Dacia wants to complete the development of the small electric car within 16 months, Renault Group boss Luca de Meo told the British magazine Autocar. “I defy any competitor in the world to do that,” he added confidently.
The short development time is possible because the Dacia is to be based on a Renault model, more specifically the electric Twingo, which has been announced for around 20,000 euros. According to de Meo, the corresponding Dacia offshoot, for which not many details are yet known, will be another 2,000 euros cheaper – and thus start at a price of less than 18,000 euros, or £15,000.
This means that the Romanian brand’s upcoming small electric car will be around 1,000 euros more expensive than Dacia’s current electric model, the Spring. This is offered from £14,995. However, the new model is likely to offer better technology: The Spring only produces 33 or 48 kW, depending on the variant, and the WLTP range of the 26.8 kWh battery is 225 kilometres. Although no data is yet available for the Twingo E-Tech Electric, it is expected to have a range of around 300 kilometres and, above all, better charging performance: The Spring can charge with a maximum of 30 kW at DC columns.
“We’re preparing to go one step further in terms of EV affordability,” said de Meo about the upcoming electric Dacia and confirmed that the model will be built together with the Twingo in Europe. In doing so, the French company is hoping to avoid the additional import duties on electric cars made in China, which are now levied on the Chinese-built Spring – and are likely to affect the profitability of the model in the price-sensitive small car segment.
The only thing that is certain so far is that the Twingo and Dacia will use a variant of the AmpR Small platform, on which the Renault 5 and Renault 4 are also based. According to de Meo, the targeted vehicle prices for the small cars will be possible primarily thanks to enormous cost reductions within the Renault Group.
The new Dacia EV will be closely related to the upcoming electric Renault Twingo and is expected to start at less than £15,000 (€18,000). In contrast to the Dacia Spring, which is imported from China, the new model will be built in Europe, according to de Meo – also to avoid customs duties. Autocar quotes the Renault CEO as saying that the Twingo will cost 40 per cent less to produce than the Renault 5, partly because the Twingo requires around 30 per cent fewer components – the entire car consists of just 750 individual parts.
During the interview, de Meo also indicated the planned market launch: the Dacia should be available around mid-2026. In the case of the Twingo, Renault had recently only generally mentioned 2026, and only after the original target date of this year could probably not be met.
autocar.co.uk
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Publish date : 2025-02-20 15:16:00
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