When Dacia introduced their Duster to Ireland back in 2012, they described it as “shockingly affordable”, with a starting price of €14,990, and after driving the new version of the Duster a few weeks ago it’s still “shockingly affordable” with a starting price now of €25,990.
Dacia have now introduced their first fully electric model – the Spring – with a starting price of €16,990. Not only is it the most affordable fully electric car currently on sale, it’s also the cheapest new car available in Ireland right now, whether that’s petrol, hybrid, plug-in hybrid or diesel. Full stop.
The entry level version is called the Expression and it will cost you €10 short of €17k, but I think most people who are looking for an electric car with a bargain basement price will opt for the higher spec’d Extreme version where the price is €19,990. That puts the Extreme in much the same price range as Hyundai’s new small EV, the Inster.
You won’t be making any long journeys in the Spring, unless you are willing to make plenty of pit stops along the way to charge the car. In truth it’s ideal as a second family car for that school run and/or transporting a few children to various sporting events.
The 26.8kWh battery is supposed to deliver a range of 225km, but the best I could get, with a full charge, was 194km. And there is no weight to carry as the Spring at 984kg, is only fully electric car to weigh less than one tonne.
It’s a neat motor and ideal for urban driving, easy to navigate through narrow city streets and so easy to park. You don’t get any luxuries for €17k and if you slam the doors, you do get a bit of ‘tinny’ sound.
I liked the old-fashioned style handbrake and you get just one big wiper. There are four doors and I thought that maybe the handles for the rear doors would be hidden away, but they are identical to the handles used on the front doors.
Call it cheap, call is affordable, it’s up to you, but it’s definitely not luxurious.
The Extreme version has a 10.1-inch screen on the dash and all the controls are well laid out and easy to use. It was dark when I sat into the car for the first time and it took me a few minutes to locate the switches to open and close the front windows.
Eventually my son helped me locate the mysterious window switches; they are located at both ends of the row of switches under the infotainment screen.
The original version of the Spring got a one-star Euro NCAP rating, while updates have got added features, but we will have to wait and see if those additions improve the overall safety rating.
In the cabin, there are plenty of places to stores phones and/or notebooks and the side pockets are very large. In the back you could fit two adults, but it would probably be more comfortable with two teenagers as back seat passengers.
Naturally the boot is tiny, but you can leave down the back seat if you need to carry any bulky items. No surprise to learn that there is no room for a spare wheel.
Many of the new large electric cars are very expensive. But if you want to experience the debatable pleasure of charging an inexpensive fully electric car with a poor range, then the Spring could be the car for you.
