Renault's EV success shields Dacia from ZEV mandate

The head of Dacia UK is confident in the brand’s compliance with the Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) mandate – despite it offering only one electric car, which accounts for just 13% of its sales. The ZEV mandate requires car firms to ramp up the proportion of EVs they sell annually, else face fines of £12,000 per combustion-engined or hybrid car they sell over their allowed quota. Manufacturers are given some flexibility in being allowed to convert reductions in their fleets’ CO2 emissions into credits equivalent to EV sales, but it has placed the industry at large under significant pressure. Under the mandate, one in three cars sold by any one manufacturer this year must be an EV – or they must make swingeing cuts to their emissions in order to meet the target with credits. This spells major trouble for brands like Dacia, which has just one electric model – the Spring – and otherwise majors on affordable combustion-engined cars. But brand director Lina Ribeiro told Autocar that “we are good on the ZEV mandate”. She explained that, because the mandate is judged at a group-wide level – rather than just the individual brand – it is sheltered. Renault has enjoyed significant success with its electric cars: the retro-futuristic 5 hatchback and the Scenic crossover are among its biggest sellers. This, combined with performance brand Alpine’s move to offering exclusively EVs, has shored up the Renault Group’s EV sales in the UK. “The group is doing extremely well with the R5 – it’s a massive success,” said Ribeiro. She added that the brand’s roll-out of hybrid powertrains has yielded strong results: “Bigster is around 80%, Jogger is the same, and Duster is around 60% and growing. In terms of hybrids, we are in a very good position. We don’t have a hybrid for the Sandero yet but it is coming at the end of this year.” Ribeiro also anticipates that the forthcoming second-generation Spring will be a stronger seller than the outgoing car. Rather than being based on an Indian-market city car, as currently, it will share its underpinnings with the new Renault Twingo – a notably more advanced car. “We’re doing well, but with the arrival of the new Spring next year, we will continue that journey of electrification,” she said. Ribeiro cited the government’s introduction of the Electric Car Grant as a positive step for the broader EV market, despite the Chinese-built Spring not qualifying for any discounts through the scheme. “The EV grant boosted customer confidence,” she said. “It has been really high, and I think that is what boosted the EV market – that plus the price of petrol going up in April has massively accelerated consumer confidence.” But she called on the government to “educate” the public on the benefits of electric motoring, as well as to simplify the jargon around it. “I still speak to people around me who still don’t know if [EVs] are actually better for the environment. I think the government has a responsibility to make things simpler for people. For a normal person that doesn’t speak about cars every day, the process is a bit complicated.”

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Renault's EV success shields Dacia from ZEV mandate

Dacia sells only one EV yet is shielded from big fines by the electric success of its parent brand

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Renault's EV success shields Dacia from ZEV mandate

Dacia sells only one EV yet is shielded from big fines by the electric success of its parent brand

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Top manufacturers

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