Volkswagen has decided not to work with Renault to make a cheap electric car, according to reports from Reuters. They couldn’t agree on some things after talking for many months.
Now, Volkswagen plans to make its own affordable electric car without Renault’s help. The CEO, Thomas Schaefer, wants this car to be ready by 2027. Volkswagen hasn’t had a car in the low-cost electric market since they stopped selling the e-Up.
Renault is going to keep making their own small electric car called the Twingo. It should be out around 2026. Even though they won’t be working with Volkswagen anymore, Renault might team up with Nissan or Mitsubishi for future projects. If that happens, there’s a chance that people in America could get a cheap electric car.
Since the Chevrolet Bolt is no longer available, the Nissan Leaf is now the cheapest electric car you can buy at $28,140. Renault and Volkswagen couldn’t agree on where to build their car together. Renault wanted to make it at their factory, but Volkswagen wanted to use their own facilities in Europe.
Now, both carmakers will make their small electric cars on their own. This might make it more expensive for them to develop the cars, and that could mean higher prices for people buying them. Renault and Volkswagen thought that working together could help them compete against affordable electric cars from China, like the BYD Dolphin.
Many carmakers are trying to make electric cars that cost less than €20,000 ($21,700). Some cars are already cheaper than this, like the Dacia Spring and the Citroën Ami, but the Ami is technically not a regular car. The European Commission was thinking about putting taxes on electric cars from China to make it fairer for European carmakers. Recently, the Biden Administration put a 102% tax on Chinese electric cars, which makes it harder for brands like BYD, Nio, and Xpeng to sell their cars in the United States unless they are built somewhere else.
