Despite record sales of electric cars in Russia, the dynamics of this market began to slow down. Demand is being pressured by more expensive loans, rising customs duties and recycling fees. Almost 400 new electric vehicles were sold in Tatarstan last year, with Zeekr 001 leading by a wide margin. Tatarstan residents are not in a hurry to buy electro Moskvitch yet and prefer Zeekr, VW, BYD and Tesla. The republic is very much waiting for the sales start of Atom electric car, which is scheduled for mid-2025. What Russians buy and how the government supports domestic cars with benefits — read in the review of the Realnoe Vremya analytical service.
Dynamics of sales of electric cars began to decline
In 2024, a record number of new electric vehicles were sold in Russia — 17,805, or 26.4% more than in 2023 (14,089 units), according to Autostat agency. At the same time, the growth rate has noticeably decreased. For comparison, in 2023, sales of electric vehicles increased 4.7 times. The share of electric cars in the total sales of new passenger cars decreased from 1.3% to 1.1%.
Top EV brands of 2024
|
Place |
Brand |
Number of cars sold, units |
|
1 |
Zeekr |
7623 |
|
2 |
Moskvitch |
1796 |
|
3 |
Evolute |
1226 |
|
4 |
Volkswagen |
1012 |
|
5 |
Avatr |
690 |
Autostat data
China has captured the electric car market, as well as the Russian market of cars with internal combustion engines. However, this is no longer a purely Russian, but a global trend. By the results of 2024, the Chinese concern BYD became the absolute champion in the sale of electric vehicles. Over the past year, the auto giant sold 4,272,145 cars powered by new energy.
According to S&P Global Mobility’s forecasts, global sales of electric cars will grow by 30% this year. Despite that some automakers are reducing plans for electric vehicles, the market will continue to grow rapidly, primarily due to India. According to experts, in 2025, total sales of battery-powered cars will amount to 15.1 million units, or 16.7% of the global car market. In 2024, 11.6 million cars were sold (a 13.2% share).
Meanwhile, the Russian electric car market is predicted to decline — loans have become expensive, recycling fee has increased, and foreign electric cars have unexpectedly lost some of their benefits. From January 10, free travel on toll roads is available only for domestic electric trains — Evolute, Moskvitch and Amberauto.
Almost 400 new electric vehicles sold in Tatarstan
According to Autostat Info, 18,217 new electric vehicles (non-polluting electric vehicles and BEVs) were sold in Russia in 2024, which is by 27% more than it was sold in 2023 (14,378 units).
The second is Zeekr X — 46 cars against 9 units sold in 2023. The top 5 most in-demand electric vehicles in Tatarstan by the end of 2024 were supplemented by VW ID4 — 24 cars sold, BYD Song — 13 cars, as well as Tesla 3 and Zeekr 007 — 11 electric vehicles for each model.
According to the Kazan Executive Committee, as of October 2024, the number of electric vehicles in the capital of the republic exceeded 800 units, having increased fivefold over the past three years. In total, about a thousand electric vehicles are registered in Tatarstan.
Top sales of new electric cars in Tatarstan
|
Place |
Model |
Number of new cars, units |
|
1 |
Zeekr 001 |
123 |
|
2 |
Zeekr X |
46 |
|
3 |
VW ID4 |
24 |
|
4 |
BYD Song |
13 |
|
5 |
Tesla 3, Zeekr 007 |
11 |
Data of Autostat Info
The Russian rating of the best-selling electric vehicles for the year was topped by Chinese Zeekr 001 — 5,096 cars sold, by 74% more than in 2023 (2,932 cars). The second best result was recorded by Moskvitch 3E — 1805 units (+214%), while Zeekr X took the third place in the annual rating (1,422 units, +191%). According to Oleg Yudakov, the Evolute I-Pro (780 cars, -45%) and Zeekr 009 (716 cars, +123%) also entered the Russian top 5 among electric cars in 2024.
Increase in prices, customs duties and recycling fee on the market
Rustem Galimzyanov, a representative of the autonomous non-profit organisation for the development of infrastructure for electric vehicles Restart, organiser of Electromobility festival, believes that the sales figures of electric vehicles speak for themselves. In 2024, the share of non-polluting electric vehicles sold was 1%, and hybrids — 4%, despite the fact that the total share of electric vehicles relative to the entire fleet is less than 0.1%.
Almost all automakers have electric vehicles in their product line. According to TOP GEAR, more than half of the list of the most anticipated cars in 2025 are electric cars.
The Russian market is experiencing an increase in prices, customs duties and recycling fees, he notes. “For example, already today you can order an updated Tesla Model Y for 45,000 dollars, but plus you will have to pay almost 1.8 million rubles of recycling fee and customs duty, whereas last year these payments were negligible,” he cites as an example.
“Of course, these facts will affect demand,” he does not rule out. “But despite everything, when communicating with our partners who are engaged in parallel imports, we only hear figures of 40 cars sold per month from one showroom (these are mainly hybrid Li).”
There are also positive aspects, such as the production or assembly of Russian electric vehicles: Kaliningrad Amber Auto and the upcoming launch of sales of Atom electric car by December 2025. “That’s what we’re waiting for the most. And if subsidies for its purchase continue, then it will be quite possible to expect an increase in consumer demand, because it will be a modern and technologically advanced electric car,” Galimzyanov believes.
Atom is expected by the middle of this year
The launch of serial production of Atom electric cars is scheduled for mid-2025. Until then, the team will have to pass certification, establish after-sales service and launch a number of software products that will increase the convenience and comfort of owning and using an electric car, the press service of Kama JSC (creates the Atom brand) told Realnoe Vremya.
“Of course, we expect the electric vehicle market to continue to grow. There are all prerequisites for electric cars to become as popular in Russia as they are all over the world. Government programs for the development of charging infrastructure, government support, improved purchase conditions, increased consumer awareness of the benefits of such cars and the increasing interest in buying an electric car from year to year contribute to the growth of this market segment,” the company notes.
In 2024, the electric vehicle market showed positive dynamics, despite that most electric vehicles are supplied under a parallel import scheme, and the charging infrastructure is just beginning its development, the company’s press service noted.
Today, the absolute leader among electric vehicles is the Zeekr 001, which occupies 20% of the market for new electric vehicles in Russia in 2024, and Moskvitch 3e showed significant sales growth last December — three times more cars of this model were sold than a year earlier, which shows consumer interest in local products.
“Of course, expensive loans have a negative impact not only on the plans of automakers, but also on consumers themselves. According to statistics, more than half of new cars are sold on credit, even at the current key rate. With the economic situation stabilising, we will see even more significant growth in the electric vehicle market than in 2024. Government support and the existing consumer interest in electric-powered vehicles remain,” notes the car manufacturer Atom.
The high demand for electric vehicles is especially noticeable in large cities. The trend towards switching to new energy vehicles continues due to the low cost of ownership — zero transport tax, free municipal parking and low maintenance costs, the company’s press service added.
We are still at the beginning of the journey
However, the growth rate of global electric vehicle sales is declining, from 33% in 2023 to 21% in 2024. Some European manufacturers who planned to switch completely to the production of electric vehicles recognised the haste of these plans, he notes. “They are increasingly talking about the prospects of hybrids. In the TTS, sales of electric trains and hybrids are at the same level. The leader of sales is the Evolute brand. Other models that were popular with our customers are LiXiang L7, LiXiang L9, Voyah Free, ORA 03,” Karaulov listed.
Yulia Garaeva
