Dacia will not become an all-electric car manufacturer until at least 2035, CEO Denis Le Vot said in an interview, pointing out that is only a matter of time – but he’d rather not hurry things along.
“It’s not a matter of ‘if’, but ‘when’,” he said, adding that Dacia would only begin electrification when there is market demand for it. He gave the new Jogger as an example: the car has seated seats, but no power adjustments, because wallet-conscious buyers don’t mind adjusting seats manually if it saves a bit of money (and apparently, it saves a lot).
In around two years, Dacia will be introducing a hybrid car based on Renault’s E-Tech powertrain, which can be found in the latest Clio, among other examples. In two years or so, the powertrain should become cheap enough in production to justify offering it with all Dacia cars. This means that all currently available Dacia models will become mild hybrids in several years. An exception will be made for the Bigster, a large crossover SUV envisioned as a plug-in hybrid (watch the video for an early preview).