The zero duty period on all-electric cars ended on January 1, 2022, but they are still imported and sold.
Cars are brought by official dealers of brands through parallel imports or specialized showrooms selling electric cars. The demand for such cars is small compared to cars with internal combustion engines, and many models are expensive, but their popularity is growing.
According to the Autostat agency, in May 2022 there were 16.5 thousand electric vehicles in Russia. Most of them are the budget Nissan Leaf, which is popular in Siberia and the Far East. Such cars are imported used from Japan.
But there are also new cars with electric drive on sale – American, Chinese and German. We have collected in one material seven fully electric cars that are sold new in Russia.
Zeekr 001
Price:Â from 5.8 million rubles
Country of origin:Â China
NEDC range:Â 712 kmÂ
Zeekr is a brand of the automobile concern Geely. It was created to produce and sell high-end electric cars, the 001 being the brand’s first model. This is a large hatchback with a body length of 4.8 m, built on an all-electric platform. It is planned to be sold in Europe, but is currently only available in China. From there, Zeekr 001 is imported to Russia.
Calling the Zeekr 001 a crossover would be a mistake; the car is quite low: ground clearance is only 117 mm. But thanks to the air suspension, it can be increased to 200 mm.
The hatchback has two powertrain options: rear-wheel drive with an electric motor producing 272 hp. With. and all-wheel drive with two engines with output of 544 hp. With. The all-wheel drive version can have two batteries – with a capacity of 86 or 100 kWh for the rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive versions, respectively, the range differs by more than 100 km.
The car is very richly equipped, it has more than 10 cameras for all-round visibility and analysis of the road situation, electric side doors and a 15.4-inch multimedia display. The interior is fully trimmed in leather, and the panoramic roof is available in blackout. This car is very different from the usual Chinese cars: it has high quality finishes and a well-designed interior.
Audi Q5 e-tron
Price:Â from 6.5 million rubles
Country of origin:Â China
NEDC range:Â 560 kmÂ
Despite the familiar name, the electric Q5 is very different from the gasoline one; they are even built on different platforms. This model had not been sold in Russia before, but the dealer brought several cars through parallel imports. The Q5 e-tron was developed for the Chinese market and is produced there.
This crossover is noticeably larger than the regular Q5: it is almost 20 cm longer, and the wheelbase is almost 15 cm longer. Thanks to this, the electric version has three rows of seats, making it a seven-seater car. There is only one power plant, an electric motor with a capacity of 204 hp. With. and drive to the rear axle. There are no all-wheel drive versions on sale. The battery has a capacity of 83 kWh , and acceleration to 100 km/h takes 9.3 seconds.
The list of options for the Q5 e-tron is quite long – you can find a car with a leather interior, electric seats, matrix LED headlights, 20-inch wheels and three-zone climate control.
Mercedes-Benz EQS
Price:Â from 9 million rubles
Country of origin:Â USA
NEDC range:Â 580 kmÂ
The large electric Mercedes is made in the USA and is aimed at the American market. The length of the car is 5.2 m, and the wheelbase is 10 cm longer than that of the S-Class . Despite its size, this is not a classic sedan in one body style – a liftback.
You can buy three versions of the car: EQS 350, EQS 450 and EQS 580. There is no connection with the characteristics in the digital designations of the model. The first two options are with rear axle drive, the only differences are in power – 292 and 333 hp. With. – and battery capacity. The less powerful version has 90 kWh versus 100 kWh for the EQS 450. The all-wheel drive EQS 580 is much more powerful: the total power of the two electric motors is 523 hp. With. , and acceleration to 100 km/h takes only 3.9 seconds.
It would take a very long time to list all the possible equipment of an expensive Mercedes: almost all options known to users can be included in the car. The only things that can be highlighted are driver identification by fingerprint, steering rear suspension and three separate monitors in the dashboard.
BMW iX
Price:Â from 9 million rubles
Country of origin:Â Germany
NEDC range:Â 630 kmÂ
BMW’s largest electric crossover was officially sold in Russia, but later deliveries of all the concern’s cars were stopped. Whether dealers sell officially imported cars or import them themselves through parallel imports is unknown and generally not so important for the buyer.
Only all-wheel drive versions of different power are available for sale: the basic xDrive 40 with 326 hp. With. and xDrive 50 with 523 hp. With. The batteries of the cars also differ: 71 kWh in the base version versus 105 kWh in the older version. Technically, there are few differences; the electric motors on both axles and their gearboxes are the same. Due to the smaller battery capacity, the range is also smaller – 425 and 630 km, respectively. The dynamics of the electric BMW are enough for any driver; acceleration to 100 km/h of the weaker version takes just over six seconds.