Dacia has revealed the latest generation of its Spring EV, a redesigned version of its budget EV now built on Renault Group’s RG-EV Small platform. Over the previous Dacia Spring, this new model is significantly more grown up, with a larger footprint, longer battery range, and improved efficiency. Despite these changes, it remains one of the cheapest four-seat EVs on sale in Europe, with UK pricing confirmed to start below the £18,000 mark.
Big improvements for Dacia’s latest Spring
The redesigned Spring is 15cm longer and 18cm wider than its predecessor, which feeds straight into improved cabin space, along with boot capacity rising to 337 litres, one of the largest in the A-segment. Folding the rear seats extends that to 1,283 litres, while an optional 18-litre frunk adds further storage under the bonnet.
Power comes from a single 80 horsepower electric motor, up from the outgoing model’s 45 or 65 horsepower options. The lower-powered version in particular struggled at speed, with a 0-100km/h time of nearly 20 seconds that made the old Spring feel out of its depth in anything other than urban driving. Standard across the new range, the new 80 horsepower motor cuts acceleration to a far more respectable 12.1 seconds, along with a top speed of 130km/h, making the new Spring much more capable on motorways and faster roads.
A 27.5kWh LFP battery delivers a WLTP range of up to 155 miles, which is slightly up from the original’s WLTP rated range of 140 miles. That’s still a relatively low range compared to some of the new EVs hitting the market, but Dacia says this range is sufficient for the average Spring owner, which currently drives just 13 miles a day and charges at home 75% of the time, according to their own data.
Dacia has confirmed that the new Spring will start at under £18,000 in the UK, ‘before any potential government subsidies’. This means the Spring will maintain its position as one of the cheapest electric cars on sale.
