Russia To Allocate $8 Billion To Develop Its EV Market

Russia’s new electric vehicle (EV) strategy to have 10 percent of all cars produced electric through 2030 is set to cost the equivalent of $8 billion, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing the Russian government’s press office.

On Monday, Russia’s government approved the strategy for the EV market through 2030, which envisages a 15 percent share of EVs in the total fleet at the end of this decade.

Russia is significantly lagging behind other markets in terms of EV sales. As of 2020, the number of EVs in the country with 144 million residents was just 11,000 electric vehicles, the government said in its strategy.

The first stage of the EV strategy between 2021 and 2024 will see at least 25,000 EVs made in Russia and the construction of at least 9,400 charging stations, including at least 2,900 fast-charging stations, the Russian strategy says.

The second stage between 2025 and 2030 targets EVs to account for at least 10 percent of all vehicles produced in Russia in 2030, the launch of battery cells production, 72,000 charging stations including at least 29,000 fast chargers, at least 1,000 hydrogen fuel stations, and the creation of at least 39,000 jobs.  

The government plans incentives for buyers to encourage EV sales.

For the first five months of 2021, Russians bought 650 electric vehicles, data from analytics firm Autostat showed. That was a sevenfold increase compared to January-May of 2020 when the pandemic and lockdowns led to a massive slump in the car markets everywhere. But it’s still too low.

In May 2021, a total of 60 percent of the 148 new EVs bought in Russia were Porsche Taycan and Audi e-tron, according to Autostat. Tesla Model X and Tesla Model Y sold five vehicles each in May. Nearly 40 percent of the new EV sales in Russia in May were in the capital Moscow.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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