A fully domestic electric car may appear in Russia within the next two years. This forecast was made by RAS Academician, Head of the Electrochemistry Department of the Chemistry Faculty of Moscow State University, Evgeny Antipov, RIA Novosti reports.
According to him, the global electric vehicle market is developing rapidly: 25% of all passenger cars produced in the world are electric vehicles. China, EU countries, and the USA remain the sales leaders.
Antipov noted that electric vehicles are becoming more attractive to buyers due to a sharp decrease in battery prices. Accordingly, their cost is no longer as high as it was before, when Tesla entered the market.
Battery Production
Rosatom's Gigafactory with a capacity of 4 GWh per year has already been launched in Russia. In the coming year, two more enterprises are planned to be launched: in Krasnaya Pakhra (4 GWh/year) and Dolgoprudny (up to 1 GWh/year).
If everything is summed up, it turns out that by 2027, the production capacity of lithium-ion batteries in Russia will be 13 GWh, which is about 200,000 electric vehicles per year.
What hinders full localization
The academician noted that currently, factories use Chinese technologies, equipment, and materials. The battery will become fully domestic only when key materials are produced in Russia. According to him, the government has already drawn up a roadmap and a national project for technological leadership is in effect.
Safety Issue
Antipov also noted that electric vehicles must be safe. This is a challenge for all Russian chemists – to create the safest possible cathode materials, which are explosive under certain conditions, the scientist noted, adding that this topic remains debatable for chemists worldwide.