Photo: Renault
This is one of the craziest stories involving a budget brand. It's so crazy that we have trouble believing it, even though it comes from a decent source. Apparently, Renault's Dacia brand wants to sell an EV in Europe by the end of next year.
Of course, like most automakers, Dacia has been toying with the idea of making a cheap electric car. A few prototypes have been built, but nothing serious. However, the German magazine Automobilwoche is basically saying they've now put a rush order on it.
You're going to have a cheap EV in showrooms and it will cost less than €15,000 before incentives. Heck, in some countries, government subsidies might make it as cheap as a Sandero. According to our source, Olivier Murguet, the chief of Renault Group sales, needed a way to lower overall CO2 emissions for the Dacia brand and an EV was the only solution.
Chances are that you've already seen the car. It's called the Renault City K-ZE and was introduced in China earlier. As far as we know, the K-ZE is derived from the Indian market Kwid, which we believed to be impossible to sell in Europe due to the lack of safety systems.
Probably because it doesn't have time for retooling, Renault will build the Dacia version in China as well. The article reports that it will be given a different name too. Rivals will include the Volkswagen e-Up! and its two sister cars from Skoda and SEAT.
The Dacia EV should have the same 26.8 kWh battery as the Chinese car, giving it a limited range of around 250 kilometers, even by the most optimistic standards. But some serious tech updates will be needed, ranging from more airbags to better tires, headlights and brakes. Since this is a stop-gap measure, don't expect anything worth falling in love with.
You're going to have a cheap EV in showrooms and it will cost less than €15,000 before incentives. Heck, in some countries, government subsidies might make it as cheap as a Sandero. According to our source, Olivier Murguet, the chief of Renault Group sales, needed a way to lower overall CO2 emissions for the Dacia brand and an EV was the only solution.
Chances are that you've already seen the car. It's called the Renault City K-ZE and was introduced in China earlier. As far as we know, the K-ZE is derived from the Indian market Kwid, which we believed to be impossible to sell in Europe due to the lack of safety systems.
Probably because it doesn't have time for retooling, Renault will build the Dacia version in China as well. The article reports that it will be given a different name too. Rivals will include the Volkswagen e-Up! and its two sister cars from Skoda and SEAT.
The Dacia EV should have the same 26.8 kWh battery as the Chinese car, giving it a limited range of around 250 kilometers, even by the most optimistic standards. But some serious tech updates will be needed, ranging from more airbags to better tires, headlights and brakes. Since this is a stop-gap measure, don't expect anything worth falling in love with.
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