Dacia Spring - The BIG review on the small electric car we have all been waiting for.

I agree, it’s very nice . Not quite sue what do those plastic patches at the bottoms of the doors do for you .

Looked at in isolation the Spring and the LeapMotor look to be in a class of 2 for sub £20k EVs. It seems to me however that it is possible that they are in wider competition if you care to look. If you are prepared to go down the used route a low mileage Mazda RX30 can be had for much the same price. It will have the same range but a much superior fit and finish. Then there are the Zoe, 500e, MGs etc.
The issue the Spring MAY have (I don't know yet) is that the statistics show that 80% or so of new cars are bought on purchase plans. Such plans are commonly used by manufacturers to boost sales by way of finance contributions. My point is that the Spring could easily find itself up against the Citroen EC3, Fiat Grande Panda and the like depending on the PCP value. For a lot of new car buyers (80%) the headline cost is meaningless. The competition is not what else you can buy for £15k but what a monthly payment of £150/£200/£250 etc can get you and how much you are required to put down as deposit.

£15k will get you a lot more than an old Zoe or an e-Up!

It is Niro/Kona/Model 3 money!

Looks to have good ground clearance. I drove a panda across the unpaved roads of Fuertaventure desert and it was better than some big cars. I bet this would be the same.

I find hard to think about this car when you can get a great used hyundai ioniq electric

It's not exactly "Kia Piccanto-Hyundai i10" size of a car. It's quite a bit narrower than i10.

What was the overall efficiency,I can’t remember you mentioning it

The jogger is incredible. I'd love for them to make it electric (and then start selling Dacias in the US)

Great Video. Great young and older person car.
Spoke to Dacia about a test drive last week. They suggested cross shopping with a Renault 5. Now that is Confidence in their product.

A great option simple nice to drive and fairly practical. Funny i thought exactly the same when i sat in it its a 80’s Fiat panda!

Looks like a great little car. As you’ve said; no compromises. It’s all I’d ever need these days (shopping and visiting family 15 odd miles away) as a single retiree. Now… where’s my nearest Dacia dealer? 😉

Wonder how this car will compare to the Leap Motors T03 (£15,995) which is more powerful, has more safety equipment and is also made in China (was this mentioned?) like the Spring. The Spring also only got a 1 star euroncap result. As for price, you can get a Mazda MX30 pre reg for 16k or a Fiat 500e which I would argue are way better quality and safer than the Spring.
The Spring is actually a quite dated Chinese EV in euro drag that originally sold for around £7000 in China but is now not competitive so it really isn’t the bargain it’s being built up to be.

The Dacia Spring was awarded a one star rating in the Euro NCAP crash test published in December 2021. Euro NCAP said the testing highlighted "a high risk of life-threatening injuries for driver chest and rear passenger head in frontal crash tests and marginal chest protection in side impact. Dacia are not intending to re-test the Spring as no structural changes have been made.

The Dacia Spring is based on the Renault City K-ZE, an electric car that was originally designed for the Chinese market. The Spring is a rebadged version of the City K-ZE, which is based on the Renault Kwid, a combustion-engined car originally designed for India.

The Spring is still competitive in the UK (being made in China it has lost that advantage in the EU, while local cars can still get a purchasing bonus).
Common advice I read for Spring buyers is to get the Chinese tyres changed to improve safety, especially if you drive outside cities and in wet weather.

Looks great - can’t see me trading my 4 year old electric mini in for it anytime soon, but very functional, good value, and would suit a lot of people who just need a small car for those local trips you describe in the video and don’t need a faster or more luxurious car because they don’t spend that much time in it. My daughter is buying a 2 year old corsa-e for a 27 mile commute - the original buyer of that corsa lost more money in 2 years than the top spec Dacia costs new - looks a great new option - good review 😊

Dude, where’s you review of the ford explorer ev.

Love that it has charge point in best place at the front 👍

Was hoping you’d review this Bryan. It’s a possible for my next company car as I’ve found 95% of my daily use on my current EV is under 100 miles and this will easily charge up overnight, even with a 3-Pin plug.

May ultimately be a little small for me, but have to commend Dacia for bringing out a city car that truly does compete in every way with ICE city cars.

The windshield looks really small and the seat looks to be really high up. Is the visibility good enough? I am about 1.80cm. will half of my view be the roof? Because this is what it looks like from the video

I think the potential elephant in the room is going to be the Euro NCAP tests.

If they are good then I will buy one, if they aren’t then I won’t.

I really like it. I think it will sell really well. It looks really good and i would imagine most sales will be the top model. Glad Dacia brought it to the UK.

👍

A ‘normal’ sized car!

Sorry I have a bit of an issue here, you can get way better cars less than 2 years old and 10k miles. Corsa-E, Peugeot 2008 , EC4, Mokka , Kona. I know what I'd choose...

The rear wheels look like they're the wrong size or they're the undersized spare tyres! Kinda spoils the whole side view.

what is their resale value, is it the same as other EV's