Renault Makes EV Rentals Easy With New Dacia Spring Electric

Driving an electric vehicle, at least for a little while, just got a bit easier in France. Renault announced today that 3,000 of its Dacia Spring EV and 1,000 Renault Zoe all-electric hatchbacks will enter service as part of E.Leclerc’s rental services starting in March 2021.

E.Leclerc is a large retailer in France, with 721 supermarkets and hypermarkets in the country. Aside from household goods, it also offers car rentals through 504 vehicle rental agencies, and that’s where the new electric vehicles come in. The Zoe EV has been a part of Mouvement E.Leclerc’s work to promote clean mobility before, but the small Spring Electric SUV is a new and it will only available to rent through E.Leclerc.

“The goal is to enable French drivers to rent electric cars and see the advantages of electric mobility for themselves, with the most affordable deals ever,” Renault said in a statement. Since 1999, Renault has owned the Dacia brand.

In Europe, the Dacia Spring Electric is categorized as an urban vehicle, and it will be the “most inexpensive electric supermini in the European market” when it goes into full production next spring. In an excellent translated turn of phrase, Renault’s press release says the “adventurous look, record-breaking space inside, … dependable electric engine and … reassuring range” make the Spring Electric “a polyvalent and practical supermini.” The lightweight and compact EV has a range of 140 miles (225 km on the WLTP test cycle) and will be built in China, which is something the French unions are not exactly pleased about.

E.Leclerc is doing more than offering EV rentals in its clean mobility mission. Renault and E.Leclerc have been partnering on electromobility for almost a decade, starting with EV charging stations in 2011 and buying Zoes for employee use in 2021 and even setting up clubs of clean mobility “ambassadors” in 2013. E.Leclerc now plans to have 5,000 EV charging stations in operation by 2022 and 10,000 by 2025. This all shows how the new Spring and Zoe rentals fit into E.Leclerc’s larger plans, something expressed by Michel-Edouard Leclerc, the chairman of Centres E.Leclerc’s strategy committee.

“I’m glad we can encourage our customers to go electric on such a large scale,” he said in a statement. “This way, they can try out the cars no strings attached, then adopt this kind of mobility over time. This is exactly the point of all our efforts for the environment and purchasing power.”