OREANDA-NEWS The possibility of free travel for individuals owning electric vehicles along toll federal highways will remain in 2024, the government's press service said on Thursday.

The benefit has been provided since last year within the framework of the federal project "Electric car and hydrogen car", curated by First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov.

"The experiment launched last year on the free passage of electric vehicles on toll roads turned out to be successful in general: about 5 thousand motorists took advantage of the privilege, they made about 315 thousand passes. The benefit will resume on January 19," the press service of the Cabinet of Ministers quotes Belousov as saying.

The benefits apply, in particular, on toll sections of the M-1, M-3, M-4, M-11, M-12, Central Ring Road, the northern bypass of Odintsovo, as well as on the segment from the 15th to the 58th km of the M-11 highway.

According to the government, this support measure in 2023 was one of the incentives for the purchase of electric vehicles: the average increase in their number in the regions adjacent to toll sections of federal roads was 70%, in other regions - 40%. In addition, the measure contributed to a twofold increase in the load of charging stations and increased business interest in the development of charging infrastructure on toll highways.

Sales of new electric vehicles in the Russian Federation in 2023, according to Autostat, amounted to slightly more than 14 thousand units, an increase of 4.7 times. The share of this type of transport in total sales of new passenger cars in the country was at the level of 1.3%.