There is a deafening cry on internet forums, comments sections and – dare we say it – certain tech websites for more affordable electric vehicles. So far, passenger cars with battery packs and electric motors have been expensive, they depreciate at a startling rate, and they generally alienate anyone counting the pennies at the end of each month.
“Electric vehicles are for the rich!” is the overarching, often shouty sentiment, but things are changing and the Dacia Spring, which I’ve recently driven, is the perfect embodiment of this impending sea change.
Produced by Renault’s budget European brand Dah-chee-ah (original hailing from Romania), the Spring has been on sale in select European countries since late 2023, but it more recently hit forecourts in the UK with prices starting from just £14,995 (around $19,000 / AU$30,000).
It’s not yet available in the US, but if it was, it would rapidly enter the top three cheapest cars on sale, based on those conversions. An especially admirable effort considering all of its closest cut-price rivals (Mitsubishi Mirage and Nissan Versa) sport relatively inexpensive internal combustion engines.
Discounting things like the recently revamped Renault Twizy and the minuscule Citroen Ami (they are both technically classed as quadricycles, anyway), the Dacia Spring is currently the best value electric vehicle on sale almost anywhere outside of China and South East Asia… and that includes even Leapmotor’s ultra-cheap T03 model.
All of this chat about sticker price is important, because it is the lens through which the Dacia Spring needs to be viewed. This EV isn’t going to be for everyone, but it is going to be great for those wanting emissions-free motoring on a budget.
Cheap and cheerful
Let’s get a few facts and figures out of the way first, shall we? The Dacia Spring boasts a kerb weight of just 951kg, which is in the same league as a tiny Toyota Aygo X or a Kia Picanto – both of which don’t have the disadvantage of hefty battery packs to lug around.
The road noise at anything above 50mph is wild and it rolls like a cruise ship in rough seas around corners, but it’s difficult not to love it.
This featherweight construction means it only requires a 26.8kWh battery pack, which is half the size of even the smallest EVs currently on sale. When paired with the 33kW single motor bolted to the front wheels in the cheapest versions, it manages a 0-62mph ‘sprint’ time of 19.1 seconds. Top speed? 78mph.
A slightly more powerful 65 version increases the motor to 48kw, but this makes things only marginally nippier. This is no long distance cruiser, as the official range is just 140 miles and any lengthy highway journeys sap the energy at a much faster rate.
Instead, the Dacia Spring is designed to thrive in busy urban environments, where its compact proportions and ridiculously light steering make it simple to place on the road and park in awkward spots.
That said, I did have to take the Spring on a dull motorway journey and it was fine, so long as you don’t mind trundling along at 65mph and get used to the battery charge indicator dropping a percent for every mile travelled.
Full of surprises
The only color that comes as standard on the Dacia Spring in the UK is Polar White, everything else costs £650 extra – or 4% of the asking price. There are also several of Dacia’s ‘YouClip’ accessories that require additional spend.
Charging speeds on the public network are painfully slow, but the battery is so small that it doesn’t take much longer than most to achieve a 20-80% charge.
These include things like a cupholder, phone holder and hooks for holding bags in place. Opting to spend a little extra on these is worth it, as additional niceties inside the cabin are thin on the ground, to say the least.
Pretty much everything is fashioned from scratchy plastic, the seats aren’t particularly comfortable and there’s just enough room in the back for small humans. But it all works and it is fashioned from materials that look like they’ll withstand abuse.
However, Dacia does throw in electric front windows, electrically adjustable door mirrors and – perhaps most important of all – a 10-inch infotainment screen that offers wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
It’s not the most responsive screen out there, but it is bright and exceedingly simple to use. The DAB radio had a penchant for dipping in and out of reception during my tenure and the built-in navigation (provided by Here) isn’t worth the hassle. Plug a smartphone in and get yourself on Waze or Google Maps.
There’s even a reversing camera and all-round parking sensors to assist with tricky maneuvers, while lane-keep assist, driver attention warning and speed limit recognition tick all of the annoying active safety systems that have to feature on a modern car. Thankfully, you can turn these off with a single button.
Keeping it simple
As a vehicle for gleefully hacking around town in, it’s very difficult to fault the Dacia Spring. It weaves in and out of traffic with ease, slots into tight parking spaces without complaint and zips away from traffic lights faster than most other cars.
Get it on the motorway and the efficiency drops, but nowhere near as badly as I initially imagined.
Charging from a 7kW wall-box at home takes just four hours, or you can simply plug it into a domestic socket and the tiny batteries are brimmed in eleven hours – negating the need to install a wallbox for many.
Charging speeds on the public network are painfully slow (max speed is 30kW), but the battery is so small that it doesn’t take much longer than most to achieve a 20-80% charge… you’ll just be charging more often.
Plus, it means that owners can use the much cheaper, lower-powered charging network to save on the monthly bills.
The Spring is incredibly efficient around town, where the mild regenerative braking system (there’s no option to adjust) recharges the battery as the vehicle slows. There’s very little weight to shift, so the motor isn’t always overworked like it is in much heavier EVs.
Get it on the motorway and the efficiency drops, but nowhere near as badly as I initially imagined. Even in freezing conditions, I managed to tackle a 70-mile journey without needing to stop. Plus, the entire trip cost me around £12 ($15 / AU$23) thanks to those cheaper slow charging outlets.
Sure, it sounds like it is has been whittled from baked bean cans when you slam the door, the road noise at anything above 50mph is wild and it rolls like a cruise ship in rough seas around corners, but it’s difficult not to love it.
The Dacia Spring is simple, fuss-free motoring at its finest, with everything you really need to hit the road, without additional niceties prompting the asking price to spike. Lease deals can be snapped up for less than £130 per month in the UK (around $164 / AU$255), for example.
Unlike the equally cute Hyundai Inster, which is great but a little expensive, the Spring represents the affordable electric motoring many have been crying out for.
This means it’s become the third best-selling electric vehicle to retail customers in Europe already, and deservedly so.