Why Dacia claims it can wait that bit longer to go all electric

Published on 19 January, 2022

Overview

Fair dues to Dacia for making an ecological positive out of selling lighter bargain-basement cars.

It claims selling low-cost vehicles will allow it to build lighter, more efficient cars for longer than competitors.

That means, according to chief executive officer Denis Le Vot, it won’t have to produce costlier EVs and plug-ins to cut CO2 emissions to avoid heavy fines.

It does have one EV, the Spring (not on sale here yet) and is expected to add its first plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) in a version of the new seven-seat Jogger next year.

A conventionally powered Jogger, pictured, is due here in the first quarter of this year.

Mr Le Vot is quoted by Autocar as saying they will give customers “everything they need but never anything superfluous”.

Air con is essential so that is on spec but sophisticated electric seats aren’t essential, so they don’t have them.

That means their seats are much lighter than many rivals and represent a saving in weight – and hence fuel consumption. That’s one of many details.