Kamaz Launches Pre-Sales For Russia’s First Mass-Produced Electric Vehicle

The Russian auto manufacturer Kamaz has launched a presale program for Russia’s first electric vehicle, the pre-series production of which began in late November at its Moskvich plant near Moscow. This plant was previously a joint venture with Renault until the French manufacturer exited the Russian market in 2022.

The new EV, titled the ‘Atom‘ is a domestically developed electric SUV from the Russian Direct Investment Fund, Rosatom (Russia’s nuclear energy agency), and Chinese tech partners. It features advanced features such as a touch-screen steering wheel and a 500 km range, with capabilities tested in harsh Arctic conditions that would drain power from normal EV’s. It represents Russia’s push to build its own EV industry, leveraging local resources and Chinese tech for a vehicle designed for severe climates.

Sergei Chemezov, the Kamaz chairman, stated, “I congratulate the Atom project team on getting to the final stretch. This is a concrete example of our capabilities for creating new high-tech products—from engineering solutions to production—in this instance, for the automobile market. Atom has grown from an idea into a real product, which is now completing the testing stage and is getting ready to enter the market. Today, we are already launching the presale of the electric car. The developers have been able to create an up-to-date model for environmentally friendly light urban transport. The project has been implemented on its own dedicated platform, with Russian-developed batteries, software, and digital architecture.”

CEO Sergei Kogogin said that the production of the Atom electric cars would be “another step in the reinforcement of Russia’s technological independence and the authority of Russian engineering.”

The employees of Kamaz will have the opportunity to become the first owners of the Atom cars and purchase them under special conditions as employees. They will receive priority sales, a benefits package including paid subscriptions and services of Atom, a commemorative limited edition key, a comprehensive service program, and a prepaid charge package of 3,000 kW.

The Atom electric car product is being implemented by JSC Kama, which was registered in the 2021. Later on, Kamaz itself became a majority shareholder in the company, and Rosatom became a partner. Kamaz has said that it wants to supply one million-plus Atoms for taxi companies and carsharing services.