When thinking of bastions of strong EV adoption, Far East Russia is probably not first to mind. But, according to a recent report from BloombergNEF, the region is actually becoming a haven for second-hand EVs thanks to its distance from Moscow and its proximity to the Asian EV market.
More than a fifth of all electric vehicles imported into Russia between January and May were sold in Russia’s Far East, according to Bloomberg News – in towns and cities such as Khabarovsk and other areas of eastern Russia that account for just 4 per cent of the country’s population.
Bloomberg quoted 31-year-old Dmitry Unagaev, who owns an auto service shop in Khabarovsk, and who bought his first EV 5 years ago. At the time, people were baffled by his purchase, but after 5 years, according to Unagaev, “These cars are almost at every turn.”
The country’s Far East is not particularly wealthy, nor a stronghold of surprising Russian environmentalists, but it benefits both from its distance from Moscow – an 8,200km drive from the town of Khabarovsk – as well as its proximity to Asian EV giants such as China, South Korea, and Japan.
Unagaev told Bloomberg that he owned a second-hand Nissan Leaf – 2011 to 2013 models typically cost between 400,000 to 600,000 rubles (or between $A7,500 and $A11,200, converted) – before upgrading to a second-hand Tesla.
On top of its geographical benefits, Russia’s Far East also enjoys low-cost electricity, and subsidies to stimulate economic development in the region. And due to insufficient local refinery capacity, fuel prices in the region are high.
“The main driver is the same all over the world,” Eugene Tyrtov, a senior consultant at Moscow-based Vygon Consulting, told Bloomberg News. “Consumers massively begin to vote with their rubles, euros, and dollars for electric cars as soon as they become more economical than traditional cars.”
Vygon estimates the average savings from a used Nissan Leaf in Russia’s Far East to be between 40,000 and 50,000 rubles a year, or around $A747 to $A933 compared with the cost of driving a Russian-produced Lada Granta – popularly referred to in Russia as the “people’s car”.
Unfortunately, the EV revolution in Russia’s Far East is not representative of the country at large, where electric vehicles account for less than 0.2% of the nation’s total passenger vehicle fleet, according to Vygon. As elsewhere, though, it is the high purchase price of a new EV that is serving as the main obstacle for prospective new car buyers.
Joshua S. Hill is a Melbourne-based journalist who has been writing about climate change, clean technology, and electric vehicles for over 15 years. He has been reporting on electric vehicles and clean technologies for Renew Economy and The Driven since 2012. His preferred mode of transport is his feet.