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Landed Cost

Landed Cost Methodology - EV Hub Docs

The exact formula, data sources, and assumptions behind every landed-cost number on EV Hub — transparent, documented, and reproducible.

Every number on EV Hub is produced from a single, documented formula using public tariff schedules, national tax rates, and industry freight benchmarks. This page is that documentation, so you can verify — and reproduce — any figure on the site.

Why we publish this

Most Chinese EV listings show only the factory or FOB price. A car advertised at $14,000 can land in Germany at over $28,000 once duties, VAT, freight, and certification are applied. That gap is the single biggest surprise for first-time importers — and the reason transparency matters.

The formula

landed_price = base_price × (1 + standard_duty) × (1 + countervailing_duty) × (1 + VAT)
               + RoRo freight + customs clearance + certification + registration + inland transport

Duties compound in this order:

  1. Standard duty is assessed on the ex-factory base price.
  2. Countervailing duty is assessed on top of that (base + standard duty).
  3. VAT/GST is charged last, on the duty-inclusive total.

You do not add the rates; you compound them. This is the single most expensive misunderstanding in EV importing.

Freight and insurance are itemised as separate fixed costs, not compounded into the dutiable value. Strict EU customs valuation uses the CIF value (car price + insurance + freight) as the dutiable base; our figures assess duty on the ex-factory base price as a conservative simplification, and insurance is excluded (see Assumptions & limits).

The fixed-cost benchmarks

The variable tax terms come from public schedules. The fixed costs come from industry benchmarks and are held as central estimates:

Fixed costTypical (USD)Basis
RoRo ocean freight$2,000China → North Europe main ports
Customs clearance$350per vehicle
Certification / homologation$3,250ECWVTA or national single-vehicle
Registration$400–$500varies by country
Inland transport$500port → buyer

Producer-specific countervailing duties (EU)

The EU anti-subsidy duty on Chinese BEVs is producer-specific, not a flat rate:

ProducerCVD
Tesla (Shanghai)7.8%
BYD17.0%
Geely (incl. Zeekr, Polestar)18.8%
SAIC (MG, Roewe, Maxus)35.3%
Other cooperating producers20.7%
Non-cooperating producers35.3%

Source: European Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2754, effective 31 October 2024, five-year duration.

Where the CVD applies — and where it doesn’t

A critical distinction most calculators get wrong:

  • EU markets: the countervailing duty applies in full, producer-specific.
  • UK, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Australia: no countervailing duty applies.

This is why the United Kingdom and the Gulf land vehicles dramatically cheaper than the EU — the difference is structural, not incidental.

A note on VAT recoverability

For B2B importers, VAT/GST is often recoverable (via VAT registration in the EU/UK, or GST registration in Australia). The duty and countervailing duty are permanent costs; VAT is frequently a cash-flow item rather than a final cost. Our landed-cost figures show the full VAT-inclusive number, so treat it as the “cash you need at the border,” not necessarily the “final net cost” if you can reclaim.

Assumptions & limits

These are B2B import estimates, not retail quotes. Actual landed cost varies with:

  • Trim and battery specification
  • Port of entry and shipping lane
  • Import volume (freight and certification are volume-sensitive)
  • Currency (USD/CNY, USD/EUR, USD/GBP movement)
  • Homologation route (full type approval vs. single-vehicle)

Figures are refreshed when tariff schedules or tax rates change, and every estimate carries its data date.

Excluded from every figure: insurance (the “I” in CIF), foreign-exchange movement, financing and dealer margin, port demurrage/storage, and destination-specific taxes such as Turkey’s special consumption tax (SCT), Singapore’s ARF and COE, Indonesia’s PPnBM luxury tax, Brazil’s IPI/ICMS, and Malaysia’s excise duty. These can be material in those markets — confirm the full stack with a local broker before committing.