Kazakhstan launches its first electromobile charging station

The first charging station for electromobiles in Kazakhstan has opened on November 12 in Almaty, Tengrinews reports citing Almaty.tv.

The charging station is located at the intersection of Dostyk Avenue and Mitin Street and works around the clock. Full battery charging cost 1000 tenge ($5.5) and takes about 1.5 - 2 hours.

Usually, the run time depends on the model of the electromobile but it is about 200 kilometers on average. Tesla mobiles can travel up to 460 kilometers in certain modes. In addition, many new models can be recharged from a home outlet.

"At present, the share of electric cars is below 0.1 percent of the passenger car market in Kazakhstan. However, amid the fuel crisis, electromobiles are becoming increasingly relevant, as this type of transport is 6-7 times less expensive than those running on combustion engines. The best outlook for electromobiles in Kazakhstan is with the commercial vehicles market, as 2/3 of commercial vehicles operation costs are made up by fuel and repairs. An electric car is a solution to these problems," the developer of the first domestic electromobile Tair Balbayev said.

Another important advantage of the "green" transport is high efficiency of electric motors (90-98 percent compared to 22-32 percent of internal combustion engines), as well as their higher reliability and durability (25 years and more).

As Almaty TV reported that Kazakhstan temporarily obtained concessions for import of electric vehicles. The Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) approved temporary zeroing of the 19 percent duty on import of electric cars into the union's countries - Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan - from February 1, 2014 until December 31, 2015.

"Full-scale infrastructure for electromobiles requires stations with rapid charging taking 20 minutes to a half hour. There is a need for stations on intercity routes to expand the range of electric vehicles in Kazakhstan. To complete the picture also required are waste recovery points for old batteries. At first glance it may seem this would take 10 years to make. But in reality, everything can happen faster," Balbayev said.

KazMunaiGas Onimderi also intends on building three separate "green stations" and add around 11 charging stations for electric vehicles to eight existing KazMunaiGas fuelling stations.

Writing by Dinara Urazova, editing by Tatyana Kuzmina