Twenty-eight charging stations for electric cars are nearing completion in Moscow, although there are only about 100 electric cars throughout the entire country.
The stations are part of the experimental MOESK-EV project by state-owned Moscow Grid Company MOESK, Revolta, CirControl, and ROLF Import, Mitsubishi's Russian distributor.
The stations will charge cars for free until October, project director Denis Tsypulev told Vedomosti. MOESK earlier put the cost of each station at about $30,000 to $40,000.
Revolta, Russia's first company focused on the EV sector and the main contractor for the project, said it plans to open 1,000 charging stations for various clients around Russia by the end of 2012 and over 2,000 by the end of 2013.
The company's marketing director Irina Yakubenko said that the lack of stations was the biggest reason keeping sales of electric cars down, but an additional 100 cars could be sold this year and 400 next year. By 2020, the total number of electric cars in the Moscow region could reach 100,000, Yakubenko said, citing a joint study by MOESK, Revolta and Roland Berger.
Mitsubishi's i-MiEV is currently the only electric car sold in Russia, and ROLF Import says it hopes to have the car available at 80 percent of its dealerships across the country by year's end. Mitsubishi plans to offer an additional seven electric car models in Russia by 2015.
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