Dacia Spring first impressions

We don’t have many options when it comes to buying an electric car on a budget - that’s the reality. Whether you want to save the planet or just want to enjoy cheaper and quieter motoring, you'd need to dig pretty deep inside your pockets to get started. Okay, if you are in China then you get some nice options, but most other markets are pretty starved.

Dacia Spring claims the crown when it comes to the cheapest new electric car in most of Europe. In fact it is only beaten by the Smart EQ ForTwo and only in Germany and only by €600. In every other country Dacia wins by a mile - the next cheapest 4-seat EV is the Renault Twingo which starts at €28,000 in Germany - you could buy 1 Dacia and a half for that and Twingo has a trunk smaller than a shoe box.

So Dacia Spring is certainly aggressively priced, but is it any good? In the photos it looks like a small or even medium SUV, making it appear like one heck of a deal - a big chunk of EV for a reasonable amount of money. But in real life you don’t get much of a car at all, it’s more of a modern take on Suzuki Wagon if you remember those. It’s a European Kei car, sitting on tiny stilts.

It’s actually funny, when after seeing the car in the photos, you approach it in real life. It feels like one of those silly deals on the Internet, when you think you are buying the real item for peanuts only to end up getting a miniature version of it. The car is small, it’s so tiny it feels cute and cuddly. There’s no other way to describe it. Those chunky looking wheels in the photos are really only 14-inchers - your kids’ bicycles have bigger wheels.

The car looks good - after the initial “I thought it was bigger” washes off the Spring makes a nice impression. The car we had came with orange accents that brightened up the otherwise plain silver exterior and a few splashes of the color made it to the inside as well. So far so good.

The front is dominated by lights and a huge shiny grille, Dacia has redesigned it already and now the car comes with a different logo - we had a look at the pre-refresh version.

From the side you notice the small wheels surrounded by chunky wheel arches, making the whole car look like it is sitting on those emergency spare wheels.

Ignore it and move to the back, where you are greeted by nice big lights with Dacia’s signature design. The Spring comes with a rear wiper - something Toyota forgot to include in the bZ4X.

There are no surprises inside. The only splash of color is the center display surround and stitching on the seats - everything else is in various shades of gray. The plastic is absolutely everywhere and honestly, that’s ok. The quality is fine, the fit is actually good, the car is put together really well. Yes, it doesn't feel premium at all but at €20,000 we were surprised it had heating.

Dacia Spring has absolutely everything you may need to get from point A to point B. It has a good steering wheel, it has comfortable seats, even the ones in the rear are good enough for two adults. The car comes with air-con, it has electric windows and it has a clear and intuitive driver display. The infotainment screen is simple and easy to read. The audio is basic but it plays music while you drive and it can connect to your phone.

The trunk is on a smaller side - 290 liters with the rear seats up is enough for two small suitcases or a Dachshund. With the seats down you could squeeze in a Labrador or even two but only for a short trip to the park. You wouldn’t get much further anyway because the WLTP range is only 230km (nearly 143 miles) and in everyday driving it is more like 155 km or almost 100 miles.

You won’t get anywhere fast either - the tiny electric motor has only 45 horsepower (33 kW) and it has to deal with about 1,350 kg when loaded with two adults and two Labradors. Dacia claims that it takes 19 seconds to get from 0 to 100 kph - now, that is a number we haven’t seen in a while.

And yet, despite all those apparent shortcomings the Dacia Spring is brilliant. It is small, it fits into tight parking spaces, but it sits high enough to jump over kerbs and potholes with ease. It is designed to live in the city and offer a basic transport solution. And it does it really well. It is simple, there is hardly anything that can go wrong with it because of its simplicity.

It has lights - both front and rear, it has 4, albeit small wheels. It has 4 doors and room for 4 adults and even has room for luggage. It has infotainment that works with your phone and it has windows that open and close - Citroen Cactus doesn’t have those in the rear. It’s a good and honest little car that offers a good entry into the EV world.

With a €20,000 budget you normally have little choice, in fact we don’t have any choice at all. Dacia offers the Spring for €22,500 (in Germany) before any local EV grants and subsidies. In Spain the car qualifies for €7,500 grant which makes it a €15,000 bargain. That’s why you can’t buy it. Dacia has sold out the Spring everywhere - you can’t get one. And that is the answer if you were wondering if the Spring is a good car.