Eco-friendly cars are still not popular in Russia, due to
their high price, the lack of charging stations and insufficient state support.
RIR attempts to find out if they are needed at all in the capital of the
world’s second largest oil producer.
According to the newspaper Kommersant, on July 22 the
Russian postal monopoly Pochta Rossii turned down a contract with the auto
group Renault to rent 12 electric cars. This contract, worth 15.9 million rubles
($490,700) was agreed upon prior to a recent change of leadership in the
company, and it was later reviewed.
Whereas, at first, Pochta Rossii wanted to purchase 100
electric cars immediately to serve the Sochi Olympics, it became clear after
company assessments that the cars would never pay for themselves.