Russia’s first hybrid car to be shown to public

MOSCOW: Russia's first hybrid concept car branded as “Yo” will be demonstrated at a yo-mobile pavilion in downtown Moscow that will be open for general public from today to January 11, Alexander Sinkevich , the technical director of the Yo-Auto company project said today.

“During the New Year holidays , access to the pavilion will be free. General public is welcome to examine first three models - a microvan, a cross coupe, and a minitruck,” he said, adding, that these are environment-friendly and energysaving cars for everyday use in urban conditions powered both by gasoline and liquefied gas.

“The three cars on display have made maiden trips across the plant's territory, although have not yet appeared in the streets, since they have not yet been certified. In early 2011, they will be certified and tested in various regions of Russia and, probably, abroad,” Sinkevich said.

When asked why Russian designers had opted for a hybrid car instead of an electric car to follow the lead of world car manufacturers, Sinkevich said, “The project's authors are against electricity-powered cars. If the world motor fleet is replaced with electrical cars, global electricity consumption will go up four-fold , but there are shortages of electricity supplies already now.”

The project has been financed by private investments of the UNEXIM group and its head Mikhail Prokhorov. A total of 150 million euros have already been invested in the project, Prokhorov said.
“In 2011 the construction of the first plant will start near St. Petersburg that will manufacture 10,000 yo-mobiles a year,” he said.