Russia is joining a new global trend. A domestic electric car is entering the market, which resembles the Oka in its dimensions. It is planned to captivate the buyer with the price – the Russian electric car "Kama-1" will cost almost three times cheaper than the most budget model of Tesla. Will this help its sales?
A presentation of an electric car developed by KAMAZ in cooperation with Peter the Great Saint Petersburg Polytechnic University was held in Moscow. The car received the working name "Kama-1". This is a three-door four-seat compact crossover that has an intelligent driver assistance system ADAS level 3. in size, it is only slightly larger than the " Oka " (3.4 meters long, 1.7 meters wide, 1.6 meters high).
According to KAMAZ, the electric car is equipped with a lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 33 kWh and an electric motor with a capacity of 80 kW, which allows you to reach speeds of up to 150 km / h and travel up to 250 km without recharging. The speed of full battery charge in normal mode is 6 hours, in accelerated mode-20 minutes. Acceleration to 100 km / h-in 6.7 seconds.
Curiously, the fender pads, sills and bumper skirts are made as separate elements so that they can be easily replaced. This is extremely convenient, especially when using a car for car sharing. The car has a high ground clearance especially for Russian roads.
Inside the crossover, a multimedia system is located on the steering column. through this 9-inch screen, you can control all the car's systems, INCLUDING adas level 3 functions, interior climate, multimedia and diagnostic modes of the car.
The electric car is presented in the status of an industrial pre-production model. It has passed all tests and certification. The next stage is the establishment of serial Assembly.
The compact crossover should be available in 2021.
"The domestic electric car will enter the segment of mass cars, as the planned price is up to 1 million rubles. The cost of an electric car will be its main advantage and can provide a certain level of sales",
– the Director for marketing GK "Avtospetstsentr" Alexey Ermilov.
For comparison: the most budget version of the Tesla Model 3 electric car costs from 38 thousand dollars in the United States. The Russian "Kama-1" in terms of dollars will cost almost three times cheaper – 13,700 dollars.
In the meantime, the Russian electric car market is mainly represented by imported premium models such as Audi e-tron, Jaguar I-Pace or Porsche Taycan. "Basically, electric cars are purchased by young people who are concerned about environmental problems living in the southern regions – as the batteries of electric cars work inefficiently at sub-zero temperatures," Yermilov says.
"Most often they are bought by those who already have one or more cars. For buyers, it is important that electric cars are more "friendly" to the environment, but other qualities of this type of transport are also important – the absence of vibrations and noise, a low center of gravity," says Pavel Nosov, a representative of Rolf.
So far, electric cars remain a niche mode of transport in Russia. Although our sales are growing. In the first half of the year, they grew by almost 46% compared to the first half of 2019. However, the absolute figures are very modest-less than 8 thousand cars. To understand: only in China alone, an average of 10-12 thousand Tesla Model 3 electric cars are sold per month, and in November 2020, sales increased to more than 20 thousand units. And this model is only the second most popular in the Chinese market. The most popular model there is the Hongguang Mini.
The Russian manufacturer has almost nothing to offer in return for imported electric cars. Previous attempts by AVTOVAZ to enter this market segment were not successful. "Lada Ellada, produced only for two years (from 2012 to 2014), has not received recognition due to the high cost of 1.25 million rubles, as well as the lack of charging infrastructure," says Alexey Ermilov.
In the first quarter of 2020, the plant in Togliatti was going to start mass-producing a new Russian electric car Zetta, which was supposed to cost from 550 thousand rubles. This is an even more affordable and compact electric car. However, in the fall it became known that the developer postponed the launch of production for an indefinite period. Zetta was unable to obtain a loan from the industrial development Fund in the amount of 99.9 million rubles for the organization of a production site. Plans to start serial production are still in place, but the date is now unknown. "This car demonstrates the original design and 99% of domestic components, except for the Chinese GE Power Technology battery. But in comparison with imported analogues, the technical characteristics of the new product are still quite weak, " Yermilov believes.
Several factors hinder the wider spread of electric vehicles in Russia. First, there is insufficient development of the infrastructure of charging stations in the country. Second, the high price of electric vehicles. Although the operation of electric vehicles is cheaper compared to cars with gasoline engines, Yermilov points out. Third, there is a lack of government incentives and support. All over the world, this market is developing only because of this.
Electric cars sell well in the European and Chinese markets. In Germany, for example, sales of alternative fuel vehicles have more than doubled this year. And pure electric cars for 10 months of the year were sold by 130% more than a year earlier – 120 thousand units. Because in Europe there is a conscious state policy on this issue. Assistance to buyers is expressed both in direct state support when buying with money, and in easing the tax burden for the car owner. For example,
in Germany, for the purchase of a new electric car for less than 44 thousand dollars, at first they gave 3000 euros, and now twice as much – 6000 euros. And this bonus was extended until 2025.
In France, you can get the same purchase bonus. In Britain, the population is offered discounts and grants for the purchase of electric cars – 3500 dollars, in Amsterdam-5000 euros. Japan offers 400 thousand yen (about 3.8 thousand dollars) when buying an electric car, but they thought about doubling the payments to keep up with Germany and France. However, in Japan, there is one important condition – the payment will double only if renewable energy is used to charge the battery. That is, the house or office must be equipped with solar panels and generate energy independently.
In Russia, for a long time, there was no policy to support electric cars. However, it will appear in the new year. So, from April 2021, it is planned to cancel the customs duty on imported cars with a fully electric power plant. In addition, it is planned to introduce the practice of European countries-to return part of the cost of a car to owners through compensation for personal income tax paid by a citizen. "If additional incentive measures are taken, the number of electric vehicles in Russia may increase to 5% of the total fleet by 2025," Alexey Ermilov estimates. It is not necessary to count on a boom in sales of electric cars in Russia, but some Russians may find themselves in the trend of the global environmental agenda, the expert believes.
Olga Samofalova
