Things have changed, or are starting to move in the right direction. Citroën launched the movement in October 2023 among European manufacturers by presenting the ë-C3, offered from 23,300 euros, for a maximum range of 320 kilometers.
What if the Dacia Duster was the car of the year 2025?
It’s two to three times cheaper than the premium models of a few years ago. However, this remains a price significantly higher than the gasoline model, offered from 14,990 euros. At Opel, in a higher price bracket, the petrol Mokka starts at 23,340 euros compared to 33,990 euros for the electric version.
Citroën was not in the lead for long. The field of more affordable electric cars has quickly grown. Renault came back with an R5 costing around 25,000 euros, with an announced range of 300 kilometers. This version, the “five”, must still be marketed, the diamond brand having hit a little higher for the return of the Renault5: the models currently available range from 27,900 euros to 34,900 euros.
The two manufacturers are also developing models priced at less than 20,000 euros, resulting in reduced ranges (200 km). The Dacia Spring (Renault group) has an entry price of 16,990 euros for a range of 225 kilometers.
For several months, Hyundai has been offering the Inster model, starting at 24,499 euros for a range of up to 355 kilometers compared to 36,999 euros for the Kona (range of up to 514 kilometers).
Fiat, Skoda, Cupra, Opel and even Volkswagen are in the starting blocks to offer electric cars costing around 25,000 euros, or even less.
Electric cars: Belgium going against the grain of Europe
And then there is the latest arrival, Leapmotor, the Chinese brand of the Stellantis group (Peugeot, Citroën, Fiat, etc.). It is positioned at the bottom of the range in terms of pricing with a price of 18,900 euros for 265 kilometers of autonomy.
2. The offer from Chinese manufacturers is not what we think
Electric cars from European brands are ultimately the most affordable because the main Chinese players have not attacked the Old Continent market with low-cost models. BYD’s most affordable model is the Dolphin, starting at 29,000 euros with salon conditions. The Tang is 72,000 euros…
Their approach is ultimately very simple: offer cars in the SUV and city car segments, the most promising in Europe, at prices lower than their competitors with a whole bunch of options included.
Enough to complicate the task of European manufacturers who will, however, have to put the turbo in to sell more and more electric cars from 2025, without waiting for the ax of 2035.
Nearly 90% of cars sold in 2024 in this country are electric
3. Promotions galore to avoid heavy fines?
At issue is another European provision which imposes stricter CO2 emission standards on manufacturers across all of their sales, the CAFE standards. It is now less than 94 grams of CO2 per kilometer compared to 116 g/km in 2024. In itself, this does not say much except that manufacturers exceeding 94 grams will be heavily penalized: the Association of European manufacturers (Acea) mention a total amount of 15 billion euros in fines, enough to bring the sector to its knees. Acea has tried to change the CAFE standards, without success so far.
Manufacturers therefore have no choice: they will have to sell electric cars in proportions of around 30% of the total to avoid getting slapped on the wrist. The temptation will undoubtedly be great to offer promotions, in order to make the electricity offer attractive. Enough to facilitate entry into the segment for individuals, with however a downside: the resale value will be lower, which is however not a problem if you do not change cars frequently.
The other possibility is to reduce the availability of thermal supply, either by producing fewer vehicles or by increasing prices to reduce the differential with electric and make these models more competitive.
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The Chinese are playing on velvet in Europe because they generally only offer electric cars. The exception is MG, which offers the full range of engines. The MG4, with a range of up to 520 km, is currently available from 25,285 euros, compared to a list price of 32,285 euros.
4. Is autonomy a smokescreen?
There remains, of course, the question of autonomy. This is a legitimate concern, especially since the ranges displayed concern global journeys in town, on secondary roads and on motorways (WLTP standard). With a range of 400 km, you won’t go to Paris in one go, unless you take the secondary roads.
Leapmotor’s TCO3 thus evokes a range of 265 km (WLTP) but up to 395 kilometers if you only drive in town. The Dacia Spring has 225 km of autonomy in the WLTP cycle, 305 km in the urban cycle and 150 km at 120 km/h.
Ranges in the WLTP cycle of 500, 600 km or 750 km, as for the new DS 8, however, become the norm when you put the price. And, there, this allows you to see what’s coming when you’re on the road regularly.
