Dacia, the Romania-based car maker owned by Renault, has announced its first all-electric car, the Dacia Spring. It is a 4-seat city car, meaning it is a very small car, but Dacia says those are “real seats”, which one supposes to mean they’re full size. It should have a 200 kilometer (around 120 mile) driving range. It will be available in 2021.
According to a report
, it is thought the price will be 15,000-20,000 euros. After subsidies it might be as affordable as the Dacia Logan, a very popular car in Romania. In Romania, the program covering those subsidies is called Rabia Plus, and last year it amounted to about 9,300 euros per car.
The Dacia Spring is very similar to the Renault City K-ZE, a car the company sells in China at a price range between 7,200-9,000 euros. However certifying it for the European market apparently requires a higher cost.
DACIA SPRING ELECTRIC SHOWCAR : THE ELECTRIC REVOLUTION BY DACIA
- Dacia Spring foreshadows Europe’s most affordable all-electric car
- The first city car in the Dacia line up with 4 real seats on board
- An ideal offer for new mobility services and individual car owners
Boulogne-Billancourt, 3rd March 2020 – True to its reputation as an ‘automotive game changer’, Dacia is ready to start a new chapter of its illustrious history with the launch of Dacia Spring: a showcar foreshadowing Dacia’s first all-electric model. With Dacia Spring, it is the affordable electric revolution!
In just 15 years, Dacia has shaken the automotive industry to its core with the revolutionary Logan (in the new car market) and Duster (for SUV’s). The brand continues to change with the times while staying true to its original values: simple, modern, reliable, and sturdy vehicles for a fair price. It is a real success story with 6.5 million customers, making it the European leader for private sales thanks to Logan, Sandero, and Duster.
A new Dacia rEVolution
Dacia Spring electric showcar is in line with the Groupe Renault’s vision to provide affordable and sustainable mobility accessible to all, while respecting the values and philosophy of the Dacia brand. It prefigures a 100% all-electric 4 seats city car offering easier access for the greatest number of people to easier and more virtuous mobility with a 5-door city car that combines simplicity, reliability, and accessibility.
Light and compact, the Dacia Spring factory-standard model will have a top range of over 200 km in WLTP guaranteeing versatility for stress free urban and suburban use.
It will be available in 2021.
To succeed with this new revolution, Dacia is capitalising on Groupe Renault’s 10-year experience as pioneer and leader in electric mobility.
An electric city car to set new trends
The Dacia Spring electric show car is a truly electrifying electric city car that is here to set new trends. The pastel mouse grey body is enhanced with matte splashes of fluorescent orange, with trim along the wings, roof bars, and lower door panel, extra high clearance, skid plates built into the front and rear bumpers. Its assertive SUV style and compact dimensions makes it the ideal vehicle for everyday use with guaranteed peace of mind.
Special attention has been paid to the lights. At the front, full-LED headlights have been fitted in two ways: a horizontal strip on the upper section, and 6 graphic features built into the bumper. On the rear, the four full-LED lights create a ‘double-Y’ effect. These visual effects mark the future of Dacia’s lighting identity.
Through this new luminous signature, ribbed bonnet, and specially treated solid radiator grille, the front end of the Spring electric showcar expresses strength and reliability.
A two-fold future
With its all-electric engine and battery adapted for everyday use, the Dacia Spring meets the practical needs of urban and suburban mobility. It is a robust vehicle that gives private and fleet car owners the full range of benefits of electric vehicles: ease of driving, silent operation, no vibrations, zero-emissions, etc. Moreover it is simple to charge and takes very little maintenance.
Dacia Spring is an ideal solution for new mobility services such as car-sharing fleets. Its standard version will therefore also be offered for this market, in which Groupe Renault has Europe’s largest all-electric car-share fleet (7,800 ZOE, Kangoo Z.E., and Twizy).
About Dacia:
Dacia is a Renault Group brand, present in 44 countries, mainly in Europe and the Mediterranean basin. Founded in Romania, in 1968, the brand was bought out and revived by Renault Group in 2004 with the Logan. Dacia has the best value-for-money cars on the market. With its iconic names – Logan, Sandero, and Duster – the brand has been a huge commercial success. In 2019, Dacia broke the record for yearly sales with 737,000 vehicles sold, taking its customer base to nearly 6.5 million customers.
- Is there enough Grid Capacity for Hydrogen Fuel Cell or Battery Electric cars? - April 23, 2023
- Is Tesla finagling to grab federal NEVI dollars for Supercharger network? - November 15, 2022
- Tesla announces the North American Charging Standard charging connector - November 11, 2022
- Lightning Motorcycles adopts Silicon battery, 5 minute charge time gives 135 miles range - November 9, 2022
- Tesla Autopilot under US Dept of Transportation scrutiny - June 13, 2022
- Spectacular CNG bus fire misrepresented as EV bus fire - April 21, 2022
- Moldova, Ukraine, Georgia, Russia, and the European Energy Crisis - December 21, 2021
- Li-Bridge leading the USA across lithium battery chasm - October 29, 2021
- USA increasing domestic lithium battery research and manufacturing - October 28, 2021
- Electrify America building USA/Canada-wide EV charging network - October 27, 2021
Pingback: Bucharest abandons Oxygen tax, amid high pollution event, and Dacia’s first electric car – The Long Tail Pipe
David,
I believe it is a fair general statement that urban EV use is dependent upon fast-charging: few urban dwellers have assigned parking spaces in which they can install charging stations, and it is inconvenient to have to go to a specific location and park for several hours while a car is charging. How in Europe is this need being addressed both on the vehicle side (i.e., accommodating fast-charging) and on the fast-charging installation side? Further, does Europe presently have, or anticipate, addressing time of charging issues?
Thanks.
That’s a very good observation. I could do a bit of research and get a better answer.
What you say about “few urban dwellers have assigned parking spaces” is a big problem in Bucharest and other cities I’m familiar with in Romania. These cities were largely built during the Communist period when very few people had cars. That means the ratio of apartments to nearby parking is very poor, and as a result the sidewalks are full of cars that have no place else to park. And everyone is parking on a catch-as-catch-can basis.
Therefore the population is surely relying on fast charging. The charging stations I see on the maps are largely fast charging rather than level 2 charging. I haven’t had a chance to talk directly with EV owners in Romania about this – just over chats in Facebook groups.
It may be that the current set of folks with EV’s are well off enough to own houses or otherwise have more organized parking situations.
The other countries in Eastern Europe seem to have similar conditions.