With a starting price of just €12,400, Dacia Spring sure is an affordable EV, but don’t expect much for the price.
Dacia just unveiled the cheapest but also the slowest battery-electric model yet, the Dacia Spring. Indeed, the powertrain includes an electric motor with a power output limited to 45 hp.
The new Dacia Spring wants to extrapolate all values Dacia is known for to the world of electric cars by offering a battery alternative at a reduced price. The Romanian brand announced new details about its upcoming electric Spring, and the specification that stands out the most is the acceleration—but not in a good way.
There is only one letter difference between spring and sprint, but the similarities end in this case. With its 45 horsepower and 92 lb-ft of torque, Dacia Spring officially takes 19.1 seconds to do the 0-62 mph run. In automotive terms, that’s an eternity. Even worse, to go from 50 to 75 mph, the vehicle requires 26.2 seconds, a maneuver that requires patience.
Of course, nobody really buys a Dacia looking for incredible performance or impressive specs. Robustness, simplicity, and an affordable price are some of the values Dacia customers are looking for, and that’s where the Spring comes into play.
Fortunately, the Dacia Spring has other qualities. For instance, it’s a relatively small EV, yet it has a 300-liter boot capacity that can be increased to 600-liter by folding the back seats. Also, the 26.8 kWh battery pack allows for a range of 140 miles in combined cycle in urban use (as per the WLTP cycle), quite decent for its sticker price. The battery supports quick charging and can go from 0-80% in just 56 minutes with the help of a 30kV charger.
The Dacia Spring will be accompanied by the Spring Business and Spring Cargo at a later, still undisclosed date. The former is a little premium version of the vehicle that will feature hardware-level upgrades along with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay integration. The latter is a utility vehicle with a cargo capacity of 1,100 liters, to be available early next year.
In France, the price of the Dacia Spring starts from €12,400, after including government incentives. Interested buyers can pre-order their Spring starting March 2021.
Gallery
