At the time of writing, apart from the Dacia Spring and a few Chinese cars starting to arrive in Europe, it’s hard to find an affordable electric model. To maximize profits and mitigate as much research and development around the EV as possible, Currently, manufacturers are focused on the upper segments.

Therefore, small cars are taking a back seat, but in the coming years everything should change. “There will be democratization of the electric car”according to Luca De Meo, first at Renault and chairman of Acea, speaking at the Financial Times’ Future of the Car event.

Then the CEO of the diamond firm talked about the future of the company by announcing the arrival of a small Renault electric car, planned for 2027, with a base price of around 20,000 euros.

Japanese inspiration

The model should contribute significantly to the increase in the number of electric car registrations in Europe and will compete with the Volkswagen ID.1, a small car from the German giant, which is also planned for 2027.

“These electric city cars can be a source of inspiration”according to Luca De Meo, “Japanese cars regulated by size and power”. These are the famous kei cars, the micro-city cars that will account for more than a third of the 4.2 million cars sold in 2022 in Japan.

“I really like the idea of ​​translating the Japanese kei car concept into European language. I think it’s smart because it’s not just about the product. It’s a product challenge and a regulatory challenge to ensure efficient, low-impact mobility for people.”emphasized the CEO of Renault.

Based on the electric R5?

Regarding the style and mechanics, Luca De Meo has not announced anything, although the future small electric car Renault should be based on the CMF-B EV modular platform of the electric Renault 5 and its sporty counterpart Alpine A290.

Being an inexpensive model, it could borrow some elements from Dacia Spring. It remains to be seen if the customers will be there and willing to pay at least €20,000 for a car that is supposed to be a micro-city car and therefore limited mainly to purely urban use.