The Spring is currently Dacia’s only electric car. To offer its model at an affordable price, the low-cost manufacturer based itself on a car that was already sold by Renault in China: the City K-ZE. The Spring which is derived from it does not offer road behavior and passive safety at the level of European standards and it is also very compact, since it is a minicity car only 3.73 m long.
But with the falling cost of batteries and the economies of scale due to the growth in sales of electric cars, Dacia could soon offer more modern and more versatile connected models, while maintaining a price in line with the manufacturer’s positioning.
An electric version for the next generation of Sandero
The versatile Sandero city car, which was the second best-selling car in Europe in 2023 behind the Tesla Model Y, and therefore the most popular thermal car, was chosen by Dacia to soon go electric. The third generation of the model, which does not offer any level of electrification, will be replaced by a fourth version by 2027/2028. “The next generation Sandero will have an internal combustion engine, but it will also have an electric version”announced Denis Le Vot, general manager of Dacia, to Automotive News Europe.
Denis Le Vot had already indicated in 2023 that the next Sandero would have an electric version, but recent statements to Autocar from Xavier Martinet, marketing, sales and operations director of Dacia, suggested that the electrification of the city car would not was not the priority.
Despite everything, the project would therefore already be approved by Dacia management. This electric version could take over the AmpR Small platform (formerly CMF-B EV) from the Renault 5 E-Tech electric just presented. It is derived from the CMF-B platform used in particular by the current generation of Sandero and by other Dacia models, with the exception of the Spring.
To lower its production costs, the electric Sandero could therefore share many elements with the thermal versions and should not offer record autonomy or exceptionally impressive charging times. However, it is still too early to speculate on its technical characteristics, as well as its price.