Electric vehicles (world market). Why Electric Vehicles Are a Dead End in the Automotive Industry Hybrid Vehicle Models
In recent years, there has been a clear trend towards electrification in the automotive industry. Almost all world manufacturers are planning to release new cars that will be driven by electric propulsion systems.
Moreover, according to numerous experts, electric vehicles are the future. That is, in the coming years, more and more more cars with zero emissions harmful substances, which, according to predictions and forecasts, should eventually completely replace cars with internal combustion engines.
However, there is also another side of this coin. Let's try to figure it out and understand whether electric cars are a utopia or, on the contrary, progress. Of course we don't mind this kind. Vehicle. But, at present, the idea of a global electrification of the automotive industry, at least, does not look so rosy.
For example. Ask yourself why France's Renault has discontinued its Fluence Z.E. main reason– insufficiently high consumer demand for a car with electric power plant. Moreover, after a little understanding of the situation, we found at least a few more reasons due to which electric vehicles will not become either popular or profitable in the near future.
Before specifying, we note that even the Americans, who became the pioneers of the mass introduction of electric cars, gradually began to lose interest in such machines. This is not taken from heaven. Thus, the United States Department of Energy believes that by 2040 electric vehicles in the country will be no more than 1% of the automotive market. Previously, this forecast was much "rosier".
Ecology is not a problem for the automotive industry at all
Smog over cities
Photo: YandexIt's no secret that every year humanity, in the truest sense of the word, is terrified by various pictures, the main character of which is smog over industrialized megacities. It is noted that this situation is due to the huge fleet. Yes, there is some truth in this, but only a part.
Numerous specialized experts note that industrial enterprises are to blame, not least of all. In turn, a tough environmental policy in this area can lead to the fact that the states will begin to fall in GDP with all the ensuing consequences.
That is, if “social and starvation riots” start from “environmental warriors”, you must agree that everyone will frankly “do not give a damn” about the ecology itself. Simply put, we are simply switched from one problem to another, “letting all the dogs go” specifically on the automotive industry.
And if humanity has so much electricity
Fukushima nuclear power plant
Photo: YandexThe global electrification of the automotive industry makes us think about such a question as "do we have so much electricity." Perhaps, at present, nuclear energy is a more efficient way to generate electricity. But, let's remember Chernobyl and Fukushima.
At the same time, adherents of total automotive electrification argue that most people on the planet breathe exhaust gases that cars throw out from the engine. internal combustion, which leads to lung diseases, poisoning, and so on.
So if at present humanity has not found an ideal way to generate a huge amount of energy, it is better to leave everything as it is?! After all, you must admit that conventional hydroelectric power plants can be built far from everywhere, and there are a lot of issues with the environmental component. And how many of them then need to be built to be enough for all our needs!?
Hour of memory for school students dedicated to the Day of the Chernobyl tragedy
Photo: Culture.ruThere are also "progressive" solar panels and windmills, but, as you know, they do not pay off. Among other things, there is also the problem of disposal of spent designs. Thus, according to the world media, the issue of disposal of such energy sources is no less acute than the disposal of spent nuclear fuel.
The operating power plants, the source of electrical energy of which is liquid or solid fuel, again negatively affect the environment, and are not so efficient. Of course, we will make one more amendment, we are silent about the harm that the extraction and use of more familiar types of fuel for the automotive industry brings to our planet.
No infrastructure
Charging stations for Tesla electric vehicles
Photo: TeslaThe lack of infrastructure for the use of electrified vehicles is another “plus in the basket” of such vehicles. What can I say, because of this, there are no proper sales volumes of existing electric cars. Well, tell me, why would a person buy a car that has nowhere to charge?!
Moreover, another question arises: the time it takes to charge the batteries of electric cars. Yes, global manufacturers are actively working on this issue, but so far not everything is as good as we would like. To be brief, at the moment there is simply no infrastructure for the use of electric cars on a global scale. But, again, we will make an allowance for the fact that in the future this situation can and should change.
Payback and price
Photo: Jaguar
Let's start with the second and third. No matter how hard global manufacturers try, the price of an electric car is still quite high. This, in turn, as well as a poorly developed infrastructure, leads to the fact that an electric car cannot quickly pay off. As previously calculated by British analysts, even the most affordable electric car, with all its advantages, is able to recoup the investment, at best, in five years. At the same time, cars with internal combustion engines pay off in three.
Reliability
Renault Fluence Z.E.
Photo: RenaultImagine a company is selling you new car, which is able to run about 120 thousand kilometers without a sufficiently serious intervention ?! According to research, the main driving element of an electric car - the battery - is prone to rapid aging. And this, first of all, is again connected with technological problems.
Like most of these problems, the low popularity of electric machines in Russia has not one, but a whole range of reasons. Let's consider them all in order.
Lack of government support
The experience of countries leading the use of electric vehicles shows that government support is a key pillar for the development of this market. The states in which the government is interested in the growth of the fleet of electric machines are primarily concerned with environmental issues - reducing emissions of carbon and nitrogen oxides, as well as fine particulate matter.
A striking example of such a policy is China, where the popularization of electric vehicles is one of the strategies to improve the environmental situation. Sales of zero-emission vehicles started back in the late 2000s and have skyrocketed since 2013. Already in 2015, more than 145 thousand units were sold, and the total fleet at that time amounted to about 225 thousand cars. In 2017, Chinese buyers purchased almost 800,000 electric vehicles, and the growth compared to 2016 was 53% - that is, the total number of environmentally friendly vehicles has already exceeded 1.5 million. And the reason for such rapid growth lies precisely in the state sales promotion: the government is developing a network of charging stations and subsidizing the purchase of electric vehicles, providing them with a competitive price in the general automotive market.
In Russia, at the state level, the development of environmentally friendly transport has been discussed for a long time, but the real implementation is not even lame, but "lies in the direction of the dream." Round tables, forums and conferences are held annually, but in practice there is no and is not expected to work on the creation of a large-scale unified network of electric filling stations - almost all the few charging stations are installed at the expense of private investors. At the same time, for some time - from 2014 to 2017 - zero customs duties were set for the import of electric filling stations and other equipment - but then they were canceled, so now charging equipment is imported on a general basis.
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A similar situation is with the import of electric vehicles themselves. The customs rate for the import of ordinary cars into Russia is calculated based on the age and engine size, while for electric vehicles a different calculation method is used: the import tax is calculated based on the cost of the car. Considering that new electric cars are already very expensive, the current duty makes their purchase from abroad accessible only to wealthy enthusiasts: those people who are willing to overpay for a coveted toy.
Feed-in tariffs have been used in the past to stimulate demand for zero-emission vehicles. For example, in February 2014, customs rates for electric vehicles were reset to zero - and with interruptions, such beneficial import rules lasted until the fall of 2017. Now, in the countries of the EAEU, which includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Russia, the zero rate of duty on the import of cars with electric motors is no longer applied. To date, the duty on the import of electric vehicles for legal entities is 15%, and if the power of the car exceeds 150 horsepower, then for each horsepower you need to pay another 7 dollars of excise tax (for cars with a capacity of up to 150 horsepower, the excise tax is 1 dollar per 1 horsepower). For individuals, the duty is even higher: 48% of the cost of the car.
Against this background, it is very curious that the refusal to zero duties on electric vehicles in Russia was initiated by the Ministry of Industry and Trade: the department believes that zero duties for electric vehicles "negatively affect the development of their production in Russia." The decision is not just strange, but literally absurd - after all, in practice, there is no question of any production of electric machines in the country.
The situation is similar with the transport tax. The government has repeatedly raised the issue of its abolition for electric vehicles - however, it has not received any legislative implementation: the Duma referred to the fact that tax rates can be regulated by local authorities in the regions, and left the right to cancel the tax for them. How did you resolve the issue locally? As expected, there are too few electric vehicles to pay attention to, and as a result, owners of environmentally friendly cars pay tax on a common basis. And given the power of many electric vehicles, this looks mocking: for example, in Moscow for Tesla Model S, depending on the power, you need to give from 45 to 115 thousand rubles annually! The only exception is the Moscow region, where at the end of 2015 law No. 173/2015-OZ was adopted, completely abolishing the transport tax for any equipment equipped exclusively with an electric motor. Of course, benefits for cars worth several million rubles are somewhat of a whim, but on the other hand, much cheaper models now make up the bulk of the electric car fleet.
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Also, high prices for electric vehicles can be attributed to insufficient state support. Such cars are really not cheap, but in most countries interested in their popularity, the state offers subsidies for the purchase, compensating for a significant part of the cost. In Russia, such initiatives are not even discussed at the state level - those who want to buy an electric car can only rely on themselves.
Given the high price and lack of support, you should not be surprised by the low sales results. In China, back in 2015, new electric vehicles were sold in a circulation of 145,000, and in Russia, according to the Avtostat agency, 144 ... units were sold in the whole of 2018. The most popular was the cheapest nissan leaf- 76 units, followed by Tesla Model X (40 units) and Model S (12 units).
Shows slightly better results secondary market, although cheap is also leading here. Considering that second-hand copies in Japan and the USA are inexpensive, even with high customs duties, their purchase remains affordable. However, the volume of such cars imported into Russia every year is estimated at several dozen.
The “history of development” of electric vehicles in Russia is also predictable, although over the past 10 years our market has seen a lot of electric cars. Worth mentioning here are officially supplied models from major manufacturers such as Renault and Mitsubishi, and privately imported well-known cars from manufacturers like Tesla, which, for obvious reasons, does not even plan an official coming. In addition, we also offered small-scale cars, mainly made in China - does anyone remember, for example, the E-Car GD04B?
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Such piece demand actually squeezed out many electric vehicles from our market. For example, in 2013, 109 Mitsubishi i-MiEVs were sold - and this was best result, after which demand fell annually. There is nothing to be surprised: a small, cramped and funny car cost 1.8 million rubles - and then for this money you could buy Mitsubishi Pajero! In 2014, when customs duties on the import of electric vehicles were canceled, the i-MiEV fell sharply in price to 1 million rubles - but even this cost was extremely high for a compact car with a range of less than 150 kilometers on a single charge, so sales were stopped in 2016.
Now on Russian market there are almost no electric cars: officially, only the Jaguar I-Pace and two Renault models, Twizy and Kangoo Z.E., can be bought from dealers. Everything else - Tesla, Nissan Leaf and so on - is imported by private companies on order.
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Given all this, it is not surprising that the total fleet of electric vehicles registered in the country, according to the Avtostat agency, is just over 3,600 units - just a tiny number. And we repeat that 80% of this volume is Nissan Leaf, most of which was imported second-hand from Japan and the USA. About 300 more cars are the Mitsubishi i-MiEV, followed by two Tesla models: 200 Model Ss and just over 100 Model Xs.
Lack of support for electric transport in business
A similar situation with environmentally friendly transport is developing not only in the consumer market, but also in the commercial segment. The state does not develop or promote any initiatives to popularize electric transport in business and passenger transportation. For example, in China, taxi companies like CaoCao have thousands of electric vehicles - but we have no prerequisites for electric vehicles to become even slightly popular in taxis or small cargo transportation due to lack of support and lack of charging infrastructure.
Another branch of the development of electric transport is urban passenger transportation: in addition to the well-known trolleybuses, rechargeable electric buses with batteries providing an autonomous range have begun to develop in recent years. There are several production facilities in Russia - in particular, at the KAMAZ plant. However, the oldest and largest manufacturer of trolleybuses, TROLZA, is now practically dying: recently it was announced that more than half of the employees were laid off and the impending bankruptcy - although it would seem, where, if not at an enterprise with more than half a century of experience, it is worth developing the production of such vehicles. At the same time, the production line of the plant already has electric buses that have passed certification tests and have characteristics comparable to analogues: 50 kilometers of autonomous run in urban conditions and the ability to charge in night, fast and dynamic modes. But in the absence of regular orders and alternative sources of financing, the plant turned out to be powerless - and in fact no one needs it.
As a result, the very direction of autonomous electric public transport is actually dead: only a few dozen electric buses operate in several large cities, and there are plans to increase their number to several hundred. For comparison, in China, electric buses are quite successfully replacing conventional diesel buses, and the number of already operating vehicles exceeds 100,000! Of course, China is a unique example: the growth in popularity of electric buses is the fastest in the world, and the largest manufacturer, BYD, supplies its buses to 50 countries, has joint ventures around the world and is building two factories in Europe. But even in relation to many other countries, the Russian electric bus market does not stand up to any comparisons.
Lack of own production of electric vehicles
As mentioned just above, the fears of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade about the competition of imported electric models with those that can be produced in the country are groundless: there is not a single current or even planned production of zero-emission cars in Russia. It is logical to assume that the largest domestic manufacturer, Lada, could become the source of such initiatives, but the company has no plans to develop and produce mass-produced electric vehicles.
The “largest” project, which started almost 10 years ago, actually ended in failure - we are talking about Lada Ellada, which has been developed since 2010 on the basis of a station wagon Lada Kalina. The car received a Swiss-made electric motor and Chinese lithium-ion batteries, and the maximum range on a single charge was 150 kilometers. However, the price of the car, which in 2013 was finally released in a circulation of 100 copies, was 1.25 million rubles - that is, 3 times higher than that of a conventional gasoline Lada Kalina.
Recall that the idea of the project was to send most of the cars to a taxi fleet in the Stavropol Territory, while the state had to compensate the buyer company for half the cost of each electric car.
However, even this project ended before it started: only 5 cars were purchased, and the rest remained at the plant due to the inability to organize financial flows between local authorities, Avtovaz and the state.
EL Lada (1817) "2012–13
Yes, there was also the next step - the electric Vesta, which we drove back in. But ... has anyone heard since then about pilot batches, running technology, taxi companies, government contracts, subsidies, purchases? That's what it is...
Of course, you can look at all this, including state support for sales, import, and production of electric vehicles, from a different angle: why waste resources on something that no one needs? After all, mass electric cars, especially in Russia, will still be a niche thing - in terms of ease of use, they still hopelessly lose to ordinary cars with internal combustion engines. Accordingly, local production should also come from demand - and it is quite clear that the electric Lada for 1.5 million rubles has no market prospects. However, if we recall alternative examples such as the development of domestic Baikal microprocessors (despite the fact that they were created primarily for the defense industry), “Russian iPhones” and recent ones, one could at least correspond to statements of interest in the development of electric transport and undertake small but real Steps. Including the elimination of the next “source of difficulties” - infrastructure.
Lack of charging infrastructure
The lack of infrastructure for charging stations for electric vehicles is the second most important reason why electric vehicles in Russia have neither the present nor the foreseeable future. At the same time, the dialogue between the state, investors and potential customers of gas stations resembles a swing: people do not want to buy electric cars, because there is nowhere to charge them, and the state, and even more so private investors, are reluctant to invest in the construction of electric gas stations due to the small number of potential consumers. The situation is paradoxical - but both people and businesses can be understood: no one wants to spend money on something that will not bring any benefit.
The only "engine of progress" in this situation can and should be the state: without the support of the government, things will not get off the ground. However, officials actively support the development of electric transport only in words - they do not interfere with the construction of charging stations, but they are not ready to provide specific financial support either.
In fact, we are talking about creating a charging infrastructure in the country from scratch: now in Russia, according to The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), there are about 170 electric charging stations. Even taking into account the existing fleet of 3.5 thousand cars and the vast territory of the country, this is a drop in the bucket - and it’s not worth mentioning intercity trips here, because even in large cities there are literally dozens, if not a few, of charging stations. In addition, there is no, for example, a single online service with up-to-date information about the location of gas stations, their performance, the number of available sockets and even their type - that is, it is possible that even when arriving at the charging station, the car owner will not be able to charge the car from due to incompatible connectors.
The development of the charging infrastructure actually comes at the expense of individual large developers - those that build new areas of megacities and shopping centers. It is here that there are examples when charging stations are laid at the design stage, and a place appears in a new residential area where you can put an electric car on overnight charging and go to work in the morning. Well, shopping centers are equipped with several chargers, mainly for “image” and attracting attention - the number of car owners who will come to charge the car and go shopping for this time is still negligible to consider them as one of the profit generators.
Other reasons
Against the background of all the above, other reasons for the low popularity of electric vehicles can be considered secondary - but they are worth mentioning. Firstly, in Russia, electric vehicles, due to their low prevalence, still remain an unusual transport. Car owners are accustomed to buying a car for a long time, based on key consumer qualities: reliability, availability of service and spare parts, and, of course, the price. In this situation, electric vehicles turn out to be “dark horses”: reliability, due to simplicity, seems high, but has not yet been tested by time, the resource of the most expensive element - high-voltage batteries - is difficult to predict, and the price of these batteries remains extremely high even against the backdrop of repairing a conventional internal engine combustion (and we have already said enough about the price of the machines themselves).
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Secondly, electric vehicles in Russian operating conditions remain more specific compared to "ordinary" cars. Large day runs and seasonal low temperatures make electric cars tied to a power outlet - and these same outlets are sorely lacking. Given an ideally developed network of charging stations, it would be possible to charge the car during the day - while the owner is at work. However, in practice, the scenario is different: you have to plan routes in advance, monitor the consumption of energy spent on heating the cabin, take into account the loss of capacity due to frost, and so on. As a result, the operation of low-cost cars like the Nissan Leaf is fundamentally different from cars with gasoline or diesel engines- and the differences, minus the cost of moving, are extremely unpleasant.
The entire auto world is getting on the “electric rails” (in our case, on the “electric track”), but Russia, as always, goes the other way - the gas one. Even our president advocates the transition of transport to natural gas. Meanwhile, the media report on the rise in popularity in Russia electric cars.
Avito resource experts analyzed the electric vehicle market in our country and concluded that it is growing. So, over the year, supply has grown by more than two and a half times, and demand - by more than one and a half times. Why is that? Maybe because the average price for electric cars has not changed much over the year - it is about 1 million rubles.
The most popular electric car model in Russia is the Nissan Leaf - this electric car accounted for 84.3% of requests. Most of all, electric vehicles this year are interested in the Volga and Southern federal districts. Apparently, the climate in these regions somehow favors the operation of such machines.
In the second quarter of 2019, the offer for electric vehicles on the Avito website increased by more than two and a half times - by 157.7% compared to the same. Demand for electric vehicles increased by 56.3% over the same period.
The development of the electric vehicle market in Russia is facilitated by the fact that the state is still working on. There is even a plan to increase the share of vehicles with electric motors to 4-5% by 2025. How to do this - increase the number of available models, provide owners of electric vehicles with additional benefits (for example, free parking), develop a network of electric charging stations, and instill in Russians a sense of responsibility for the environment in the country and the world.
But so far, electric vehicles have a very small share of the market. This is due, first of all, to the difficulty in refueling a car with electricity: there are only a few hundred charging stations throughout Russia.
As for the prices for electric vehicles, in the II quarter of 2018 it was 1.01 million rubles, in the first quarter of 2019 - 1.019 million rubles, and in the II quarter of 2019 - 1.006 million rubles, having decreased by 0.4% for the year.
Almost a quarter of demand fell on the Volga Federal District, almost the same - on the Southern Federal District. This is due to the dependence of the functioning of an electric car on temperature: in the cold, its battery is quickly discharged, so in the south they are most interested in them. The third place was taken by the Far Eastern Federal District, through which Japanese Nissan and other electric vehicles enter Russia. At the same time, it is this district that leads in terms of the share of supply, which amounted to almost 25% of the all-Russian value.
The most expensive electric cars are sold in Moscow and St. Petersburg (the choice of new models + metropolitan margins is great), and the cheapest - in the North Caucasus.
The most popular electric car in the Russian market remains Japanese. In the II quarter of 2019, it accounted for 84.3% of demand and 86% of supply. In second place is the American Tesla Model S, in third is another "Japanese", Mitsubishi Minicab. The most expensive car among all the models presented on Avito is the Tesla Model X crossover (9.3 million rubles), and the most affordable is Mitsubishi Minicab (458 thousand rubles).
An article about whether there are prospects for electric cars in Russia. What are the reasons for the underdevelopment of the culture of electric cars. By the end of the article - a video on how to charge an electric car in Russia.
The content of the article:
The current level of development of environmentally friendly transport already allows us to talk about the possibility of its use for civilian purposes. The time of ultra-expensive prototypes, whose consumer properties were far from everyday needs, is long gone. Today, many companies offer mass-produced electric vehicles at quite attractive prices.
In this regard, Russia lags far behind European and developed Asian countries. Let's try to objectively assess the real prospects of electric vehicles and understand why they have not yet found wide distribution in our country.
Electric vehicle, its operation and existing barriers
The attractiveness of an electric car for the end consumer is associated not so much with environmental friendliness, but with the desire to save oneself from spending on fuel, the cost of which is constantly growing. Of course, the need to replace batteries has always been one of the main problems for the owner of such a vehicle, but, fortunately, advanced achievements in this area have made it possible to bring the number of charge cycles to very significant values.
Of course, modern models, especially those on sale, are equipped with a combined charging system that allows you to use both the terminal (with a high current strength, which allows you to meet 25-35 minutes) and a regular household outlet (the process takes 8-10 hours). ).
The obvious disadvantage of the first method is the intensive wear of the battery and the loss of part of its capacity, and for long-term charging - the impossibility of its implementation in long road. Thus, a modern electric car has a rather limited operational scope - in large cities and their environs.
If we analyze the driving mode in the Russian metropolis, it becomes obvious that a power reserve of 200-300 km (calculated under ideal conditions) is not enough in reality. And the point here is not even the length of the route, but constant traffic jams, in which electricity is consumed very intensively, in the peculiarities of the Russian climate, when air conditioning is needed in summer, a heater in winter, and in the off-season - constant headlights and wipers work with a washer. All this leads to the fact that the charge of the electric car is not enough even for one trip.
In addition, even the happy owners of their own parking spaces are faced with the problem of charging the car due to the lack of a source of electricity. Naturally, a developed infrastructure would make it possible to reduce the severity of such problems, but its creation is economically justified only with a steady increase in the number of electric vehicles, and this is not happening yet.
The Russian market of electric vehicles and its prospects
Despite the statements of experts that the environmental friendliness of electric vehicles raises a number of objective doubts, since it will be necessary to create industrial facilities that pollute the atmosphere to generate the required amount of electricity, the prospect of having a source of emissions outside the city limits is a strong argument.
The development of electric transport is such a promising direction that even the domestic auto industry presented a serial copy of an electric car - Lada Ellada. In order to popularize this type of transport, an experimental batch was purchased for operation as a taxi in the city of Pyatigorsk, but after only a few months this idea proved to be ineffective, because, having completed 1-2 orders, the car had to return to the taxi depot for a fairly long charge, which had a negative impact on economic performance.
Here, the organization of the process was ill-conceived, since the terminals had to be placed also in taxi ranks within the city, which would allow replenishing the charge during downtime between orders, however, with a heavy load, even these measures would not solve the problem. A similar situation has developed with the machines operated in Kislovodsk.
At the beginning of 2013, they asked for 1,250,000 rubles for this model, and in order to stimulate demand, taxi drivers were offered to purchase them for 610,000, the rest of the money was given as a subsidy from the budget. But the peculiarities of financing such projects, coupled with bureaucratic delays, did not allow this idea to be fully implemented, which is why the unsold cars were sold at cost, having stood for more than a year at the factory sites.
Daily intensive operation of electric vehicles fully confirmed the problems we have described. According to Shamil Kasymov, CEO convoy No. 1721 in Kislovodsk, in real conditions, especially in the cold season, the mileage on a single charge decreased to 40-50 km.
Of course, modern models are equipped with various battery recharge systems, in the form of a regenerative brake, but this gives a tangible effect only on long descents or braking from high speeds, which is typical for trips along country roads, and we have already written about the problems of long-distance routes.
However, interest in this area is still quite large. This is facilitated by the rising cost of traditional fuels, and the complexity of legal registration of the conversion of a car to gas. Concerns have also been raised about the cost of charging in the near future, because once electric vehicles become mainstream, commercial issues will come to the fore and economic attractiveness may be reduced to a minimum.
The depreciation of the ruble also contributes to the limited sales in Russia, as a result of which electric vehicles are also becoming more expensive. Even the Ellada described by us from the domestic one has only a body and a suspension, therefore, an imported asynchronous motor and rechargeable batteries increased in price in proportion to the exchange rate.
Infrastructure and Demand Stimulation Issues
The Russian automotive market is potentially ready for the intensive development of electric transport. This, as we have already said, will be facilitated by the desire to reduce operating costs. In addition, we should not forget that our state is energy independent, and generating capacity significantly exceeds domestic needs. Even taking into account exports, there is clearly an abundance of electricity in Russia (individual regions, in particular Crimea, are a separate and completely solvable issue). Thus, the problem facing the creators of the infrastructure of electric charging stations in Europe, which is to find a sufficient number of generating capacities, is not relevant in Russia.
The most important problem now is the lack of domestic equipment, as well as the necessary investments, which at the initial stage will have a very long payback period.
All this led to the fact that in February 2014, the Ecomotors company, which is implementing a project to create a network of free charging stations, announced its suspension. In fact, we are faced with a situation where the current cost of infrastructure development calls into question the economic feasibility of the project.
In reality, there are many more problems than it might seem at first glance. In particular, the existing city power grids can easily cope with the load from several charging stations, functioning from time to time. As for the mass transition to electric traction, the increased load will require the immediate reconstruction of the entire power supply network, and only on such a scale can we talk about economic payback.
The situation is somewhat more optimistic in the resort area of the Krasnodar Territory, where the mild climate (contributing to long-term operation of batteries) and the need to comply with environmental standards further stimulate this direction. In particular, Volteco announced the opening of the production of equipment for charging stations on the basis of a technical center for the maintenance of electric vehicles, as well as the start of their serial assembly. It is true that we are talking about golf carts and recreational ATVs, but as a pilot project, they may well be the necessary driving force.
In the regions, Rosseti, which is also a fairly large buyer of such vehicles, is implementing projects to develop the infrastructure of charging stations. According to Roman Berdnikov, First Deputy General Director for Technical Policy of the company, there are not only economic, but also technological and organizational difficulties. In particular, a single standard and requirements for charging installations have not yet been developed, and each automaker implements its own vision of this format.
There is also no well-coordinated interaction with local authorities, since many bureaucratic issues have to be resolved.
As for the sales of electric vehicles, which are the driving force behind the development of infrastructure, then, according to Avtostat, in 2015 the following were sold in Russia:
- Tesla Model S - 82 units;
- Mitsubishi_i-MiEV - 27 units;
- Nissan Leaf - 26 pcs.;
- Lada Ellada - 14 pcs.;
- BMW i3 - 6 pcs.;
- Renault Twizy - 3 pcs.
The government is also well aware of the importance of solving this problem, which is why the strategy for the development of the domestic automotive industry, published on the official website of the Kremlin, includes a separate item on electric vehicles.
The strategy involves a number of measures aimed at implementing import substitution projects and introducing advanced developments into production and is designed for a period up to 2025.
And the fact that until August 31, 2017 their import into the country is not subject to additional duties should also contribute to the intensification of sales of electric vehicles. Given that this value was 17% of the cost, this measure is quite effective and significant.
The fact is that in connection with the implementation of the concept of the Customs Union, the introduction of this customs duty actually collapsed the already insignificant sales of such vehicles, and the lack of a full-fledged production or large-scale assembly of modern models within the country calls into question the appropriateness of such measures.
As for the domestic manufacturer, an electric car was demonstrated to the general public at the annual motor show in Moscow Lada Vesta EV, which is much more suitable for the role of an innovative flagship. The time for a full charge from a household power supply is 9 hours, and from a specialized installation - 1.3 hours, and if the first indicator is quite acceptable and is on a level with similar foreign models, then the second is clearly too big and significantly limits the mobility of the vehicle.
Of course, there was no fundamental improvement compared to the Ellada, but the battery capacity and power reserve increased by about 10-12%, which for someone may be a decisive factor when buying. There is no talk about the localization of the main nodes yet.
Conclusion
Summing up, I would like to note that Russia is far from the leading position in terms of the degree of motorization, which gives it an additional advantage, with the competent implementation of which it is possible to move away from the need to develop transport infrastructure in the traditional sense of the word and switch to the innovative direction of electric transport.
In our country, there is the necessary energy potential and pent-up demand, and for large cities there is also the need to switch to an environmentally friendly clean transport, which together creates a favorable environment for the development of this direction. A tangible push should be expected after the release of the next generation of electric vehicles, which will have improved performance, which is quite feasible in the next few years.
Video - how to charge an electric car in Russia:
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