New Dacia Spring revealed, and it costs less than £15k
The all-electric Dacia Spring will finally come to the UK and it costs half the price of a Vauxhall Corsa Electric
Dacia is on a roll, with record sales and the impending arrival of an all-new version of its brand icon, the Duster. And now the company is planning to shake up the UK electric-car market with a fresh version of its cut-price, zero-emissions city car: the Dacia Spring. This all-new model has been unveiled at the 2024 Geneva Motor Show, and it could boasts an eye-catching starting price of less than £15,000.
The model itself has been available in continental Europe since 2021, and it scored its best ever sales last year, as it broke through a total of 140,000 examples sold since launch. But UK customers have been denied this ultra-affordable entry point up to now, as Dacia preferred to wait until a major mid-life refresh had been applied.
The changes are certainly more than the usual facelift fare, with only the roof panel remaining from the original model. The Spring has been treated to a chunky new look, complete with a redesigned front end that brings it into line with the likes of the latest Duster. Further to this is additional plastic body cladding that can be covered with easily replaceable stickers, to help keep the car looking fresh after car-park scrapes and scuffs. There are new shades of paint, too, including Dacia’s latest Beige Safari khaki hue (seen on the revised Sandero), and the Brick Red of the car in these images.
The fundamental underpinnings haven’t changed, however, so the Spring remains a city car, with a sub-supermini overall length of 3.72 metres – only a centimetre or so longer than a Hyundai i10. Dacia claims that these compact dimensions mean the Spring can make do with a relatively small battery (just 26.8kWh) and use the resulting weight of less than one tonne to deliver over 130 miles of range.
The powertrains change perhaps least of all, with the Spring retaining the same choice of 44bhp and 64bhp motors as before. You can pick between these set-ups in Expression trim, the entry point, while range-topping Extreme comes only with the more powerful set-up.
The updates inside the Spring are as extensive as the exterior revisions. There’s an entirely new dashboard architecture, complete with a seven-inch digital instrument panel on all versions. Expression models will make do with a smartphone holder instead of a central infotainment display – a typical Dacia feature – but Extreme (expected to account for more than six in 10 Springs sold in the UK) gets a 10-inch touchscreen featuring over-the-air updates and live navigation, plus Android and Apple phone connectivity.
Materials get an upgrade too, with higher-grade fabrics on the seats, more textured plastics on the door inlays, and flashes of white plastic to help lift the area around the rocker gear selector. Having been shown around a car in a Paris studio, we’d suggest the new Spring feels more in tune with the finishes and materials of the Sandero than the unashamedly cheap-feeling original. Even the steering wheel, which now adjusts for height (but not reach), is lifted from the new Duster. There’s still no height adjustment on the driver’s seat, however.
The new Spring also gets YouClip, Dacia’s innovative accessory system. The firm will sell items like cup-holders, a torch and a small rucksack, that then be fixed to any of three points located on the dashboard and lower centre console.
Sticking to the same platform means that rear space will continue to be at a premium, but the boot is more akin to that of a supermini than a city car, with 308 litres of capacity with the rear seats in place. It can expand to 1,004 litres with them folded down. There are no side hooks, though, and there’s a substantial lip to lift items over when loading. Dacia will offer a user-fixable ‘frunk’ as an accessory, potentially freeing up an additional 30 litres of space that could be used for cable storage – handy, given that the charging port is in the centre of the car’s nose.
Speaking of charging, the Spring can be refilled from 20 per cent in 11 hours when hooked up to a domestic three-pin plug, while a 7kW wallbox will take around four hours. DC charging will be offered as an option; it operates it up to 30 kW, allowing the car to get from 20 to 80 per cent in 45 minutes. The car also supports vehicle-to-load tech; a supplied adaptor (in Extreme versions only) allows you to connect a regular three-pin plug and power items like an electric grill, kettle or lamp.
Expression trim brings air conditioning, 14 or 15-inch wheels (depending on motor spec), electric front windows, rear parking sensors, a speed limiter and cruise control. Extreme features those 15-inch wheels but adds powered mirror adjustment, electric rear windows, a pair of USB-C ports at the base of the centre console, and copper flourishes in the cabin.
Dacia has also announced a two-seat cargo version of the Spring, incidentally, complete with a 1,085-litre load bay. But the UK division is still deciding whether or not to sell it here.
Q&A With David Durrand, Dacia Design Director
Q: This is obviously a more significant facelift than normal. Did you enjoy the opportunities that gave you?
A: Yes, there was more we could do here, but that also brought challenges. There are many things we looked at where doing them would have taken us away from the Dacia philosophy. We had to remain true to that, but I think we’ve done it.
Q: Can you give us an example?
A: Well, we decided to put a graphic in the C-pillar. We stamped the indent for this into the panel itself, but then we’ve used a sticker there instead of a plastic part. That would have introduced more complexity into the build process, with fixing points and so forth. We have the same effect now, but in a much more cost effective way.
Q: Can you explain the graphics at the front and rear of the car?
A: It’s just an abstract, really. From a distance, you look at it and think it could be a top-down city view, maybe a map. But in fact it is just a graphic that we came up with, that showcases an urban environment without being specific. The important thing is that because these are also stickers, they are easy to replace. Instead of having to swap a plastic bumper if you get a scuff in a car park, you can buy the sticker and you have something that looks like new again.
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