Dacia Spring

History

Development of a European-market version of the Renault City K-ZE was publicly reported in October 2019. Gilles Normand, then director of Renault's electric vehicle division, confirmed that a version intended for European export was under development. The project carried the internal codename BBG.

Dacia presented the Dacia Spring Electric concept on 3 March 2020.

The concept was originally scheduled to debut at the Geneva Motor Show in 2020. The event was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the vehicle was subsequently revealed during an online presentation. The concept car featured a grey body with contrasting neon-orange details on the wheels, door handles, exterior mirrors and front grille.

Overview

The production version of the Spring was unveiled during the Renault EWAYS conference on 15 October 2020, following a series of teaser images released by the manufacturer.

At launch, the Spring was offered in two configurations: a passenger version for private customers and a Business version intended for car-sharing operators. The two versions shared the same basic mechanical specification, with differences mainly concerning exterior details. The private version used orange accents and Dacia's Y-shaped rear-light signature, whereas the Business model featured blue accents and rear lights derived from the Renault City K-ZE.

For the European market, the Spring received a reinforced chassis, six airbags and additional driver-assistance systems to meet local safety requirements. Its electric powertrain was also modified. The European model used a 27.4 kWh lithium-ion battery, compared with the 26.8 kWh unit fitted to the Chinese-market version. The initial claimed range was approximately 230 km (140 mi) under the WLTP cycle.

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  Rear view
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  Interior

Marketing

When the Spring was introduced, Dacia stated that it would not be sold in the United Kingdom because Renault had no immediate plans to develop a right-hand-drive version. Although the possibility of a right-hand-drive model had not been ruled out, its development was not considered a priority, particularly because the vehicle was manufactured in China for export to Europe. The Spring was consequently also absent from other European markets with left-hand traffic, including Ireland, Cyprus and Malta.

The situation changed with the 2024 facelift, when Dacia introduced a right-hand-drive version for the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Safety

The European-market Spring received a one-star rating from Euro NCAP following crash tests published in December 2021. Euro NCAP identified a high risk of serious injury in several areas, particularly involving the driver's chest and the rear passenger's head in frontal-impact tests, while protection of the chest in the side-impact test was assessed as marginal.

In 2022, Latin NCAP tested the Spring using a protocol that was more stringent than the organisation's 2017 testing procedure. The 2022 Latin NCAP protocol was broadly comparable to the Euro NCAP procedure used in 2014, making it several generations older than the protocol applied by Euro NCAP to the Spring in 2021.

Euro NCAP test results
Dacia Spring (2021)

Test	Points	%
Overall:
Adult occupant:	18.9	49%
Child occupant:	27.5	56%
Pedestrian:	21.3	39%
Safety assist:	5.2	32%

Sales

Development

The Dacia first teased the second-generation Spring with a sketch in February 2025, before confirming the retained Spring name and a targeted sub-€18,000 starting price on 18 June 2026.

It was developed in approximately 16 months, reusing existing AmpR Small / RGEV Small components and Renault Group's European manufacturing infrastructure to control costs. The outgoing, China-built Spring had sold more than 210,000 units across over 40 countries since its 2021 launch.

Design

The second-generation Spring has a more upright design than its predecessor, with a higher bonnet, pronounced wheel arches, black trim linking the headlights and taillights, and pop-out rear windows.

Unlike its previous generation, the second-generation Spring adopts a hatchback body style because it shares its underlying architecture with the Twingo E-Tech, but with a distinct, boxier front clip, and a narrow black panel houses the front lighting elements in place of the Twingo's round headlamps.

Its dimensions grew by 18 cm (7.1 in) in width and 15 cm (5.9 in) in length over its predecessor. The minimalist interior retains four full-size seats and physical buttons alongside a 7-inch digital instrument cluster and a 10.1-inch touchscreen.

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  Side view
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  Rear view
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  Interior

Powertrain and equipment

The Spring uses a single 60 kW (82 PS; 80 hp) electric motor producing 175 N⋅m (129 lb⋅ft) of torque, giving a 0–100 km/h (62 mph) time of 12.1 seconds and a top speed of 130 km/h (81 mph).

A 27.5 kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery provides a WLTP range of up to 250 km (155 mi), compared to the mechanically related Twingo E-Tech. Standard 6.6 kW AC charging takes the battery from 15–80% in nine hours, optional 11 kW AC charging reduces this to under two hours, and optional 50 kW DC fast charging allows a 15–80% charge in 28 minutes.

Trunk capacity is 337 L (11.9 cu ft), expanding to 1,283 L (45.3 cu ft) with the 50:50 split rear seats folded, plus an optional 18 L (0.6 cu ft) front storage compartment.

Equipment includes wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, connected navigation, Dacia's YouClip accessory system, and optional vehicle-to-load (V2L) capability.