By James Stinson
Cheap electric cars are finally becoming a thing, and few are cheaper than the Dacia Spring.
The original Spring proved that an EV didn’t need a huge battery, eye-watering performance or a £40,000 price tag. But there was no getting away from its limitations. It was very much a basic city car.
Now Dacia has given the Spring a substantial overhaul, and the result looks like a much more convincing everyday electric car.
That’s important because competition at the affordable end of the EV market is getting considerably tougher. Cars such as the Leapmotor T03 occupy similar territory, while spending more brings increasingly accomplished small EVs such as the Hyundai Inster, Renault 5 and Nissan Micra.
More power where it matters
The biggest improvement is performance. Buyers can choose between Electric 70 and Electric 100 versions, producing approximately 69bhp and 99bhp respectively. The Electric 70 manages 0-62mph in 12.3 seconds, while the more powerful car cuts that to a much more useful 9.6 seconds.
Those figures aren’t going to trouble a hot hatch, but outright speed largely misses the point. The extra muscle should make the Spring less breathless when accelerating onto faster roads and significantly broadens its appeal beyond purely urban use.
Underneath there have also been changes to the chassis, suspension and brakes, addressing an area where the first-generation car’s bargain-basement roots were most apparent.
Small battery, sensible range
Both versions use a compact 24.3kWh lithium iron phosphate battery, with official range sitting at around 150 miles. That’s modest by modern EV standards and buyers regularly tackling long motorway journeys would be better looking elsewhere. But for commuting, school runs and predominantly urban driving, it’s arguably plenty.
Charging has improved too. The Spring can take a maximum 40kW DC charge, allowing a 20-80% top-up in 29 minutes. A 7.4kW home wallbox takes three hours 20 minutes for 20-100%, while a Mode 3 charging cable comes as standard.
Plenty for your money
The entry-level Expression Electric 70 isn’t lavish, but it covers the essentials with air conditioning, cruise control with speed limiter, electric front windows, rear parking sensors and a seven-inch digital instrument display. Dacia’s Media Control system is also included, effectively using your smartphone for infotainment duties.
Dacia’s own configurator additionally lists automatic emergency braking, lane-keep assist, traffic-sign recognition, stability control and hill-start assist among the standard safety equipment.
Spend more on Extreme Electric 100 and you get the quicker motor along with electric rear windows, heated electrically adjustable mirrors, front and rear parking sensors, reversing camera and a 10.1-inch Media Nav Live touchscreen with wireless smartphone connectivity. There’s also Vehicle-to-Load functionality, allowing the battery to power external electrical equipment.
Still all about value
Perhaps the Spring’s biggest advantage is that Dacia hasn’t tried to turn it into something it isn’t. A roughly 150-mile range and 40kW rapid charging mean it can’t match more expensive small EVs as an all-rounder, and anyone making regular long journeys should factor that in.
But its simplicity, compact proportions and much improved performance make more sense when you see the price.
Full UK pricing will be confirmed later but is expected to start around £18,000 before any potential government subsidies.
That leaves the Spring among Britain’s very cheapest new electric cars. The first one made sense largely because it was cheap. This substantially improved version looks much closer to being a genuinely good little EV that also happens to be cheap.
