Almaty taxi company expands its EV fleet

A-Cars, a taxi and car leasing company in Almaty, is adding 138 electric vehicles to its fleet for taxi services.

«The company aims to purchase 138 M1-category vehicles — passenger cars designed to transport passengers and luggage with no more than eight seats, including the driver’s seat. These vehicles must be manufactured no later than 2024, equipped with a solely electric powertrain (hybrid options excluded) and have fewer than 500 kilometers on the odometer. The required package is the EV 57.6 kWh (kilowatt-hour) Leading Champion Edition,» the company stated on Oct. 1.

The chosen body color for all vehicles is beige. The company plans to acquire vehicles under commission agreements with EV-Master Group Limited. The price of each car will not exceed $16,561, bringing the total cost to $2.3 million.

On July 11, A-Cars raised approximately $1 million on the Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (KASE) by issuing green bonds with a 21% annual return through below-face-value sales (the current coupon bond rate is 19.5% per annum). The redemption date for these securities is set for July 11, 2027. The total declared flotation value was around $6.2 million. The funds raised were intended to finance the modernization of fixed assets at the taxi depot and to acquire electric vehicles for the electric taxi services launch in Almaty.

Serik Uspanov is the sole owner and managing director of the Almaty-registered A-Cars. The available profile states that A-Cars specializes in passenger car and light vehicle leasing.