Dacia is officially hopping on the EV bandwagon with the unveiling of the Spring. Although it's technically a concept car, this is essentially a rebadged version of the Renault City K-ZE launched in China last year. Remove those fluorescent orange accents and the funky pattern of the plastic body cladding and you end up with basically the same car, with the obvious exception of the different badge.
The front grille is also a tad different to match Dacia's corporate face and the full-LED lights at the front and rear send out a concept vibe, but the Renault origins are more than obvious. The Romanian brand mentions the Spring is 3.73 meters (146.8 inches) long, without specifying anything about width and height. For what it's worth, the K-ZE is 1580 mm (62.2 inches) wide, and 1480 mm (58.2 inches) tall, with a wheelbase measuring 2423 mm (95.3 inches). In other words, it's a tiny crossover, comparable to a Suzuki Jimny.
The production version will become the most affordable electric vehicle in Europe, thus undercutting pint-sized EVs such as the Volkswagen e-up!, SEAT Mii Electric, and the Skoda Citigoe iV. Although details about the battery pack are shrouded in mystery, we do know it will have enough electric juice for more than 124 miles (200 kilometers) of range between charges, based on the WLTP cycle.
While images of the interior are not available at the moment of writing, don't be too surprised if the cabin will also be carried over from its Chinese cousin. As a refresher, we've attached two pictures of the City K-ZE's interior to show the straightforward dashboard design with a large center screen on top of which sit the air vents. The Renault variant has a digital instrument cluster and simple controls for the heating and ventilation, while the steering wheel design is as basic as it can get.
Dacia will have the Spring crossover on sale early next year in selected European markets.
