The disappearing "Monarch": an elite Russian electric car stuck at the start

About how it began, continued and, in all likelihood, has already completed another equally ambitious as well as dubious project of creating the first Russian electromobile with a very telling name "Monarch", the magazine auto.ru writes, trying with all its might to maintain objectivity. In order not to torment the reader, we quote directly from the finale of this material:

“So far, Monarch cars exist only on renders, and the few photo and video materials about the“ live ”liftback S that can be found on the website (which, to put it bluntly, not very well) and the project channels are dedicated to that very missing prototype... The plant building shown in the summer of 2020 was just a "box" without internal furnishings - until information about it was updated..."

It seems that it is already quite clear whether the "Monarch" will be able to catch up and overtake the already legendary "Tesla" by Elon Musk, or its foreign counterparts.

Meanwhile, the latest press release from Monarch promised the release of the first batch of 30 S models without a specific date. Moreover, there are two modifications at once: S200 and S400 with a capacity of 272 and 544 hp. respectively. In the first case, there will be one electric motor in front, and the battery capacity will be 60 kWh, which should be enough for 382 kilometers of travel without recharging. Acceleration to "hundreds" - about five seconds at a maximum speed of 250 km/h.

The S400 will receive two electric motors and four-wheel drive, an 80-kilowatt battery (range of up to 407 kilometers), acceleration to 100 km/h in 3.2 seconds and 260 km/h top speed.

Curiously, the press release does not specify who will be the supplier of the components - engines, batteries, electronics and suspension parts - and who will test and tune all this.

Meanwhile, the acceptance of pre-orders is already open, the prices for the model start from 58 thousand dollars (4.4 million rubles) for the S200 and from 61 thousand (4.6 million rubles) for the modification of the S400.

How not to remind here that the Monarch project was announced back in the spring of 2019. Then a lot was said about the great possibilities of their configuration and about the work on graphene batteries (such are not yet used in the global automotive industry) with a quick-change system instead of a long charge.

The "first Russian electric car" was supposed to be produced by the still defunct (!!!) concern Monarch. Nevertheless, at a press conference held in the summer of 2019, it was announced that a plant for the production of these electric vehicles was being built in Novosibirsk, and the first renderings were also shown.

In addition, it was said that this project envisages the development of infrastructure - "gas stations" and service stations throughout the country, as well as access to export markets. According to the head of "Monarch", already from the first batch of prototypes, samples will be sent to the USA, as well as the countries of Europe and Asia.

And finally, on December 24, 2019, a prototype of the Model S was supposed to be presented in Moscow. But the car never appeared at the presentation, allegedly through the fault of the transport company...

Later it turned out that the prototype was nevertheless delivered to Moscow, but the customer was not given out because of the debt for transportation: "Monarch" submitted a fake payment order for the second part of the contract amount. Then the pictures of the "live" model S appeared on the web, taken in the process of transportation. The running prototype promised by the developers looks on them, to put it mildly, far from even the pre-production version.

In connection with all these, to put it mildly, oddities, the "Monarch" project was sharply criticized. Indeed, it looks very Russian: to develop and launch mass production "from scratch" at a non-existent plant! This is beyond the power of even a large automaker.

And the structure of Monarch's business raises big questions: in fact, it is the New Technologies of Siberia company, registered in 2011, and has existed since then with zero revenue...

Its head Aleksey Ponomarenko was previously engaged in cryptocurrency, as a result of which several lawsuits were filed against him to the police from defrauded investors who invested in this project from several hundred thousand to a million rubles...

Is it worth continuing if you remember that the non-existent "Monarch" is being sold on pre-orders? It is clear that no.

This is exactly what the readers write about in their comments to the material of the site:

- Well, this is 100% scam, does anyone really have doubts? Even writing articles about them will only ruin your reputation.

- Yes, there was no sadness! Firstly, this is Russia, and secondly, corruption. Well, and thirdly, if something is not clear, we look at the first point and the second.

- Even in the drawings, the car is so-so, it's an open scam, you can't see anything that can come of it. In the best case, second-hand Tesla will be imported from abroad and a new body will be molded; in the worst case, they will simply throw over the gullible.

- The salon is hellish, why would anyone show it? Especially in the photo.

- I already saw the construction of stations for replacing batteries, then the fully electric Renault Fluence acted as an electric car. As a result, the project stalled, the stations were closed, and a lot of dough was lost. An absolutely stupid idea, especially in Russia. It is impossible to build infrastructure for a number of reasons. Distances, bureaucracy, corruption, lack of normal roads, etc.

- Stupid fraud, if they can't do it and there is nothing to climb, downs in one word.

- A failed project is the same as Yo-mobile, the same as "Marusya", soon it will go to the dustbin of history and everyone will forget about this project.

- Scam for suckers. Even a decent render was too lazy to do. A rare freak.

Further comments, as they say, are superfluous...