Already tested in the Business version, the Dacia Spring is now available in Comfort and Comfort Plus finishes for private individuals. The opportunity to reconsider the cheapest electric car on the market, the ideal response to the meteoric rise in gasoline prices in 2022.
Car tested: Dacia Spring Confort Plus
|
From€19,190
€5,181 bonus
|
It’s not plastic, but it’s cardboard. In 2021, the Dacia Spring finished at the foot of the podium of the best-selling electric cars in France despite pre-orders only being opened in March and deliveries honored in October. This is to say the success that awaits the Spring in 2022 for its first full year on the market: it now sells its Comfort and Comfort Plus finishes (in addition to the Business, launched primarily for professionals and other car-sharing services) and is still waiting for its Cargo utility version, devoid of bench seat back.
Compared to the Spring Business, the “new” Spring Confort loses the reversing radars, the plastic sill protectors and the floor mats. But our Comfort Plus test model adds the spare wheel, reversing camera, GPS navigation, as well as the 7-inch touchscreen compatible with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. Without forgetting to brighten up its jovial mug with the standard metallic paint and the Orange pack, which invites colorful touches inside (air vent surrounds, center console tower, imitation leather upholstery piping) as well as on the outside ( side moldings, roof bar and bumper inserts). An almost opulent endowment at this level of the range, which does not, however, make prices soar.
Prices and bonuses Dacia Spring 2022
Despite increased prices of €600 since launch, the Dacia Spring remains the cheapest electric on the market. It points to €17,690 in Comfort and €19,190 in Comfort Plus, i.e. €12,914 and €14,009 respectively once the bonus has been subtracted. This is limited to 27% of the purchase price and does not reach €6,000 here. Its rise to €5,000 on 1er July 2022 will therefore have little influence on the cost of the small Dacia. No impact is to be expected on the premium for the Spring Confort (€4,776), while that of the Spring Confort Plus (€5,181) will just be reduced by €181. Rushing your order is therefore useless!
On the new market, only certain thermal city cars compete with the Spring in terms of price. The first electric models, they evolve much higher, bonus deducted. The difference reaches €2,800 with an entry-level electric Renault Twingo E-Tech (without air conditioning or radio, see our Spring vs Twingo match) and even €5,700 with a Volkswagen e-up!. The autonomy of the Spring is however placed halfway between these two rivals, announced at 190 km in Twingo and 258 km in e-up!.
Autonomy and recharging Dacia Spring
With its useful 27.4 kWh lithium-ion battery, the Dacia Spring promises 230 km of range in the WLTP combined cycle. In real conditions, it is better to rely on a range of 180 km on the road, 150 km on expressways and barely 120 km on the highway at 125 km/h (the Spring is restricted at this speed). Charging times from 0 to 100% differ of course depending on the socket used, the Romanian’s on-board charger capping out at 6.6 kW direct current. It is thus necessary to count:
- 1:32 p.m. on a standard household socket (2.3 kW);
- 8:28 am on a reinforced Green’up socket (3.7 kW);
- 4 h 51 on a Wallbox or a public terminal (7 kW, but the compatible cable is optional at €250).
Longer journeys will only be possible with the optional Combo CCS socket at €600, which allows you to drink from fast DC terminals. If the latter deliver up to 300 kW of power (Ionity network, Fastned or Tesla superchargers open to other brands), the Spring only collects a maximum of 30 kW and requires 56 minutes to go from 0 to 80%. In our test, 30 minutes was enough to boost the battery gauge from 21 to 71 percent. This recharge will have cost only 9 € on the recent – and very scattered – Fastned network, which bills energy per kilowatt hour delivered (0.59 €) and not per minute like other suppliers. At Ionity, this same supply would have cost €23.70…
At the wheel of the Spring Confort Plus
A year after our Spring Business test, we quickly find our marks in Spring Confort Plus… without noticing any real changes, beyond the playful colored inserts: not very soft imitation leather upholstery, still no height adjustment of the seat and the steering wheel, and a good old ignition key to turn in the neiman to illuminate the “OK” light on the meter. But this rusticity quickly fades into the background as the Spring shines with agility during the first kilometers in town.
Energetic green-light take-offs, tight turning circle, smooth steering, narrow bodywork, everything invites you to slip into the ramparts of the city flying over speed bumps without jerks thanks to the high sidewall tires and the absence of anti-roll bars. The reduced weight also contributes to the softness of the suspension springs, but it is also paid for in terms of soundproofing. Even at low speeds the pedestrian horn and the gravel in the wheel arches can be heard distinctly in the passenger compartment. And the aspects low-cost multiply as soon as the pace increases…
The smile is thus extinguished on the expressway when, overtaken by another user and/or manhandled on a windy day, the Spring zigzags in its lane like an anonymous alcoholic. This is more worrying than really dangerous (as usual, we let the car swerve slightly rather than permanently correct its course), unlike the poor efficiency of dipped beam headlights and the execrable grip of Chinese tires Linglong in the rain.
On a greasy road, the Spring can suddenly widen its trajectory in a curve that closes or immediately wake up its ABS when braking a little hard. No doubt it would have been better to equip the car with “real” tires rather than an anti-collision radar, but the dreaded Euro NCAP organization does not care about the first when it offers a star to the second. Absurd: the ideal way to minimize the consequences of a shock is still to avoid it.
This parenthesis closed, the other defects of the Spring seem very ridiculous. They boil down to a steering lacking in cornering recall and to limited performance above 80 km/h (without even engaging Eco mode, which reduces power from 44 to 30 hp and top speed from 125 to 90 km/h). Quite easy to adjust, the braking is assisted by the recovery of energy on deceleration, which is not adjustable but varies according to the pace. Very low on the fast lane (on the first versions, it was non-existent beyond 80 km/h), it shows a bit more marked in town even if you always have to press the brake pedal to stop completely. Nothing eliminatory in urban areas, where the agile Spring will have to evolve as a priority.
On board the Spring Confort Plus
Find the results of the test, the prices, all the equipment and options, as well as the technical sheet of the Spring 2022 on the next page…