Dacia, the Renault-owned brand, is set to release its first full-size electric vehicle (EV) with the next-generation Sandero. The Romanian firm has already enjoyed success with the Dacia Spring EV, which has sold over 120,000 units in Europe since its launch in 2021. The Sandero will be the latest model to be electrified, with Dacia aiming to keep costs low by using existing architecture and minimising kerb weight. The company plans to maintain its position as a market leader in the B-segment by offering an affordable EV option with a shorter range and longer charge times than its rivals.
The Sandero is one of Europe’s cheapest and most popular cars, so Dacia faces a significant challenge in ensuring its successor retains that positioning while complying with increasingly stringent safety and emissions legislation. Sales and marketing boss Xavier Martinet told Autocar that while Dacia will push into the C-segment with three larger new models over the next three years, it won’t abandon the Sandero. “The B-segment is who we are and what we do”, he said. “We don’t want to forget who we are.”
Dacia CEO Denis Le Vot explained that the company will go for a shorter range and longer charge times compared with electric rivals in the B-segment because “we want a cheaper price for the customer”. He pointed to the increasing entry price of mainstream electric cars as an inhibitor to widespread uptake and laid bare Dacia’s commitment to providing a more accessible alternative. The Sandero will be electrified as sympathetically as possible, with a focus on utility and practicality.
Once the new Duster is launched in 2024, every Dacia car (except the Spring) will be based on the Renault Group’s CMF-B platform, and its EVs will follow suit by moving onto the CMF-BEV electric equivalent. This means the electric Sandero will effectively be Dacia’s take on the Renault 5, albeit with more of an overt focus on affordability and practicality. Minimising weight will be key to keeping costs down and could even allow Dacia to fit a smaller battery than that due to be used by the Sandero’s platform-mates.
Le Vot mentioned that the average Spring customer drives some 10 miles per day, massively less than the 140-mile range offered by its 26.8kWh battery. “If we did [the Spring] again, I would cut the battery in half,” he said, suggesting that learnings from Spring usage will inform Dacia’s next-generation EVs. However, given its much larger footprint and longer-distance billing, the Sandero is unlikely to use a tiny battery. Dacia won’t target a “500-600km range and 20-minute charging”, and the firm is investigating ways of making the battery chemistry as cheap as possible, too.
Design boss David Durand gave clues as to how the next Sandero will fit into the brand’s new-look line-up and be substantially differentiated from the current car. Based on the rugged, straight-edged Bigster SUV concept, the Sandero will sit higher off the ground than the current one and be designed to more overtly showcase Dacia’s new active ethos, as showcased by the bare-bones, buggy-style Manifesto concept last year.
An ICE version remains possible, given that such cars can be sold until 2035 in Europe (2030 in the UK), but no doubt this will come with the hybrid technology that has been recently introduced in the Sandero-based Jogger MPV.
In conclusion, Dacia’s first full-size EV, the Sandero, promises to be an affordable option that shuns costly fast-charging and long-range battery hardware. The company plans to maintain its position as a market leader in the B-segment by offering an EV option that is sympathetic to the needs of its customers. The Sandero will be based on the Renault Group’s CMF-B platform and will sit higher off the ground than the current model, showcasing Dacia’s new active ethos. While an ICE version remains possible, Dacia’s commitment to providing an accessible EV alternative is clear.