Batteries will be charged from the budget – Newspaper Kommersant No. 31 (7476) dated 20.02.
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Rosatom, which plans to launch its gigafactory in 2025, proposes to allocate subsidies to automakers to cover part of the cost of buying Russian traction batteries. Such a measure, according to the state corporation, will reduce the price of electric vehicles and increase demand for them. The subsidy is needed until 2028, until battery components are localized in Russia. Analysts support the initiative, noting that China has achieved the lowest global battery prices of $127 per 1 kWh, including due to the scale of production.
Rosatom proposes to provide direct subsidies to car factories to cover part of the cost of buying Russian traction batteries for electric vehicles. This was told by the head of TVEL (part of Rosatom) Natalya Nikipelova at a meeting in the Ministry of Industry and Trade on February 16, sources told Kommersant.
The subsidy may be needed until the end of 2028. The alleged source of support is the federal budget, including, possibly, funds from the federal project “Electric Vehicle and Hydrogen Vehicle”, TVEL explained to Kommersant.
The battery is a key element of an electric vehicle. Its cost is 40% of the price of the car. Support measures will reduce the final price of an electric car and stimulate demand, TVEL continues. For example: now the recommended retail price for electric vehicles assembled in the Russian Federation Evolute i-Joy starts from 3.5 million rubles, i-Pro – from 3 million rubles, Moskvich 3e – from 3.5 million rubles. Under the preferential car loan program, you can get a discount on an advance payment of 25% of the cost, but within 625 thousand rubles.
A subsidy for the purchase of batteries will be needed until Russia “transitions to the localization of key components and a significant increase in production volumes due to the launch of factories producing electric batteries,” TVEL says. A subsidiary of the state corporation RENERA plans to build a full-cycle gigafactory in Kaliningrad with a capacity of 4 GWh per year (approximately 50,000 electric vehicles) by autumn 2025. The estimated cost of construction, including the R&D center, is 51 billion rubles. (see Kommersant of January 31).
The need to subsidize the costs of buyers of Russian traction batteries and energy storage systems (SNE) was also discussed on February 3 at an expert council chaired by Valery Seleznev, First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Energy Committee.
Representatives of RENER then said that the current cost of Russian batteries, due to the lack of large-scale production, does not allow them to compete with Chinese ones, and this price difference for the buyer could be covered by a subsidy. TVEL emphasizes that they have never disclosed the cost of RENERA batteries, especially in comparison with analogues, and consider it premature to discuss the cost of future products.
At the end of 2022, the weighted average price for lithium-ion batteries (battery pack) in the world increased by 7% year-on-year, to $151 per 1 kWh, and for cells (cells) – by 11%, to $120, says Dmitry Babansky from SBS Consulting, citing Bloomberg data. In China, the battery pack is the cheapest – $127 – due to the economies of scale in the production of both materials and electric vehicles, Mr. Babansky says. In the US, the figure is higher by 24%, in Europe – by 33%. The analyst agrees that subsidizing the cost of batteries will speed up the electrification of transport, but in parallel, it is necessary to stimulate R&D for the development of materials production.
For the development of public electric transport, Rosatom proposes to use life cycle contracts for batteries. “The essence of the proposal is to purchase batteries as a “service” by urban electric transport services and pay for the actual operation of the battery, that is, only for kilowatt-hours of electricity consumed,” TVEL explains. Significant savings will allow you to modernize the fleet and purchase more vehicles, and the problems of battery disposal or failure are removed from fleet owners.
Dmitry Babansky believes that the battery-as-a-service format can significantly reduce CAPEX for the purchase of electric vehicles. The mechanism is used in the EU by manufacturers of mining equipment to reduce costs. The scheme, he is sure, will be in demand in the Russian Federation, given the lack of funds and the need to modernize the public transport fleet.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade told Kommersant that, as part of the roadmap for the development of the SNE until 2030, it is already planned to develop the industry comprehensively, including through existing support measures: concessional loans, subsidies for R&D, as well as SPIC. During the implementation of the road map, the ministry added, decisions will be made on the need for additional incentive mechanisms.
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