Today, electric vehicles are gaining more and more popularity among motorists, because they fully meet modern trends. These cars are as high-tech as those that run on gasoline or gas, but they are more environmentally friendly and safer. However, not everyone knows that in fact, electric cars have been on the market for more than a decade, and they were produced, including in the Soviet Union.
Today, few people know that in the Soviet Union they tried for quite a long time to find an alternative to engines running on gasoline. And among the concepts that would solve this issue, there were several models of electric vehicles. The first machines of this type have been developed since the thirties of the last century - for example, the heavy YAG-4 or the NAMI-750 postal van. However, the peak of popularity of this concept in the USSR fell on the period of Brezhnev's "stagnation".
So, by the end of the seventies, in addition to many art concepts, several Soviet electric cars were developed. For example, in the capital of Armenia, Yerevan, miniature vans YerAZ were produced, and the Riga Automobile Plant was engaged in the production of an electric minibus RAF-2204. At the same time, in the city of Istra, in the same period, a hybrid car was being designed, which would be an electric car with an internal combustion engine also installed. We are talking about the Moskvich-2144 "Istra" model.
However, in reality, all these concepts were quickly abandoned for one reason - at that time, technologies did not yet allow creating an electric car that would be equally effective, practical and easy to operate. Back then, many auto designers said that the time for electric vehicles had simply not come yet.
The main obstacle to the development of a really good car of this type was not powerful enough batteries, and if they were made too heavy, then there would simply be nowhere to maintain them: in those days in Soviet cities there were no stations where the "battery" could be easily recharged or change.
All these problems clearly manifested themselves, in fact, in all the above-mentioned models of Soviet-made electric vehicles. So, for example, the Moskvich-2144 "Istra", which weighed two tons and was able to carry a load weighing half a ton, simply could not work only on a battery: according to the Novate.ru editorial office, under these conditions one charge would only be enough for a car for 12 kilometers of track. That is why they tried to create a hybrid: an internal combustion engine powered an electric generator, which continuously feeds an electric motor battery.
This design, however, had its advantages: so the volume of exhaust gases that the Moskvich-2144 emits will be only 0.2 times the volume produced by a conventional car with a gasoline engine. And the power reserve of the hybrid car increased to three hundred kilometers, after which the batteries had to be fully charged. The average speed of Moskvich-2144 is 60-70 kilometers per hour, while it was practically silent.
The Armenian YerAZ, which was already designed as a full-fledged electric car, weighed almost three tons, of which the weight of the battery was 720 kilograms. On the latter, the model could only travel 50 kilometers at an average speed of 60 kilometers. But it took two whole days to charge this battery.
True, the alleged functionality of ErAZ did not give such serious obstacles to its operation even with such technical characteristics, but all because it was not going to be used in an urban environment, because it was aimed exclusively at cargo transportation, and relatively small in size - corresponding to the mass of the battery. But for use in closed and confined spaces, for example, in tunnels or on ships, ErAZ was considered very relevant.
The RAF-2204 electric car is similar in characteristics to the previous model, however, it was supposed to carry passengers - up to six people. The mass of the car was 3.2 tons, and the battery weighed 600 kilograms, the maximum speed was 70 kilometers per hour, and on a single charge it could travel 50 kilometers.
It is difficult to say about the exact functionality of RAF-2204: for example, its characteristics made it possible to use it, like YerAZ, in enclosed spaces, however, information was also preserved that it was going to be adapted for movement around the city along certain routes, and at the end points of each were to be located stations for changing or recharging batteries.
Unfortunately, the concept of electric vehicles in the Soviet Union did not receive proper distribution, and all because the specialists of that time faced the same problems as the current manufacturers of this type of car, such as an increase in battery power, as well as the issue of the ubiquitous location of electric filling stations. … There was another serious obstacle: the USSR simply did not have electricity for a potentially huge number of electric vehicles, because they were planning to replace cars with a gasoline engine.
That is why, as an alternative to the latter, Soviet engineers decided to develop cars on gas - they also helped to reduce fuel costs and reduce environmental pollution, but at the same time they were easier to produce, and gas was never in short supply in the domestic open spaces. And the few Soviet electric cars, which, after all, were produced, practically did not drive on the streets, but were operated on the basis of various enterprises.
Do you want to know more about which cars did not receive a ticket to life in the USSR? Then read: 8 rare Soviet cars that could diversify the domestic auto industry