Do you like a list? Here’s a good one. The cheapest car sold in the U.S. right now is the Nissan Versa, which costs $16,680. For just $15 more you can get the Mitsubishi Mirage. This Dacia Spring, if sold in the U.S., would come in third at around $19,000.
Why mention the Dacia? Well, the Spring isn’t an internal combustion car, it’s a fully electric car. Yes, a true, road-legal five-door EV (not a microcar like the Wueling Mini or Zhidou Rainbow), and one that’s about to hit the UK market at a starting price of less than £15,000 new.
If the Spring were available in the U.S., it would be the cheapest electric vehicle sold in that country by far, beating out the Nissan Leaf by more than $9,000.
Who Dacia? Good question. Pronounced “da-chi-a”, it is a Romanian car manufacturer that is part of the Renault Group and is known for its cheap and cheerful cars that offer amazing value for money. Moreover, its stardom has been on the rise over the last few years in Europe. As proof of this, I know more than one professional car reviewer who has bought an all-wheel drive Dacia Duster with, to put it mildly, his own money.
Now, thanks to a stunning new duo at the helm of the design, the new Dacias have looks that belie their price. The new Dusterwhich will arrive in the UK in just a few months; or the possible seven-seater LargerNext year, a new SUV will be coming to the European market and it will be a tough competitor. The arrival of the all-electric Spring is a tantalising sign of things to come from Dacia. If it continues like this, we could be looking at the kind of brand renaissance that Hyundai and Kia have enjoyed.
Cute, Capable
The Spring, intended for urban use, embodies Dacia’s approach to carmaking: no frills, just the toys you need; power is sufficient, because no one needs supercar speeds between traffic lights; and range is acceptable for multiple trips around town, not interstate missions.
Courtesy of Dacia
Of course, this is how the Spring manages to cost so little and weigh less than a tonne (984 kilograms) – something that, remember, would be a big thumbs up for any internal combustion car, but this is an electric vehicle. It should be more expensive and it should weigh more, but it doesn’t.
The weight savings also make sense with the numbers, which at first glance seem ridiculously small: from October, UK customers can opt for either a 44bhp or a 64bhp model. The battery is just 26.8kWh, but thanks to the lack of weight it’s good for 225 kilometres of range in both models. You don’t even need an EV wall charger to charge this vehicle – just plug it into a regular socket and it’ll fully charge overnight (or in less than 11 hours).
If you plug it into a 7kW home wall charger, it will supposedly take about four hours to recharge. The higher-powered Spring model can reach 30kW, so with that “modest” battery you can go from 20 to 80 percent in a decent 45 minutes.