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“You will see these cars at almost every step,” said Unagayev, 31, owner of the auto service. There are battery-powered vehicles on the streets and courtyards of Khabarovsk. People are even taking down extension cords from their balconies to carry them, Unagayev said.
More than a fifth of all electric cars imported into Russia from January to May were sold in Khabarovsk and other parts of eastern Russia, although, according to Moscow-based analytical agency Autostat, the region is home to just 4 percent. . populations of the country. In Moscow, where at least twice as many people live, about 14 percent of sales are made. of all imported electric vehicles.
The so-called Russian Far East is not particularly rich, and it is certainly not an environmental stronghold. The electric car craze thrives here due to the unique economy of an isolated region far away from the west of the country. Nonetheless, the region offers a glimpse into trends – more expensive oil, cheaper electricity, and lower costs of owning electric cars – that may one day lead to a shift to electric models across the country and beyond.
Because Asia is just across the border, locals can easily buy imported used electric cars from Japan at an attractive price. Unagayev’s first battery-powered vehicle was a second-hand Nissan Leaf. According to the advertisements of a popular car sales website in Russia, in 2011-2013. models typically cost between 400,000 and 600,000 rubles ($ 5,500- $ 8,200). Ultimately, Unagayev left Leaf and bought a used Tesla.
Russia’s Far East can also enjoy low-cost electricity that is subsidized to boost economic development in the region. On the other hand, due to the lack of local oil refining facilities, fuel prices here are often higher than the Russian average; At the end of July, the locals had to pay 6% for gasoline. more expensive, according to the Federal Statistical Office.
Market forces united in this corner of Russia are achieving what government policy and technological progress hope to bring to the rest of the world: Battery-powered cars are cheaper here than gasoline-powered ones.
“The main driving force around the world is exactly the same,” said Evgeny Tyrtov, senior consultant at Moscow-based Vygon Consulting. “Consumers are starting to vote en masse in rubles, euros and dollars for electric cars as soon as they become cheaper than traditional cars.”
The math is simple, says Olga Ivanova, 41, who runs a construction company in Irkutsk, eastern Siberia. He pays about 500 rubles ($ 7) a month for electricity to charge his used electric car. Gasoline for the second family car costs almost 10,000 rubles a month.
“My husband and I calculate that we could save about 200,000 rubles a year” on fuel and other costs of a gasoline car, says O. Ivanova. “I can’t say I’m short on money, but when you realize that you can get the same comfort, the same pleasure and save 200,000 rubles, why not?”
According to Vygon Consulting, a used Nissan Leaf in the Russian Far East saves an average of 40,000 to 50,000 rubles a year compared to the cost of driving a locally produced Lada Granta (popularly known as a ‘popular car’). This amount is roughly the average monthly salary for the region.
“We also have a gasoline car, but we hardly use it because we lose long distances,” says Alexei Zhukov, a 28-year-old marketing specialist from Khabarovsk. Earlier this year, he followed in the footsteps of various family members and bought a used Nissan Leaf.
The microcosm of the Russian Far East differs from the reality of the rest of the country. According to Vygon, electric cars account for less than 0.2 percent. of all the cars in the country. Not surprisingly, the high cost of buying a new electric car remains a major hurdle for potential buyers. This should change as falling battery prices reduce the cost of producing electric cars. According to BloombergNEF, the weighted average price of a lithium-ion battery in 2020 was $ 137 per kilowatt-hour compared to $ 1,191 / kWh in 2010. According to Alexander O’Donovan, senior analyst at BNEF, prices will continue to fall, and by 2024. it will not even reach $ 100 / kWh, hence the cost of internal combustion engines. By 2030 the battery consumption will be approximately $ 58 / kWh.
“In around 2030 electric cars will cost as much as traditional cars, or even less,” says O’Donovan.
External factors, such as the price of electricity relative to gasoline, will depend on government policies, subsidies, and carbon markets, the scope and ambition of which vary widely from country to country. However, the popularity of electric cars, let alone in niches like Khabarovsk, shows that consumers value their technological superiority, outweigh their costs and concerns about carbon emissions.
“The dynamics of an electric car, how it accelerates” is more important than the money saved, says O. Ivanova. “The feeling is incomparable.”
Stacy Noblet, senior director of transportation electrification at the Washington consultancy ICF, says the appeal to consumers will only increase. “Electric car drivers share their stories and tell their neighbors,” he says.
The electric car shell is gaining momentum across Russia. In online forums, electric car enthusiasts spread the word and do their best to convince their fellow citizens how much fun it is to “walk by a gas station with a big smile.”
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