The Duster is expected to be the last of Dacia’s four planned EVs, arriving towards the end of the decade. Ribeiro praised the success of the brand’s small but tough SUV, saying: “We have very loyal customers – I spoke to a customer the other day who was on his fifth Duster; as long as Dacia has been in the UK, he has been buying Dusters. Our customers are evolving with the brand.”
Previously, Dacia CEO Katrin Adt told us the brand is striving for two-thirds of its volume to be electrified by 2030, and the four new EVs will be core to it achieving this goal.
Super-small production version of Hipster
Ribeiro told us that “at this stage, with the product plan that we have, that is it in terms of new models entering new segments”. However, further down the line, there is the possibility we may see the introduction of the cool Hipster concept car.
Designed as a short-range urban EV that manages to cram four seats into a three-metre-long package thanks to its tall, boxy stature, the Hispster’s compact size would meet the proposed criteria for the European Commission’s ‘M1E’ affordable electric vehicle class, with manufacturers who build them qualifying for super-credits towards their emissions obligations.
“We feel there is a need in the market for a very, very affordable EV car,” Adt told us. “We have continued to work on [the Hipster]. We have all the assets in house to do it. However, we still need to pay attention also to the development of the markets, but also of the regulations, and we’re waiting a little bit for that to push the button.”
Firming up the regulation is expected to take all of 2026, so the proposed 100km (62 miles) EV would struggle to make production much before 2030.
“The mission is to have an EV offer in each segment,” Adt said. But it’ll take some clever engineering to square the circle of a bigger car requiring a larger, costlier battery: the boss is determined for the brand’s EVs to remain affordable and offer good all-round capability, given Dacias are often the only car in a household.
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