"Green" cars are on the rise: the share of electric cars and hybrids in Russian sales has almost doubled. In the first seven months of 2026, 70,180 new energy vehicles – hybrids and electric cars – were sold in Russia, almost twice as many as a year earlier. This was stated in a message from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, citing data from "Passport Industrial Consulting".
The share of hybrids and electric vehicles in total sales of new (up to three years old) vehicles of all types in the Russian market in January-July reached almost 9% compared to 5% a year earlier.
The total market in the reporting period amounted to 815,105 vehicles – 10% more than a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Of these, 732,058 units were passenger cars (+13%), 47,997 vehicles were light commercial vehicles (−17%), 29,328 units were trucks (−7%), and 5,723 units were buses (−3.5%).
A hybrid is a car that has two "hearts" at once: a conventional gasoline engine and an electric motor. This tandem allows for less fuel consumption. At low speeds, the car often runs on electricity, and the gasoline engine connects to assist on the highway or during acceleration. Some hybrids can also be charged from an outlet, then they drive around the city on pure electric traction, and the gasoline engine only recharges the battery on the go.
AvtoVAZ previously confirmed the development of its first plug-in hybrid – it is expected to be an all-wheel drive Lada Azimut crossover with a total power of about 390 horsepower.
Hybrids are already being assembled in Russia. The UMO 8 crossover with a series hybrid system (156 hp gasoline engine and two electric motors, totaling 340 hp) is produced at the Moskvich plant in partnership with Yandex.