New Dacia Spring EV: An affordable electric supermini for the masses?

Jonny gets to grips with Dacia’s latest cut-price EV due to land in the UK in March. It’s exceedingly cheap, but is the Spring a realistic option for small families? 

Weighing in at under a ton and expected to start from around £17,000, the new-to-us (the model has been available elsewhere for a few years), Dacia Spring, seems to answer the cries of those who chastise the leaden and expensive EVs of today. However, while it’s easy to make a cheap car, it’s far harder to make one that’s cheerful too.  

First impressions are certainly positive, though. As far as styling goes, Jonny is actually quite smitten. From the front lightbar which appears to mimic the Thor’s Hammer design we saw in Polestar’s new 4 E-SUV, to the rear reflective strip that Jonny thinks looks, “like a nightclub sign”, there are plenty of interesting touches to distract from the areas of cost reduction. Even the standard steel wheels with plastic hub caps have their own endearing charm, argues the LBS host.

It’s a similar story inside. The Spring is basic, of course, but there’s a likeable honesty to the cabin’s simplistic form. Plus, in typical Dacia fashion there are some unusual storage solutions including a U-Clip system which allows the driver to move cupholders, storage pouches, or even phone holders, into various different positions around the interior. And, while you’ll have to make do with four rather than five seats, a generous 308-litre boot is a welcome trade-off.  

You might have noticed that we’ve not mentioned the Spring’s performance, and there’s a good reason for that: there isn’t any. With either 45 or 65 bhp to its name, the bargain Dacia can only muster a leisurely 14 second 0-60 time, rising to a yawning 19 seconds in the less potent model. Well, you can’t have everything we suppose, but at least the 136+ mile range means the Spring is usable for more than just urban sprints.  

Find out what else lets the Spring down in Jonny’s full review above.