“Kommersant”: in Russia proposed a price ceiling for charging electric vehicles

At the end of 2022, at a meeting at the Ministry of Economic Development, the manufacturer of electric vehicles Evolute Motorinvest proposed fixing the cost of energy for charging electric vehicles in Russia, Kommersant found out.

Thus, Motorinvest considers it necessary to limit the cost of charging to 8 rubles. for 1 kWh for at least 3-5 years. In addition, the automaker proposed to introduce a mandatory quota for electric vehicles of 10% of car purchases for taxi and car sharing fleets.

Market participants say that now the cost of charging at electric charging stations (ECS) is much higher – about 15-25 rubles. for 1 kWh. And the operator of the EZS Punkt E said that the price of charging cannot be equal to the purchase price of electricity. They specified that now in most regions the purchase price is above 8 rubles. for 1 kWh.

The company did not comment on measures to stimulate the development of electric cars in the country, and the Ministry of Economic Development reported that the ideas were being worked out.

Eduard Mingazhev, General Director of Citydrive carsharing, positively assessed Motorinvest’s initiative with a price ceiling for charging. At the same time, he considered the proposal “too optimistic” given the increase in electricity tariffs and inflation. Mingazhev explained that for servicing a large fleet of electric vehicles, “the speed and availability of EZS is more important.”

At the same time, Citydrive did not support the quota measure. The initiative was also called premature in Citymobile. They explained that there is not yet sufficient experience in the use of such machines. Yandex.Taxi said they see the potential in electric vehicles, but “favorable conditions are important for their introduction, including competitive prices for electricity.”