The climate change challenge
The fight against climate change, one of the most urgent challenges facing humanity, involves all brands. And the Dacia, born in 1968 and has now become the very symbol of cars with the best quality/price ratio, redefining the very concept of “essential”, it has a central role: it is one thing to reduce emissions with a niche brand. It’s another thing to do it with one with large numbers. Yes, because Dacia, since it was relaunched by Renault in 2004, sold something like eight million cars. And his Sandero is the best-selling car to private individuals in Europe from 2017 to today.
What does Dacia do?
The premise is fundamental to understand how a brand of this kind can approach the problem of reporting greenhouse gas emissions which is far from encouraging: the data has seen a steady increase over the last decade. This trend is expected to increase further, with the risk of exceeding the predicted 1.5°C of global warming and even reaching 3°C by the end of the century.
We know that the transport sectorand in particular the automotive sector, plays a fundamental role in this process. Passenger cars represent approximately 11% of total emissions. For this reason, Groupe Renault, of which the Dacia brand is part, has set itself the objective of achieving carbon neutrality in Europe by 2040 and globally by 2050.
Plans for the future
Decarbonization of the automotive sector requires a holistic approach that consider the entire life cycle of the vehicle. Groupe Renault has therefore studied a detailed plan to fulfill its sustainability tasks, from the design of the vehicle to its disposal at the end of its life.
In the design phases, Dacia uses advanced technologies to minimize the creation of physical tests, thus accelerating development times. They are also chosen recycled and recyclable materials, optimizing the aerodynamic efficiency and weight of vehicles. This allows us to adopt more compact and less polluting engines, such as LPG, hybrid and 100% electric engines.
Production
On the production front, Groupe Renault aims to constantly improve the energy efficiency of its factories. The Dacia plant in Tangier, Morocco, is an example of excellence, being the first automotive factory in the world with zero CO2 emissions and zero industrial liquid waste. The brand’s other production sites, such as those in Casablanca and Pitesti, aim to become carbon-neutral by 2030.
The electric Spring
Another example of this strategy is represented by new Dacia Spring, the brand’s first 100% electric car. Weighing less than one tonne and with a combined WLTP range of 225km (300 km in urban areas), Spring aims in short at urban mobility, without charging worries thanks to the possibility of easily recharging it from home sockets. Small, simple, inexpensive. Perfectly in line with the Dacia brand image.
