Dacia Spring

FIRST UK DRIVE The UK's cheapest EV is made for life in the city, but how does it fare everywhere else? We get behind the wheel

- Alex Ingram

FIFTEEN grand won't get you many new cars these days, and even fewer with electric motors. The fact that we've sung the praises of the Citroen e-C3 so highly that we named it our 2024 Car of the Year is down in no small part to the fact that, aside from being a great supermini, getting a full EV to market for less than £23,000 deserves huge praise.

So a fully electric car that starts from just under £15,000 is a very big deal indeed. Trust it to be value champion Dacia turning up with the goods, then. This is the all-new Spring: not only the cheapest full EV money can buy in the UK, but one of the cheapest cars full stop. Even the range-topping model costs a fiver under £17,000, and that's despite the fact that there have been significant changes to the formula since the Spring launched in Europe in 2021. A new look, more tech and revised powertrains have all culminated in the car you see here - progress enough for Dacia to decide it's finally worthy of pitching to UK buyers.

It's also given Dacia time to analyse data from existing owners on how most Springs are used. On average, they drive 23 miles per day spread across four trips, taken at an average speed of 23mph. In both cases, it's clear to see that these cars are being used for short commutes and local errands.

As such, the body has been prepped for city living. The chunky plastic cladding on the outside is dyed during the production process rather than painted later, which means battle scars on the bumpers won't stand out too much. Those funky stickers on the front and rear bumpers don't just bring a bit of quirkiness, they also add extra protection for those bumpers; scratch one and you can just peel it off and buy another sticker. That's much cheaper than having a bumper resprayed.