Dacia Spring Extreme Electric 100 review: a fun and practical EV

​The Dacia Spring is designed for the city or town runabout

How often have you heard the phrase “electric cars are far too expensive”? It’s an argument that is regularly put forward to defend a car buyer’s decision not to opt for the EV alternative. But Dacia has well and truly negated that stance once and for all: you can now buy all-electric Spring for £12,240.

Ok, the car actually costs £15,225 retail, but once you factor in Dacia’s own Electric Car Grant – it doesn’t qualify for the Government’s official grant – the price plummets to £12,240. That’s considerably less than the Citroen e-C3 and Fiat Grande Panda. Plus you get an all-electric range of 140-miles, which is typically more than enough to cover the average weekly city-based driving requirements.

The range consists of two five-door, four-seat models. There’s the entry-level Expression Electric 70, plus the Extreme Electric 100 which, with the Grant applied, will cost you an extra £1000.

We waited a few years for the Spring to arrive in the UK. Although it was launched initially across mainland Europe back in 2021, we had to wait until 2024 to see the wee EV after it had received a mid-life update. Now it’s been updated. Built in China – hence the fact Dacia can keep the price so low – the Spring is a true four-seater with a range of 140-miles. It also has a top speed of 78mph. Worth highlighting that Dacia boffins have identified that the Spring’s average driver will cover less than 23 miles per day. Plus, and it certainly doesn’t take a genius to work this one out, its primary use will be as a city car; a daily town runabout.

So, is the Dacia Spring any good?

Within the confines of the points highlighted above, it’s more than competent. The Spring is essentially a rebadged version of an electric Renault City ZE. Never heard of it? I’m not surprised, It actually started life as the tiny Renault Kwid, a city car sold in India.

The chunky-looking Spring – this body-shape was introduced in ’24 – introduced a plethora of new body panels. In fact the only one to be carried over from the previous model was the roof. What’s clear is the latest model very much has its design DNA in its much larger sibling, the Duster. Both the Spring’s exterior looks, including Dacia’s fancy face, plus the interior design where you’ll find a whopping big 10.1-inch touchscreen dominating the compact cabin, are all Duster design cues.

What about prices and performance? Cheap, would be the word. Well, certainly from the entrance perspective. The Spring starts at £15,225 (ex-grant) which gets you the entry Electric 70, not surprisingly with a 70bhp motor which, and with power delivered via the single speed gearbox will see it cover 0-62mph in 12.3secs. The biggest seller in the range, accounting for more than 80% of sales, is the 100bhp Electric 100. This’ll hit 62mph from standstill in 9.6s. Interestingly, whether you go for the 70bhp or 100bhp, both versions use the same new Lithium Iron Phosphate 24.3kWh battery. I know, it sounds titchy – and it is, especially in these days of the 100kWh batteries found in SUVs – but the wee battery makes much better use of resources.

Drive comfort and economy The Expression electric 70 model sits on 15in wheels and those, allied to its refreshed chassis, retuned suspension and upgraded braking system ensure more than acceptable compliance to the ride. Yes it can sometimes be a little bouncy, but with its low kerb weight – remarkably for an EV, it comes in at under a tonne – there’s no reason for the suspension to be so stiff as to shake out your filings. The Extreme also benefits from neat use of graze-friendly plastic on the bumpers and wheelarch extensions, giving it a slightly more rugged appearance. The Spring is a narrow but tallish car – at 1489mm it’s similar in height to the Kia Picanto – and as a result there’s a predictable element of roll when it comes to cornering. Of course, it’s not that you’re going to be checking the limits of adhesion of the tyres by chucking the Spring into hardcore manoeuvres on your daily commute to the office or the shops, so the ‘roll’ is charmingly acceptable. Price economy has been covered above, but it’s also worth highlighting that many buyers purchasing the Spring on monthly finance packages will most likely happily add a few pounds on their payments simply to get the higher-specced model. And in doing so will see their Spring return stronger residuals. A true win-win situation.

What about charging? Given its 140-mile range and Dacia’s calculation that the average driver will cover no more than 23 miles a day, the company believes many Spring customers will slow charge the car at home once a week. Both 2026 versions get a new 40kW onboard DC charger which can recharge the battery from 20-80 per cent in just 29 minutes. Alternatively, hook-up it up to a standard 7.4kWh Wallbox and it’ll take 3hr 20min to recharge from 20-100%. And if you need to plug it into standard domestic three-pin connection, it’ll take just over 10-hours for the same recharge capacity.

How big is it … Titchy. At just 3.7-metres in length it’s similar to the Kia Picanto. It’s also 1583mm wide (without door mirrors) and 1603mm long.

… and how practical is it? It’s actually pretty good. The seats in the front are set high. Just be aware they’re not adjustable for height, and headroom can, for some, be a tad restricted. That said, I managed to get a 5ft 10in passenger to sit comfortably behind me in the driving seat, and I’m 5ft 9in. But there’s no getting away from the fact that while officially it is a four-seater, four-up will be ‘cosy’. Oh, and the steering wheel position can only be adjusted for height. The bootspace is as big as many superminis, swallowing 308-litres of clobber. Worth highlighting that while the rear seats fold, it’s as a bench; there’s no 60:40 split. But with the seat folded, stowage increases to 1004-litres

Interior style, infotainment and tech The interior of the Extreme trim is dominated by the 10.1in infotainment touchscreen lifted straight out of the Duster, plus a 7in digital instrument cluster. The infotainment, in a car costing £16,225 (ex-grant), works brilliantly. While satnav is included, its basic connected services operate perfectly with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Ok, apart from the comfortable soft-material seats, there aren’t many other soft-touch surfaces in the cabin. But the clever designing and integration of a combination of shapes and simplicity, allied to interesting colours, ensure the cabin’s interior forms a look and feel which is a level or two above what the car actually costs. Remember, this is a ‘budget’ EV; but it certainly doesn’t feel it inside. Standard trim, even on the Expression, is attractive. In addition to the height-adjustable 3-spoke steering wheel and 7-inch digital instrument cluster, there’s air conditioning, cruise control with speed limiter, electric front windows, rear parking sensors, rear wash-wipe, central locking and Dacia’s clever Media Control with steering wheel-mounted controls. Step up to the Extreme trim and the more powerful 100bhp motor, and you add copper-accented styling, electric rear windows, heated and electronically-adjustable door mirrors, front and rear parking sensors with reverse camera, 10.1-inch Media Nav Live with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, additional USB connectivity and the versatility of Vehicle-to-Load (V2L) functionality. This bi-directional charger allowing you to use the Dacia Spring as a power source for external appliances, allowing you to recharge a laptop or even boil a kettle.

Warranty and Servicing Every Dacia is covered by a three-year, 60,000-mile warranty. In addition, the battery comes with the peace-of-mind of an 8-year/75,000-mile warranty. With Dacia Zen, customers can enjoy up to seven years warranty cover, simply by having their vehicle serviced by an official Dacia retailer. Available to owners of all Dacia vehicles up to six-years-old that have covered less than 75,000 miles, Dacia Zen is renewed for free following each annual service completed by a Dacia retailer. Dacia offers a range of simple Service Plans to stay on top of maintenance schedules. The entry service plan covers the vehicle for three years and 30,000 miles, with up to four years and 48,000 miles of servicing available.

Pricing Worth highlighting that while the Dacia Electric Grant of £3,750 is very attractive, it is currently only available till June 30, 2026, and applicable again only in conjunction with Dacia’s own PCP finance deal. On the Expression 70, with an on-the-road cash price of £15,990, in addition to the Grant, the buyer must make a deposit of £2,776 and restrict annual mileage to 6000-miles. Monthly payments are then £129 over 49 months.

Verdict The Dacia Spring certainly shows that electric cars can be made and sold at a price point which is acceptable and affordable to the majority of car buyers. Hopefully that in itself will fuel other manufacturers to start filling the EV supply chain from the bottom up, rather than from the more expensive top down. With the Spring though there remains a small, but significant elephant in the room, of course. It’s the fact the NCAP Euro safety agency only awarded the Spring one star out of five when it was tested, but that was back in 2021 with the original version. Since then Dacia has fitted the Spring with more driver assistance tech, essentially the box-ticking exercise required to gain more stars. But the one-star rating will remain as Dacia has no plan to take Spring back to NCAP until 2027 at the earliest. All that said, in town the Spring is a hoot, parking is a dawdle – the turning circle is excellent – it’s cleverly practical and it has the potential to become the electric city car a significant number of people have been waiting for. Definitely worth checking it out. But, and it’s a significant but … personally I would certainly restrict the Dacia Spring to city centre driving.

The facts

Price: £16,990 (on-the-road) Powertrain: 24.3kWh battery, single e-motor Power: 100bhp Torque: 137Nm @ 500rpm-3625rpm Transmission: Single-speed transmission, front-wheel drive Top speed / 0-62mph: 78mph / 9.6sec Range: 140-miles Charging: 40kW (20-80% in 29mins) Dimensions (length/width/height): 1603mm /11,767 / 1489