Russia considers producing Atom EVs in Uzbekistan - Putin

MOSCOW. Oct 9 (Interfax) - Production of the Atom electric cars developed by Russia's JSC Kama might be set up in Uzbekistan, President Vladimir Putin said following Russian-Uzbek negotiations on Friday.

"The Tashkent Metallurgical Plant with capacity of 500,000 tonnes of rolled steel per year, plants to assemble Russian Lada and Kamaz automobiles and industrial technology parks in Tashkent and Jizzakh regions were built in Uzbekistan with the assistance of Russia. The possibility of launching production of the Atom electric vehicle, which was completely designed and developed in Russia, is being studied," Putin said.

He did not specify the details of Russian-Uzbek negotiations on the Atom EV.

Kama, which was incorporated in August 2021 to implement the EV project, is headed by Igor Povarazdnyuk, the former manager of truck maker Kamaz's project development division. It was reported that Kamaz CEO Sergei Kogogin and former investment banker Ruben Vardanyan invested in the startup at the initial stage.

The Atom concept was developed in 2022 and the first functional prototype was unveiled in 2023, which is also when the company began taking preorders. Mass production is scheduled to start in 2025. It was reported earlier that the cars will be built at the Moskvich plant. Kama expects to be able to deliver 25,000-30,000 cars to customers in the year it launches production. The company said in early October that it already has 36,000 preorders for the Atom.

Kama wants to supply vehicles for taxi fleets and car sharing in cities with populations upwards of one million. Atom's website lists car sharing services Citidrive and BelkaCar, as well as Kamaz, Rosatom and Tinkoff as partners.

Kamaz planned to build an Atom prototype by May 2023. The Atom line is expected to include two base models with versions for use as taxis and delivery vehicles. Car sharing service Delimobil also recently announced a partnership with Kama.