Dacia Gives Its Tiny EV A Big Upgrade Without Raising The Price Ceiling

Dacia has sold more than 210,000 examples of the Spring since 2021, making the little electric hatchback one of the more successful attempts at bringing down the cost of an EV in Europe. Now it is replacing it with a second-generation car that is larger, more sophisticated and built on a completely new platform. The new Spring is 15 cm longer and 18 cm wider than before, yet Dacia is keeping the entire European range below €20,000 before incentives. It also moves production to Slovenia, gains more cargo room and gets a 60-kW motor paired with a 27.5-kWh LFP battery.

A Small Car With A Surprisingly Large Trunk

The extra size is most obvious in the numbers that matter once the car leaves the showroom. The Spring is 1.52 meters tall and has four seats, while its trunk holds 337 liters. Folding the rear bench increases that to 1,283 liters. There is also an optional 18-liter frunk for the charging cable and other small items. Dacia has split the removable trunk floor into two sections, too, allowing the space underneath to be divided up rather than treated as one large cavity.

It remains a small car to maneuver around town. The turning radius is 4.95 meters, and rear parking sensors and an electric parking brake are standard. A reversing camera is standard on the Journey version.

The cabin gets a 7-inch digital instrument cluster, while the Journey has a 10.1-inch center screen. Expression uses Dacia's Media Control system, which works with a smartphone mounted in the dashboard, rather than relying on a conventional multimedia screen.

The Battery Is Small For A Reason

There is only one powertrain. The electric motor produces 60 kW (80 hp) and 175 Nm, enough for a 0-to-100-km/h time of 12.1 seconds and a 130-km/h top speed. The 27.5-kWh usable LFP battery provides up to 250 km of WLTP combined range.

Those figures make more sense alongside Dacia's data on the first-generation car. Owners drive an average of 34 km a day at an average speed of 34 km/h, and 75% of charging takes place at home. Dacia says one charge a week should therefore be enough for most users.

The Spring starts at 1,212 kg, and the French-market figures put combined consumption at 12.9 kWh/100 km for the Expression and 12.7 kWh/100 km for the Journey. Dacia's French release also puts estimated electricity cost at €2.50 per 100 km using its local electricity-price assumption, although that figure obviously depends on where and how the car is charged.

Charging does not require a wallbox. The standard 6.6-kW AC charger can take the battery from 15% to 80% in nine hours from a domestic socket, 5 hours 40 minutes from a heavy-duty socket or 2 hours 55 minutes from a 7-kW wallbox. Buyers who want faster charging can specify a package with 11-kW AC and 50-kW DC capability. With the latter, 15% to 80% takes 28 minutes.

There Are Only Two Versions To Choose From

Dacia is keeping the mechanical side of the range straightforward. Both Expression and Journey use the same motor, battery and 6.6-kW AC charger.

Expression gets 15-inch steel wheels with covers, manual air conditioning, automatic headlights, electric front windows and mirrors, rear parking sensors, a 50/50 split-folding rear seat, USB-C connectivity and three YouClip mounting points.

Journey adds 16-inch wheels, a hands-free card, a reversing camera and Media Nav Live. Its 10.1-inch screen supports wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, while the connected navigation system includes real-time traffic information and continuously updated European maps for eight years. Charging schedules, cabin preconditioning and vehicle tracking are also available through the connected services.

The car also gets Dacia's My Safety system, which lets the driver customize certain assistance settings when the vehicle starts. The French specification lists 22 advanced driver-assistance systems.

Renault Group Is Trying A Different Way Of Building It

The new Spring is the first Dacia to use Renault Group's RG-EV Small platform. It is also the first Dacia developed under Renault Group's newer development programs, which are intended to bring vehicle development time below two years while reducing design costs. Production takes place at Renault Group's Novo Mesto plant in Slovenia.

That change is easy to overlook because the Spring is still supposed to be the inexpensive one. But it gives Dacia access to newer Renault Group technology without turning the car into a more complicated proposition for buyers.

The Spring is also the first of four Dacia EVs planned through 2030. The original car gave the company more than 210,000 customer examples to learn from; the new one is clearly being developed around how those cars were actually used.

France Gets It First

Orders open in France on September 8, with the Expression priced below €18,000 before government incentives. Dacia says the entire European range will remain below €20,000 before incentives.

There is no announced U.S. market launch at this stage. For Europe, though, the new Spring arrives with a bigger cabin, a 337-liter trunk, more technology and a European production base without abandoning the low-cost proposition that made the original car work in the first place.