Dacia Spring EV Launches In Europe With Extremely Low Price, Decent Range

The European EV scene could be turned on its head by the super-affordable Dacia Spring, a small city EV with decent range. According to Dacia, the Spring has a 230 km (142-mile) WLTP range and its starting price in France is just €16,990, or €12,403 with the local government eco-bonus factored in.

Dacia says that the Spring will have even more range if you drive it exclusively in town, with a claimed 305 km (189 miles) - this is based on the WLTP City cycle. In France, there will be three versions of Spring for buyers to choose from: the standard version, the Business version aimed at fleet buyers and car sharing services and, from 2022, the Spring Cargo which will be delivered without a back seat in order to be used as an urban delivery vehicle.

The latter will offer a maximum load volume of 1,100 liters (39 cubic-feet) and a maximum payload of 325 kg (716 pounds). It will also probably be the cheapest version and it could come with opaque panels instead of rear windows; we'll have to wait and see if this version will only be available in France, but it would certainly make a lot of sense as a last-mile delivery vehicle in any European city.

The most expensive version of the Spring available in France is the €18,490 Comfort Plus that adds a 7-inch infotainment screen, rear-view camera and rear parking sensors, as well as an orange styling pack (that spruces up both interior and exterior), a spare wheel and metallic paint. Probably the biggest reason why you'd want to go for the Comfort Plus model is you can spec the optional CCS socket for an additional €600, thus granting the vehicle fast-charging capability at up to 30 kW.

Dacia will open pre-orders in France as of March 2021 and the first vehicles are expected to be delivered this autumn. It is worth noting that government incentives for the purchase of EVs vary from country to country in Europe - in Romania, for instance, the eco-ticket reduces a new electric car's price by almost €10,000 so, in theory, the Spring should cost from just €7,000 in Dacia's home country; hopefully this spurs on EV sales, as the nation is lagging behind others when it comes to EV adoption.