Quality-raising revamp puts Dacia’s hatch on course to be the UK’s cheapest full-size EV from October
CHARLIE MARTIN
The Dacia Spring will finally head to UK dealers in the coming months to become the nation’s cheapest electric car, following a substantial overhaul inside and out aimed at sustaining strong European sales volumes.
The Spring was originally introduced in Europe in 2021 as a rebadged version of the Chinese-market Renault City K-ZE. Its low launch price of just €16,800 (£14,385 at today’s exchange rate) meant it quickly rose up the EV sales charts, and three years on, 140,000 Springs have been bought on the continent.
However, the original Spring was not imported to the UK – partly because it was “lacking a bit of modernity”, in the words of Dacia design chief David Durand.
Now, though, it has been heavily updated to rectify that, with major improvements to interior quality and connectivity, and it is due to hit the market imminently, priced from just above £17,000.
Inside, the outgoing car’s curved dashboard and piano black finish have been replaced by a more modern, rugged design in line with the new Duster. Also gone is the old 7.0in infotainment display. Range-topping Extreme cars get the 10.1in touchscreen from the Duster in its place, which can be updated wirelessly without going into a dealer. Lower-grade models rely on a smartphone app, which still provides on-the-go access to popular services such as Waze and Spotify.
Advanced driver assistance systems such as lane keeping assistance, advanced emergency braking and driver attention monitoring have also been added to the Spring. This is to ensure compliance with Europe’s new GSR2 safety regulations, but a physical ‘My Safety’ button provides quick access to the ADAS settings, should drivers wish to disable them.
Dacia’s new ‘Youclip’ accessory mounts appear on the centre console, dashboard and glovebox. These offer attachment points for amenities such as a phone cradle, cupholder and even a glovebox – useful as the Spring features a Fiat 500-style open shelf as standard.
It’s all change for the Spring’s exterior styling too. It gets a new-look front end that brings it into line with the Duster and the upcoming Bigster, featuring LED daytime-running lights and indicators on the grille. The rear gets thinner, Y-s
