In Crimea, the Elkafa research and production enterprise will develop and present a serial version of the UAZ-452 SUV with an electric motor, Mikhail Demuria, chairman of the Rustranselectro Electric Vehicle Development Association, said in a comment to TASS.
“Donor” took the UAZ “loaf” for the conversion of mass-produced cars into electric vehicles. An agreement has been signed with the UAZ automobile plant, they are helping with engineering resources … I think that in the spring we will begin testing and refinement. By the middle or end of summer, there will already be a real product,” Demuria said.
According to him, earlier Elkafa won a grant from the Innovation Development Fund to develop a battery for an electric car, which is expected to be tested in the conditions of the mountainous and steppe Crimea. The transmission will be completely electric, while a fuel generator can be installed in the engine compartment in case the electric car is sent to places where there is no charging.
The first production car UAZ-450 – the so-called “loaf” – rolled off the assembly line of the Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant on January 31, 1958. The UAZ-450 family was produced until 1965, about 55,000 cars were manufactured. In 1965, the UAZ-450 was replaced by a modernized UAZ-452 model. In the 70s. the plant tried to produce electric vehicles based on the “loaf”, about 100 pieces were made. In 2007, the legendary “loaf” was once again modernized for the supply of 2304 ambulances to the regions of Russia as part of the national project “Health”.