A few months after the world premiere of the first SUV in its line-up, what appear to be the first photos of Romanian manufacturer Dacia's first hybrid model have hit the web.
Tucked away under the body of a good old Sandero Stepway model, the hybrid solution chosen for the Hamster (unfortunate choice of name, we know) is in fact an electric motor which will power the rear wheels. Obviously, this means the model is a four wheel drive vehicle, with regular power for the front wheels and electric propulsion for the rear ones.
The photos, which surfaced on the Dacia Club forum, are all there is to the Hamster for the time being. And there's a catch to it...
Chances are this is NOT an official Dacia or Renault project, meaning the car has not been created as a preview for a future production model. We all know Renault, the owner of the Dacia carmaker, has decided to skip the hybrid step and pass directly to electric vehicles, so it is unlikely it will invest time and money to create a hybrid for its low-cost Romanian brand.
What is it, then? According to drive-test.ro, the photos only depict a student project, part of the Dacia training program for engineering students.
Bottom line, with no technical specs available, a bodywork already seen on the Sandero Stepway and an electric motor only hinted by a blurry photo, the Hamster seems to have been created to be more of a media bomb/student project, than a real future vehicle.
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