More miraculous than miraculous news comes from Kaliningrad. The place warmed by Chevrolet, BMW and KIA at the time has already been taken by several Chinese brands, and the fruits of the Russian-Chinese union are about to appear on the road: Kaiyi will be officially presented in March-April . However, the most western car factory in Russia did not limit itself to assembling Chinese cars: the company plans to start mass re-equipment of used gasoline cars, turning them into “electric trains”. Frankly, after such news, I want to read the Strugatskys again in the hope of finding at least some answers to my questions. Because no matter how you look at it, it’s fantastic.
The fact remains, however, that Avtotor is launching a pilot project in which ordinary and familiar used cars are converted to electric traction. The first tests will start this spring and the conversion kits will be produced by the factory itself. The idea is that the maneuver will allow Russia’s aging fleet to survive longer under the pressure of sanctions. Bet no one could have predicted such a “trick”? And it turned out how it happened.
Initially, the idea seems like a form of madness. From which side you do not come, and the modification will be expensive, complex and long – about 100,000 rubles. However, 2022 has taught us not to be surprised at anything: even in a nightmare, no one could dream of even a small part of last year’s events. So we take the application at face value and dissect it to the bone. You look, and the logic will come through.
First, where does this nonsense come from? The AvtoVzglyad portal has already given its version of the development of events in the Russian automotive sector, we will not repeat ourselves. But the argument that you’re tired of overtaking, you need to start with a clean “electrolyte” seems increasingly relevant. No doubt the train is expensive and inaccessible these days. There are also few used cars in this segment, so saturating the secondary market in a direct way will not work. Let’s take a detour: we’re going to convert existing cars for electric propulsion.
Secondly, we have a lot of electricity, much more than we can use, the only problem is the charging stations. However, this problem can now be solved: the infrastructure of newly built roads – and in Russia now not only new routes are being built, but entire routes that cross the country in all possible directions – already at the design stage implies charging stations. This means that this dilemma is “on the pencil” in the highest offices and will therefore be solved.
The third point is the place of “re-equipment”, Kaliningrad. Far away, and sure enough, the enclave is surrounded by hostile states. And specifically now – quite “poisonous”. However, it is in Kaliningrad that Rosatom builds his own gigafactory, the first in Russia. Cells will be assembled there, which will later become batteries for household electric vehicles.
De facto, “trains” are much simpler than conventional petrol or diesel cars. Yes, these days smaller output is higher than the price per unit of production for economic reasons, they are expensive, but by all inputs, electric vehicles should cost less than the usual ICE vehicles. A battery and an electric motor on a driven wheel are much simpler than the complex world of an internal combustion engine. And much easier for production within the Russian industrial complex.
The point is small: we need a “starter” with which the population can learn and try electric vehicles. According to the idea, the Avtotor project will become this trigger mechanism, under which ordinary cars will be transferred to electric traction. Fantastic? No, it’s already a fact.
More miraculous than miraculous news comes from Kaliningrad. The place warmed by Chevrolet, BMW and KIA at the time has already been taken by several Chinese brands, and the fruits of the Russian-Chinese union are about to appear on the road: Kaiyi will be officially presented in March-April . However, the most western car factory in Russia did not limit itself to assembling Chinese cars: the company plans to start mass re-equipment of used gasoline cars, turning them into “electric trains”. Frankly, after such news, I want to read the Strugatskys again in the hope of finding at least some answers to my questions. Because no matter how you look at it, it’s fantastic.
The fact remains, however, that Avtotor is launching a pilot project in which ordinary and familiar used cars are converted to electric traction. The first tests will start this spring and the conversion kits will be produced by the factory itself. The idea is that the maneuver will allow Russia’s aging fleet to survive longer under the pressure of sanctions. Bet no one could have predicted such a “trick”? And it turned out how it happened.
Initially, the idea seems like a form of madness. From which side you do not come, and the modification will be expensive, complex and long – about 100,000 rubles. However, 2022 has taught us not to be surprised at anything: even in a nightmare, no one could dream of even a small part of last year’s events. So we take the application at face value and dissect it to the bone. You look, and the logic will come through.
First, where does this nonsense come from? The AvtoVzglyad portal has already given its version of the development of events in the Russian automotive sector, we will not repeat ourselves. But the argument that you’re tired of overtaking, you need to start with a clean “electrolyte” seems increasingly relevant. No doubt the train is expensive and inaccessible these days. There are also few used cars in this segment, so saturating the secondary market in a direct way will not work. Let’s take a detour: we are going to convert existing cars for electric propulsion.
Secondly, we have a lot of electricity, much more than we can use, the only problem is the charging stations. However, this problem can now be solved: the infrastructure of newly built roads – and in Russia now not only new routes are being built, but entire routes that cross the country in all possible directions – already at the design stage implies charging stations. This means that this dilemma is “on the pencil” in the highest offices and will therefore be solved.
The third point is the place of “re-equipment”, Kaliningrad. Far away, and sure enough, the enclave is surrounded by hostile states. And specifically now – quite “poisonous”. However, it is in Kaliningrad that Rosatom builds his own gigafactory, the first in Russia. Cells will be assembled there, which will later become batteries for household electric vehicles.
De facto “trains” are much simpler than conventional petrol or diesel cars. Yes, these days smaller output is higher than the price per unit of production for economic reasons, they are expensive, but by all inputs, electric vehicles should cost less than the usual ICE vehicles. A battery and an electric motor on a driven wheel are much simpler than the complex world of an internal combustion engine. And much easier for production within the Russian industrial complex.
The point is small: we need a “starter” with which the population can learn and try electric vehicles. According to the idea, the Avtotor project will become this trigger mechanism, under which ordinary cars will be transferred to electric traction. Fantastic? No, it’s already a fact.
Source: Avto Vzglyad
Donald Salinas is an experienced automobile journalist and writer for Div Bracket. He brings his readers the latest news and developments from the world of automobiles, offering a unique and knowledgeable perspective on the latest trends and innovations in the automotive industry.