan is the region’s first country with demand for hybrid models, expecting hybrid SUV sales to overtake conventional SUV sales in Jordan in the coming few years because buyers want to take advantage of low customs fees on hybrid models in addition to the element of fuel efficiency.

Haddad stated that maintenance and spare parts are available at agencies for hybrid cars, which are made to suit the topography and the climate of the Kingdom.

The battery costs between $4,000 and $5,000 while the price of the electric motor is $7,000, according to Haddad.

Abu Rumman explained that availability of green car maintenance and spare parts will increase in the coming year with more affordable prices because most manufacturing companies will focus on producing such types of cars. Source, JordanTimes, Omar Obeidat.

[Laith Zraikat]

The last statement about batteries costing 5k is very scary and it is the main concern standing in the way of a real surge in hybrids. A new industry is has emerged in the US for recycling and rebuilding expired hybrid batteries at a fraction of the cost (some claim around $600). Government needs to step in and encourage the establishment of this sector in Jordan and I would start by encouraging the imports of such recycled batteries and removing all import taxes in order to start building confidence in this product.

[UrdunMubdi3]

Jordan Engineers Association is holding a seminar about Hybrid vehicles on Dec 30th 4pm at Naqabat building (via @basemaggad

[Yusuf Mansur]

Time to relly act; See this article:
6 آلاف سيارة هجينة داخل المملكة
سباق مع الزمن لاستيراد الهايبرد قبل إخضاعها للضرائب

2010/01/28
العرب اليوم - ابراهيم خريسات

أدخل غموض موقف الحكومة- حيال فرض ضرائب ورسوم على المركبات الهجينة الهايبرد- التجار والمواطنين في سباق مع الزمن.

ويسعى مواطنون وتجار - على حد سواء - الى تسريع تملك او استيراد مركبات الهايبرد, في محاولة لاستباق قرار حكومي مرتقب يقضي باخضاعها للرسوم والضرائب.

وتشير ارقام رسمية - اصدرتها دائرة الجمارك - الى ارتفاع وتيرة الطلب على المركبات الهجينة, فقد بلغ عدد تلك التي استوردت وأدخلت الى السوق المحلية خلال الشهرين الماضيين نحو 2200 مركبة, ليصل عددها الإجمالي زهاء 6200 سيارة من تاريخ صدور قرار الإعفاء منتصف .2008

واثار اعلان الحكومة, على لسان وزير البيئة انذاك, نيتها فرض ضرائب على مركبات الهايبرد نهاية العام الماضي مخاوف التجار والمواطنين, الذين قصدوا الأسواق الأمريكية, التي ينتشر فيها هذا النوع من المركبات.

وبحسب مستوردين, فإن الوقت الكافي لاستيراد هذه السيارات من الأسواق الأمريكية يحتاج من 45 الى 60 يوما من تاريخ شحنها على الباخرة, الأمر الذي ادخل الراغبين باقتناء هذه السيارات في سباق مع الزمن, لكي يتمكنوا من اتمام عملية الاستيراد قبل صدور أي قرار حكومي يخضعها للضرائب.

الا ان قرار فرض الضرائب جمد بعد طلب تقدم به السفير الأمريكي الى الحكومة, اعرب فيه عن خشيته من تعرض مصالح الوكلاء الامريكيين للضرر, خاصة وانهم ابرموا عقود تصدير الى السوق الأردنية.

ويلمس المقبلون على هذه السيارات فروقا سعرية, مقارنة بتلك العاملة على البنزين فقط, الامر الذي احيا مخاوف لدى الحكومة من تراجع إيرادات الخزينة من الرسوم الجمركية, خاصة في ظل العجز الذي تعانيه موازنة الدولة للعام الحالي.

واكدت مصادر مطلعة, ردا على اسئلة العرب اليوم, ان الحكومة تدرس حاليا خيارات عدة, منها فرض ضريبة على هذه السيارات مهما بلغت سعة محركاتها, او إخضاع المركبات ذات المحركات الكبيرة للضريبة والإبقاء على اعفاء ذات المحركات الصغيرة, لتمكين المواطنين من ذوي الدخل المحدود من اقتناء مركبة اقتصادية.

وسعت الحكومة, في تصريحات صحافية سابقة, الى تهدئة اعتراضات التجار والمستوردين بمنحهم فترة سماح لحين اتمام ما جرى التعاقد بشأنه من هذه المركبات.0

http://www.alarabalyawm.net/pages.php?news_id=208398

[Mohanned]

Here is are some ideas:
1- Keep cars like the prius,insight,and civic tax and customs free.
2- Now that the bad decision was already taken, and the gas guzzlers in disguise were considered hybrids-for reasons that are beyond me-I think the best way to is hike yearly licensing fees on any car with engines bigger than 2500cc. And by hike I mean REALLY HIKE-like quadruple.

On a side note, this is just the typical type of behavior from Jordanian governments.

[Yusuf Mansur]

Laith, Mohannad;

How can we make this a national campaign and avoid talking heads? We do not need an ambassador to speak for us. I asked a set of questions before, which I repeat below:

What is the national gain to the environment?

Less oil imports reduce pressure on the Jordanian Dinar, reduce the trade deficit at the national level, what are they?

Less oil consupmtion by the driver of the vehicle reudce expenditures on fuel and enable better spending patterns (more on food, health, education and shelter), more savings and thus more investment.

These and others can be included in a paper sent to government and published here and elsewhere.

We must avoid leeting the budget shortfalls drive the development agenda of Jordan.

[Laith Zraikat]

I can speak very strongly for the latter; I save at least 40 jds per month on gas. This amount is not small for most people in Jordan and can make a difference in living standard; whether you use it to rent a better apartment, upgrade your health insurance, spend a day in a Dead Sea resort, buy new clothes, join a gym, upgrade your internet connection, or get an mobile data plan. spending that money locally instead of converting it to dollars and taking it outside will have a domino effect on the market which will result in higher wages because businesses are doing better, and therefore more sales tax collected by the government (sales and income taxes)

[Mohanned]

Making it a national campaign will be hard, because to be honest, who cares? Environmentalists are almost non-existent in Jordan. And don't forget that big and influential car dealers were affected. People moved from buying their cars toward the cheaper alternative, their market stalled and I guess they had an influence on the decision maker.

Plus I don't know how big an effect will they have on oil imports..You need a critical mass to reach that point which I think,for jordan, is almost impossible at least in the next 10,15 years-most jordanian make this purchase once every ten to 15 years, so the there will be no switchers but rather new buyers. I own a gas guzzler here in the US and have recently been thinking about buying a new prius which I will ultimately bring back home to jordan..But this new move by the government is making me think twice.

I think the best approach is proposing alternative money sources for the government, because to be honest I think they only care about how to get more money. Economically framed arguments are more persuasive, I believe. Being environmentally friendly is a good thing and the right thing to do, As I said before, alternatives are key. Cars with big engines should be taxed more in the form of recurring licensing fees.

[Yusuf Mansur]

Laith and Mohanned
Here are some thoughts:
Buying behavior is dictated also by the cost of the vehicle as a percentage of income; the higher the percentage the longer the consumption period is likely to be. Lower final prices (price plus customs) lead to renewed consumption, newer cars:
1. More efficient consumption of gasoline,
2. Less pollution: lives saved, country saved (we should avoid trading in the present for the future welfare of a nation, a typical occurrence in developing economies)
3. Better looking streets and country as old cars are shelved
4. Less lives lost due to malfunctioning cars being on the streets: cost of lives can be calculated
5. Lower total energy bill: this is an import that increases the trade deficit, and national exposure to oil prices
6. More energy can be saved and thus pumped into the productive sector: More capital can be allocated to production than transportation
7. Less demand for foreign currency and thus reduced pressure on the JD which means the Central Bank requires lower reserves, which also means that the reserves can be pumped into the economy
8. Greater innovation incentives as mechanics upgrade their skills and industry in general enjoys a new infusion of new technologies (positive externalities)
9. Savings on having to improve roads
10. Greater flexibility in the labor market as labor becomes more mobile: improved access of labor in the nether regions to jobs everywhere
11. Savings can also go into housing which would revive (partially) the real estate market, food items, etc.

[Yusuf Mansur]

This is an interesting article from the Economist

A Netscape moment?
Investors get out their chequebooks for electric-car start-ups
Feb 4th 2010 | From The Economist print edition

THE idea of the “Netscape moment”, a fund-raising that signals the spawning of a whole new industry, is dear to Silicon Valley types who think back fondly to the browser firm’s spectacular initial public offering in 1995. So it was not surprising that in late January Shai Agassi, a former software entrepreneur, greeted a $350m investment in his company, Better Place, led by HSBC, in just those terms. Better Place, based in Palo Alto, which hopes to be the leading infrastructure provider for the world’s growing fleet of electric cars, has raised nearly $700m in two years, making it one of the biggest “clean-tech” start-ups. A few days later, lending some weight to Mr Agassi’s claim, Tesla Motors, a pioneering maker of battery-powered sports cars co-founded by Elon Musk, another technology entrepreneur, filed for an initial public offering aimed at raising $100m. There is certainly much discussion of electric cars all of a sudden, although not as much as the internet prompted in 1995 (see chart).

Two questions arise. The first is whether Mr Agassi is right in believing that electric vehicles and the industry required to support them are about to enter the mainstream; the second is whether the charge will be led by disruptive innovators like himself and Mr Musk, or whether they will end up being trampled underfoot by the traditional automotive and energy-supply heavyweights.

Investment in electric cars is being driven by tightening emissions regulations, worries about energy security and enthusiasm for the technology in China, already the world’s biggest car market. Industry forecasts suggest that by 2020 about 10% of new cars will be either entirely battery driven vehicles or plug-in hybrids, with accelerated growth thereafter.

Mr Agassi’s achievement is to have shown how it can all be made to work. What impressed HSBC, apart from Better Place’s own technology, was the quality and seriousness of its partners, including Renault-Nissan, which has committed €4 billion ($5.6 billion) and 2,000 engineers to creating a range of vehicles designed to operate with Better Place’s infrastructure, A123 Systems, a respected battery-maker, the governments of Israel, Denmark, Canada, Japan and California, and big utilities in those places as well.

In addition to installing thousands of charging points—up to 20,000 for both Israel and Denmark, the two countries where the project will first go live—Better Place is also building battery-switching stations. Renault says that its cars will do about 100 miles (160km) between charges, which is fine for most commutes but not for longer journeys. To overcome the range problem, Better Place has devised machinery that will swap one battery for another in about two minutes. Customers will buy their cars, but lease the batteries and only pay for the miles they drive.

It all sounds promising, at least for now. But in the longer term, Better Place’s model may prove vulnerable. The utilities providing the electricity are quite capable of rolling out their own charging-point networks. There are also concerns about whether the switching stations will catch on. Oliver Hazimeh of PRTM, a consultancy, doubts whether other car manufacturers developing electric vehicles will be interested in standardising their batteries along lines determined by Renault-Nissan. And building different switching stations for different cars would either be impractical or very expensive.

Tesla’s prospects are even more uncertain. The firm’s prospectus brags about the technological innovations that have made its Roadster sports car a showcase for the potential of battery-driven cars to match the performance and (eventually) the range of the best conventional cars. But its next vehicle, the Model S, a five-door luxury saloon priced to compete with BMW’s 5-series that is meant to go on sale in 2012, is a far more ambitious undertaking and one that is fraught with risk.

Tesla has about $100m in cash and a $465m loan from America’s Department of Energy, but production of the Roadster will cease next year to allow retooling of the factory, and neither the design nor the production arrangements for the Model S have been finalised. Mr Musk’s plan to make 20,000 Model S saloons a year is a huge step up for Tesla (which has built about 1,000 Roadsters to date), but a tiny number for an industry that demands scale like no other.

Mr Musk believes that Tesla’s focus and Silicon Valley agility give it an advantage over incumbent carmakers. But those incumbents are now taking electric cars very seriously indeed, and have huge engineering and financial resources, as Renault-Nissan is demonstrating. Tesla has a close relationship with Daimler, which took a 10% stake in the firm last year. It may end up a skunk works for the German manufacturer rather than a carmaker in its own right. After all, where is Netscape now?