- Dacia aims to launch an electric version of Europe’s most popular vehicle, the Sandero.
- It will be a variant of the redesigned next-gen Sandero, not a standalone model.
- It’s likely to share its batteries and motors with new Renault EVs like the 4 and 5 E-Tech.
Renault-owned Romanian automaker Dacia had a great 2024, selling 676,340 vehicles globally. Its best-seller was the Sandero hatchback, Europe’s most popular new vehicle, selling almost 310,000 units last year. Now, Dacia wants to build on the combustion model’s success, so it plans to launch an electric variant toward the end of 2027.
That’s “great news” for a car that’s become immensely popular for its affordability—and is well-known across the world by fans of golden-age Top Gear as a kind of running bit in its news segments. But joke aside, the Sandero has been a hit that also won’t break the bank, and now it’s moving beyond gasoline too.
Dacia Sandero (2027), rendered by Motor1.com
We don’t have much to go on right now, but according to Automotive News, Dacia CEO Denis Le Vot revealed that a pure electric Sandero is in the works. He went on to say that Dacia plans to launch at least two new EVs by the end of the decade, when the manufacturer’s only current EV, the China-made Spring, will likely be phased out.
Photo by: Dacia
Dacia Spring (2024) review
The Spring got a significant update last year, making it far more eye-catching than before and also giving the interior a much-needed makeover. However, sales of the Spring in Europe fell dramatically in 2024 after many countries reduced or eliminated EV purchase incentives. The Spring is now also subject to hefty import duties imposed on electric vehicles manufactured in China.
But Dacia is clearly not giving up on making more affordable EV options. The new electric Sandero will likely be built in Europe, but whether it will roll out of Dacia’s home plant in Romania remains to be seen. The factory doesn’t currently build any EVs, and it may require significant investment and retooling to allow it to build battery-powered cars. Dacia hasn’t publicly announced plans for any such investment yet.
This means it could be built alongside Renault’s other EVs in one of the manufacturer’s European factories. The Renault 5 E-Tech is built at the Renault ElectriCity facility in Douai, while the 4 E-Tech is made by Maubeuge Construction Automobile. It’s feasible to consider that either of these plants could also build Dacia-badged EVs.
Dacia will likely use the front-wheel-drive Renault AmpR Small platform (also known as CMF-B EV, a variant of the CMF-B platform used in today’s Sandero) to underpin the new electric model. Just like the Renault 4 and 5 EVs, the Sandero EV could have two battery pack sizes (40 kWh and 52 kWh) and a base power output of 95 hp. The most potent variant could get a 150 hp motor that should make it feel pretty spritely.
With any luck, the electric Sandero will be a worthy competitor to the many new electric options coming to Europe from China—and eventually, Volkswagen as well. And if it can recreate the recipe for the combustion-powered Sandero, it should be a hit in its own right.
Autocar recently reported that Dacia was giving the Sandero a complete redesign for its next generation, but the model will remain a hatchback—it won’t become a crossover. There will still be a high-riding Sandero Stepway variant, but the manufacturer aims to distance it further from the regular hatchback with the next generation.
Dacia design boss David Durand also clarified that the EV will just be a variant of the regular Sandero, not a standalone model. So, it will likely look like the regular model but with a closed-off grille, aerodynamic wheels and badging to set it apart.
The other EV coming from Dacia will surely be a crossover of sorts. The manufacturer could capitalize on the success of the Duster name and just create a Duster EV, or it could launch an entirely new electric crossover model. However, this will likely be revealed after the electric Sandero, which should be revealed (probably in a close-to-production concept form) sometime in 2026, ahead of its launch one year later.
