People — especially many of our highly esteemed CleanTechnica readers — have been clamoring for someone to produce a truly cheap electric car for years. Battery prices have come down enough to make it possible. Chinese carmakers have been able to do it. But we haven’t been granted such an option in the US, and Europe is just starting to get such options.
The Dacia Spring is available for £15,000 in the UK, setting the low bar. The BYD Dolphin Surf starts just a little bit higher, at £18,650. However, a model may be coming that will even beat these two electric cars.
“Citroën could replace the C1 with a new sub-£15k urban EV if EU law makers sign off the new ‘E-car’ category for small cars – and it would have the spirit, but not the look, of the 2CV,” Autocar shares.
Confused what an E-car is? So was I. Here’s more info on that: “The E-car category is a proposed framework to ease the financial pressures on making small, affordable cars by loosening some of the restrictions they must adhere to. The new category is under consideration by the EU Commission in response to complaints from car makers about the unviability of building true entry-level models.”
Like the US, Europe is struggling to produce truly cheap cars any more. This is an effort to truly bring affordability back to the sector. We’ll see where it goes. Naturally, I assume it must involve cutting various safety standards and other regulatory requirements that … must be in place for a reason.
“Citroën CEO Xavier Chardon is the latest European car company boss to welcome the potential new rules and says their introduction would be likely to pave the way for a return to the A-segment for the French brand.”
We’ll definitely keep an eye on this and see if Citroën can indeed bring a sub-£15,000 EV to market.
CleanTechnica’s Comment Policy
Zach is tryin’ to help society help itself one word at a time. He spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as its director, chief editor, and CEO. Zach is recognized globally as an electric vehicle, solar energy, and energy storage expert. He has presented about electric vehicles and renewable energy at conferences in India, the UAE, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, the USA, Canada, and Curaçao.
Zachary Shahan has 8699 posts and counting. See all posts by Zachary Shahan

source