Russia’s first electric car, the Zetta, could go into serial production by the end of this year if the company completes certification this fall, Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov said on Friday in an interview with Auto Mail.ru.
“The project of Zetta economy class four-wheel drive electric car of domestic design and assembly is worked out at present with proactive support of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade. The company plans to complete certification as early as this fall; in such case it will be possible to speak of starting serial production by the year-end,” Manturov said.
The car is unique owing to the all-purpose energy efficient traction motor, the Minister noted. “The Russian gearbox-free platform underlies this ecofriendly car,” Manturov said.
Zetta is the first Russian electric car that will be serially produced in Togliatti.
This spring, the company’s CEO Denis Shchurovsky announced that the budget electric car will cost only 450,000 rubles (less than $7,000) and will be based on Russian parts and production. The small three-door “city-Mobil” with the electric drive on two or four wheels will use a Chinese engine. About 40% of all production models will be equipped with front-wheel drive.
In December 2019, the company will present about ten experimental samples series and will start selling. In 2020, it is planned to produce 2000 machines, and then increase that to 15,000 cars a year. The assembly at the Togliatti factory will not employ more than 200 people, Shchurovsky said.
