Russia is gearing up to produce nine times more electric cars in 2023 compared to the year before. That’s what Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Andrey Belousov told reporters on Thursday. However, Belousov failed to specify which Russian models are supposed to boost the uprising.

Last year, Russia produced 2 000 BEV vehicles. According to Belousov, this figure will rise to 18 000 in 2023 and increase to 36 000 in 2024. “There’s a trend toward increasing the production of electric vehicles,” the Prime Minister said. “The development of electric transport is a trend in the development of the global automotive industry.”

Evolute i-Pro

Which models and brands Belousov is referring to remains unclear. The Russian EV models with a broader appeal are the Evolute i-Pro Sedans, launched in October last year, and the Moskvich 3, built at the former plant of Renault near Moscow.

The i-Pro uses a battery pack of 53 kWh, offers a range of 433 kilometers on a single charge (NEDC cycle), and has a length of 4 680 millimeters. With direct current, it can recharge from 20% to 80% in 35 minutes.

The i-Pro is assembled at the Motorinvest plant in the region of Lipetsk. It costs 2 990 000 Russian Roubles (€38 165), but the government has put purchase incentives in place, refunding 25% of the retail price. The Moskvich 3 is a carbon copy of the Chinese JAC S4. In December, the company assembled  200 units of the all-electric version and has plans to scale up to 10 000 units this year.

Apart from a few smaller and more adventurous undertakings, like the small car Zetta, the Russian EV market has been primarily dependent on foreign imports.

With the economic ban from Western countries depriving Russian customers of access to their EVs, the electric market was last year supplied by Asian brands.

Chinese Voyah offers an all-electric version of their big SUV Free, but the top-selling foreign brand, Kia, doesn’t mention the zero-emission models like the EV6 or the Niro EV on its Russian website.

7 000 charging points

There’s good reason for that because Russia’s strong reliance on gas and oil makes it a painstakingly slow EV adopter. The weak market for battery-powered vehicles is concentrated almost entirely around Moscow.

Belousov wants to change that. “This year, there are already 34 pilot regions that will receive subsidies for the commissioning of fast-charging stations. By 2024, the number of charging stations in Russia should be about 3 000,” the First Deputy Prime Minister specified.

To put these ambitions into perspective: Belgium exploits roughly 18 000 charging points, and the Netherlands, more than 90 000. The roll-out of the Russian charging infrastructure must entice new demand. Currently, the vast country counts 7 000 charging points.

Investment plan

In 2021, Putin’s government announced an investment plan for the electric transition. One million dollars was supposed to be injected into the battery shift for Russian mobility up to the end of the decade, to be spent on infrastructure and local production, from cars to heavy-duty vehicles.

In that specific order, moving gradually from one phase to the other. Belousov’s statement seems to confirm that this planning hasn’t changed despite the war in Ukraine eating up its way through the national treasury.

Before the Western sanctions, the Porsche Taycan was Russia’se most popular electric car, with 581 units sold in 2021. It was followed by the Tesla Model 3 (432), Audi E-Tron (387), Tesla Model Y (218), and Nissan Leaf (131).

In total, 2 254 BEV models were sold that year, tripling compared to the previous year. Last year, roughly 1 300 BEVs were sold in Russia, but then again, national car sales are falling at a ratio of 60%, according to Autostat.