Sales of electric vehicles in Russia at the beginning of the year showed an enviable growth, but this does not mean that the car market crisis has opened a window for fundamentally new vehicles. Experts came to this conclusion on Thursday during a round table organized by Reedus dedicated to this topic.
According to the Avtostat agency, in February 2023, 550 electric vehicles were sold – twice as many as in the same month of 2022, and since the beginning of the year – over 900 units (an increase of 1.5 times in annual terms).
The Russian fleet of electric vehicles will continue to grow, the participants in the discussion unanimously recognized, since the world auto industry has chosen this path for itself at this stage, and our market is highly dependent on it even now. It’s just that Western brands are being replaced by the Chinese, who have also relied on electricity. And cars with internal combustion engines running on gasoline or diesel will be produced less and less.
“We will develop like a bun – where the slope is, we will roll there,” Yang Haytseer, vice president of the National Automobile Union, described this situation.
But electric vehicles will not become a mass phenomenon in Russia in the near future for a number of reasons, experts say. The key one is the price – such machines are 50-70% more expensive than traditional counterparts.
Also important constraining factors are the lack of necessary infrastructure and access to cheap electricity. Its cost at paid gas stations is comparable to the price of gasoline. It is, of course, more profitable to refuel an electric car at home at a nightly rate. But this is only true if the house is private.
“Most Russians live in human settlements, where there is not enough parking. And bringing charging to each parking space in at least three phases is a colossal investment that Russia cannot afford today, ”explained Pyotr Shkumatov, coordinator of the Blue Buckets public organization of motorists.
Residents on the first floors of apartment buildings might theoretically charge their cars from household outlets by running a cable through the window (if they can park close enough), but what regarding those who live on the upper floors? And if there are several electric cars in the yard?
Jan Heitzeher suggests imagining a picture with garlands of cables that stretch from the windows. And it is unlikely that the power grid of a standard high-rise building will withstand such a load.
“I believe that the electric car is a natural evolution of motor transport. And even now they are quite affordable and cost-effective for people who live in their own home, if there are three phases and can be charged at a nightly rate. In this case, you actually get a free run for a day or two or three. But the electric car, I think, will not come to human lives soon, ”concludes Petr Shkumatov.
