Meet Europe's Cheapest Electric Car - DACIA SPRING _ Fully Charged

**The Dacia Spring: A Cheery Electric Car Adventure in Paris**

Paris, the city of love, was recently graced with an unexpected visitor—an electric car that's making waves across Europe. The Dacia Spring, affectionately known as "Daisy," rolled into town, and our team couldn't resist the opportunity to put it through its paces on the winding streets of Paris.

### A Compact Triumph in the City of Light

Arriving in Paris with a Hyundai Ioniq 5, which proved less than ideal for navigating the city's narrow streets, we were eager to swap it out for the Dacia Spring. This compact electric vehicle was designed with European cities in mind, and its diminutive size seemed perfect for the bustling streets of Paris.

The initial impressions were overwhelmingly positive. The Dacia Spring, priced around €12,500 after government incentives, is billed as Europe's cheapest electric car. It's not just affordable; it's also surprisingly spacious for a city car, comfortably accommodating four adults. However, its charm isn't just in its wallet-friendly price tag—it's in how it seamlessly fits into the urban landscape.

### The Joy of Simplicity

Driving the Dacia Spring through Paris was an experience that highlighted the beauty of simplicity. The car felt like a breath of fresh air compared to more elaborate electric vehicles. With only two pedals and a steering wheel, the interface was refreshingly straightforward. The lack of frills didn't detract from the driving experience; instead, it emphasized functionality.

The performance in the city was nothing short of delightful. Despite its modest power (33 kW or about 44 horsepower), the car handled traffic effortlessly. Its nimble nature made zipping through narrow streets a breeze, and the instant torque from the electric motor provided just enough oomph for city driving. The top speed of 62 mph might seem limiting, but in Paris's congested roads, it was more than adequate.

### Features That Make a Difference

The Dacia Spring's design reflects its utilitarian roots. With practical features like a rear boot that opens with a button (a nod to the Porsche Taycan), this car is built for convenience. The interior, though basic, exudes charm with chunky buttons and dials that feel reassuringly solid.

One of the standout features is the optional seven-inch touchscreen, which offers Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity. Despite its simplicity, the infotainment system felt intuitive and user-friendly. The eco mode, which reduces power to 23 kW, was a clever addition for conserving battery life in heavy traffic.

### A Glimpse into the Future of Urban Mobility

The Dacia Spring isn't just a car; it's a glimpse into the future of urban mobility. With plans for a cargo version (dubbed the "Spring Max") offering 700 liters of space, Dacia is setting its sights on last-mile deliveries in cities. This versatility could make the Spring a cornerstone of sustainable urban transportation.

### The Call to Bring It to the UK

As we navigated through Paris's notoriously challenging traffic circles and roundabouts, we couldn't help but wonder: why isn't this car available in the UK? Dacia is currently evaluating its potential in Europe before deciding on production for the UK market. Given its success elsewhere, there's no doubt it could carve out a niche in the UK as well.

### Conclusion

The Dacia Spring isn't just an affordable electric car; it's a revolution in simplicity and practicality. In a world where cars are often laden with unnecessary features, the Spring stands out as a testament to the beauty of minimalism. Its ability to thrive in urban environments makes it a beacon of hope for those seeking sustainable, hassle-free city driving.

For anyone looking for an electric car that doesn't break the bank and gets the job done without fuss, the Dacia Spring is a stellar choice. Let's hope Dacia decides to bring this charming little vehicle to the UK—because every city deserves a bit more joy on its roads.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: endo bonjour and welcome to paris why are we in paris well we're here to spend a bit of time with a car that we've been trying to get our hands on for ages a car that you have been pleading with us to feature on the channel for ages well asking you shall receive you may put your shoe floor because here it is look it's the desire spring quite literally europe's cheapest electric car we're going to find out if it's any good today by putting it through one of the most grueling tests of man and machine ever invented trying to drive literally anywhere in paris this should be fun so this is the dacia spring this is paris and this is fully charged if you've never been to paris driving through it may not seem like much of a challenge at all in fact it might sound like a rather lovely way to spend an afternoon it isn't paris is one of the most stressful cities i have ever driven in due to the combination of ancient narrow winding roads parisian pedestrians who are in no rush at all and parisian drivers who really are and if you do anything to displease them they will let you know the uh the other thing worth noting about this video is that cameraman andy has never been to paris so we thought we might do a little route around some of the uh one of the famous landmarks showing the sights in the scenes that's right andy you've never been to paris before have you no i haven't you can almost hear that almost childlike excitement in his voice can't you now then quick introduction to the dacia brand for those of you who may not be familiar it's a romanian car brand and it's part of renault group and the focus of dacia has always been cheap affordable practical utilitarian transport that is what they are all about and if you're watching this in the uk you may be thinking well i don't really see many of those knocking about but they're not that big in the uk but in europe it's fairly huge i was recently on holiday in sicily and i was tripping over dacia dusters everywhere i went because of course if you live somewhere where the roads aren't especially good or they're extremely narrow and it's not uncommon for a car to come along and take your wing mirror off you want something that is cheap simple easy to fix and with the spring well it's bringing its philosophy of cheap affordable simple two electric cars which is really quite exciting because as i'm sure you know most car brands currently making electric cars including ones known for cheaper stuff just seem fixated on big expensive things with lots of fancy toys we don't need lots of fancy toys at least not all of us do just while i'm figuring out how to get off this roundabout let me tell you the number that you really want to know about the daisy spring and that is the price because here in france this car starts at around 000 euro but after the generous government grants that price falls to about 12 and a half thousand euro which is the equivalent of about 10 and a half thousand pounds in the uk that is cheap decisively europe's cheapest electric car cheaper even than something like the smart 4-2 which has about nine miles of range and the really exciting thing is that dacia are currently considering bringing this car to the uk they're kind of analyzing the way it's performing in europe and they're going to make a decision based on that as to whether it's cost effective to build a right-hand drive model i'm hoping that if we like this car as much as we're expecting to we the people are fully charged can band together and encourage them to bring this car man just tried to kill me for no reason over to the uk oh good it's another roundabouts i'm in the wrong lane here so i'm going to do something very parisian oh just sweet desolate desolate oh that worked out quite nicely ah andrew to your right may i present to you the eiffel tower look at that all right sound enthusiastic andrew shall we have a little browse around the outside of this thing let's uh where do we begin well dacia calls this a suv like city car which is truthfully a phrase that makes me want to throw up in my mouth swallow it and then throw it up again but people like suvs these days so i get it and there's a kind of general theme with daisy is where they're kind of cheap and cheerful but they like to be a bit kind of rugged and tough as well so this is kind of trying to look a bit off-roady with these plastic wheel arches and kind of something resembling a skid plate round the back and the slightly raised right height and these sort of plastic roof rails it won't go off-road it's a front-wheel drive city car but people like that kind of aesthetic so that's what they've gone for these wheels i quite like these right look at those and you think oh they splash on some alloys but no those are actually plastic covered steelies but they look really nice and if you curb one just pull it off buy a replacement cover slap it on instead of spending a hundred quid getting your wheels re-cut it's the dacia way around the back again not a huge amount to speak up i like this look at the boot button it's like on the porsche tycoon it's just a button that's so clever you don't need to stick your hand under here get your fingers or grubby no just press the little button and we reveal the boot that is i believe 290 liters reasonable size reasonable size one thing that's slightly less reasonable in size is the rear seats because dacia will tell you that this is a proper four adult car the thing is it's the same size as a fiat 500 and doesn't have bespoke eevee architecture so it's amazing if they have managed to pull that off i mean what an incredible feature no they haven't they haven't pulled it off at all this is uh no i mean headroom pretty good it's a tall car so no issues in that department but as you can see seated in a normal person's driving position it is a bit snug you know it's not that bad getting in is tricky but once you're in bearable bearable four and two half adults i'd call this so what's the dacia spring like to drive then well first things first it's just such a delight to be driving a really compact electric car again i love small cars especially in a city city driving in a big car even a medium car is so much more stressful you're just worried about losing your wing mirrors or curbing a wheel any given time in this car a i'm not worried about that because it's so small that i'm not going to and b even if i do i don't care because it's so cheap it's so cheap i just fix it no big deal and this really is a small car it's actually slightly narrower than a fiat 500 and ever so slightly longer and a fair bit taller but it just feels so compact even in these narrow little parisian streets we're squeezing through gaps effortlessly i'll peel back the curtain a little bit and tell you that our camera car for this shoot the car that we traveled to paris in is a hyundai ioniq 5. an amazing electric car one of our favorites but it's not a great size for paris let's just say and of course what's nicer than driving a small car in a city driving a small electric car it just makes so much sense you've got the instant zippiness from that motor this is a very very modest motor it is not a quick car but it still feels perfectly punchy when you're in a city and you're pulling away from traffic lights which is all that you need from a city car actually in a city like paris where the sort of atmosphere of the place is quite tainted by all the beeping of horns and the smoke coming out of the cars and the noise of the engines you can't help but think to yourself how much nicer would this place be if everyone was driving silent electric cars they'd still be beeping at each other all the time but yeah it'd be nicer and in terms of customizability driving modes forget about it maximum simplicity is the brief here i've got two pedals and a wheel that's about it the power in this car is incredibly modest incredibly modest it's only got a handful of horsepower but it doesn't feel underpowered because in a city you never go more than 15 20 miles an hour and all you need to do is get up to that speed quite quickly which this car can very comfortably do right stats let's have some stats i tried to do this bit while out driving earlier today but turns out driving in paris multitasking bad idea so we're going to do it here power 33 kilowatt front-wheel drive motor which is the equivalent to about 44 horsepower this is surely the slowest electric car that i've ever driven and i'm completely fine with that because most of them are too quick anyway and it's more than enough for city driving 33 kilowatts that goes down to 23 kilowatts when you're in eco mode which is really properly slow top speed about 62 miles an hour naught to 62. you ready for this 19 seconds that's some sort of record for electric cars surely and i love that for it and i can assure you driving around town it doesn't feel too slow it keeps up with traffic that's all you need range 150 miles wltp combined they reckon about 180 city driving those numbers are probably a little bit optimistic but again city car tiny battery about what you'd expect i think you're probably getting the same sort of range as say a hundred finally worth knowing that there is already a business version of this car which is basically a version designed for car sharing apps and services in fact we have seen lots of little rentable desires parked on street corners all around paris which is beautiful to see dacia springs no less the electric one what a beautiful sight and next year there's actually going to be a cargo version of the spring with get this 700 liters of space 700 liters a proper little hauler for last mile urban deliveries beautiful i have been beeped at 30 times today already ah next up on our little scenic road trip the arc de triomphe what a magnificent structure that is uh jack this isn't the architect it is the arc de triomphe andrew excellent knowledge isn't it beautiful it's beautiful but we're not driving around it are we may we mon ami why how bad can it be oh my sweet merciful baby jesus what is this what is this it's a 30 lane roundabout with no rules okay okay oh no i yeah i guess it's you that's going this is andy what is going on he's awfully quiet oh this is madness okay okay we're hugging the inside line here hugging the apex of the corner keeping it nice and tight oh god taxi jacket oh i have some bad news we've missed our exit we're gonna have to go around again not joking he's having a lovely time time to dismount this is where it gets a little bit tricky yes i see you i didn't see him visualize your exit point oh yes yes yes we did it never again jack right then welcome to the inside of the dacia spring i'll take you through some of the features it won't take long because there are none you know this is potentially my favorite spec sheet that i've ever read for a new car you know your car is basic when you're bragging about things like front and rear windows front seat back pockets my god they do incredible it's a it's a very simple car this one this one's actually posh because it's got the optional seven inch touchscreen on the base car it's just a three inch i i'm not convinced it's even digital i think it's just like an extra sketch but it's all done in a really nice way that whole utilitarian rugged slightly off-roady theme it all carries over in here so for example all the buttons are just really big and they're really nice to press likewise these dials they've got a nice reassuring weight to them it's all a bit kind of chunky same for the gear selector down here it's a big hefty sturdy thing and the car despite being made of slightly cheap plastics really feels quite robust and sturdy and i love that about it we've got to talk about these fake buttons i've never seen so many fake buttons in my whole entire stupid life on a car there are one two three four five six seven seven there are seven fake buttons on this steering wheel and my favorite part is that two of the buttons that there are these two here serve the uh the um the cruise control this car doesn't have cruise control it's so basic another thing i really like an engage cluster here uh the little symbol next to my battery amount is a little petrol pump and i like to imagine that there was a whole conversation at dacia hq where we were like they were like should we change that to a to a charge symbol like what and add 20p to the price are you insane no no corner has been left uncut where it can be but they've done it in a nice way this screen that's big enough for me i've got a usb port i can plug my phone in i get android auto and apple carplay on this upgraded one what more do you need from a basic car interior it's a simple utilitarian electric car it's so rare to see new cars with so little going on it's kind of a breath of fresh air this is what many of you have been crying out for in the comments a grocery getter a car that just gets you from a to b with no frills no unnecessary toys nothing that's going to break well here it is in terms of weak points of the dacia spring well it would be quite nice to have adjustable regen braking i think all electric cars should offer the ability to do proper one-pedal driving that's just an electric car staple for me i'm quite surprised that they've decided to omit that presumably in the name of cost saving aside from that i mean i could sit here and say i wish it had more range but i don't think i really do i think it's probably got plenty for the job it was designed to do i mean i've been driving around paris for all day five hours i've got 85 battery left you don't cover an awful lot of distance when you're driving in a city certainly in a city like paris with appalling traffic and for most people i think this would be more than enough car more than enough range most of the time this is a mindset change that we all need to make going into evs you buy the car that you need 99 of the time not the car that you need one percent of the time just because you drive to france once a year doesn't mean you need a 400 mile electric car this will do you most of the time and then for that one day we need to drive a bit further borrow something rent something but keep it simple keep it basic buy what you need and nothing more concluding thoughts on the dacia spring i think it's absolutely wonderful i think it's delightful there is such joy in a really simple car like this it just gets the job done no frills no unnecessary stuff and in this day and age where every new electric car seems to come with two giant touchscreens and a million different facial recognition features i think it takes a bit of courage to make a car as brutally simple as this and i really admire dacia for it i really hope that they bring this car to the uk because i think it would sell very well and i think it would prove to other brands that it's okay to keep it simple we don't need all the fancy toys all the time some people like that stuff some people would rather just save a bit of cash and have something that just gets them from a to b easily and simply and safely and that is what this car is all about i love it robert llewellyn would go crazy for this thing if the second he sees this video he's going to put an order in for like six of them this is bobby loo in car form you know it's always going to be the porsche tycans and the teslas and the pole stars of this world that steal all the headlines all the attention but cars like this cars like this are the ones that are actually going to make this thing happen this electric revolution if it's going to happen in a big way on mass then we need cars that most people can afford and we're still missing them these are the cars that we need the most well we're here we're back at the eiffel tower we survived parisian traffic the spring excelled in every challenge we threw at it parisian traffic by the way it's so bad we were like hey you know it would be fun if we drove around paris and got stuck in traffic all day it's not fun it's very stressful it's been a funny old day i feel slightly manic but my main takeaway is this is a wonderful little thing i'm not just saying that it really is daisia please please bring it to the uk in fact fully charged subscribers you watching this right now if you would buy one of this get down in the comments and say i would buy that car we can convince them there's lots of us there's so many of us if we all say we'll buy one and then actually buy one they'll bring it it's only 100 a month come on guys for the cause so there we go the dacia spring well worth the journey i wish i could take it home with me please make sure to like and subscribe be sure to leave a comment down below to let me know what you think of this car and if you have been thank you for watching calling all european fully charged fans don't forget that we'll be bringing our smash hit live show to the netherlands next march see you there bye\n"