2018 was busy for the Russian truck maker KAMAZ. In 2018, KAMAZ entered the Moscow market with electric-powered passenger vehicles for the first time. The contract for the supply of 100 electric buses and 31 charging stations to the Russian capital is currently being implemented. Unique electric buses KAMAZ-6282 require only 10 to 20 minutes to recharge from ultra-fast charging stations. The multi-stage life-cycle contract provides for KAMAZ’s servicing all of the vehicles for 15 years.

In the first half of 2018, KAMAZ acquired a large holding company for the production of automotive components United Automotive Technologies JSC (OAT). The holding includes 12 production enterprises, with 10.5 thousand employees, and a revenue of more than 18 billion rubles. This development significantly expanded KAMAZ’s automotive business and is strategically important for the company’s technological advancement.

Another significant event during 2018 was the demonstration of the unmanned electric bus “SHUTTLE” in Kazan during the Soccer World Cup. It is KAMAZ’s position that legislative restrictions on the movement of drones over conventional highways should be removed: the government signed a decree on testing unmanned vehicles on public roads. Already in 2019, KAMAZ will begin test-mode operations of robotic vehicles with autonomous and remote control for internal inter-plant transportation.

In other news, in 2018, KAMAZ completed the construction of a new plant for cab frames. The production site was built in just a year and a half, complete with the installation and the launch of production equipment. The cab frames produced at the facility will be fitted to new-generation K5 KAMAZ trucks and will also be supplied to the Mercedes-Benz truck assembly production line.