President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko visited the republican testing area for mobile machines of the Joint Institute of Mechanical Engineering of the National Academy of Science on the 5th of May. According to the Press Service of the President, the Head of State was presented reports on fulfillment of assignments for creation of domestic electrical transport and activities at the testing area. The President had a look at the testing machinery and equipment, and developments regarding the electrical transport. The President said that activities of the Academy of Sciences must be subjected to a serious inspection. “In general, we should make a serious inspection of activities of the Academy of Sciences, though it is not easy. Really smart and talented people work there. We also should look into the main areas of the Academy activities and the results of fulfillment of our decisions,” the Head of State said. Alexander Lukashenko also mentioned that he decided to get familiar with the electrical transport development personally. “I would like to see your achievements and how much the words correspond to the actual situation,” he said.
He noted that the advantages of this area include the expected surplus of electrical energy in the country and ecological safety.
In general, the President emphasized that the following five years should include involvement of the science in the country’s development, considering the growing level of the technological competition in the world. “We have to withstand this savage struggle to be respected and keep this piece of land we live on,” the Head of the State said.
The President noted that Belarusian enterprises would be focused on production of lacking domestic components for the electrical transport. It was reported that manufacture of the necessary components in many fields had been already set up in Belarus, but it was still not sufficient. Alexander Lukashenko instructed to deal with this issue in a comprehensive way. “After a while, you will have to determine the manufacturers of accumulators, motors, etc. We will direct them (the enterprises - note) to the necessary fields and will provide all the help required. We need prototypes designed by you. You must present our future to us. Then we will explore the markets,” the President said.
Chairman of the Presidium of NAS Vladimir Gusakov reported that all the President’s instructions regarding the electrical transport development were strictly controlled and executed with no disruptions. Actually, a new scientific school was created, competences had been developed, and this groups of experts and scientists would be able to solve any tasks of the electrical transport area. The necessary infrastructure had also been created.
“The Academy of Sciences created a section for assembly of electromobile components, section of battery assembly, section for creation of newest samples of domestic lithium-ion accumulators. But we are also developing our own products - graphene, hybrid ones. Now, we have a complete domestic element base (of electromobile - note) except for the vehicle body,” Vladimir Gusakov said. The work on electric transport developments include various fields. It not only passenger cars, but also passenger-and-freight vehicles, minivans. We have created a prototype of ice-filling combined machine with a motor drive, as well as prototype models of electric bicycles and electric scooters. An experimental section for assembly of lithium-ion accumulators for personal electrical transportation means was organized. The infrastructure for the electric transport use, including the manufacture and installation of charge station is being created simultaneously. The electrical technologies are also used for creation of unmanned aerial vehicles.
A prototype model of Belarusian roadster - two-seat electrical cabriolet - was demonstrated to the President. The developers believe that this roadster will be a peer competitor to Tesla in the future. It is light-weight and maneuverable, belongs to M1 class and has improved dynamic characteristics. It can speed up to 170 km/h and accomplish the distance up to 270 km without charging.
The President also saw the prototype model of the combined machine for ice filling driven by the electrical motor. The President instructed to equip the country’s ice rinks with this machinery, starting with installation of 25 machines. “We will form the order, but we expect high quality!” Alexander Lukashenko warned.
The exposition included a new prototype utility machinery. The capital authorities have already manifested their interest in them. The Head of the State expressed his opinion on prospectiveness of use of such machinery. “Let us focus on it,” he said.
The President took a close look at the developments regarding production of batteries, units and charging stations for various purposes - from powerful stationary variants to compact products for use in personal garages.
The Belarusian scientists are now working on development in the field of lithium-ion batteries mainly used in the world, as well as graphene batteries - they are still not so efficient as the lithium-ion ones, but it relieves of the necessity to buy lithium sold only by China. Besides, the graphene batteries are cheaper. The scientists intend to make these two types of batteries similar with regard to their efficiency. “This will be a breakthrough,” the President appraised this perspective. The Head of State paid a particular attention to the prototypes of electrical bicycles and electrical scooters, asked about their technical characteristics, speed, drive range. He placed emphasis on the need to improve the design of some models. Alexander Lukashenko agreed to take some units for use to test them personally.
The exposition included a wide range of domestic unmanned aerial vehicles and aviation complexes. Particularly, Burevestnik RPAS and Busel UAV developed and manufactured by the Scientific and Production Center for Multifunctional Unmanned Systems of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. Alexander Lukashenko considers them to be good, efficient and simultaneously inexpensive. The State Head got to know about the development of an advanced laser ranger providing increase in shot accuracy for the drones. The President demonstrated his interest in the prototypes presented and he decided to visit the Scientific and Production Center in the future. The new products shown to the Head of State included the Eye Sky unmanned helicopter produced by Unmanned Helicopters, Ltd. The company asserts that it is the world’s first military strike helicopter of this class, and only 8 countries develop the unmanned helicopters weighing more than 100 kg, including Belarus. It is the only post-Soviet country that performs mass production of such unmanned vehicles. Moreover, by this summer, the company is planning to manufacture 700 kg unmanned helicopter, the analog for which is produced only by the USA.
In general, the President made a positive assessment of the development of Belarusian scientists regarding the electrical transport. “I am impressed, even very impressed,” he said. “I did not expect that they would be able to achieve this over a short period”.
Meanwhile, according to the Head of State, it is too early to speak of serious, breakthrough global achievements in the electric transport production. It was the first stage of insight into the fulfillment of the tasks previously given by the President. “There will be another stage, when we will be able to see the particular results,” Alexander Lukashenko said. “In order to properly assess them, we need to see if it (domestic developments - note) corresponds to the global standards, and what prospects we have. I mean we are not developing a toy; we are creating the product to be marketed and paid”.