If you’ve never heard of the battery-powered Dacia Spring, you are forgiven. For one thing, it’s absolutely not the sort of car to light up the enthusiast radar like a Christmas tree; for another, its maker has limited its supply so far to continental Europe, which is like a whole other country. But from next year, Dacia says it will start selling the Spring in the UK, and that’s significant because it promises to be what most other EVs are not: affordable. 

How affordable, you cry. Well, we don’t know yet because Dacia is still crunching the numbers. But in France, where the EV subsidy is still notably plump, you can currently get one from 15,800 euros – or about £13,500. Needless to say, you can forget about seeing that number repeated over here, but circa £20k would still make the Spring significantly cheaper than the £26,995 starting price of an MG4 EV. And, non-cars like the Citroen Ami and Smart EQ fortwo aside, that would make it comfortably the most affordable EV in the UK. 

But is it good? Well, that’s hard to say. We assume it probably isn’t because it’s based on the Renault City K-ZE, which, in turn, is a battery-electric version of the Renault Kwid – originally the kind of super-cheap, India-built prospect that never makes it far beyond sub-Saharan Africa. And because it only has 44hp (or 65hp in the Extreme version) and a WLTP range of 140 miles. Which is not very much of either. So it’s probably fair to say, on paper at least, that the entry-level 170hp MG4 EV with 218 miles of range is better. 

However, it’s also fair to say that none of its comparative limitations have done it any harm in Europe. Dacia says it has attracted 120,000 customer orders since its launch in 2021. And the majority of buyers have been retail customers, purchasing a second car for commuting during the week. Now, granted, most Europeans seem to work a nanosecond from where they live and are apparently content to get there at a supremely leisurely pace – but Dacia is probably not wrong in its assumption that the Spring could be made to fit a powerfully built UK buyer’s mindset. 

“We are thrilled that Dacia Spring will come to the UK in 2024. It will certainly be worth the wait! It will literally plug a gap in the UK electric car market for a highly usable, quality EV that won’t break the bank and which makes electric vehicle ownership more realistic than ever,” said Luke Broad, Dacia’s brand director. “UK car buyers can look forward to an EV that’s perfectly aligned to their mobility requirements and, importantly, is done the Dacia way.” 

To help convince customers about the shrewdness of choosing the ‘Dacia way’ the firm confirmed just this week that the Spring will be facelifted ahead of its launch. Expect that to bring the styling in line with the established UK lineup including the latest Duster – which we’ll admit being quite partial to. Lest we forget, that car was also exceptionally cheap and cheerful when it launched in the UK a decade ago. Now look at it. Who would bet against Dacia doing the same thing again?