Plan for roughly 25-40% on top of the vehicle price. The main items are: 1. Pre-purchase: deposit (10-30%), third-party inspection fee (100-300 USD). 2. In China: inland trucking to the port, export declaration fees. 3. Shipping: ocean freight (container 20ft usually 1,500-4,000 USD depending on destination), marine insurance (about 0.3-0.5% of car value). 4. In your country: customs duty, VAT/GST, port handling and storage, customs broker, quarantine or pre-shipment inspection if required, registration and plates. Always ask the exporter for an itemized landed-cost estimate for your specific port before paying the deposit, and confirm which Incoterm the quote is based on (FOB, CIF or DDP makes a big difference).

This is considered a force majeure risk. We will require the vehicle's state of charge (SOC) to be maintained in a safe dormant range of 30%-50% before loading, and we will insure you for all marine risks under CIF terms. If the battery suffers thermal runaway total loss due to abnormal cargo hold temperatures, the insurance company will compensate.

Pure electric vehicles are classified as Class 9 Dangerous Goods due to their large lithium batteries, leading to strict shipping regulations. Shipping companies have high requirements for the loading position and fire isolation measures for dangerous goods, and some roll-on/roll-off ships refuse to accept used EVs. As a result, EVs often require more expensive special container shipping and incur additional handling fees for hazardous materials.