Renault to go fully electric in Europe by 2030

Renault aims to become an all-electric car brand in Europe by 2030. This applies not only to the Renault brand, but to Groupe Renault – including brands such as Alpine and Dacia. For its budget brand, however, Renault is leaving a back door open.

“Renault will be 100 per cent electric in 2030 in Europe,” said CEO Luca de Meo at a media event at Renault’s technical centre near Paris. In June 2021, Renault had still stated a target of 90 per cent pure electric cars by 2030, so this has now been increased to 100 per cent, according to de Meo.

However, Renault is keeping a small loophole open for Dacia: The low-cost brand could still sell cars with combustion engines after 2030, if a lack of charging infrastructure or high electricity prices do not yet allow the complete conversion to battery-electric drives.

According to media reports, de Meo described the back door as ‘Plan B’. Dacia will be electrified “at the last possible moment” and in a way that respects the brand’s “price-performance ratio”. The Renault boss also gave no details on other markets outside Europe.

In recent months, Renault under de Meo had already prepared its production for the switch to e-mobility. The heart of Renault’s electric car production will be the e-mobility industry cluster Renault ElectriCity, which comprises the Douai, Maubeuge and Ruitz plants in northern France. It was already known that the Megane E-TECH Electric and Renault 5 Electric would be manufactured in Douai. In December, the carmaker confirmed that ElectriCity had also been awarded the contract to produce a future electric SUV as well as a new vehicle that is still in the planning phase.

De Meo did not say whether the internal combustion engine phase-out would also have an impact on model planning. In the summer it was said that ten new electric models were planned by 2030, seven of them under the Renault brand, three as Alpine. Dacia was not mentioned here; the budget brand so far only has the Spring in its range as an electric car. If the combustion engines are dropped, this would lead to some gaps in the model range in the current E planning.

With the decision to stop selling new combustion cars from 2030, Renault is following the example of other brands. Ford had also announced the switch to an all-electric brand in Europe for 2030. Stellantis brand Opel wants to sell only electric cars as early as 2028 and sister brand Fiat as soon as cost parity between combustion engine and electric car has been reached. DS will already become an e-brand in 2026, Alfa Romeo in 2027 and Peugeot in 2030.

autonews.com (paywall), carnewest.com, insideevs.com