World's Cheapest EV Could Come From Dacia, Renault's Low-Cost Arm

Being subordinated to Renault, Dacia couldn’t help but take note about the announcement made only recently by France’s Ecology Minister Nicolas Hulot. As a brief refresher, the French Republic agreed to the decision to ban the sale of gas and diesel vehicles in 2040. That, in turn, is a clear indicator that France is slowly but steadily preparing to rock down to Electric Avenue.

Speaking to Romanian publication Digi 24, the commercial director of Renault Romania dropped the following bombshell: “The biggest trend in the automotive industry around the world is to have more connectivity, more electric cars, and more autonomous cars.” Hakim Boutehra added that “Dacia is part of this transformation for the future. The year 2040 is far away, but not all that distant, so we have plans for Dacia in these directions.”

It’s rather clear, then, that the writing is on the wall for the automaker that made its name in the United Kingdom with the “shockingly affordable” tagline. And in keeping with Dacia’s low-cost outlook on the car-making business, the company’s first-ever EV promises to be pretty affordable.

It’s too soon to make a guess on whether the newcomer will be Sandero- or Duster-sized. We also don’t know if Dacia’s electric vehicle policy will mirror that of Renault, which includes a lease plan for the battery of the electric vehicle. What we do know is, the subcompact Renault Zoe Z.E. holds the title of best-selling electric vehicle in Europe. It wouldn’t be all that surprising, then, for Dacia to emulate the Zoe’s success with a similarly-sized EV.

Instead of an ending note, it’s also necessary to remind ourselves of what Renault-Nissan Alliance head honcho Carlos Ghosn declared four years ago to the motoring media: “There is nothing that forbids an electric Dacia car in the future. The day there is demand, of course, we will be able to produce it.”