New Dacia baby EV to arrive this year as Renault Twingo-based city car
Dacia’s newest electric car will be based on the Renault Twingo – but it won’t replace the Spring...
On sale Early 2027 Price from £16,000 (est)
You could say the sudden surge of new electric city cars being launched is something of a microtrend – but instead of ‘micro’ referring to the short amount of time it lasts, it should hopefully instead refer to the dinky size of these models. Dacia will be the latest brand to hop on the bandwagon, and it could introduce one of the most tempting offers yet.
Indeed, the Dacia’s baby EV will be based on the recently-revealed Renault Twingo, which made headlines with its cheeky, retro styling and keen list price. Dacia’s version aims to build on the latter, in line with its budget brand positioning.
As such, Dacia’s city car will likely get the same tech as the Twingo, with a 27.5kWh (usable capacity) battery and an official range of up to 163 miles. That would make it even more efficient than the current Dacia Spring, and wouldn’t be far off the Leapmotor T03. The Twingo has an 80bhp front-mounted electric motor which delivers a 0-62mph sprint in 12.1sec.
Speaking of the Spring, Dacia’s Twingo-based model is set to go on sale alongside that car, making Dacia the only brand to offer a choice of two electric city cars at the same time. According to the Romanian firm, there will be key differences between the two – most notably, the Twingo twin will be bigger with a chunkier design, taking inspiration from Dacia’s SUVs.
Dacia’s new EV has yet to be revealed, but a pre-production camouflaged version of the car has been spotted testing recently. From those images, we can see the new model will bear some resemblance to the Twingo, with curved windows and a sloping roofline, but it will also don some Dacia-specific styling, with thin, Spring-esque headlights, a boxier shape and higher-set rear lights. Our artist’s rendering at the top of this page shows what we think the Dacia city car could look like when it finally arrives.
Inside, it will likely take inspiration from the Twingo (pictured above), with proper physical controls. However, we expect the Dacia will take a more utilitarian approach, with entry-level models potentially forgoing some tech.
Most importantly, though, the new Dacia EV is set to be very keenly priced. According to Dacia, it will comfortably undercut the Twingo, which is set to start at less than £20,000. The brand confirmed to our sister title Autocar that it would cost less than €18,000 – roughly £15,700. That places it firmly in Spring territory, but we’d expect pricing to be adjusted so that the Spring undercuts the new Twingo-based EV.
To keep prices low, Dacia’s EV will likely offer less equipment than the Twingo, much like the relationship between the Dacia Sandero and Renault Clio. It will be revealed later this year ahead of its debut at the Paris motor show in October.
Dacia will launch four new electric cars by 2030, including the Twingo-based city car and an all-electric version of the Sandero. The brand is also committed to offering two thirds of its model range with a hybrid power option in the future.
For all the latest reviews, advice and new car deals, sign up to the What Car? newsletter here
