Russians are buying electric cars at a record pace amid a shortage of gasoline at gas stations and an increase in its cost due to Ukrainian attacks on oil refineries. In October 2026, citizens bought over 4,000 such cars, which is 2.5 times higher than the value of the same month in 2025 and is the maximum figure in the entire history of observations by Autostat analysts. The share of electric cars in Russia has also increased: if in the first half of the year it was about 0.5%, then in October it has already reached 3%. Among the most popular brands are. Changan, Toyota, Evolved, UMO and Avatr.
"The main reason for the increase in stock growth or volume lies in the gasoline crisis," Autostat CEO Sergey Tslikov told Kommersant. "Now, from week to week, the stock has started to drop a little. The two models that are at the top of the ranking: both Changan and Toyota, are supplied by parallel imports for two to three months on average. People are now registering the cars they ordered back in August." By the end of August, due to attacks by the armed forces of Ukraine and shutdowns of major refineries, gasoline production in the Russian Federation had fallen to 70% of the average level of consumption in the domestic market, Reuters reported, citing calculations by industry sources.
To be honest, I doubt that buying an electric car in its current state is a good idea. The energy grid is just as vulnerable, if not more, to "disruptions" than oil refining. You can charge a battery with electricity, but you can't store it for future "rainy day" use. And there are such risks.
This phase seems particularly strange given that there were no problems with the diesel engine. There has always been an oversupply and export. Maybe it would make more sense to buy diesel cars?