Dacia has been thinking about electrifying
its range for a few years now, and they have finally got the Renault Group’s
blessing to do so. This information comes from the French automaker’s 2019
financial report, revealing the ‘Dacia Urban City Car’ name. It’s an entirely
new vehicle that’s due to come out in 2021-2022, according to the roadmap.
Your guess is as good as ours as to what
it will be, although it will have to be affordable. So, what such models does
Renault have, that could lend their technology to the Romanian brand? The Zoe
subcompact hatchback for one – which was updated last year, and has a WLTP
range of 395 km.
Our money would be on a rebadged version
of the City K-ZE, though, a tiny electric vehicle sold in China that’s getting
ready to launch in Europe in “a special version”, according to Renault’s chief
of EVs, Gilles Normand. The Chinese variant features a tiny electric motor
making 44 horsepower and 119 Nm of torque, and a battery that gives
it the juice to run for up to 250 km in the old NEDC test cycle.
The Euro-spec will, however, be updated to
better suit the needs of customers, so an improved range is tipped to be on the
‘to do’ list. In China, the City K-ZE starts from the equivalent of just under
€ 8,000 (US$ 8,700), but in Europe, it could cost around € 11,000 (US$ 12,000).
In other related news, Renault has also
confirmed the Twingo Z.E., a zero-emission version of the A-segment car, for
2020, as well as a new BEV that will be based on the CMF-EV architecture for
2021-2022. Joining the auto firm’s electrified range in 2021-2022 will be two
plug-in hybrids and four hybrids.
