On Thursday, RIA Novosti reported that MotorInvest, the Russian electric vehicle maker, has begun production of its latest SUV model, the Evolute i-SKY.

The SUV will be a mid-sized crossover model which will be capable of a range of more than 500km off a single charging. Assembly of the vehicle will be performed at a factory in Lipetsk Region. The manufacturer is already taking orders with models starting in price at almost 4 million rubles ($45,000) according to the automaker’s website.

MotorInvest opened the doors of its factory in September of 2022. Its Evolute product line includes vehicles such as the i-Pro sedan, the i-JOY compact crossover, and the i-VAN minivan. All of the vehicles are based on models produced by Chinese companies Dongfeng and Sokon.

The company projects it will sell 7,500 vehicles this year and 12,000 vehicles next year.

Prior to the arrival of MotorInvest on the scene, the Lipetsk Region factory had assembled vehicles for two Chinese brands, Great Wall and Changan. The factory has the capacity to produce over 100,000 electric vehicles per year.

Russia’s automotive sector had been thrown into crisis last year and foreign manufacturers exited the country en masse due to the Western sanctions imposed on Moscow over the conflict in Ukraine. The Russian automotive industry had been highly dependent of foreign investment and manufacturing facilities

Since then Chinese brands rapidly entered the Russian market to fill the void left by departing Western companies. Recently a plant in Kaliningrad resumed production, following the exit of BMW, Hyundai, and Kia, which had previously produced their vehicles in the plant.

Meanwhile iconic Russian car brand Moskvich is producing its electric compact crossover SUV, which has a range of 410km, in Moscow at a factory plant which previously produced Renault vehicles.