Dusseldorf Electric cars are currently a rather elitist affair, you have to be honest. Electric small cars like the VW e-up or the Opel Corsa-e are popular, but more expensive to buy than the corresponding combustion engines. And those who order them have to wait months for delivery. In view of the currently scarce semiconductors, manufacturers prefer to rely on the production of high-priced models.
The used car market for electric cars is also almost dead. New models are hardly competitive because of the purchase premium, older ones lag behind technically. It is currently difficult to find an affordable electric car for less than 15,000 euros.
The Dacia Spring therefore occupies a niche in which other manufacturers have nothing to offer. In France, Renault offers the Spring from 16,990 euros. In Germany, the small SUV is available from 20,490 euros, after deducting the premium you end up at 11,450 euros. That’s a competitive price for a new electric car.
The roots of the SUV are neither French nor Romanian, but Chinese. The model is built in Wuhan by the local Renault partner Dongfeng. Technically, the Dacia is based on the cheap electric models that the group normally sells in China. Sister models have evocative names such as Renault City K-ZE, Dongfeng Fengguang E1 and Dongfeng Fengxing Joyear T1 EV. They all have one thing in common: They are electric and cheap.
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It is clear that one should not expect luxury for this price. You can already see compromises in the configuration of the entry-level model. The battery is relatively small at 27.4 kWh. You don’t even have to look for comfort options such as seat heating in the equipment list, even if you invest the 1300 euros extra for the “Comfort Plus” equipment like we do.
As expected, the interior is kept simple and at least looks modern – if not always practical.
The navigation system is clear, but lacks some information.
At first glance, the spring looks pretty cute. The orange design elements that Dacia has installed on the rear-view mirrors and roof rails look modern and fresh. The front has a visually prominent radiator grille, under which the charging connector is hidden, and the LED lights are also very successful.
With a length of 3.70 meters, the Spring is another 20 centimeters shorter than a VW Polo. This is an advantage for a city car looking for a parking space. With its five doors, the compact SUV looks like an ideal second car.
As you get closer, the overall impression is a little clouded. The gap dimensions are okay, but such visible spot welds are rarely if ever found on other models. When jumping, they stretch over the entire roof. Here the prejudices against cheap production are confirmed.
Little HP, but also little weight
The disappointment continues inside. Nobody expects the finest leather in a Dacia. Hard plastic is also allowed in an entry-level car. However, inside the Dacia exudes a smell like a one-euro shop in midsummer. The chemical vapors from the softeners are likely to deter some car buyers during the test drive.
After all: The space on the front seats is lush, only the back seats are a bit cramped. For other reasons, there is no capacity for large passengers: the permitted payload is just under 320 kilos. The roof rails are purely cosmetic, additional loads are not permitted here.
The puristic design in the interior is clear, but not always clever: the power windows are controlled in the middle. The USB port for the smartphone is above the 7-inch screen. If you want to use Android Auto or Apple Carplay, you will inevitably have an unsightly cable hanging in front of the navigation system.
The battery in the Dacia Spring is small at 27.2 kWh. However, the consumption for this is also low.
The spring is smaller than it looks.
Overall, the displays in the multimedia system are spartan. Radio, multimedia, telephone and navigation can be controlled using large, colorful buttons. The reversing camera is a practical extra for a car in this price range, but had several technical problems in the test. The Spring does not reveal any specific information on consumption from the center display.
To do this, you have to turn to the indicators behind the steering wheel. There the vehicle reveals whether you are currently in the red or green area or whether you are recuperating. Concrete values must be displayed at the touch of a button. The spring indicates the remaining range in kilometers. If you don’t want to rely on the calculations of the manufacturer (you simply can’t with many manufacturers), you will start to sweat with such a small battery.
The fact that Dacia has also saved on performance becomes clear on the first exit. 33 kW (around 44 hp) are really tight, even if the Dacia weighs only around half as much as a VW ID.3 with an unladen weight of 1045 kilos. In any case, you can forget about the usual quick start. Even at full throttle, the Spring starts relatively comfortably.
Sweat in the acceleration lane
In the city, the Spring does a good job, even if we are still a bit far from the standard consumption of 13.2 kWh. At around 16.8 kWh, the overall consumption is lower than that of many competitors.
But an exit on the Autobahn makes even hardened car testers sweat. According to the manufacturer, the Dacia accelerates from 0 to 100 in 19.1 seconds. To get from 80 to 120 kilometers per hour, the Dacia needs 30 seconds – it feels endless. It’s good that the truck drivers and the BMW behind us are having a good day, otherwise it would have been uncomfortable in the acceleration lane.
You don’t want to have an accident with the Spring. Six airbags and an emergency brake assistant are standard. But in the NCAP crash test, the electric model recently only got one star. A. It is therefore safer not to drive the vehicle on the motorway at all.
At 125 kilometers per hour it’s over anyway, then the jump slows down. However, this is a speed that you should not drive with the model – the remaining range in the display then melts away quickly. With a reserve of 24 kilometers we reach Düsseldorf. Not enough for the trip home.
Unfortunately, the reversing camera reveals some weaknesses in the test.
Even on a CCS column, the Dacia Spring takes quite a long time to charge.
An 11 kW AC charging station is quickly found. There the Dacia creates only 3.7 kW, so a charge from 0 to 80 percent would take 6.4 hours. But two hours should be enough to charge at least a few kilometers for the journey home. After breakfast in the café, disappointment follows. The Spring drew exactly 0.1 kW in almost two hours. A loading abort. I plug it into another charging station again. Here, too, the Dacia stops charging after a minute.
Unfortunately, it was not possible to determine whether it was due to the charging stations or the car. Out of embarrassment we look for the next DC charging station within reach. A corresponding connection costs 600 euros extra, but could be worth it: Here the Dacia should pull with up to 30 kW per hour and would be charged from 0 to 80 percent in 50 minutes. A nearby EnbW pillar, which can theoretically charge with up to 300 kW, should take care of all range problems.
Lots of space under the hood
But even on the high-performance column, the Dacia manages a maximum of 16 kW per hour when the battery is cold. The current just trickles into the battery. And in order to reach a range of 50 kilometers for the journey home, we have to spend half an hour at a motorway rest area. In a car that doesn’t offer any entertainment, that’s no fun.
After all, we have enough time to inspect the Dacia a little more closely. A look under the bonnet shows that the line between cheap and cheap is sometimes very thin. There is a lot of space under the hood, but the Dacia Spring doesn’t use it. No wonder, because the technical platform was actually developed for combustion engines like the Renault Kwid.
Instead, we see the high-performance electronics, which are not protected against water either below or above, sometimes there are sharp edges under the hood. The view goes right through to the road – without any cover. Is everything here really protected against moisture for a long time or is it starting to rust?
With 290 liters, the trunk is not huge, but well cut. Two buckets of paint fit in easily.
At 290 liters, the trunk has “the best loading volume in its class”, the manufacturer advertises, but it is smaller than, for example, in the slightly larger Renault Zoe. With the rear seats folded down, storage space increases to 1100 liters. But here, too, unnecessary savings were made: The trunk cover was only plugged in and likes to fly towards you if the tailgate is opened too forcefully. How much would such a piece of plastic cost to fix the flap?
All in all, the Dacia Spring offers too little even for its low entry-level price – from driving comfort to safety and quality. If you are thinking about an electric entry-level model, you should consider whether you do not want to accept long waiting times for other models for a certain surcharge.
Specifications – Dacia Spring
Entry-level four-door SUV
- Length: 3.73 meters
- Width: 1.38 meters, 1770 including side mirrors
- Height: 1.51 meters
- Wheelbase: 2.42 meters
- Trunk volume: 290 to 1100 liters
- electric motor
- Total power: 33 kW/44 hp
- maximum torque: 125 Nm
- front wheel drive
- 0-100km/h: 19.1s
- Vmax: 125 km/h (limited)
- Battery: 27.4kWh
- Standard consumption: 13.9 kWh/100 kilometers (WLTP)
- maximum range: 230 km
- Price: from 20,490 euros
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