Russian Auto Industry

GAZelle e-NN

GAZelle NN with VW engine

Battery-powered UAZ will be sold in Russia. 

In February 2022, the pre-production assembly of the UAZ Hunter with an electric power plant should start - the SUV was developed by the Czech company MWM Motors with the participation of specialists from the Ulyanovsk Automobile Plant. Should we wait for the release of the new product on the domestic market or, as UAZ wrote earlier, the car will be intended for a European buyer?

The press service of UAZ explained to the Russian Newspaper that along with the European market, the company, of course, also considers the Russian one. It would be wrong to exclude it from the field of activity, especially in the light of the concept of electric transport development adopted by the government of the country.

The company also confirmed the information that at first the electric Hunter will be offered to corporate clients and government agencies, and after assessing the market potential of the SUV to private buyers.

Recall that the electric "Hunter" in Europe is sold under the name MWM Spartan EV and is equipped with an electric engine with a capacity of 163 hp, batteries plus one in the trunk are installed in place of fuel tanks along the body. The power reserve is at least 200 km, but it all depends on the capacity of the batteries, so the autonomy can reach 400 km.

In the future, UAZ plans to electrify all its SUVs.

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Sadko Next with automatic transmission

KAMAZ told when the electric successor of the "Oka" will be released. 

The head of the KAMAZ press service Oleg Afanasyev told the correspondent of "RG" about the release dates of the electric smart crossover "Kama-1".

The Russian automaker will conduct long-term tests of the Kama-1. The company must also calculate the cost of the project.

"It is necessary to conduct a whole cycle of tests. These are strength, speed, etc. A huge job that needs to be done to get a certificate (permit) for this car.

We expect that we will conduct this test cycle during 2021 and 2022. After that, the project with investments will be presented to the Board of Directors. We should understand its cost and other parameters by that time. And only after that it will be possible to talk about launching it into a series" – Afanasyev said.

The electric car was officially presented in December 2020. The model will have to wait a few more years.

"Previously, taking into account the entire test cycle, not earlier than 2024" – the head of the press service of the enterprise Oleg Afanasyev summed up.

"Previously, taking into account the entire test cycle, not earlier than 2024" – the head of the press service of the enterprise Oleg Afanasyev summed up.

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AvtoVAZ has become a sponsor of enthusiasts who will go to the "Dakar" on the rally Niva. 

AvtoVAZ will financially support a private team from Switzerland, which on its own initiative decided to perform at the Dakar-2022 rally on a classic Lada Niva SUV produced in 1984.

The VAZ-2121, prepared by the team independently, will be launched in the new Dakar Classic category. It includes cars used in the "Dakar" and other major rally raids before 2000.

Real fans of the model from Switzerland will participate in the rally in a Russian car: Mario Jacober and Sladjan Miljic.

Together with the team, a new name and identity were developed in the spirit of the 80s of the twentieth century, when Lada Niva actively participated in various sports competitions. In connection with the connection of AvtoVAZ to the project, a new name was invented for the team — Niva Red Legend Team.

Mario Jacober, the pilot of the newly formed team, comments: "We are very happy that the Lada brand believed in us and decided to support us! This will undoubtedly give us confidence and help us make sure that as many people as possible can learn about our project. We started preparing in the winter, and now nine months later we are ready to go on the road. Our first stop will be the city of Togliatti, where we plan to visit the AvtoVAZ Museum and see with our own eyes the "combat" Nivas of the last century that inspired us to participate in the Dakar rally."

Fabien Gulmi, Lada Brand and Marketing Director, says: "We accidentally found out about this project, as it caused some excitement in the Russian media. But our interest is based not just on the fact of the car's participation, but because there is a very pleasant human story behind it. We will follow their adventures and help them share them with all Niva fans in various media, including social networks. We support them because they share our values: a competitive spirit, a thirst for adventure and friendship."

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GAZon Next

The problem I have with electric vehicles is that if they have a range of 200km and I need to travel 50km a day... will I still be OK in the winter?

If I start at 8am and finish at about 5;30pm then I am going to be driving to work and home from work with the headlights on. It will likely be cold so the heater will be on and possibly the window wipers too.

Under such conditions will my battery range still be 200km?

And how long would it take to recharge the batteries if I run out of power?

If the car suddenly stops in the middle of a motor way for instance that would mean I would need to be towed to the nearest charger... where I might have to wait 2 hours for it to charge... so I get home at 8pm... what a pain in the ass.

With some old cars and many motorbikes there was a reserve tank switch where a significant portion... like a 1/5th of the fuel tank was walled off from the rest of the tank... it was open at the top but had a door at the bottom that was normally closed so when you filled the tank it automatically flowed over into the reserve tank area, but as you burned fuel the fuel in the reserve area would stay full... if you ever ran out of petrol you opened the reserve tank and that allowed the fuel in the reserve side of the tank to flow into the rest of the tank... to get you to a fuel station to refill the tank.

With an electric car you could do the same with some spare batteries that had enough charge to get you home from most places... but I think even better than spare batteries would be a small gas turbine generator that can run the car and recharge the batteries to get you home... you could carry as much fuel as you like in a bladder and use the exhaust for heating instead of wasting electricity for heating... a lot of electricity is wasted heating things.

Russian_Patriot_ wrote:KAMAZ told when the electric successor of the "Oka" will be released.
....

...

This project here could be a game changer because Kamaz is not some tiny startup company but a massive existing vehicle corporation with production lines and distribution network already in place

Electric vehicles have reset the board on car market and everyone is basically starting from scratch now

If this takes off they could make history

KAMAZ Compass

Valdai Next

I would say the GAZ Valdai looks more refined and stylish than the Kamaz Compass. It can compete with a very popular model from Isuzu in the developing and third world market nations like mine. If only the Russian auto industry had a presence worldwide.

KAMAZ-54907 Continent

The fate of classic KAMAZ trucks became known. 

Within the framework of the exhibition" Comtrans-2021", the general director of KAMAZ Sergey Kogogin told about the fate of the K3 and K4 families.

Trucks with a classic cab are used in agriculture and law enforcement agencies due to price positioning. K3 will even get a restyling soon. At the same time, such KAMAZ trucks will remain on the conveyor while there is demand.

"We will always have a client for whom the choice of price will be decisive. This means that we will continue to produce this equipment. We have a restyling project. We are largely upgrading the cabin. We will try to make it more modern, as much as it is possible to do with a 50-year-old cabin. We will stop the issue when we realize that the market does not need it. Our ambitions are aimed at the premium segment, that is, K5" – Kogogin said.

Kama Automobile Plant intends to focus on the development of trucks of the K5 generation of the premium segment. The company is constantly increasing the production volumes of this family.

"We are sure that our cabin is correct. And we definitely have no doubts about the choice we made" – the company's CEO added.

As for the intermediate K4 family, such trucks will end their life in 2023. Then the K4 will be produced in a small batch in the form of special trucks and dump trucks.

"Starting from 2024, we are not going to release it. We don't need cannibalism within one family" – Kogogin said.

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The Aurus Lafet hearse first appeared in public during the funeral of the Minister of Emergency Situations Yevgeny Zinichiv

KAMAZ-65956

KAMAZ-65951

KAMAZ-65953 

KAMAZ-65959

KAMAZ-Chistogor electric truck

The Kamaz Continent looks positively out of this world. The tractor looks elegant and well balanced. But I am not sure if the trailer is practical. Is such styling common in Europe?

Daniel_Admassu wrote:The Kamaz Continent looks positively out of this world. The tractor looks elegant and well balanced. But I am not sure if the trailer is practical. Is such styling common in Europe?

KAMAZ Continent is a concept truck of the future with all modern things and amenities. Also, a trailer with improved aerodynamics is specially designed for it. It is extremely unlikely that the Continent will be serial, but the concept is very interesting

KAMAZ-65208 hydrogen truck

Lada Vesta SW Cross turned into a taxi. 

The Lada Vesta SW Cross cross station wagon was shown in the new version – taxi. AvtoVAZ presented this modification at the international taxi forum in Moscow.

Among the advantages for passengers, they noted a spacious interior, comfort and a roomy trunk. For taxi companies — low cost of ownership and high maintainability.

Separately, the presence of an automatic transmission is noted. However, they are not talking about a hydro-mechanical automatic transmission, which is not installed on the Vesta, but about a continuously variable Jatco variator working in conjunction with the Nissan HR16 engine (1.6 liters, 113 hp). This version is available from 2019.

The outside of the car is covered with bright yellow vinyl film with checkers. An orange taxi light is installed on the roof.

The price of the car for taxi companies is not specified. At retail, a cross-station wagon with a variator costs at least 1,085,900 rubles.

Recall that in 2018, AvtoVAZ released three hundred yellow Lada Vesta sedan and Lada Largus Cross for use in taxi companies in Cuba.

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Lada Largus CNG van. The gas cylinders are located under the bottom.

KAMAZ-54907 Continent in details:

KAMAZ P6 engine

New KAMAZ-435091 sports truck

KAMAZ-54901 trucks