In July last year, we got our first glimpse at the next-generation Dacia Dokker through a set of early spy shots. Work on the Romanian light commercial vehicle continues and today we can share with you a new spy video, showing the Dokker being tested under load.
What we have here is a heavily camouflaged prototype of the Dokker which performs tests with a dynamometer to simulate an added load. Our quick research identified the trailer as a product of the Taylor Dynamometer company, which produces dynamometers for all kinds of passenger and commercial vehicles. These little heavy trailers are used to measure attributes under a range of simulated load conditions, negative slopes, and positive slopes up to 25 percent.
The trial car here seems to be attached to one of the company's smallest dynamometers, designed to maintain 1,214 to 1,798 lb of constant drawbar pull. According to the specification of the product, it features a wireless touchscreen controller, which is most likely connected to a laptop inside the prototype and an operator is probably tracking some data. With this test, we believe, the automaker is evaluating the behavior of the suspension, brakes, and powertrain under a certain load.
Speaking of the engines, we expect the new Dokker to continue to be offered with Renault's 1.5-liter dCi unit. On the diesel-hungry European market, light commercial vehicles are often sold with a compression-ignition mill and we expect a reworked and optimized version of the four-cylinder engine to be found under the hood of the new Dokker. It'll be very interesting to see whether the French manufacturer will also share its all-electric powertrain with its sister brand from Romania.
The coronavirus outbreak could have delayed Dacia's plan for the launch of the workhorse and we don't have a confirmation yet if it's going to arrive this year or during the first half of 2021.
