As Colin Chapman said, “the light is right”. An adage that has apparently been forgotten over the years by car manufacturers, including Lotus, which has just introduced and launched an electric SUV weighing over two tonnes.

However, in this continuous race for autonomy, the weight of electric vehicles also plays a role. As with thermal models, the heavier the car, the more fuel it consumes.

And adding ever-larger and therefore ever-heavier batteries to maximize the range of EVs is probably not the best solution. Tesla or BMW have already raised this issue, and apparently Dacia seems to agree too.

An example of the Dacian Spring

At Dacia, we are surprised by this controversial trend, as a heavy electric car “does not make sense” under the Renault group brand. “If we are serious about reducing emissions together, overweight should not be acceptable”Xavier Martine, head of Dacia’s sales and marketing department, explained to Autocar.

“This is the philosophy we used on the Spring, which weighs 975kg and which we intend to make even lighter in the future. This is a car that travels an average of 40 km per day at an average speed of 30 km/h. There is no need for a large, heavy battery and powerful motor. »

The end of SUVs?

There are no large electric SUVs for Dacia “no sense” no : “It doesn’t make sense to allow brands to build two- or three-ton vehicles for one person to drive 50 km a day”– says Xavier Martin.

Apart from the weight, the aerodynamic part is also important, and as everyone knows From the point of view of aerodynamics, SUVs are not an example.

Thus, the segment must gradually develop, and even if Dacia has electric ambitions for its future models, they must first of all pay attention to the essentials and play on other tables to demonstrate proper autonomy without having too large batteries.