Today’s the big day Dacia unveils its first-ever all-electric vehicle, the Spring Electric small crossover. First announced in March 2020 by the Dacia Spring Concept, the new production model has been introduced at the Renault eWays event by Denis Le Vot, member of Groupe Renault Executive Committee, as Europe’s most affordable electric vehicle. How affordable? Dacia says the price will be “unbeatable”.
The concept car made it pretty obvious
that Dacia’s first EV won’t be an all-new effort but rather an updated version
of an existing model, the Renault Kwid-based City K-ZE EV sold in China. As a
result, we’re talking about a small vehicle measuring 3,734 mm in
length, 1,770 mm in width (including mirrors), 1,516 mm in
height, and has a wheelbase of 2,423 mm. These dimensions bring the
Spring Electric much closer to the Twingo than the Sandero.
As with the Renault City K-ZE, power comes
from 26.8 kWh lithium-ion battery pack which supplies electricity to an
electric motor rated at 33 kW (45 PS) and 125 Nm of instant
torque. With such a low-powered motor, Dacia did not bother releasing a 0-100
km/h time, though it did announce the top speed is 125 km/h. The Dacia Spring Electric will offer a driving range of 225 kilometers on the combined WLTP cycle and 295 km on the WLTP City
cycle.
Pressing the Eco button is said to extend
the range by about 10 percent as the system cuts the motor’s power to 23 kW (31
PS) and limits the top speed at 100 km/h. Charging the battery
to 100 percent at a 220 V home socket using the standard cable takes under 14
hours, while using a 7.4 kW Wallbox takes less than 5 hours. The quickest way
to charge is via a 30 kW DC terminal; it takes less than an hour for the
battery to reach 80 percent of charge.
Given the tiny footprint, the Dacia Spring
Electric is designed to accommodate four adults, including the driver. The
carmaker promises generous headroom and knee room in the back, as well as 23.1
liters of storage space in the large glove compartment, door sills
and center console box. The boot offers a loading capacity of 300 liters, excluding the space under the floor for the optional spare wheel. If
the rear bench seat is folded, the cargo volume rises to around 600 liters.
The dashboard looks virtually identical
with the one in the Renault City K-ZE, minus the Dacia-specific steering wheel
and badging. When it comes to features, standard equipment includes
all-electric variable assist power steering, remote central locking, four power
windows, and a 3.5-inch digital display between the dials. Manual
air-conditioning, Media Nav multimedia system, power-adjustable mirrors, rear
parking sensors, a rearview camera and a full-size spare wheel are available as
options. Speaking of the infotainment system, it includes a 7-inch touchscreen,
sat nav, DAB radio, Apple Carplay and Android Auto compatibility, Bluetooth and
a USB plug. Voice recognition (via smartphone) can be activated through a
button on the steering wheel. Dacia will launch the Spring Electric in early
2021 as part of several car-sharing schemes, with the version for private
customers to arrive in fall 2021. A Cargo commercial vehicle variant with a
cargo volume of 800 liters, a payload of 325 kg and a
loading length of 1,033 mm will also be offered.