Highest number of electric cars registered in Sri Lanka last month:

Source : http://bizenglish.adaderana.lk/highest-number-of-electric-cars-registered-in-sri-lanka-last-month-4-tesla-cars-among-them/

Latest data from JB Stockbrokers reveal that the highest number of electric motor vehicles that have been registered in Sri Lanka within a month was in September this year.

There have been 471 electric motor vehicles registered during September where as during September last year only 15 such vehicles had been registered.

A significant feature here is that of four Tesla electric cars being registered in Sri Lanka during September this year.

While the Nissan Leaf is the most popular model of electric cars registered so far, all in all 2,072 electric motor cars have been registered so far.

Nissan Leafs recorded the bulk of the volume accounting for 458 units

Source : http://www.lankabusinessonline.com/sri-lanka-vehicle-registrations-hit-another-all-time-high-jbs/

Vehicle registrations hit another all-time record on most categories barring 2-wheelers in September. In some categories the growth over the previous month is alarming, JB Securities said in a research note.

Total motor car registrations recorded 14,301 units in Sep up from 9,107 units in Aug and a mere 3,539 units 12 months ago. This is a 400% increase from 12 months ago and 57% increase over the previous month.

Brand new car registrations recorded 9,183 units in Sep significantly up from 5,216 units the prior month and a mere 980 units 12 months ago. This is a 940% increase in 12 months and 76% increase over the previous month.

Small cars (<1,000cc) accounted for the 8,891 units (97%). Maruti accounted for 7,789 units (85%) in Sep up from 4,259 the previous month (83% increase) and a mere 564 units 12 months ago (1,380% increase). Micro recorded 639 units (mainly Panda) up from 441 units the previous month and 152 units 12 months ago. Hyundai recorded 228 units mainly comprising of Eon. Tata’s Nano Twist is gaining traction but volumes are yet low at 127 units. Financing share recorded 68% up from 64% the previous month. Its noteworthy that Maruti Alto Financing share was 68% in Sep up from 61.7% in Aug in spite of the 70% loan to value cap coming into effect on 15 Sep.

Preowned car registrations recorded 5,118 units in Sep significantly up from 3,891 units the prior month (31% growth) and 2,559 units 12 months ago (200% growth). Toyota accounted for 1,908 units (Aqua 1,040 units, Axio 499 units) followed by Suzuki with 1,713 units (Wagon R 1,642 units), Honda with 954 units (Fit 715 units, Grace 202 units) and Nissan with 456 units (mainly Leaf). Financing share was 67.5% slightly higher than the previous month’s 65.1% but in line with the year to day trend.

Premium brands recorded 113 units comprising of 69 brand new units and 44 preowned units. Brand new Mercedes recorded 40 units (C class 18 units, E class 15 units and S class 4 units) and preowned recorded 25 units (C-class 3 units, E class 8 units and S class 1 unit). Brand new BMW recorded 19 units (5-series 17 units, 3-series 2 units) and preowned recorded 15 units (Mini cooper 6 units, 7-Series active hybrid 4 units).

Electric cars recorded 471 units in Sep up from 380 units in Oct and mere 15 units 12 months ago. Nissan Leafs recorded the bulk of the volume accounting for 458 units up from 373 units the previous month. There are also 4 Tesla Model S, 3 BMW I3 and 2 Mercedez Benz B class. Total Tesla Model S population is now 8 cars on the road.

SUVs recorded 887 units in Sep up from 652 units in August and 805 units 12 months ago. Mitsubishi accounted for 285 units (Outlander 154 units, Montero 127 units), Toyota accounted for 200 units (Prado 178 units) Honda 189 units (Vezel 177 units) and Nissan 97 units (mainly X trail hybrids).

Hybrids recorded 5,049 units in Sep up from 3,849 units in Aug and 3,339 units 12 months ago. Of the 5,049 units, cars accounted for 4,591 units followed by SUVs with 425 units and Vans with 33 units. In January Honda Vezels recorded 1,263 units, by Sep volumes have dropped to 177 units but Suzuki Wagon R hybrids that recorded 8 units in January increased to 1,637 units. The Suzuki Wago R also referred to as Stingray is a small 800cc car with a hybrid engine.

Vans recorded 1,337 units in Sep up from 1,234 units the prior month and a significant increase from 198 units 12 months ago. Preowned units accounts for 95% of volumes. Toyota accounted for 585 units (mainly KDH or better known as Hiace) followed by Suzuki with 454 units (Every – this is a minivan).

3-wheeler registrations recorded 12,375 units in Sep slightly below the ALL time record set in July of 12,248 and up from 10,366 units in August and 7,507 units 12 months ago. Bajaj maintains it dominance with 86% of the market. Financing share was 90%.

2-wheeler registrations recorded 30,240 units in Sep up from 25,836 units in Aug and 24,399 units 12 months ago. Bajaj does not seem to be marketing a lady’s bike, a category that has seen rapid growth, this may explain their drop in market share that used to be around 45-50% to 31.2%. Hero and Honda parted ways 2-3 years ago in India, Honda bikes that are Made in India have claimed 24.6% share (7,382 units) and Hero claimed 21.8% share (6,552 units). Of the 2-wheeler units 68% are below 130cc, a majority of them are the lady’s bike (scooter) – Hero Pleasure 4,463 unit and Honda Dio 5,522.  Financing share was 60%.

Pickup trucks recorded 353 units in Sep slightly up from 327 units in Aug and 265 units 12 months ago. Tata claimed 74.5% of the market accounting for 263 units (207Di – 104 units, Xenon – 159 units). Financing share was 83%.

Mini truck registrations recorded 1,519 units in Sep slightly up from 1,385 units in Aug and 1,282 units 12 months ago. Tata claimed 55.7% of the market accounting for 787 units (Ace 486 units, Super Ace 301) followed by Mahindra with 536 units (Maxximo – 315, Maxi Truck – 221). Financing share was 93%.

Lite truck registrations recorded 701 units in Sep up from 601 units in the prior month and 294 units 12 months ago. Mahindra was the leader with a share of 70% accounting for 488 units. Financing share was 92%.

Medium truck registrations recorded 216 units in Sep up from 243 units in the prior month and 197 units 12 months ago. Financing share was 80.1%.

Heavy truck registrations recorded 136 units in Sep down from 144 units in the prior month and 133 units 12 months ago. Financing share was 88.2%.

Bus registrations recorded 235 units in Sep slightly down from 243 units in Aug and 247 units 12 months ago. Financing share was 93.3%.

How to Change Nissan Leaf KM instead of Miles

To change from kilometers to miles on the navigation, use:

Menu --> Settings --> Others --> Language --> Select Language/Units --> English (Km)

Vehicle imports to drop by about 90 percent after govt regulations

Sri Lanka's vehicle imports will drop by at least 90 percent after the government changes the way it calculates the value of certain motor vehicles, officials said on Friday.

The Indian Ocean island nation is trying to discourage unnecessary imports in a move to prevent dollar outflows and further weakening of the rupee currency.

Pressure on the currency has intensified after the central bank effectively floated it on Sept. 4. It has fallen 4.6 percent since then.

The finance ministry in a special gazette notification on Sept. 22 changed the basis by which customs will calculate the value of vehicles to one that is determined by the price provided by the manufacturer.

Previously, valuations were made based on the higher of two figures: the price determined by the director general of customs based on prices furnished by the manufacturersor the actual transaction value of the vehicle.

"Vehicle imports will drop by about 90 percent, that may be the intention of the people who created this," Kokila Deekiriwewa Co-President of the Vehicle Importers Association of Lanka told Reuters.

"Now, customs arbitrarily decides the valuation of vehicles on top of the rupee depreciation and other government regulations to discourage vehicle imports. So this will increase vehicle prices drastically."

On Oct 2, the finance minister also imposed a 100 percent margin on letters of credit (LC) for motor vehicles.

The cost of importing vehicles in the first seven months almost doubled to $744.4 million, central bank data showed.

The balance of payments during the first seven months of 2015 is estimated to have been in a deficit of $1.21 billion, compared with a surplus of $2.02 billion in the same period last year. (Reporting by Ranga Sirilal; Editing by Kim Coghill)

Source : http://in.mobile.reuters.com/article/idINL3N12923720151009

How to modify upgrade Repair Nissan Leaf Charging Cable....

Source : http://www.evsrilanka.com/viewtopic.php

One day morning my brother came and show me his New Nissan leaf cannot charge No lights when plug in to power

IMG_5108[1].jpg (364.51 KiB) Viewed 205 times

I just observe and spot diagnosed this should be a problem of power supply (step down transformer) then I opened it and found primary winding (AC side open circuit) I decide to replace the Power transformer.

I just try to open the Charging controller all the nails are covered by long plastic knobs you need to remove those 6 knobs to access the nails

IMG_5107[1].jpg (342.02 KiB) Viewed 205 times

you can make small drill hole and put the needle nose flier and pull it then you can see the nail.

To remove nail you need Allen key set then remove all six nails and remove the cover make sure you place the silicon beading which used to prevent water entering into the controller do not damage twist during re assembling

This is how it looks like

IMG_4524[1].jpg (488.79 KiB) Viewed 205 times

Identify the parts remove two nails on transformer block using plus screw driver

I found transformer primary side is open and give infinite resistance my diagnosis is correct so I proceed the repair replacing the step down transformer. 

[flash=]I came to know some people charge nearly 20,000/= Rs for this repair or Upgrade to 240V as both use the same procedure I decided to write this article prevent this racket do not pay more than 2000/= if have no skills to do this job contact me I will help you. [/flash]

Disconnect the two connectors Yellow and Red and check with ohm meter for connectivity if faulty AC side Red wires give infinite resistance so it is time to replace the transformer you can not find the same model but we can find same or better specifications 

Panasonic use 200V primary and 19v secondary we can find locally 240V 9v X 9V that is half wave 18V that is enough for the work you need to choose at least 500ma transformer you can find this very easily in open market. see the picture bellow.
secondary side center wire is not used in this project cut short and insulate 

Cut both connectors close to old black transformer and solder to new transformer red wires to Primary side and yellow wires to secondary side. if you have heat shrinkable tube insert it to the four ends of the wires before soldering and push away from your soldering area to prevent shrink those during solder. 

IMG_4528[1].jpg (343.2 KiB) Viewed 205 times

you may find it difficult to fix due to plastics you may remove disturbing plastic notches to accommodate new transformer screw the two nails and fix the transformer connect the connectors to correct place.

assemble it and power up enjoy you have saved over 100000/ rupees with less than 1000/= rupees any comments or suggestions are welcome

වාහන සඳහා බදු ඉහල දැමීමට හේතුව

ජපන් වාහන ශ්‍රී-ලංකාවට ගෙනඒම අවමකිරීම සඳහා කටයුතු සැලසීමට හේතුවූ කාරනාව වශයෙන් මුදල් අමාත්‍යවරයා ප්‍රකාශ කරන්නේ ඉදිරි දින 90 ක කාලය ඇතුළත දැනට වැඩිවි තිබෙන ඩොලරයේ අගය රුපියල් 130කට ආසන්න අගයක් දක්වා පහත වැටීමට නියමිතව ඇති බවයි.

ශ්‍රී-ලංකාවට ලැබීමට නියමිතව ඇති විදේශ ආධාර ප්‍රමාණයත් රුපියලේ අගය ස්වාභාවික ලෙස ස්ථාවරවීමට ඉඩහැරීමත් තුල මෙම තත්වය ඇතිවනු ඇති බව ඔහු ප්‍රකාශ කරයි. නමුත් මේ මොහොතේ වැඩිපුර වාහන ගෙන ඒම තුල ජනතාවට වැඩි මුදලක් ගෙවීමට සිදුවීම හේතුවෙන් වාහන ආනයනක කිරීම අධෛර්යය කිරීම සඳහා මෙසේ බදු පැනවීමට තිරණය කරනලද බව වාර්ථා වේ.

එමෙන්ම එළැඹෙන අයවැයත් සමඟ ආණයනික බදු අඩුකරනවාට අමතරව නව වැඩපිළිවෙළක් යටතේ ජපන් වාහන තොගයක් එකවර ගෙන්වන අයට අමතර වාහනයක් සඳහා විශේෂ සහනයක් ලබාදෙන වැඩපිළිවෙලක්ද සකසා තිඛෙන බව වාර්තා වන අතර මේ අනුව වාහන මිල තවත් පහල යනු ඇති බව අපේක්ෂිතයි.

Source : http://theceylon.net

Custom Valuation of Vehicle List

Motor Vehicle List with new FOB values

Bens http://www.customs.gov.lk/news/fob151002.pdf 

Landrover http://www.customs.gov.lk/news/fob2.pdf 

Mitsubishi http://www.customs.gov.lk/news/fob3.pdf 

Audi http://www.customs.gov.lk/news/fob4.pdf 

BMW http://www.customs.gov.lk/news/fob5.pdf 

Toyota http://www.customs.gov.lk/news/fob6.pdf

With this order the actual transacted FOB value of the vehicle has been excluded from the new valuation criteria and Sri Lanka Customs will use a predetermined value in order to apply relevant customs duties.

As per the above gazette notification, issued on September 22, customs value of certain motor vehicles imported should be the aggregate of the following four items.

(1) Customs value, determined by the Director General of Customs based on the price furnished by the manufacturer of such vehicle.
(2) Cost of transport to the port of Sri Lanka.
(3) Loading, unloading and handling charges associated with the transport to the port of Sri Lanka.
(4) Cost of insurance to the port of Sri Lanka.

When compared to the early gazette notification published on 10 February 2015, there is only one major difference which affected the first item above.

(1) Higher of the two alternative values of (i) and (ii) below;

(i) Price determined by the Director General of Customs based on the price furnished by the manufacturer of such vehicle:

(ii) Actual Transacted Free On Board (F.O.B.) value of the vehicle. Transacted value shall include local charges of every description incurred until the vehicle reaches the port in Sri Lanka.

It is clear that the actual transacted FOB value of the vehicle has now been excluded from the new criteria.

Sri Lanka Customs will use a predetermined value in order to apply relevant customs duties, back dated to 17 September 2015. The effective date was then verbally postponed to 30 September 2015.

For instance as per Sri Lanka Customs data, 1800 cc 4 Cylinder PRIUS has a FOB value of 3,497,237 Japanese yen and that figure will be used as the base for their valuation.

2400 cc 4 cylinder RAV 4 has a value of 2,591,714 Japanese yen, while 2700 cc 4 Cylinder PRADO has a value of 3,956,727 Japanese yen.

According to the provisions of the gazette, these numbers are based on the prices furnished by the manufacturers of these vehicles. But the exact way as to how these predetermined values are obtained is undisclosed.

Kokila Deekiriwewa, a lawyer by profession and Co-President of Lanka Vehicle Importers Association told LBO that these values are arbitrary.

“These are baseless figures with just high values. These should be ‘based’ on the prices of manufacturers not ‘beyond’ their prices,” he said.

“As an example, you’ll have to pay more than 800,000 rupees to clear an imported Aqua car because of this.”

As per the new gazette same value will be applied for older vehicles and newer vehicles of the same model.

“Whether it is manufactured in 2012 or 2015, same duty will be applied.” he said.

In terms of Article 10 of the Customs (Amendment) Act No. 2 of 2003, the minister has the power to set minimum values on goods in order to charge custom duties on such minimum values.

“So, the DG of Customs or any other official has no power to set values; it should be done by the minister himself through a gazette and it’s not transferable,” he said.

“It is unfair to decide arbitrary values using several customs officials,” he further stressed.

Source : http://www.lankabusinessonline.com/sri-lanka-vehicle-prices-to-increase-with-new-customs-valuation-basis/

Japanese cars hit the sky

Through the Gazette notification No. 1933/16 pertaining to imposing Customs duties, the government has announced new Customs duties on Japanese motor vehicles like Toyota and others imported to Sri Lanka.

Accordingly, the Customs duty on a Toyota Aqua vehicle has been increased by Rs. 770,000while the duty on a Toyota Axio vehicle has been increased by Rs. 703,000.

Furthermore, the Customs duty on a Toyota Hiace Petrol vehicle has been increased by Rs. 1,365,000 and a Toyota Hiace Diesel vehicle by Rs. 1,700,000.

Similarly, the Customs duties on Toyota Premio/Allion vehicles have been increased by Rs. 675,000 and Toyota Prius motorcars by Rs. 1,120,000.

Also, the Customs duty on a Toyota Harrier has been upped by Rs. 1,150,000 while on a Mitsubishi Outlander the duty has gone up by Rs. 852,000.

The duty increases on these vehicles are given in the following Table:

Commenting on this, Sri Lanka Motor Vehicle Importers’ Association president Indika Sampath Merinchige said that the prices of these vehicles would increase in accordance with these Customs duty increases.

He also added that due to the duty increase on Japanese vehicles, the prices of Indian manufactured vehicles too would increase.

Source : http://bizenglish.adaderana.lk/exclusive-duty-increase-on-japanese-cars-hit-the-sky-aqua-up-by-7-lakhs-prius-by-11-20-lakhs/

Replacing the stock horn to Fiamm Twin Horns

Source :  http://www.electricvehiclewiki.com/?title=Replacing_the_stock_horn 

The stock horn has two male 1/4" spade connectors, which connect to two corresponding female connectors from the wiring harness. One female connector, on the long wire from the wiring harness, is the negative lead; the other female connector, on the shorter wire, is the positive lead. (The female connectors have a nub that you need to squeeze to disconnect.)

If your new horns come as a pair, connect them in parallel: connect their positive terminals together and then to the positive lead (shorter wire from wiring harness); connect their negative terminals together and then to the negative lead (longer wire from wiring harness). This means that, for Fiamm El Grande horns, you need two 'Y' leads. Each lead has one male spade connector to two female spade connectors:

The Fiamm horns' mounting bolt is also its negative terminal. The kit should include washers that has a spade connector on their perimeter; the washer goes on the bolt and its spade connector provides the negative contact point. The single male spade connector on the horn's body is its positive terminal.
The horn bracket's bolt is 12mm; it is torqued to 13 ft-lbs.


An alternate method of mounting is to mount the horns to one side , so as to minimize blockage of air flow through the radiator.

Method 1: From Bottom


Remove the forward underbody panel to get at the horn:

Full Tour of Leaf Underbody. click here...

• It's almost as simple as plug and plug.There are two quick connectors on the stock horn.You un bolt the old horn.
• Pull off the quick connectors.
• create two wires shaped as Y's, the top legs of the Y need 1/4" female quick connectors and the bottom needs inline quick connectors.
• Snip off the stock 1/4" quick connectors and crimp the bottom inline quick connectors to the snipped off stock wires.
• Now you will have (4) 1/4" Quick Connectors to connect to 2 horns, two connectors will be positive and two will be negative.
• Don't mixed them up. 
• Cover all exposed wires and quick connectors with electrical tape and you're set. 

Method 2: From Above


You can replace the horn from above. This involves removing the radiator's cowl and the coolant expansion tank.

To see full pictorial tour, Click here...

• Open the hood and remove the front bezel that covers the radiators. 
• Get the coolant overflow tank out of the way.
• You can see the stock horn

There is a foam block and lots of stuff in the way of top access on 2014 Leaf. Also the panel does not easily come off anymore.

After took the top plastic cover off there are additional plastic covers that block your access from getting to the horn from above. See this picture, click here...

Repair Manuals for All Models

You can download all the repair manuals for any model..

• 2011 Leaf
• 2012 Leaf
• 2013 Leaf
• 2014 Leaf
• 2015 Leaf

Source: http://www.nicoclub.com

100 percent margin deposit on car import LCs

Sri Lanka will impose a 100 percent margin deposit on car import LCs with effect from today, Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake told at a media briefing held in Colombo.

According to data Sri Lanka’s expenses on vehicle imports has doubled to 744 million US dollars for year 2015 compared to 374 million dollars in the same period last year.

The margin will be effective from today October 02, 2015 Karunanayake said.

The same step was last taken in 2013.

Sri Lanka has imported about 491,000 vehicles for the eight months ended August this year.

“We have more vehicles in Sri Lanka than we require at the moment. Even though we understand the need to have a vehicle,” Karunanayake said.

“We are taking these measures to control it,”

The loan to value ratio (LTV) for vehicles, however, will be increased back from 70 percent to 90 percent due to the imposition of the 100 percent margin deposit on LCs.

“When we increase the LC margin, we can relax the loan value,” Karunanayake said.

“We received a lot of requests from banks and finance companies to relax the loan value as it was hitting the second hand car market"

Source: http://www.lankabusinessonline.com/sri-lanka-slaps-100-margin-on-car-lcs-calls-for-expat-funds-finance-minister/