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The power of prestige: a third of Russian electric car buyers see them as status symbol

More than one-third of actual and potential electric car owners in Russia decide to buy such vehicles for prestige reasons rather than to cut their car expenses or contribute to saving the environment

© AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau

MOSCOW, December 12. /TASS/. More than one-third of actual and potential electric car owners in Russia decide to buy such vehicles for prestige reasons rather than to cut their car expenses or contribute to saving the environment, the Avtonet National Technology Initiative said in a statement.

"As many as 52% of those surveyed said that the environment friendliness of electric transport was a reason to buy an electric car, another 34% said it was prestigious to own an electric car, while 11% said they sought to cut their car expenses. Only three percent noted that innovative design was the major driving force behind such a purchase," the statement reads.

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Most electric car buyers are men (75%) aged between 25 and 45, whose monthly income exceeds 200,000 rubles ($3,000). At the same time, 15% of them took bank loans to buy environment friendly vehicles, which is because electric cars still are pricey with an average cost of four to five mln rubles ($60,000-75,000), Avtonet experts pointed out.

All in all, nearly all electric car users are drawn to hi-tech products in general, not only on the car market but on the electronics market as well. This means they are the same people who purchase the hottest smartphones, wireless headsets and other fancy hi-tech gadgets, researchers said.

According to Avtonet, in 2018 global electric car sales were 70% higher than in the previous year, but Russia’s fledgling infrastructure for recharging electric cars does not yet allow such vehicles to become truly popular.

The poll involving 1,100 actual and potential electric car owners aged between 21 and 65 was conducted in early December.

The Avtonet National Technology Initiative is one of the eight trajectories of a state program aimed at establishing totally new markets and creating conditions for making Russia a global technology leader by 2035. The Avtonet roadmap stipulates the development of services, systems and up-to-date transport means based on intellectual platforms, networks and infrastructure in the area of human logistics and the logistics of things.

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