Dacia bosses "fighting tooth and nail" to bring Spring EV to UK

Dacia Spring went on sale in France last year

Compact city car will be one of the UK's cheapest mainstream EVs if given the green light

Dacia's UK division is still campaigning ardently to import the diminutive Spring EV, which would be comfortably among the cheapest mainstream electric cars on sale here. 

A decision on whether to send the Spring to UK dealerships was expected to be made in January 2022, almost a year after it launched in France, but the brand has yet to confirm a launch date. 

Dacia UK brand director Luke Broad told Autocar: "We are fighting tooth and nail with our corporate team to get that car launched here in the UK. 

"We don't have confirmation whether it's a go yet, because they're working on fulfilling the huge back order they have in Europe - for me that's another string to my bow; if it's an extremely popular car in Europe, then it's fair to say it will also be extremely popular in the UK.

"There's no decision on Spring. Hopefully we get it, but in the meantime we will hybridise the Jogger and in the medium- to long-term, you will start to see the hybridisation and electrification of the brand - but only when the customers are ready and it makes sense from a cost perspective."

His comments came as Citroën revealed UK pricing for the long-awaited, two-seat Ami, which is smaller and cheaper than the Spring, but has a much shorter range and is technically defined as a quadricycle, rather than a car. 

The Spring, billed by its maker as Europe's most affordable EV, is already on sale in left-hand drive markets, but the firm has delayed a UK sales decison while it evaluates production capacity and its sales potential against the cost of a right hand-drive conversion. 

"It is looking very positive, but there is no final decision," Denis Le Vot, CEO of Dacia told Autocar late last year. "Our data suggests there are 15 million motorists in Europe who commute in their cars today - and that 60% of them use them for short distance driving exclusively. I am not saying they will all buy a Spring, but I am sure that it is exactly the kind of car that they need.

"For the UK we will make a final decision late this year or by early January at the very latest."

The Spring went on sale in France in early 2021, priced from €12,403 after that country's generous EV incentives. A two-seat commercial variant will be introduced in 2022. 

That minimum price, equivalent to £10,630, positions the Spring alongside a mid-range, conventionally fuelled Sandero in terms of cost.

The French government currently offers a grant to buyers of sub-€45,000 EVs amounting to 27% of the cost of purchase, including tax, and a further €2500 if the EV is bought in exchange for an older ICE car to be scrapped. 

Two trim levels are available: Comfort, which features air conditioning, a 3.5in media display with Bluetooth, a USB port and cloth upholstery as standard, and Comfort Plus, which adds a 7.0in infotainment display with smartphone mirroring, an orange-themed interior styling pack and metallic exterior paint. 

The Chinese-made Spring is offered across mainland Europe initially, with car-sharing company Zity a primary customer. 

Previewed by a concept in 2019 and based on parent company Renault’s Chinese-market City K-ZE, the Spring was designed for use in urban areas in both passenger and cargo forms - the latter for last-mile deliveries. It uses an electric motor that makes 44bhp and 92lb ft, fed by a 26.8kWh battery.

This gives it a 140-mile range on the WLTP combined cycle and the ability to fast-charge at a rate of up to 30kW from a CCS DC charger. The top speed is limited to 62mph and the turning circle is a mere 4.8 metres.

The Spring is 3.73 metres long – 0.35 metres shorter than the Dacia Sandero – yet the firm claims it has room for four adults. The boot is 300 litres, increasing to 600 litres when the rear seats are folded down, plus there’s 23 litres of storage in the front.

The car-sharing version of the Spring will be offered in select European countries and will come with durable artificial leather seats and 14in wheels. Meanwhile, the van will forgo rear seats to offer 800 litres of luggage capacity and a 1033mm load length.