The Vice President of Sales, Marketing, and Operations for Dacia, Xavier Martinet, has asserted that many electric vehicles are too heavy and, consequently, harmful to the environment.
Excessive weight should not be acceptable if we are serious about collectively reducing emissions
Xavier Martinet, VP of Sales, Marketing, and Operations of Dacia stated on excessive EV weight
Dacia Spring, a lightweight and compact vehicle
The Spring was Dacia’s first electric vehicle, introduced in 2021 by the Romanian automaker Dacia.
The Spring is a lightweight compact crossover that is only offered in the territory of mainland Europe. To put that in perspective, a GMC Hummer EV weighs more than four times as much.
The Spring is incredibly lightweight due to the fact that it is only equipped with the bare essentials in terms of features and is powered by a 26.8 kWh battery.
Because of this, it can only travel 140 miles on a single charge and reach a maximum speed of 78 mph.
But according to Dacia, its customers don’t care about range or performance because the average Spring owner drives only 25 miles a day at an average speed of 18 mph.
The Spring comes standard with cloth seats and a radio; higher trim levels make a touchscreen radio available as an upgrade option. In Germany, prices begin at less than €15,000 ($16,070) after taking into account available incentives.
Only add the necessary weight and power
According to a report published in AutoCar in the United Kingdom, Martinet stated that it is “insane” to allow manufacturers to produce “two- or three-tonne vehicles that are occupied by one person and which drive just 35 miles a day.”
He thinks that the Spring is the best example of Dacia’s philosophy: only to add necessary weight and power.
The Spring is doing very well in Europe, although it will never be sold in the United States.
The fact that no other 5-seat electric vehicle is even close to being as affordable as it contributes to the company’s success.
It has been reported that Dacia intends to release a right-hand-drive version of the Spring for the markets in the United Kingdom and Ireland later this year.
