Putin test drives new Russian hybrid car

Putin loves cars. Really, really loves them. Look at the video here – have you ever seen him smile so much? In four years of covering Russia, I haven’t.

Putin on Friday test drove Russia’s new hybrid car, the – wait for it – Yo-Mobile. Funded by Onexim, the investment group owned by oligarch and Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov, the Yo-Mobile is Russia’s latest attempt at innovation. The car, Putin was assured, is cheap ($16,000) and relatively fast (max speed: 80 mph). Then he went and drove it to Medvedev’s house.

Before you go thinking Onexim plans to target rappers with the hybrid car, let it be known that Yo is a Russian letter (it looks like an e with an umlaut). It’s also the first letter in a very bad Russian curse word, so it sounds just as funny in Russian.

No word on what Medvedev thinks of the car. Considering innovation is his portfolio, and not Putin’s, maybe we’ll hear his opinion soon.