Russian Atom electric car to be sent on Arctic expedition

Rosatom State Corporation is preparing to send the Russian Atom electric vehicle on a polar expedition aboard the 50 Years of Victory nuclear icebreaker. The ship's departure from the port of Murmansk is scheduled for the end of June, according to a statement from the electric vehicle developer JSC Kama, which was received by Izvestia on June 19.

On one of the days of the expedition, it is planned to launch a pre-production prototype of the Atom onto the ice to test its capabilities. The tests in harsh climatic conditions will be a test and demonstration of the technical capabilities of the electric vehicle, the company said.

According to Igor Povarazdnyuk, CEO of Kama, sending Atom to the Arctic on a domestic icebreaker should be a demonstration that electric transport is coming to Russia.

"Harsh climatic conditions have long been considered critical for electric vehicles. Today we are confidently entering the Arctic to show that there are no such restrictions anymore. Russian electric vehicle technologies go beyond urban conditions and demonstrate their readiness for operation in any climatic zone," said Alexander Bukhvalov, Director of the Electromobility business area (Rosatom's direction) of TVEL JSC.

On a fast neutron: how the future Russian electric car turned out

Izvestia tested the Atom pre-production electric car

On May 28, Philip Dyakov, head of Atom's testing department, told Izvestia that Kama was considering the possibility of creating a hybrid version of the Atom car, as well as a hydrogen-powered model.