12 replies to this topic

[mariner]

Some interesting comments here from the Euro budget  brand Dacia , part of Renault.

 

https://www.autocar....-dacia-sales-vp

 

Dacia is real success story making nearly 1M cars in 2020 and with a very specific approach of minimising fancy kit and keeping it simple.

 

Their EV the Spring weighs only 975kg with 4 full seats.  

 

It would be ironic if the EV charging grids everybody agonises over become so prolific that people don't need 150+ mile range!  I suspect most drivers do fill up every 150 miles anyway so time to charge may turn out to be the key to EV's not long range?

 

 

[cbo]

Some interesting comments here from the Euro budget brand Dacia , part of Renault.

https://www.autocar....-dacia-sales-vp

Dacia is real success story making nearly 1M cars in 2020 and with a very specific approach of minimising fancy kit and keeping it simple.

Their EV the Spring weighs only 975kg with 4 full seats.

It would be ironic if the EV charging grids everybody agonises over become so prolific that people don't need 150+ mile range! I suspect most drivers do fill up every 150 miles anyway so time to charge may turn out to be the key to EV's not long range?

It already is. At least in places where chargers are be becoming plentifull.
Most Danish reviews of EVs I currently read discuss charge times, and many see it as the more important parameter compared with range.

[Greg Locock]

 I suspect most drivers do fill up every 150 miles anyway 

 

Well, I might have  in my 1979 Mini, but no, unless I'm in the boondocks I fill up at 600 km

[mariner]

How many miles/km people drive between fil ups is quite hard to exactly calculate off wfeb data. However fuel purchase per day is easier as fuel sales per day and car populations  are hard data.

 

For the UK if you include cars and vans the average consumption is 3.47 litres used per day. Taking typical cars like Golf, Qashqai and Corsa =the UK's top sellers  - the tank capacity average is a 46 litre tank. 

 

So if you assume people fil up at 25% fuel left that is 34.7litres per visit so 34.7/3.47 = 10 days between fill up's. The milage doesn't enter into tht calculation so if you assume 10K miles/16K km per year that is filing up every 270 miles/ 430km .

 

Now you could say "aha, so 300 mile capacity is essential but of course most EV "charging ( i.e tank filing) will be at home so the only time you have range anxiety at say 150 mile range is one of long trips.

 

Of course that is an issue but the Dacia guy might be right , it isn't worth  paying for a 2000kg EV for a few trips per year when a 975kg one is so much cheaper.

[404KF2]

That is sensible but so many vehicles are sold on the basis of conspicuous consumption...a Romanian cut-price brand just won't do for those people, so the behemoths aren't going anywhere, sadly.

[just me again]

The Dacia Spring is also not. Car to Western standards. It's too cheap built!

In Denmark we love small cars like C1/108/Up/Citigo. Big EV does also sell very well, but there is next to no Dacia Springs!!!

[Charlieman]

In Denmark we love small cars like C1/108/Up/Citigo. Big EV does also sell very well, but there is next to no Dacia Springs!!!

Traditionally Denmark was a strong market for cheap Eastern European cars -- 1980s Skoda, Lada etc. If an importer signs up competent dealers who sort out build quality problems promptly, I can imagine the Dacia selling well.

 

20 years ago, I looked at a lot of three year old small hatchbacks. The difference in build quality between the lowest models and the next one up (eg Peugeot 106 vs 206) surprised me.

[BRG]

The Dacia Spring is also not. Car to Western standards. It's too cheap built!

In Denmark we love small cars like C1/108/Up/Citigo. Big EV does also sell very well, but there is next to no Dacia Springs!!!

Dacia make cars that are very good value and are surprisingly well-made and equipped.  There are over 215,000 on the road in the UK since the marque really got going about 10 years ago.  The latest Dacia Sandero was even voted the best small hatchback on the market, and yet it costs almost £10,000 less than its class rivals.

 

There are no Dacia Springs on the road in the UK.  Because they don't sell it here yet.  When and if they do (probably next year) , it will sell well at some £20,000, which is substantially cheaper than any other EV on the market.

Edited by BRG, 20 February 2023 - 15:41.

[just me again]

There is plenty of ICE Dacia's in Denmark, but the Spring is, compared to a Romanian Dacia, just a cheap built Chinese car. Which is to bad. Even for price sensitive Denmark

[gruntguru]

The Spring is a taste of the future. Cheap, no-frills, city commute EVs make enormous sense. Quality and value will skyrocket once competition in the segment kicks in.

[cbo]

In Denmark, the Spring costs about the same as a Renault Clio, which is a much better car. Whereas larger EV are priced much more competitively versus comparable ICE cars.
It has to do with our taxation system, which benefits larger EVs a lot.

Also, there are plenty of used Renault Zoes to be had, as they have been popular with public services.

I don't think the market for small EVs in this country will really move until the actual, pre-tax cost of such cars come down.

[Lee Nicolle]

Well, I might have  in my 1979 Mini, but no, unless I'm in the boondocks I fill up at 600 km

As do I,, or at more. Around town my FG Falcon ute struggles to get 600.  Hwy though is closer to 750 and that is with a big ugly box on it!

Landcruiser is between around 600k to 900k. Though does take around 135 litres of petrol. Which is better value to the dollar than the nunga nunga that gets better range but fuel is 10-25% more expensive. And stinks!

[Greg Locock]

I can get 800 on a tank, driving up to Sydney at 100-110, but that's very much the exception.