Sergey Tselikov is Russia's leading automotive industry expert with more than 20 vehicles, including Volvo, Volkswagen and Range Rover, all with gasoline engines.
But in July, after Ukrainian drone attacks on oil refineries caused drivers across the country to queue for hours at gas stations, he bought a Chinese-made all-electric hatchback. You have to be quick - due to the surge in demand, the price of this car made by Great Wall Motors has increased by about US$2,000 (approximately RMB 13,400) in a few days.
“I tried to fill up one of the cars and visited five gas stations nearby, but there was only diesel or low-grade gasoline,” he said, referring to low-grade fuels that the government allows to be sold in response to shortages. "I'm just too lazy to stand in line."
As Ukraine increasingly directs the war against Russia, the impact may be most visible on the roads. The Russian electric car market has more than doubled since the end of June. Most of the electric cars sold in the country are Chinese, underscoring Moscow's economic pivot in response to Western wartime sanctions.
Russia is catching up. For years, Russia turned a blind eye while other countries built electric vehicle supply chains and charging infrastructure. As one of the world's largest oil producers, Russia has kept gasoline prices low for a long time. The vast distances between major cities mean charging networks are economically unsustainable without steady demand. The harsh winter also requires car manufacturers to significantly adjust their models to adapt to the climate.
Today, electric cars are suddenly becoming more common on Russian roads, especially in big cities. According to data from the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade, sales of electric vehicles (including hybrid vehicles) in the country increased from 43,000 vehicles from January to August 2025 to more than 83,000 vehicles in the same period this year.
According to Avtostat, an automotive research institute led by Tselikov, as of the end of September, pure electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles that can run without gasoline accounted for 11.5% of the Russian auto market, compared with about 5% at the beginning of the year. Russia's electric vehicle market share is currently slightly higher than that of the United States, but it is still far from China's 45%.
The surge in electric vehicles in Russia stems from one specific factor — the attacks in Ukraine — but the shift there is the latest example of how war and supply shocks can quickly alter car-buying decisions.
Sales of electric vehicles have surged in other parts of the world as the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran sent oil and gasoline prices soaring. Globally, electric vehicles are expected to account for a record 29% of all new car purchases this year, according to the International Energy Agency.
Sales of electric vehicles have increased this year in more than 90 countries, including Brazil, Australia, India and South Korea. The IEA said the energy crisis had "clearly strengthened the position of electric vehicles".
In Russia, fuel shortages are unsettling many people who have grown accustomed to the war in Ukraine being a distant trouble. This could become a serious political problem for the government.
On Friday, only 46% of gas stations across Russia were selling fuel, according to Gdebenz, a crowdsourcing tool that tracks the fuel market. In Moscow, 53% of gas stations had gasoline, leading to queues in some places. In Nizhny Novgorod, a major city east of Moscow, the proportion of petrol filling stations is only 27%.
The situation in Moscow was worse in early July and mid-August, with only a quarter of petrol stations having fuel after attacks on refineries supplying the city.
At that time, vehicles queuing for refueling blocked traffic in the capital. Drivers waited for hours at gas stations on the highway connecting Moscow to St. Petersburg, Kazan and the south of the country. The roads, opened over the past decade, are a project of which President Vladimir V. Putin is proud.
To quell the crisis, the government allowed the sale of low-grade gasoline and diesel. But some cars started to malfunction after using low-quality fuel.
As the fuel crisis drags on, electric car dealers' inventories have been emptied, and fewer used electric cars are for sale online.
At a sprawling dealership complex northwest of Moscow, a manager for Evolute, a brand of Russian-assembled electric cars based on Chinese designs, said the parking lot was out of stock and reservations were unavailable.
The complex has more than 40 dealers, most of which used to sell mainly Western, Japanese and Korean brands. Now it has more than 25 Chinese showrooms.
