Dacia Spring: the revised and corrected version of the affordable electric city car finally revealed

The Dacia Spring, currently priced from €18,400, has managed to find a place in the electric vehicle market by slashing prices. The Citroën ë-C3, which is now its closest rival, is sold significantly more expensive, from €23,300. However, the latter is produced in Europe (in Slovakia), unlike the Spring assembled in China, which allows the Â-C3 to access the ecological bonus of €4000 In France. As a result, the price gap between the two models is reduced considerably, since the Citroën is only 900 € more expensive than the Dacia once the bonus deduced, while being more modern, larger and equipped with a much more flattering technical sheet than the Spring.

We therefore impatiently awaited the restyling of the Dacia Spring, hoping that it would allow it to regain competitiveness. We now have the beginnings of an answer, since Dacia has just made the revised and corrected version of its electric minicity official official.

A deep restyling, but which forgets the technical part

In terms of style, the changes are very important for a simple restyling. The front is inspired by the latest Duster and visually seats the car more, despite its width still being contained at 1.58 m (excluding mirrors). The length even loses 3 cm, reaching 3.70 m.

The rear part is not to be outdone and adopts a strip connecting the optics, as has been the trend for several years now.

Inside, the restylings are generally quite subtle. However, Dacia went further for its Spring by completely changing its dashboard. It thus becomes much more modern in its design, and is equipped with new screens. The instrumentation now benefits from a 7″ panel, compared to 3.5″ previously. The central screen available at the top of the range goes from 7″ to 10″ and adopts a new interface compatible with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay in wireless versions.

Other good news is that the trunk volume now reaches 308 l, compared to 270 l previously, which is worthy of certain electric city cars in the higher segment. New accessories are also offered, including the famous YouClip seen on the Duster, but also a storage bin to be installed under the front hood in order to obtain a frunk (front trunk) 35Â l.

Unfortunately, the Spring’s technical sheet changes much less, if at all. It is still equipped with a useful 26.8 kWh battery, for an autonomy announced at 220 km (in the process of final approval). This is less than the 300 km of a Citroën C3. The French car also maintains a significant advantage in terms of its engine, since the Spring still makes do with 45 to 65 hp depending on the version, compared to 113 hp for the Â-C3.

Charging the Spring remains limited to 7 kW with alternating current and 30 kW with the optional direct current charger. However, there is a new bidirectional V2L charger on the Extreme version, which allows you to plug your electrical devices into the charging socket, via an adapter (220 V/16 A).

To comply with the new European GSR2 regulations, the Dacia Spring phase 2 is equipped with new driving aids. Traffic sign recognition with overspeed alert, lane keeping assistance and even the driver attention monitoring system are all standard equipment.

The range is also enriched with a new intermediate Expression finish, between the entry-level Essential and the top-of-the-range Extreme. The Spring Expression gives you the choice between the 45 hp engine, which also equips the Essential finish, and the 65 hp engine, previously reserved for the Extreme finish.

A sword strike in French waters?

There remains the question of prices, which will be communicated by Dacia when orders are opened for the restyled Spring, scheduled for spring 2024. The brand assures that it will remain “the cheapest 100% electric car on the market (excluding government subsidies)”. At the national level, however, it is not sure that it will be more accessible than the Citroën à-C3 once the bonus is deducted from the price of the latter. With its production in China, the restyled Dacia Spring should not be entitled to aid from the French state, which risks seriously handicapping its commercial performance on our market. Despite its numerous developments, it could in fact be eclipsed by the Citroën à-C3, which seems significantly more versatile, at least on paper.