The total number of passenger electric vehicles in Russia increased by 75% in 2023

The total number of passenger electric vehicles in Russia, according to the traffic police, over the past year has grown by 75%, reaching 40 thousand. In a number of regions, the growth dynamics are significantly higher than the national average: in Moscow, the fleet of electric cars has grown sevenfold, in the Kaliningrad region – three times, in the Moscow region – two times. However, so far the share of electric vehicles in the total vehicle fleet does not exceed 0.1%, and experts differ in their forecasts for further growth.

Data on the state of the Russian vehicle fleet at the end of 2023 were published in the statistical section of the traffic police website stat.gibdd.ru, “Kommersant” studied them. The total number of passenger electric vehicles registered with the traffic police increased by 75% over the year, from 22.5 thousand to 39.7 thousand. For comparison: in 2019 there were 2.8 thousand electric cars, in 2020 – 7, 5 thousand, in 2021 – 14 thousand. In some regions, the growth dynamics are higher. For example, in Moscow, the fleet of electric vehicles grew from 1.65 thousand to 7.34 thousand in 2023, in the Kaliningrad region – from 304 to 970, in the Moscow region – from 1.17 thousand to 2.77 thousand, in St. Petersburg – from 1 thousand to 2 thousand, Tatarstan – from 443 to 914, in the Krasnodar Territory – from 1.64 thousand to 2.74 thousand. In Chukotka in 2022 there was not a single registered electric car – now there is one.

In the Primorsky Territory, the fleet of electric vehicles increased slightly (from 2 thousand to 2.1 thousand cars), but the number of hybrid cars increased from 27 thousand to 37 thousand. The situation is similar in the Irkutsk region, where interest in hybrids has also increased significantly: from 7.2 thousand they increased to 12.6 thousand. The total number of hybrid cars in Russia over the year rose from 135 thousand to 219 thousand, by 61% .

The fleet of passenger cars with all types of engines has grown from 50.6 thousand to 51.5 million – thus, electric cars still make up 0.07% of all registered vehicles. Judging by the traffic police data, 604 electric buses (in 2022 there were 160) and 150 electric trucks (in 2022 there were 49) are also registered in Russia.

In 2021, we recall that the Russian government approved the “Concept for the development of production and use of electric road transport until 2030” with an action plan (“road map”). By this time, the authorities want to increase the share of electric vehicles among all vehicles produced in the Russian Federation to 10%, as well as launch 72 thousand charging stations and 1 thousand hydrogen filling stations. Regions are already providing benefits to owners of electric vehicles for parking, exempting them from paying transport taxes, etc. In 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers allowed owners of electric vehicles to drive on federal toll roads without paying.

The popularity of electric vehicles in Moscow will grow, according to the capital’s department of transport. They recalled that charging stations have been built in the city since 2015; there are now more than 3 thousand of them, including more than 240 installed as part of the Energy of Moscow program (they are free for car owners). In 2023, according to the Department of Transport, car owners used city charging stations more than 210 thousand times, almost three times more than in 2022. “The city will continue to encourage Muscovites to choose personal electric transport,” the Department of Transport said. “We will continue to place city charging stations, and by 2030 their number will increase to 30 thousand.”

Sergey Udalov from Avtostat notes that in 2023, 14.1 thousand new electric vehicles were sold in Russia (in first place in sales of Zeekr and Evolute), 4.7 times higher than in 2022. This is the main reason for the growth of the park. “Global manufacturers will continue to increase the production of electric vehicles, whether we want it or not, and we will be in this trend,” the expert believes. “In addition, developing the assembly and production of electric vehicles is somewhat easier than cars with an internal combustion engine. Sales are hampered by the insufficient number of chargers, especially outside big cities, as well as the short range on one charge and the high cost of electric vehicles themselves.” Mr. Udalov expects further growth in sales: “An increase of 1.8–2 times this year is quite possible, the rate next year may remain approximately the same, maybe a little lower.”

“I don’t see any explosive potential for electric vehicles in Russia in the coming years,” disagrees the editor-in-chief of Za Rulem magazine, Maxim Kadakov. “There may be growth, but in general, electric vehicles will not have any impact on the market and the fleet. The main problem is not the charging stations that everyone is talking about, but the fact that electric cars are 30–40% more expensive than similar cars with gasoline engines. Therefore, this is not a market story for us yet. And even preferential car loans will not help here. There are currently no electric vehicles at a price of 1.5–2 million rubles, and the situation is unlikely to be corrected by the electric Lada Largus, which will obviously cost more than 2 million rubles. (pilot production of the model at the plant in Izhevsk began at the end of 2023.— “Kommersant”)”.

“Users of electric vehicles are most often wealthy people who used to buy luxury and premium cars, such as BMW, Mercedes,” explains Vice President of the National Automobile Union Anton Shaparin. “Now they are trying to drive electric “Chinese” cars, such as Zeekr, which They look and drive well. There was a redistribution of demand to other segments. But I think this is a temporary phenomenon. People will try electric cars, be disappointed and sell, realizing that in our climate it is difficult to drive electric. The fans will remain, but there will be few of them, just like now.” Mr. Shaparin believes that sales of electric cars will decline in subsequent years: he recalls that many cars, including electric ones, were previously imported through Kyrgyzstan due to the opportunity to save on duties, but from April 1 this loophole will close due to the release of a new government decree (“Kommersant” reported about it the other day). The expert also recalls that Japan recently also tightened the import of vehicles, which has made it much more difficult to buy the Nissan Leaf, one of the most popular electric vehicles on the secondary market.

Ivan Buranov