Dacia Spring city EV finally confirmed for UK sales in 2024
Dacia has sold more than 120,000 examples of the Spring since it launched in 2021
Budget electric supermini to get more 'modern' look as it goes on sale in the UK
The Dacia Spring – Europe's cheapest electric car – will go on sale in the UK in summer 2024, arriving with significant design and technology upgrades to help it fend off competition from newer European-designed EVs.
Confirmation of the car's UK launch comes around two years since it arrived in Europe, and following several strong hints from Dacia bosses that a UK roll-out was planned.
Precise details will follow closer to its arrival, but it is expected to be offered in left-hand drive – like the Citroën Ami – to keep costs down, and be priced from well under £20,000 to claim the title of the UK's most affordable electric car. The Ami is priced from £8095 (or £118 per month), but is technically a quadricyle; currently the lowest-priced electric car here is the Smart EQ Fortwo, at £23,320.
Prices for the Spring start at €17,300, translating to £14,760 - but no doubt the final price for UK customers will be slightly higher.
The Spring will not be sold in the UK in its current form, instead being introduced as the car is given an extensive mid-life facelift to boost its appeal and bring it up to date with the rest of the Dacia line-up.
Based on the Chinese-market Renault Kwid K-ZE, the four-seat city car is “lacking a bit of modernity”, according to Dacia design boss David Durand, and it “needs to be reconsidered to express more of this electric trend”.
Durand told Autocar the updated Spring won’t stray too far from the ethos of the current car, which has sold 120,000 units in Europe since its 2021 launch.
“The general recipe of the Spring is a good one,” he said, as “you have a lot of [bumps] with other cars when you park. ‘City’ doesn’t mean safe environment.”
He added: “We noticed that a lot of people in the far suburbs or even in the countryside have a Spring as a second car. It doesn’t mean that the Spring is going off road, but it’s not really a centre/urban car.”
As a result, it is highly likely to remain a baby SUV with upright proportions and plastic protective body cladding but be brought closer in line with Dacia’s full-sized line-up by gaining new light signatures, wheel designs, colour options and trim elements.
An interior refresh could be on the cards as well, with new technological features and materials among the possibilities.
It is unclear if there will be any changes to the Spring’s 44bhp drivetrain or 28.6kWh battery, but Dacia CEO Denis Le Vot said “if we did [the Spring] again, I would cut the battery in half” because the average Spring in Europe covers just 10 miles per day.
Full details of the refresh will be published next year, Dacia said in a statement.
The firm's sales vice-president, Xavier Martinet, said: "With UK sales surging year-on-year and many British car buyers having a recognised appetite for the brand, it is now the right time to introduce a pure electric vehicle. Spring has democratised electric vehicle ownership in Europe, offering people the chance to enjoy sustainable driving without the often-associated price premium.
"I’m confident that Spring will we be as popular in the UK as it has proved throughout the rest of Europe."