CAR TESTThe Dacia Spring is the cheapest electric car you can buy in the Netherlands. But there is a lot wrong with it, according to an extensive test by our car editors.
Dacia Spring (44 hp/33 kW), from 18,550 euros
The conclusion from the EuroNCAP crash tests recently was stark: this new Dacia puts its occupants at risk because it offers them far too little protection in the event of a collision. Cutting back on safety is a mortal sin, precisely because the consumer does not see or notice anything in the showroom.
The Spring looks very nice, tough and original, but you soon notice that savings have been made on the build quality. For example, its electric drive is noisy, which you do not often experience with an electric car. The testauto also shows quite a bit of wind and sometimes even some beeping and creaking noises. The motor of the (single!) windscreen wiper for the windscreen is also noisy.
Another inconvenience: the Spring does not offer five, but four seats. And other electric cars have a start button, with this one you just turn an ignition key in the starter lock. You operate the machine with a handy rotary knob. But it lacks a P-position, so you have to put it in Neutral and apply the handbrake when parking.
When driving, it is especially noticeable how slow the Spring is. Just about all competitors, whether they run on petrol or electricity, are faster. Furthermore, the precision of the steering is disappointing and the same applies to the crosswind sensitivity. The suspension comfort and road holding are again acceptable.
During this test, the Spring was barely 150 kilometers away with full batteries: another setback. As a result, its usability is limited to city traffic. So is there no good news at all? Yes, the seating is not too bad, even in the back seat. And the luggage space is bigger than expected. Moreover, the simple infotainment works clearly and effectively: less is sometimes better.
Plus
+ The cheapest electric car.
+ Good basic equipment.
+ Lots of luggage space.
min
– Bad crash test score.
– Very slow.
– Far too limited range.
– Only four seats.
Conclusion
The Spring turns out to be a bridge too far for Dacia. It looks nice, is quite spacious and above all cheap, but otherwise everything is wrong with it. Sad that this brand is throwing away its carefully constructed image of ‘value for money’.
Additional test notes
Of course it deserves respect: a car manufacturer that tries to make electric driving accessible to as many people as possible. Dacia took up the challenge and put the Spring in the showroom: a fresh and modern-looking, compact car. It even looks so cheerful that you quickly overlook the hard, cheap plastic in the interior. Its design is original, graceful and surprisingly colorful here and there.
Unfortunately, the Spring is not the car that convinces the consumer when it comes to making the switch to electric driving. There is still far too much wrong with this car and it is certainly not suitable as a serious alternative to the petrol cars in this price range. Rather buy a Renault Clio, Ford Fiesta, Hyundai i20 or VW Polo on petrol: much safer and much better quality.
The Spring’s biggest competitor may still be in-house. That’s the Sandero. It is larger and thousands of euros cheaper. But yes, it does have an old-fashioned petrol engine. And with an electric car you are treated to no road tax, much lower ‘fuel costs’, less maintenance costs and – for business drivers – a lower addition.
The Spring has a top speed of 125 km/h. That is 5 km/h less than the legally permitted maximum speed of 130 km/h in the Netherlands.
Nice, those roof rails with colorful accents on top of the Spring, but be careful: Dacia warns that no roof load is allowed. In short, you really have nothing to do with it.
Apparently it is currently impossible to build a good electric car for so little money. Dacia copied the basis for the Spring from the Indian Renault Kwid (on petrol and on the market there since 2015) and from the Chinese Renault City K-ZE derived from it (which is also electric). Perhaps in this maneuver lies the mistake Renault-Dacia made with regard to safety. Because although the car for Europe is equipped with all common safety technology, judging by the lousy EuroNCAP results, there is really a lot wrong with the standard safety construction.
Electric cars often surprise with their fast driving character. This Dacia is surprisingly slow. The electric motor between the front wheels produces just 33 kW (44 hp), which means that the Spring takes 19.1 seconds to reach 100 km/h from a standstill.
The battery pack is relatively small with a capacity of 27.4 kilowatt hours: according to the WLTP measurement cycle you should be able to cover 230 kilometers with it. Anyone who does their best, is helped by outside temperatures that are not too low and avoids the highway as much as possible, will in practice only get to about 200 kilometers. But if things don’t go well, you have to look for a charging station after 150 kilometers.
You can charge the Spring via a wall socket at home: at 2.3 kW it takes almost 14 hours before the empty batteries are full again. At a public charging point, this will take just under 5 hours, with the maximum 7.4 kW power of the single-phase charger.
The Spring is therefore supplied as standard with a ‘Mennekes’ charging cable with a maximum permissible power of 7.4 kW. A fast charger for direct current (DC) costs 495 euros extra, but even then the charging strength does not exceed 30 kilowatts. By comparison, some (but much more expensive) electric cars already have more than 200 kilowatts. Anyway, that optional fast charging connection is worth the extra cost. Another accessory is an emergency charging cable (2.3 kW maximum power) to be able to charge at a home-garden-and-kitchen socket (395 euros).
– Inconvenient: the buttons for the window controls are placed in the middle of the dashboard and not in the doors.
– Seating space is for only four people.
– Unfortunately, there is no extra storage space under the hood (a frunk).
– During this test, the heater didn’t exactly appear to be doing its job vigorously.
– Electric cars nowadays have to make (artificial) noise at low driving speeds, because otherwise pedestrians and cyclists will not hear them coming. But with this Dacia, that sound is interpreted very hard.
– The seats give little support.
– That is very old-fashioned: those rods at the bottom of the door windows. They’re from the door lock.
– There is still an old-fashioned whip antenna on the roof that has to be removed in the car wash. Most new cars have a fixed ‘shark fin’ antenna.
– The tailgate does not open immediately when you press the unlock button. You then have to press a second time.
– It is not easy to find the ideal sitting position behind the wheel: limited adjustable seats and the steering wheel is not adjustable in height or depth.
– The luggage compartment measures 300 liters: that is really not that bad for a car of this size. In addition, the backrest in its entirety to fold for expansion of the loading floor, after which you have 620 liters available.
– It is not allowed to tow a trailer with the Dacia Spring.
– When ready to drive, the Spring weighs 1012 kilograms: this is really the lightweight among the electric cars.
The Dacia Spring is for sale from 18,550 euros. That is certainly cheap, especially if you also manage to get the government subsidy (3350 euros) for electric cars. But yes, the subsidy pot turns out to be empty every year. There is always the advantage of no road tax and low energy costs (because electricity is cheaper than petrol). And business drivers of course still benefit from a low addition, although it is no longer as low as in recent years.
Technically, there is only one version of the Spring, the so-called Electric 45. There is only a choice of two trim levels: the Comfort and the Comfort Plus, which has been tested here and has a price of 19,550 euros. For those thousand euros you get rear parking sensors, a reversing camera, a full-sized spare wheel, some color accents here and there and the Media NAV infotainment with 7-inch large touchscreen, navigation for Western Europe, Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The test car is also equipped with a black, partly leather interior (595 euros) and an emergency charging cable (€ 395, with 2.3 kW maximum power) to be able to charge at a normal socket.
The standard equipment of the Dacia Spring is by no means shabby and completely up to date. Four power windows, central locking with remote control, manual air conditioning and a radio with USB and Bluetooth connection are always standard.
The safety equipment is also completely in order. Even in the cheapest version you have an automatic emergency braking system and six airbags. Although the crash tests made it clear that the Dacia will not be able to adequately protect its occupants. You run too much risk of injury both in the front and in the back, according to the EuroNCAP crash test. And the Spring may have an automatic emergency braking system to prevent collisions, but its radar only sees cars and no pedestrians or cyclists.
Dacia offers a three-year manufacturer’s warranty on the car and eight years on the batteries.
Hard judgment after crash test
It has already been mentioned a few times: the European authority in the field of crash tests, EuroNCAP, awards the Dacia Spring only one of a total of five stars. You very rarely see such a bad result with a new car.
Michiel van Ratingen, the secretary-general of EuroNCAP, is therefore harsh in his assessment: ,,These disappointing results show that safety has been sacrificed when this car manufacturer switches to electric cars. Not only do these cars lack a somewhat acceptable, standard level of safety, their occupant protection is worse than any other car we’ve seen in recent years. It is cynical to offer consumers an affordable, eco-friendly car when the toll it pays is a higher risk of injury in an accident. Other cars, such as the electric Fiat 500e, show that safety doesn’t have to be sacrificed to make a clean, eco-friendly car.”
The EuroNCAP test report states: ‘In a frontal collision, the passenger compartment of the Dacia Spring remains largely intact. But the legs of the occupants appear to be poorly protected against the impact and parts of the dashboard can injure the occupants. Also, the driver’s chest and pelvis are at too high a risk of injury. Furthermore, the cervical vertebra of a passenger in the back seat is at serious risk. If another car hits the back of the Dacia, it offers the front occupants sufficient protection against whiplash, but not the rear occupants. Furthermore, it turned out to be too difficult to open the doors after a collision.’
You will find all previously published tests in our extensive Autotest file.
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