The government proposes to oblige gas stations to charge electric vehicles

As Kommersant found out, the government has proposed mandatory installation of charging stations for electric vehicles at gas stations. Such a requirement already existed from 2016 to 2021, but did not work in practice due to the lack of a market and clear criteria for which gas stations need charging stations. The Ministry of Economy is considering the possibility of installing charging stations at gas stations on key federal highways, but the exact criteria for choosing places have not yet been formulated. So far, only 15% of gas stations in the country can technically install fast chargers, and the cost of their connection is too high, market participants say.

The Ministry of Economy, on behalf of the government, is preparing proposals for the mandatory installation of charging stations for electric vehicles (ECS) at gas stations. The ministry should establish criteria by which EZS installation sites will be selected, including the length of transport networks, their category, economic feasibility, etc. The issue was discussed on July 5 at a meeting with the head of the department of economic sectors of the Ministry of Economy (“Kommersant” saw the minutes of the meeting).

The Ministry of Economy explained to Kommersant that the possibility of installing EZS at gas stations on key federal highways, covering the greatest traffic of road transport, is currently being studied. Exact selection criteria for filling stations have not yet been determined.

Adviser to the President of Sitronics Group Armen Safaryan positively evaluates the initiative, noting the importance of even distribution of EZS: “For example, on highways in certain sections there are two or three filling stations at once – it is not obvious on what basis the state will give preference to one or another location.” According to him, EZS at gas stations are needed at least every 100 km, “at the same time, the installation of EZS at gas stations should be subsidized, as well as for other locations.”

However, only 10-15% of gas stations in Russia have free power grid capacity (at least 60 kW) required to install fast EZS, Green Drive warns.

In the absence of available networks, the cost of technical connection of the station can be from 1.5 million to 7 million rubles. for 150 kW, the company specified.

Punkt E says that with the existing technical connectivity, the cost of a TP on the route is at least 5 million rubles. for 150 kW, while the commercially acceptable price is less than 2 million rubles: “If the possibilities of TP are limited, then the cost becomes prohibitive and can reach up to 30 million rubles. and higher”.

“No one will spend hours at a gas station to properly charge an electric car, this should be comparable to the time of a regular refueling, measured in minutes,” says the shareholder of Evrotrans PJSC (Trassa brand, has 11 EZS at gas stations, plans until 2032 install fast EZS at 63 gas stations) Sergey Alekseenkov. At gas stations, as a rule, the total power does not exceed 150 kW, of which 20–30 kW can be given to the EZS, he confirms, “this is a slow charge that can only be used for recharging for 30–40 km.” According to Mr. Alekseenkov, filling stations need to install fast EZS modules with several 150 kW chargers and rest rooms: “This is 1 MW of additional power and the entire infrastructure of comfort, the charges themselves will be less than 5% of the price, but then this is a full-fledged business, not a point “jump””.

Gazprom Neft says that the decision on the equipment and type of EZS depends on a number of factors: the location of the gas station, demand in the region, the possibility of allocating parking spaces for electric vehicles, as well as a cafe while waiting for charging. The company is considering the possibility of developing such a service — in December 2022, fast filling stations were installed at a number of filling stations in the Leningrad region.

In Russia, they have already tried to implement a similar project: since November 2016, according to government decree No. 890 of April 27, gas stations had to be equipped with charging stations. But in 2021, the requirement was canceled. Armen Safaryan notes that the problem was the lack of clear technical requirements – “as a result, most gas stations have either single-phase or three-phase sockets, suitable only for slow EZS with a charge time of seven to eight hours, which are applicable in the city, but not suitable for trails.” We need a full-fledged program, requirements and methodology for selecting filling stations for uniform coverage of routes by stations, he believes, proposing to implement this through a concession mechanism, since now the EZS infrastructure on the routes is unprofitable.

Punkt E specifies that until 2021 the electric vehicle market in Russia was in its infancy: from 2015 to 2020, a total of 1.5 thousand new electric vehicles were sold. Sales growth began in 2021, and “now only in July 2023, 1.1 thousand electric vehicles were sold.” In total, according to Avtostat, at the beginning of 2023, the fleet of electric vehicles consisted of 20.7 thousand cars. The Ministry of Economy confirms that from August 2022 to August 2023, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the fleet of electric vehicles grew by 55% and, “accordingly, the need for EZS also increased, which requires infrastructure expansion.”

Olga Nikitina, Polina Smertina, Dmitry Kozlov