if it could be fitted with a towbar.

What would you be using the towbar for? Spring doesn't have a lot of power or battery. It might be ok for bicycles but I can't see towing much of anything with this car.

 

We use the Panda to tow a harrow around our fields in the spring, and to grade the riding arena every week or two.
Hence why 4x4 would be pretty much necessary to avoid getting repeatedly stuck.
Don't need to tow anything particularly large or heavy, and only at very low speeds (<10mph), so the amount of power on offer would be adequate (and besides, I expect a 4x4 version would have a secondary small motor, so total peak power might be a little higher anyway). Looking forward to see what Stellantis does with a Panda 4x4/Cross replacement a little later this year.

 

Might even be a first EV for some
Real range need scrutinising, but my (older) sister does 300 miles a month.👍

 

My buddies duster is very basic I'd hate to see how poorly spec'd the from model would be. But as a wee run around that looks pretty ideal.

 

My buddies duster is very basic I'd hate to see how poorly spec'd the from model would be.

Photos and paper spec look a lot nicer than a Duster.

 

I think the hottest competition for a new Spring at £15k is going to be a used EV, like 2 year old e-UP for around £12-14k or Corsa-e for similar kind of money. Spring should be a complete bargain for salary sacrifice schemes I would hope.

 

I think a lot of people will find them attractive as second cars, but might wait till they are second hand as 15K is still a lot of money. Also the insurance should be reasonable so they should be popular with younger drivers, two reasons why the depreciation might be quite low. So low cost, low depreciation, very efficient - it makes a lot of economic sense as a second car.

 

I half caught a report on French TV Sunday looking at the new Dacia range and the chap speaking for Dacia made the point several times chasing the 20k euro price point was the focus. The reviewer of the car seemed impressed (just a showroom look around). Dacia are very popular here but as the Spring is built China it is now penalised in not attracting the same government buying subsidies.
From what I saw it seemed far more modern in outward design not sure about the standard of the mechanics or software etc but frankly they do have a place in the scheme of things especially for rural folk needing a second car.

 

Think you need the slightly more expensive one if you want Rapid charging (which is only 30KW anyway).
Still if all you need is a local runaround it might be appealing

 

Correct. DC charging is only on the 65hp models.

 

Nope.

Would get a delivery mileage/low mileage car that is better in every metric except being small.

 

Agreed

 

At the moment the 2nd user low mileage vehicles would be the a better decision in my opinion. In 9 months time when Dacia Spring turns up in 2nd user market then there might more bargains to be had.

 

Big HotUKDeals thread on it, available to preorder

Pre-Order Dacia Spring Electric City Car £14995.00 + £250 Bonus via Dacia Shop | hotukdeals

www.hotukdeals.com

I would do as above and get a better nearly new model. However can't argue to much with price, not much ICE out there these days for 15k either.

 

Buy a 12 month old one for £10k

 

If they are £10k at a year old, then you know they're

 

Actually - what this does is get a new cohort of potential EV drivers interested. Whilst 5 / 6 year old Leafs / Zoes / Souls may or may not be of interest at 7 / 8K - new stuff at 15K with the potential for 12 month old stuff in 15 months time at probably 12K or less might be of interest - that is what this new pricing does.

Those are EVs with similar range.

In many ways this is good for EV take up.

 

I agree. I guess the new car thing make sense economically for salary sacrifice schemes or if someone just likes the feeling of having a shiny new car.

But where the Spring might (temporarily hopefully) make sense economically as well would be for younger drivers. An e208 - quoted £6500 per year for teenager insurance with me on the policy as well. So if the Spring can come in at say £2000 per year in line with the cheap to insure ICE cars like Citigo, then it also makes economic sense (especially if charging at home on cheap tariffs).

Whether it's 'cool' enough we shall see. Maybe people will pimp them up and it become an icon like the 2CV, or maybe it will become the next G-Wizz?

 

Cheaper cars like this are of course welcome but for myself I'd be far better off just paying cash for an Ionic 38kWh Prem SE ~£11k. Always fancied the eUp/CitiGo/Mii too but again the same price as an Ionic. Makes no sense... Anyway, back to machine polishing the cars in the garage for the WBAC visual inspection as it's been raining for six months

 

I actually think the Spring, if it sells at all, will be a BAD thing for EV take up.
This would have been a competitive offering 10 years ago, but in todays market it's hopelessly pathetic.
Real world range will be around 100 miles. Maybe below 80 miles in winter if used for short journeys (and let's face it, you aren't going to be going very far in it). Repeatedly heating up the cabin and no heat pump = appalling efficicency. At least this new model has regenerative braking (but how effective is that going to be with a woefully underpowered motor and titchy battery that can't take high charge rates anyway).

As a second EV it's pretty much useless I think. It's going to need charging every night if it does any sort of mileage at all, so how do you charge the No. 1 car doing big miles?

There's no way I'd spend £15k on this. There are barely used cars with much better capability available for the same money.

If it had a proper motor and say 50kWh battery in it, it might make sense.

Sorry, I think this one's a dead duck. Any EV newbie who buys one not understanding the compromises is going to be sorely disappointed.

 

If it had a proper motor and say 50kWh battery in it, it might make sense.

at which point it would be a MG4 and priced similarly. There has always been a place for cheap small cars, most of the output of Fiat etc.

 

Look on the bright side - if there are much better second-hand EVs for the same price, imagine the price of the Spring second-hand.

 

It's short range, low power (so hopefully cheap to insure!) and cheap, which makes it an ideal first car (not just EV) for parents to buy their 17 year old.

 

That I do agree with!
The thought of my sons getting behind the wheel of my Model 3 (or whatever I'm driving by then) at age 17 fills me with dread.
The Nissan Micras that me and my mates ragged around in might have been a death trap had we had a serious accident, but at least it took a very considerable time to get up to high speeds, and the steering wheel shaking about all over the place meant 100mph was only attempted once!

 

Also re buying this for a teenager, the problem with buying a cheap ICE car is that only the teenager will want to drive it. The parents wont want to either for environmental reasons, or because 'their' car is nicer to drive, or because if the parents have an EV and home charger, the EV will be cheaper to drive.

The Spring however would have something on all of these in that it will be the cheapest of all to drive and lowest environmental impact, so the environmentalist or tight walleted parent would want to drive it too for local trips. Also it looks good for dog walks - keeping the parents car free of all that stink and mud.

Short range - maybe not a problem for teenagers as they can all meet up at the charging hubs, and will have the perfect excuse not to move on (need another 40 mins to get home mate)

 

Bit too basic and range a bit low, especially in the colder months. The Soul we have would sell for £15-16k at the moment and thats a great first drive for a teenager, don't think he'd be very impressed with a Spring.
One of the reasons we decided to keep the Soul FE for our son to learn on in a couple of years time, until then it can sit in the barn for a couple of years and he can polish it every now and then.

 

Re buying a used Kia Soul 27 kWh vs the Spring (both similar battery size), - interesting thought. Looking on Parkers I see the Soul is group 18 insurance with over 100 horsepower, so I expect that to be ca £4000 per year to insure a teenager. With less than half the horses in the Spring it may have more affordable insurance.

 

Well the Soul FE I was referring to is the 64 KWh one with
over 200 Bhp, so insurance costs are going to be interesting to say the least. 🤣

 

Well the Soul FE I was referring to is the 64 KWh one with
over 200 Bhp, so insurance costs are going to be interesting to say the least.

I would like the post, but that would seem wrong.

 

Hello I have a problem with dacia spring electric vehicle . Car not start . In diagnostic computer have one fault code P048572 Battery high voltage power relay A or P2 No Motion Detected in response to Closing the Component

 

See your dealer.

 

I recently took delivery of a new Dacia Spring Expression 65 (the lower spec with the more “powerful” of the two available motors). As a second car for the school-supermarket-station run it’s great.

I looked at used alternatives, but interest rates commonly around 9.9% were killing that option, making year old used Corsa e's and e-208s more like £250 a month. The Spring, on 0% finance, is around £200 a month with £200 down. Plus it comes with a 7 year warranty if you get it serviced each year at a Dacia dealer.

Best of all it’s just so refreshing to have a relatively simple car (or as simple as modern regulations allow). No touchscreen (in the Expression trim). A key to start it. Manual mirror adjustment. Windy windows in the back for the kids. No park, just put it in neutral and pull up the manual handbrake. It’s almost like driving an electrified classic Peugeot 205.

Yes, it has lane keep assist and speed limit warnings etc. as mandated by the EU, which is annoying, but cleverly you can configure it so that two presses of a single button turn those off.

I was worried it might be dog slow, but you can really feel the lightness when you drive it (it weights under a tonne) and the instant torque (as with all EVs) mean that it actually feels quite fast if you floor it (at least up to 50mph or so).

It won’t work for everyone, of course. Range is 100 miles in winter, it won’t be great on the motorway, and some people will want something that cossets and isolates them a bit more. It does feel a bit tinny and I wouldn't particularly like to crash it. But if you're tired of complex, expensive cars and just want something cheap and cheerful to get you around locally, perhaps as a second car, I’d definitely consider one.

 

I left my details with a dealer that I was interested and I was told I'd get a call when they had one.

No call = no Springs in the UK?

Did you tele-psychically manipulate a dealer to call you? They don't seem willing to contact customers unless you 'Derren Brown' them.

I am also very fond of bog-basic cars. I do not appreciate all the frippery.

'Keyless entry' is a cost-down dressed up as a technological improvement. It is beyond idiotic, but most people don't seem to have noticed.

 

They have them at dealers now. Car came quickly once ordered too (within a few weeks) as they seemed to have a good few in the country already or on their way.

 

~£14k new, well prereg. Exactly my sort of car too! Perhaps in the future I'll get one but got a flat to buy soon, cash, so skint atm

 

Yes, although with Dacia doing 0% finance currently on new ones (presumably because like all manufacturers they are keen to shift EVs right now) it might actually be cheaper monthly to get a brand new one than a pre-reg. For those who are lucky enough to be cash buyers though... bargain.

 

OMG! There’s a Spring across the road. Neighbour must have bought one. Would a pic be rude, lol!