In May, 233 new UMO electric vehicles were sold on the Russian market. The domestic electric vehicle brand took first place in popularity. This was reported by the "Autostat" agency, citing data from JSC "PPK" on electronic vehicle passports.
Second place went to the Russian Evolute (which was the leader in April) with 120 cars sold. Next are the Chinese brands: Avatr (65 units) in third place, Geely (47 units), and Changan (33 units).
The top 5 models included UMO 5 – 233 units sold, Evolute i-JOY (119 units), Geely EX5 (43 units), Avatr 12 (41 units), and Changan Qiyuan Q05 (33 units). In total, Russians purchased 660 electric vehicles in May, which is 13.5% less than in the same month of 2025. A total of 3,858 electric vehicles were sold from January to May.
Explosive Growth in Popularity of Electric Vehicles and Hybrids
The Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade previously stated that in the first 5 months of 2026, sales of new electric vehicles and hybrids increased by 88%. A total of almost 44 thousand such vehicles were sold. Of these, over 25% were Russian-made.
Auto expert Sergey Melyukh stated that pure "electric cars" are bought by families who already own 1-2 cars. Hybrids, on the other hand, are purchased to replace older internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.
This is partly due to the situation in the fuel market, he explained. However, for many drivers, hybrids are more convenient: the battery range is long. In 80% of cases, such cars are used only in electric mode, Melyukh concluded.