by Renault is setting up a new unit for electric cars – and is announcing a Volks-Stromer for less than 20 thousand euros. What is known so far.
French automaker Renault announced an electric car manufactured in Europe for less than 20 thousand euros. The Legend small car for urban transit is scheduled to hit the market in 2025, Renault’s newly founded electromobility subsidiary Ampere has announced.
In addition to the low purchase price, Renault promises a very low standard consumption of 10 kWh per 100 kilometers for the Legend. With its concept, the new low-cost model should succeed the traditional city car Twingo, whose current generation has been on the market for almost ten years (since 2014) and shares the technical basis with previous Smart models.
Renault is planning an electric offensive
Renault wants to offer an electric car for 25 thousand euros next year, the R5. It will be produced in northern France and, in terms of vehicle segment, is the successor to the electric Zoe. The design of the R5 has a retro look and cites the small car of the 1970s and 80s. A year later, the R4 will hit the market in SUV format.
The three models are developed and marketed by Ampere, but operate under the Renault name. The brand wants to have a total of seven electric models on offer by 2031. The goal is to sell 300,000 electric cars in 2025, and the number is expected to increase to one million by 2031. That would be half of the total cars produced.
This is the subsidiary of Renault Ampere
French car manufacturer Renault plans to IPO its newly founded electric car subsidiary Ampere next year.
Ampere employs more than 11 thousand people, a third of whom are engineers. Production takes place in three existing factories in the north of France – in Douai, Maubiege and Ruitz.
The initial production capacity of 400,000 vehicles is expected to grow to one million by 2031. Sino-Japanese manufacturer AESC Envision and French start-up Verkor, which operate gigafactories near the Ampere plant, will supply batteries.
Electric car prices are expected to fall
“We want to democratize the electric car in Europe,” said Renault’s financial director, Thierry Piéton. In the medium term, list prices for electric cars are expected to fall by 40 percent compared to current ones, and price parity with vehicles with combustion engines is expected to be achieved by 2027/2028 with the second generation Mégane E-Tech Electric and Scénic E. -Tech Electric with the same margins.
Other manufacturers are planning this
The race for affordable European-made small cars is gaining speed: Citroën launched the ë-C3 small car for 23,300 euros in October. The small car with SUV proportions and a range of 320 kilometers will be available for purchase from spring 2024 and will be built at the Stellantis factory in Slovakia. A 19,900 euro variant with a weaker battery and a range of 200 kilometers will be launched in early 2025. Read more about the Citroën newcomer here.
VW boss Oliver Blume recently confirmed that the group intended to launch an electric car on the market “in the region of 20,000 euros”. However, a decision has not yet been definitively made. The ID.2 will initially come in Polo form in 2025 (you can read more about it here) – probably also in an electric GTI variant. Tesla could follow suit soon after with a cheap German-made Model 2.
Affordable electric cars are rare
Also on Tuesday, ADAC criticized the fact that it is still difficult to get a cheap electric car in Germany. Currently, there are only three models under 30,000 euros – all with a very limited range: Dacia Spring (from 22,750 euros), electric Renault Twingo (from 28,000 euros) and the Fiat 500e (from 29,990 euros ).
