After we got to know it as a prototype a few months ago, the Dacia Spring Electric it has now made itself known in its production version and, truth be told, little has changed compared to the prototype and… the Renault K-ZE.
Regarded by Dacia as the brand's third revolution (the first was Logan and the second Duster), Spring Electric proposes to do in the electric market what Logan did in the car market when it appeared in 2004: make the car accessible to a greater number of people.
Aesthetically, the new Dacia doesn't hide the “family air”, assuming a much appreciated SUV style and the luminous signature in “Y”-shaped LED in the taillights that are becoming, more and more, one of its images of brand.
Small on the outside, spacious on the inside
Despite the reduced exterior dimensions — 3.734 m long; 1,622 m wide; 1,516 m wheelbase and 2,423 m wheelbase — Spring Electric offers a luggage compartment with 300 liters of capacity (more than some SUVs).
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Also in the interior, the highlights are the 3.5” digital screen on the instrument panel and the standard offer of four electric windows.
The options include the Media Nav infotainment system with a 7” screen compatible with Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, which allows you to enjoy voice recognition systems from Apple and Google at the touch of a button on the steering wheel. Other options are the reversing camera and parking sensors.
The Dacia Spring Electric Numbers
Equipped with an electric motor, the new Dacia Spring Electric features 33 kW (44 hp) of power that allow it to reach… 125 km/h maximum speed (when selecting ECO mode, they are limited to 100 km/h) .
Powering this engine is a lithium-ion battery with a capacity of 26.8 kWh that offers a 225 km range (WLTP cycle) or 295 km (WLTP city cycle).
As for charging, a DC quick charge terminal with 30 kW of power recharges up to 80% in less than an hour. On a 7.4 kW wallbox, charging up to 100% takes up to five hours.
With regard to charging in domestic sockets, if these have 3.7 kW, the battery takes less than 8:30 am to be recharged to 100%, while in a 2.3 kW socket the charging time goes up to less than 14 hours.
Security has not been neglected
In terms of safety, the new Dacia Spring Electric comes as standard with six airbags, the traditional ABS and ESP, speed limiter and the eCall emergency call system.In addition to these, Spring Electric will also offer automatic lights and the emergency braking system as standard.
Version for carsharing and even commercial
Dacia's plan is to start by making Spring Electric available in carsharing from the beginning of 2021, having created a special version for this purpose. It will be precisely the first to go out onto the roads of Europe.
The version intended for carsharing has specific finishes.
This version was adapted in view of the intensive use that is normally associated with these services, bringing, for example, seats covered with more resistant fabric and a series of specific finishes.
Another of the specific versions already promised, but still without an arrival date, is the commercial variant. For the time being called “Cargo” (we don't know if this designation will remain), it gives up the rear seats to offer a load space of 800 liters and a load capacity of up to 325 kg.
The commercial version bets, above all, on simplicity.
And the private version?
As for the version aimed at private customers, this will see orders starting in the spring, with delivery of the first units scheduled for the autumn.
Another of the information already revealed by Dacia is that it will have a warranty of three years or 100 thousand kilometers and that the battery will have a warranty of eight years or 120 thousand kilometers. Still about the battery, this will be part of the final price (you won't have to rent it as usual at Renault).
Although the price of the new Dacia Spring Electric has not yet been revealed, the Romanian brand has already revealed that it will be available in two versions, and it is likely that this will be the most affordable electric car on the market, following in the footsteps of the first Logan, which in 2004 was the cheapest car you could buy on the European continent.