Moscow Russia itself promotes the material that burners need, has plenty of fossil resources, fuel is cheap – and climate change is far from being a core political issue. No wonder electric vehicles are exotic on Russia’s roads. Nationwide there are not even 13,000 Stromers, in Moscow there are only 1,360 on the road. For comparison: Germany, which has long since ceased to be a model country in terms of e-mobility, already has almost half a million vehicles with the new drive technology on its roads.
And yet: Russia is now beginning to prepare for the new age. The signals of a global traffic turnaround are too clear, the development of electromobility in the neighboring regions of Asia and Europe is too dynamic to evade the drive revolution. The message has also reached the Moscow government headquarters: With electromobility, a new mega-market is emerging that, in your own interest, should not be ignored.
In mid-2020, the Russian government therefore lifted import duties on electric vehicles: used cars from Japan, especially the Nissan Leaf models, have since found their way to Russia.
In order to increase the demand for new cars, the government would next have to abolish VAT as well, demands Dmitri Matwijewski, CEO of it.Charge, a company that manufactures and operates software for charging stations.
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That would correspond to the goals of the Russian leadership: By 2030, battery-powered vehicles should make up 15 percent of the new car market. This would mean that this segment would grow significantly faster than has been the case in China and Europe over the past ten years. Fares Kilzie, CEO of the investment company Creon, considers the 15 percent in new car sales to be an ambitious target and underlines the special role of his country.
Although Russia is following the global trend of decarbonization and climate protection, “Russia will rely more on hydrogen and CNG drives because, from a Russian perspective, these are more economical than classic electric vehicles,” believes Kilzie. For battery-powered e-mobility, Russia is still important as an exporter of lithium and cobalt, he told Handelsblatt.
There is a lack of charging stations for electric cars everywhere, especially in the provinces.
(Photo: imago images / SNA)
But the Kremlin not only wants to expand the market for suppliers, Russia should also score points in the new era of transport with its own productions. According to the concept of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, around 220,000 electric cars are to roll off the assembly line in 2030.
However, there is a certain skepticism within the automotive industry as to whether the change can be made. Mainly because the right infrastructure for electric vehicles is missing. There are fewer than 500 charging stations in total, and the network would have to be expanded enormously in the coming years in order to encourage people to buy an electric vehicle.
Charging stations also in rural regions
“You practically can’t get out of town with an electric car,” says car expert Kyrill Saitzew. While there are already a few free e-charging stations in the parking garages of the new urban shopping and entertainment centers or in the vicinity of modern high-rise projects, one looks in vain for charging stations on the country roads.
The Russian government therefore wants to promote the development of an appropriate infrastructure in pilot regions. This affects the M4 highways from Moscow towards Krasnodar and the Crimea as well as the M11 from Moscow to Kazan.
In addition, 19 regions are in the funding pot, including the Moscow region and the Leningrad region – but according to reports, not Moscow and St. Petersburg themselves.
In addition, only stations with a capacity of at least 150 kilowatts and four connections are funded, two of which must comply with the European CCS standard and two with the CHAdeMO standard, which is more widespread in Asia.
“It is sensible to promote such fast-charging stations along important highways,” says Sergej Roschenko, Deputy Director of KPMG’s investment and capital markets department in Russia, the Handelsblatt. He believes that the sector will not develop without the right impetus.
The goals get expensive
A total of 2,900 charging stations are to be built with the subsidies, with the government assuming up to 60 percent of the station costs and up to 30 percent of the costs for connecting to the power grid.
In fact, the connection costs in particular are likely to be significantly higher than planned by the Kremlin, as the electricity capacities in many places are insufficient. And so some market participants are calling for the government to lower the conditions for subsidies, otherwise the program will fail.
In order to promote sales of the sleek Stromer, Porsche wants to install many fast charging stations.
(Photo: imago images / Hartenfelser)
it.Charge boss Matwijewski, on the other hand, is fundamentally optimistic. At the moment, the charging stations are not yet profitable. But customers are willing to pay more than the current price per kilowatt hour if charging is quick.
Things will go particularly quickly at Porsche: The German car manufacturer, who sells the electrically powered Taycan in Russia, wants to set up charging stations with a capacity of 320 kilowatts and 800 volts. With this, a vehicle could charge 100 kilometers in five minutes.
However, these charging stations are only available from the Porsche dealers themselves. Nine charging stations are planned by the end of the year, and all dealers are to be equipped with such a station in the coming year.
For environmentalists, the Russian race to catch up in the field of electromobility is a good signal, but there is also a certain amount of skepticism. Because as long as the energy for electric motors is obtained from fossil fuels, the drive revolution will not contribute to the fight against climate change. And as far as the generation of renewable energies is concerned, Russia, which is rich in raw materials, is still hopelessly underdeveloped.
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