Renault Group boss Luca de Meo has confirmed that the group’s budget brand Dacia will launch a European-built budget EV with development taking a record 16 months.
The new car will share much of its technology with the upcoming Renault Twingo, itself developed using speedy new processes in just 21 months.
The Twingo is aiming to be super-efficient with an efficiency target of 10kW per 100km, according to de Meo, which equates to around six miles per kWh of energy.
That means the new Dacia and Twingo can make do with smaller, cheaper batteries, with a battery of around 33kWh needed for a range of 200 miles.
The new baby Dacia is likely to be a successor to the Dacia Spring, currently the UK’s cheapest EV at £14,995. However, the Spring is built in China, meaning impending tariffs will apply to cars imported to Europe. The new Renault Twingo and its Dacia twin will both be built in Europe.
Speaking at a press conference to announce Renault Group’s 2024 results, de Meo said, “the story of the Twingo is much bigger than just one breakthrough product. We’re preparing to go one step further in terms of EV availability. We’re preparing, with Dacia, a new A-segment EV, made in Europe and we’ll develop it in 16 months – we’re planning to sell the car below €18.000 (£14,900).
“When it comes to development time a few years ago, two years would look unbelievable – it took us between 4, 5 or 6 years to develop a car. We set up the Shanghai Ampere development centre to put Renault into the most vibrant eco system globally.”
Announcing Renault Group’s Leap 100 plan, de Meo said, “now we target making all our cars in less than 100 weeks – we’ve moved to Chinese speed.”
With development of the new baby Dacia underway, we’d expect to see it on sale some time in 2026, shortly after the Renault Twingo. However, it will be ahead of an EV version of Europe’s best-selling car, the Dacia Sandero.
