Dacia Spring: Living With The UK's CHEAPEST Electric Car

[@NoHandleToSpeakOf]

Suggestion: when you mention numbers - duplicate them on the screen. Imperial and metric please. Thanks!

[@brent_in_aussie]

Agreed WTF is a mile in 2024 jeeez

[@aliendroneservices6621]

​​​@@AJames-jr8kwLiberia uses miles. And it's *_0.609_* more.

[@AJames-jr8kw]

1.62x more than a km. Robert is english, in England distance is measured in miles so I don't mind him saying miles. However the OP has a point and a flash of the metric version on screen would be helpful for non English/American viewers

[@thekaxmax]

Not Imperial, it's 'USA Customary' measurements, they aren't all the same values as Imperial (UK) ones. And both have SI units as standard.

[@SniperSnake50BMG]

please PLEASE!!

[@stonesie81]

I was looking at one of these but then I took that same £15K and bought a used Kona 64Kw Premium SE so it's got just about everything, heated and cooled seats and double the range. Still got 4 years motor and battery warranty too. The Used EV market is getting quite interesting.

[@xxwookey]

That is a much nicer car for the same money, and double the range. But new cars have always been very poor value, so no surprise really.

[@jankoodziej877]

It's probably the best time to buy used electric cars now. New electric cars are actually getting cheaper (or better battery etc. for similar price), which drivers down the price of used ones, in addition to people still being very afraid of buying used EVs. I expect both those factors to be gone sooner or later.

[@GregHarveyUK]

Similar story, looked at one with my mother in law but she opted for an ex-demo Volkswagen e-Up (which is a brilliant little car, btw) that cost slightly less and had infinitely nicer build quality plus more range and faster charging. Don't get me wrong, the Spring has its place, but the way the second hand market is going you really need to WANT a low budget new car. I reckon second hand Springs will be really interesting. I might well be looking at that for my kids when they start driving!

[@LittleBoobsLover]

what year of kona did you buy? Well basically I would do the same, but we always must rememebr that used car will be almost always better. But now we will have much better used cars in the future with that spring.

[@gordonmackenzie4512]

Yup ! Followed another Chanel’s advise, put all the”want” details into an online site. Got exactly what I was looking for, at 46% less than RRP with options. 7 months old with 5000 miles from a dealer, delivered to my door.

[@mikadavies660]

Back to basics is what is needed. What is wrong with a simple, no frills car. 👍

[@CarsofGlasgow]

have you seen the dongfeng t1? :D

[@danpaul4975]

The issue with no frills cars is stupid regulations. My 2013 Dacia duster does everything I need it to and nothing I dont

[@ziggarillo]

​@@CarsofGlasgowThis is a rebadged Dongfeng Nano Box

[@dorianleakey]

What are you trying to say? What regulations insist cars have silly haptic buttons?​@@danpaul4975

[@nadirh902]

The thing with the previous version of the spring is that it has a euro ncap rating of 1. I hope this version is safer.

[@jamesengland7461]

That intro visual of the size difference between this and the Model Y was very effective!

[@stephen300o6]

Reminds me of Father Ted..

[@awo1fman]

And extremely misleading because of perspective. DUH.

[@G-ra-ha-m]

@@awo1fman The model y is a large car though, it should be a smaller car with twice the efficiency.

[@timoliver8940]

Eminently more sensible car for the school run than all those X5’s, Land Rover/Range Rovers and big 4x4 diesel monsters that seem to be hogging the zig zag lines outside the schools around here.

[@john_barnett]

The only issue is what happens to the kidlets when one of those land barges hits the Spring because some other driver wasn't paying attention... That's what drives the mentality of buying giganto SUVs as family cars

[@robertimrie3710]

​​@@john_barnettI am sure we are all familiar with that point but then what about the kids walking and riding bikes. If we all jump on the band wagon they are toast 100% in any encounter. If lots of people started turning up in cars like this the big car people would soon be like the sad smokers outside the office. Well, I can dream I guess.

[@jonevansauthor]

@@john_barnett which is hilarious because said vehicles kill thousands of children every year without even hitting them and they ALSO run over a lot more children/people than proper cars (and it's even worse with pickups).

[@xxwookey]

@@robertimrie3710 We could make the permitted parking distance from school proportional to the size/weight/emissions of the car. So the closest 400m is peds and bikes only, then the Dacia Springs, then the Buzz's and ICE Fiestas, then the X5s and Range Rovers about 1km away. People would soon enough learn to either cycle or buy a sensible sized car.

[@james.telfer]

​@@xxwookeybrilliant idea, but when society ever behave logically 🤷 if it did, we'd have suffered through decarbonisation already 🫤

[@DanielEdwards-]

I got one of these as a hire car from Enterprise. It wasn’t particularly thrilling to be handed a set of keys for this, but then I drove it, and I really enjoyed it.

[@Flickerbrain]

You keep saying this car isn't any good for long journeys, neighbours of ours took their older version Dacia Spring on a 3 month tour of Portugal driving down from Germany. They really enjoyed it and didn't have any issues with charging.

[@NunoLima1337]

Agreed. and back in the olde days traveling 1000s of Km in a Renault 5 was perfectly normal. Great for those who can do long trips comfortably in a Mercedes but the Dacia will get from A-B.

[@CarsofGlasgow]

@@NunoLima1337 He didn't say it couldnt do it...

[@Damian-p4g6m]

Lunitic behaviour

[@jonevansauthor]

@@Damian-p4g6m well, yes, if you're going a thousand kilometres, it's smarter to get a train if you can but not always cost effective if you do have your own car. No reason you can't recharge on the way though. Plus if you're travelling with kids the train might be worse for you (or you might *think* it will be).

[@mikec2505]

@@CarsofGlasgowHe actually did say you could do it…

[@georgejohnson1498]

Nothing to dislike about this. I would black out the bumper wrapping, but everything else about this car appeals to me immensely. I would get rubber mats if these were an option. I bet they are in its home market! If I had the money I would buy one. I really like the Microlino, but this is logical sense rather than a heart's desire! This is now my favourite EV. Perfect. Best wishes from George

[@winfriedtheis5767]

On the Electrifying channel the viewers suggested to not call the small cars “city cars” anymore, but simply say small car! In the countryside as you know perfectly well, Robert, there are loads of people who want a cheap local or say regional runaround. And certainly as a second car 150miles or 240km range will bring most people through a normal week. And particularly cars like the eC3 or the Inster, or the R5 are all perfectly suited to do a holiday trip in. So absolute sufficient for 70-80% of people. So just call them small cars, please!

[@MotormikeyD]

What a strange request. 🤔

[@alanclarke4965]

@@MotormikeyD Why? City car doesn't sit with me either - members of my family living in cities don't have cars - walk, cycle or tube - but out of town people need cars for daily 5-30 mile journeys for shopping or commuting. So to me this is a not-city car, or just small car would do fine

[@1oneill2]

It’s classed as a city car fella, that’s the design. A small car would be something like a 2 seater, this has 4 hence the term city car. It’s better to just use one term instead of changing it mid production ass that’s going to cause confusion. It’s bad enough with all the different vehicles, battery sizes and charging speeds. I’m on my 2 nd ev in 6 years, this is by far the cheapest I’ve ever seen one, looking like things are getting better.

[@murdoch9106]

These simple electric options we see now get me for excited than a Lucid Sapphire for some reason! And the designs from Renault and Dacia have just been excellent! Heck, Renault has been doing beautiful designs for the past few years even with their gas powered stuff.

[@ziggarillo]

It's actually a Dongfeng, not a Renault.

[@AJames-jr8kw]

Wrong. It was designed by Renault engineers in India in 2015 as a Renault/Nissan project for the Indian market as a petrol car called the Renault Kwid and made in Chennai. Sold for ~$3899 at the time. A couple years later Renault Brazil started making a beafed up (safer) version for their market. Then a couple years later (2019) Renault designed an electric version and called it City K-ZE and got it manufactured in China by Renault/Nissan/Dong Feng joint venture. Renault sold it as Dacia spring in Europe, E-tech in Sth America and Dong Feng had several badge engineered versions for the Chinese market. Of course the Chinese can design better now so the new Dong Feng Nano (box) I'm sure is all Chinese and better than the Spring.

[@roebuddy01]

Also, from experience of sitting on the rear bench of the Dacia Spring in a London dealership, part of the weight saving is that this is really a 4-seater hatchback. I'm 5'11" and my brother is 5'8.5" and we were tight in the back, especially with the driver's seat at 5'11" positioning. Kids in the back would be ok we thought. Commentary on the battery. Most people associate small battery with small range. For the price, the range is more than adequate for most weekly city commutes. But the other thing is that with a small battery, even a granny (domestic 3-pin EV) charger charges this battery in less hours than overnight. Meaning that the Dacia Spring challenges the notion that owning an EV necessitates a dedicated EV charge point. I found that really interesting. As a Zoe owner, before getting a Zappi charger, it would take 2 overnights to charge to capacity with a granny charger...slightly longer if moderating for cheap rate leccy.

[@raydawson8904]

Ideal school run, shopping trolley. Perfect!

[@xxwookey]

35kW charging will still charge to 80 % in about 35 mins, because the battery isn't very big. So the charging rate is sensibly-sized for the car.

[@RichardBrooklyn]

Depends on the charging curve…

[@desertstar223]

@@xxwookey It's not as simple as that. There are other factors that have to be taken into account Please educate yourself.

[@xxwookey]

@@desertstar223I know about charging curves, but none of us know what it is for this vehicle yet so I was just doing the simple-minded approximation. It will take somewhat longer than that, maybe up to an hour, but the point remains that with a small battery a low charging rate is not that big a problem. This isn't a car where people are going to be charging to full en-route very often.

[@desertstar223]

@@xxwookey You approximated the charging time, are you now also "approximating" people's driving habits by knowing when and how often they're gonna charge.

[@ziggarillo]

It's about 45mins, so your guesstimate is near enough 😊

[@definedphotography]

"Good news...!" - James May

[@jamesengland7461]

Anyway... 😂

[@Larken42]

This is what I was looking for

[@rcpmac]

Perfect insider comment

[@DaveP668]

Adaptive cruise is expensive as it is also linked to vehicle safety systems, emergency braking and possibly brake light recognition cameras. No surprise it doesn't have it. Its also a vehicle which doesn't need it as it will spend most of its time on local runs.

[@MichaelKing-bv4tv]

Love the Nissan Leaf price comparison with inflation etc. show that proper progress has been made! Please keep doing this every so often!!

[@CarsofGlasgow]

its also a much smaller car, this is more Aygo size versus a Golf

[@anemeth9281]

It was not right, as the Leaf cost min 30k in 2012...

[@G-ra-ha-m]

@@anemeth9281 In 2017 a Citroen C1 was £8k, so probably in 2012 the equivalent was £6k. Paying 5 x of a small petrol doesn't seem very green at all.

[@anemeth9281]

​​@@G-ra-ha-m Agree, but in 2011-12 the EVs were in their infancies. Btw the C1 was 8k in 2012

[@G-ra-ha-m]

@@anemeth9281 Ok, so how is anyone supposed to afford a new EV? £8k would get you a very good small car with about 50mpg avg., but a new EV such as the lowest model Tesla is five times the price...

[@mg1079]

What a pleasure to watch. Great job Robert! A truly UK gentleman with brilliant humour and nobles.

[@leifarnemo6443]

Love the proper key and proper handbrake!

[@tracybergamin6305]

Agreed! I love a proper handbrake 👍

[@dorianleakey]

​@@tracybergamin6305no, we are the problem, despite a proper handbrake being safer and a logical way of stopping a car that doesn't rely on technology there is something we aren't getting. Something is wrong with us and correct about technology.

[@AlanTov]

Couldn't be doing with a handbrake after using auto hold. But it's cheap so fair enough.

[@dorianleakey]

@AlanTov we need more mechanical back ups for everything, too much is electronic only. Being able to manually operate a brake in case of a failure if tech is so logical.

[@John420ridge]

Loved my old Dacia, never had a problem with it. Cheap but no frills and very reliable brand

[@titanlurch]

This is what we need. Unfortunately it's still not available in North America .

[@VidPS]

"Still not available"? Dacia will never be available in North America!

[@Trashed20659]

City drivers could use it in America, but unfortunately everyone seems to want 300+ miles at that price. They never stop to think why they would need that, and always forget how much gas costs for cheap ICE cars that can go further on a tank.

[@matthiaskreidenweis]

NA is a third world country according to your just elected leader. No need for small electric cars.

[@bm8641]

in Moronica you have Musk.

[@phillippatryndal4255]

@@matthiaskreidenweis It definitely will be by the time he (and his replacements) are finished with it :( Looks a pretty useful car this one, not that I'm in the market for one, (I live in London, but don't/can't drive).

[@streetlurker8168]

Thanks for the video! debating on getting one as a 2nd family car. I have a mg4 with an ev tariff and use it to heat up my hot water or run heaters in the day my electric bill is still very low. The V2l is very handy tool for the fight on cheaper living

[@ctrlaltdude]

I've got one for over 2 years now. Love it. It is simple. Has proper buttons for everything and there's no fancy stuff that can break.

[@ScottEdy]

"if you live in a city"! come on, Robert! look around our rural area. there are mostly B seg/Small SUV vehicle's just like this one. I thought we were passed the "city car" label. especially as it's on of the hardest places to charge (less likely to have off--street parking, etc). This good for anyone, anywhere.

[@ouethojlkjn]

“ it’s skipping along the road like a dainty rabbit” - - Jack mumbles “ wish I thought of that”

[@AlanTov]

Nice little motor. I hope I see a few around.

[@recumbentrocks2929]

This is exactly what we need! As a second car runabout it would be perfect.

[@catmandoodoo7903]

This is exactly the car I’ve been waiting for. By the way please don’t do yourself a disservice regarding your car review skills. A lot of people prefer your reviews to Jack’s.

[@chrispenn715]

Great little car - hope they sell loads and loads in the UK! I know it's not electric - but I had a Duster a few years ago - one of my favourite cars ever (including Jaguars, Mercs etc. that I've also owned) My brother in law now has my Duster and loves it! The Spring is a great step forward for city runabouts....

[@G-ra-ha-m]

The spring is a great step backwards on any metric.

[@lukazupie7220]

Wow how old were those Jaguars and Mercs?? 50??😁

[@chrispenn715]

@lukazupie7220 jaguar xf. Brand new. C class couple of years old. I didn't say the duster was 'better' than either - just that it was a favourite of mine

[@lukazupie7220]

@@chrispenn715 if you prefer worse cars Dacia sure is superior😁 i am kidding a bit i also have oldish toyota verso that i don’t care about and i like that.. ride on bad roads is also much softer than my bmw😀

[@daviddawson9099]

It shows what you can make for a reasonable price things should only get better,

[@appkazoo5925]

I was in our local Renault dealership this week to talk about a test drive of the Scenic e-Tech and they had a Dacia Spring EV in that same colour on display. It was great to see and the price is about right. As other people have said the second hand market means for the same sort of price you can get some really good EVs. Anyway, hopefully lots of people will buy the Spring and in 3-4 years' time there will be a number on the second hand market for £6-8K

[@HerrMensch1]

Loved the comparison to the Nissan Leaf. Half the price, twice the range. Amazing how far we came in only 12 years!

[@brunomadeira8432]

It may be cheap but I think It actually has a nice design and is somewhat desirable. Better than some of its competitors.

[@adarsh.m1999]

Literally a Renault Kwid in india we used to get in 800cc and 1000cc petrol engine with 54 BHP and 68BHP.

[@dales_quaker]

Definitely a guy doing a car review in the same way he would build a flat pack. Let’s not read the instruction manual, let’s just get on with it. Adaptive cruise control? Any battery regeneration? We’ll find out 😂 Enjoyable review

[@Yesterzine]

He's also slightly wrong on that one because it does have an emergency braking system for front end collisions, which isn't adaptive cruise control but would presumably prevent cruise control driving him into the back of the camera car.

[@dales_quaker]

@ Good to know that the car has that safety feature. More proof the instructions weren’t read?

[@markmondeomanpearson2871]

Just collected the exact same Spring. I love it :)

[@Jaw0lf]

A simple no frills EV that is small and cheap. This is what we have needed for a long time, so it is great to see. Ideal for new drivers and slower 0-60 will make it better on insurance.

[@G-ra-ha-m]

We had them 100 years ago. They were far far better than todays evironmental disasters.

[@dkmyww]

Dacia doing an amazing job providing simple cost effective cars for families .. well done

[@adrianaspalinky1986]

I love watching the videos, But now I have to wait for my other half, cos it's one of the few things we both like and feel positive about!

[@scdi12]

Great option for a lot of people. Good video. Thx

[@timfulwell8472]

I live in Portugal with its many small roads in towns and villages not designed for cars. This is perfect. I’ll charge up on my weekly shop at the supermarket Result!

[@G-ra-ha-m]

Please don't park or charge it near nice old buildings, these things are a fire risk.

[@timfulwell8472]

@ though according to the fire statistics ten times less likely than a diesel or petrol

[@G-ra-ha-m]

@@timfulwell8472 No, watch China Observer to see how common they are now.

[@rinnin]

Great, simple & straight to the point review. Nice one Robert!

[@rahmann936]

I would rather get a better, bigger used EV for the same money as a new Dacia Spring IMO.🤔 Lease new EVs, then buy used EVs is the way to go! Wouldn't you agree Kryten? & Yes I am a Dwarfer!

[@leostockley415]

Love this car. It’s what we should be making and buying. We don’t need all the crazy spec that comes with £80k cars. I was amazed when Jack said the new £100k Porsche would sell like hot cakes! I’d love a little Dacia Spring and I live in the countryside (Cornwall - lots of small lanes, tight parking spaces and wiggly village roads).

[@nakfan]

Excellent review. Thanks for focusing on the basic things 👍

[@StephenButlerOne]

Never owned a Dacia, but always been a huge fan. They sell no nonsense all the family car you need cars, at cheap prices. This looks really good. Outside, and inside is great for a sub 20k car today. The only thing I'd want is faster DC charging. I know it's not designed to be a motorway muncher, but the day I needed to cover 300 miles, I'd -want- need something closer to 100kwh charging. A 35kwh battery would with a motorway range of 100 miles with a 120kw charge time would actually be fine for a motorway trip, your charge times would be sub 10 mins each time, so it wouldn't be a massive inconvenience hopping to Tesla charging stations. Across the contrary. Maybe the odd ionity if you really had to. Apart from the 35kwh charging holding it local only, I still think this is a great car for almost every one. Most people do sub 30 miles a day, so range isn't really an issue. Also I don't think range is an issue on most cars. I like to rate range in time rather than distance. My bladder and back has about a 2.5-3h so if a car can do that and can charge oat 120kwh or above. It means I can cover 180 miles in the 2.5-3h window (you're never covering 210m in the UK in 3 hours) then charge at a decent rate, sub 20 mins, enough time to walk to the bathroom and grab a drink and walk back, that take 20 mins +/-, the car is ready to go and do another 2.4/3h. I don't really care if a car has a real range of 350 miles or whatever. If it can get closer to 200miles on the motorway and barge well, that's all I need out of an EV.

[@Hacker4748]

The problem is that the speed of battery charging depends on its capacity. The smaller the battery, the lower the power you should charge it at (to keep it healthy). That's why electric trucks with 600 kWh batteries can be easily charged at 350 kW and there are plans for megawatt charging stations, and it's also why you cannot charge an AA battery in a millisecond on a 350 kW charger. The basic rule is that you can safely charge an X kWh battery using X kW power. So if you have a 50 kWh battery, you can safely charge it using 50 kW. There even is a unit for that called "C", and this would be 1 C. If a 50 kWh battery is being charged using 100 kW, that would be 2 C. 150 kW would be 3 C, and so on. So, in summary, charging speed depends on capacity, meaning a full charge (0-100%) can usually be reached in 1 hour for all batteries of comparable chemistry.

[@StephenButlerOne]

@Hacker4748 yes I know, it's a catch 22, but hopefully as the tech evolves this can be solved.

[@logicalChimp]

@@Hacker4748 Many batteries can be safely charged at 4C and above, and at 2C and above for sustained charging (albeit with a charge curve that tapers down to 1C - or lower - as you approach 80%). If the Dacia supported 2C charge rates, that would be 50-60kW charging - which would be a significant improvement in reducing charge-times. Unfortunately, many companies seem to be using charge-speed as a way to 'differentiate' models - bigger / high-end models get better charge speeds (in terms of C-rating), even when using the same cells as cheaper models... implying that cheaper models are being limited to slower charge-speeds than the batteries could easily handle.

[@MrAdopado]

@@StephenButlerOne The tech is already there so it's already feasible to charge faster even with a small battery ... it's just that for a car at that price they can't build it with active cooling. My 50kWh battery pack car can top 170kW charge rate initially (so equivalent to 85kW for the Dacia which has half the battery size). However, DC rapid charging is going to be a rare requirement for a Dacia Spring so it seems a reasonable compromise.

[@xWood4000]

There's a lot of cars I want to see the euro ncap score for this year

[@Lucifuriuz]

Brilliant little runabout. Wish they'd bring these over to New Zealand!

[@rossbransby]

I'd be interested how many people use speed limiter rather than cruise control. I'd guess most use cruise control but I've always preferred speed limiter. About the only times I use cruise are on an empty motorway or if want to take a drink or something and want the car looking out for traffic slowing ahead. The Spring has speed limiter so a thumbs up from me :)

[@idjles]

Speed limiter requires foot pressure on accelerator, cruise control means your foot is relaxed.

[@May-D97]

Adaptive cruise is so good that somr companies don't even give the option of a speed limiter.

[@danpaddy]

I always use speed limiter in my leaf. It allows me to keep to the limit when the road is clear, but easily slow down if needed, just by easing off the pressure.

[@May-D97]

@@danpaddy so in adaptive cruise you'd set it to the speed limit, the car will then automatically slow down and speed back up again going along with the traffic. It's very good when you get used to it 👍

[@logicalChimp]

Adaptive cruise control is an 'automatic' speed-limiter (set it to the limit, and it will drive at the limit where clear, and automatically slow down to match traffic speeds when busy). As someone with mobility issues in the right leg, adaptive cruise control is fantastic at reducing strain on longer journeys :D

[@steverichmond7142]

It reminds me of my first car - a 10 years old Morris Minor - pre-owned by my mum.

[@trevorberridge6079]

As a Leaf owner I have to defend this great car. The 24kwh Leaf may cost over £30k on the "inflation calculator" but in reality they could be bought new for less than £12k by 2016. By this time they were improved in a few key ways and their actual "real world" range was between 90 and 110 miles depending on conditions (and yes I'm still talking about the 24kwh Leaf). And just to be clear, I averaged 106 miles when I did an 890 mile round trip to Leith in Scotland in 2017. So this is really real world range we're talking about. What's more the range was actually BETTER on that journey than it was driving locally around London. And without active cooling the battery never overheated even though I did eight consecutive rapid charges in each direction. Even today at 75% SOH it still does 65-85 miles on a charge. Just saying.

[@andrewmorgan1819]

Robert was one of the first Leaf owners, he had a video out a while back where he had the battery replaced. He's using his own figures from his own, not inconsiderable, experience as a Leaf owner.

[@alanclarke4965]

Also if you want to buy a 24 kWh car now a used leaf is a lot cheaper than dacia!

[@anemeth9281]

The Leaf cost 30k in 2012...

[@antwnpowell]

You can rent these in France from E LECLERC for 3€ a day plus a kilometrage fee.

[@Yesterzine]

It's a shame things like this don't exist in the UK. I want to buy an EV next but I'd love to rent one and live with it for a week just to get used to how they drive and some of the practicalities. It seems near impossible to achieve here though.

[@timfulwell8472]

Thank you useful information

[@rcpmac]

That’s remarkably cheap! Why buy one when you have that option?

[@lukazupie7220]

@@rcpmac bcs it is more comfortable to have a car at home as opposed to at store parking lot?😀 That is one of the ways we use the car, to go to store!😀

[@Erwinhooi]

prices starting at €16000,- in the Netherlands. I rather save some more money and buy the Hyundai Inster. that one comes with way more options and most probably is a safer car! (starting price €18395,-)

[@jonford6119]

Hmm, not so sure about this. A combination of super-cheap 'Linglong' brand tyres and a one star Euro NCAP rating? Dacia's response is apparently to say it's as safe as a 13 year of Renault Clio, hardly something to boast about. I'm all for lighter, simpler cars, but this feels like qa compromise too far. I'd be far happier with a used Corsa Electric or something similar than a new one of these.

[@themagicmatt]

Robert is the best car reviewer. That is the stuff I need to know. I don’t care for similes or metaphors.

[@anthonybrown4874]

Not sure your maths is right Robert if the leaf adjusted inflation is 33.3k the cheapest Sping is 15k and the one you really would likebis 17k or 15k for the wee battery one so two Spings for the price not 3. Its overdue getting useable EVs at sub 20k im just not prepared to endebt myself to the extent required so this is a useful step in the right direction though as others point out you get a good EV used thats very capable for the Spring money i think as a used car is where it will really shine as thst 2nd or 3rd car run around a lot of folk like to have where range and cruising capability will not be a major factor. As alwsys your enthusiasm does you credit Robert but i will hang onto my IC cars a while longer.

[@kierank01]

25kwh usable is not the same as 24kwh gross capacity. The leaf was more like 20kwh usable, before degradation

[@trevorberridge6079]

When I got my 24kwh Nissan Leaf in 2016 it had 22.4kwh usable. On average over the eight years of ownership my Leaf has lost 0.68kwh capacity per year. But, you have to take into account that it had faster degradation in the first year so the average since then was even lower. And degradation has been less than 3% per year average which, as with most EVs, has been on a sliding scale. i.e. the degradation has slowed over time. The car battery is now at the edge of it's 8 year, 100,000 mile warranty and it has done over 95,000 miles and still going strong and still getting me everywhere I need to go. It even took me from London to Harrogate and back in May last year for the Fully Charged Show. Not quite as far as the Scotland and back trip it did in 2017, but how often will I ever do an 890 mile round trip? And let's not forget that Jonathan Porterfield and Chris Ramsey drove a 24kwh Leaf from Land's End to John O'Groats and back in 2015. Just under 28.6 hours there and 27.8 hours back covering 1,672 miles. The infrastructure has grown enormously since then and if they could stand to do it again they would certainly improve their time. The 24kwh Leaf is under-rated even by Fully Charged. I've personally busted just about every EV myth with it including the idea that a small battery car is just for cities.

[@sIightIybored]

Glad it's not ruined in the process of becoming RHD. No mention of foot room, driving position or glovebox so I assume they're fine.

[@ElliGConcepcion]

Hit 240k today. Appreciate you for all the knowledge and nuggets you had thrown my way over the last months. Started with 24k in August 2024.,…

[@BryonyClarke-e4v]

Congratulations dear. You're doing well for yourself, I'm 48 and my financial life is in a mess. Any great tips would go a long way in shaping my life. I want to buy my own house, that's a big flex

[@ElliGConcepcion]

I will be forever thankful to you, you changed my life and I will continue to speak on your behalf for the world to hear that you saved me from huge financial debt with just a little trade, thank you Jihan Wu you're such a life saver

[@HollyGarwell]

As a beginner in this, you need to have a mentor to keep you accountable. Jihan Wu is also my invest analyst, he has guided me to identify key market trends, pinpointed strategic entry points, and provided risk assessments, ensuring my investment decisions align with market dynamics for optimal returns.

[@StevenHackers]

Jihan Wu Services has set the standard for others to follow, we love him here in Canada 🇨🇦 as he has been really helpful and changed lots of lives

[@PauletteSmith-s8n]

His guidance allowed me to restructure my retirement plan, resulting in an estimated $700,000 more by the time I retire.

[@siviter]

I know price is the name of the game here, but a 4X4 version as a spiritual successor to the Panda 4X4 would be fantastic.

[@beetooex]

It would be awesome but there's no chance. They'd have to redesign the whole car. It's possible Dacia will do something similar in their next generation of cars tho. The platform the Renault 4 & 5 is built on has reserved space for a second rear motor...

[@alexandersaksvoll5373]

Amazing little car. Exactly what we need more of ! Thanks Dacia for giving us an actually cheap EV!

[@Lodgy]

If it works..., do you work for Dacia?

[@davidpearn5925]

In Australia we get the base MG4 o/r £16k equivalent. BYD Seal Premium £30k

[@dorianleakey]

Yeah, that's more what they should be here.

[@Trashed20659]

I live in semi-rural area, so I have an EV with good range, but I would still consider this one for local travel to go shopping, work, etc. as a second car.

[@3_character_minimum]

We are humming about getting a second car. While a cheap second hand maybe wise. We are also tempted with a cheap new EV. And I think this is a three way fight at the moment. With the Renault, Dacia and Fiat 500e.

[@trevorberridge6079]

A lot of people never really look at how far they actually drive every day. I did a four week study of my driving habits before I switched from a petrol Fiesta to a 24kwh Leaf and saw that it would cover all my requirements with ease. The longest journeys I ever normally do would require me to top up just once in any given day. But that would be less than 10% of my drives. My average would allow me up to a week of driving without needing to charge. My lightest days would equate to two weeks of driving. And as long as you have access to a domestic plug socket you can charge overnight or during the large pockets of down time your car will have during the day.

[@esm7708]

Just get a second hand Kia or Hyundai with loads more range and still in warranty.

[@aarondynamics1311]

@@esm7708 But they're not looking for a car with a long range, they're looking for a second car that will be exclusively used for local trips. You don't need a long range for relatively short trips like that and so a car with such a range would just be heavier and more expensive to run than it needs to be.

[@trevorberridge6079]

@@3_character_minimum Don't forget the Inster.

[@jamesimrobertson5422]

DO love the final "If you have been, thank you for watching" What do I do if I haven't been watching?

[@vahidvahidnia1643]

I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting that coming! Totally surprised me.

[@sarcasmo57]

Does it cool and heat batteries?

[@Lodgy]

No.

[@Ima-hoot]

I had a 2014 Nissan leaf in America and I consistently got over 100 miles/charge. Much higher than the official figures . I drove it like it had no brakes !

[@lukazupie7220]

So very slowly?🤔😀

[@Ima-hoot]

No. If I saw a red traffic light, I let regen do the braking for me. Kept an eye out for traffic. Also had to keep a little more distance between cars. Some motorway driving Need gentle acceleration for range

[@chrisw3771]

Looks better in blue! I tried to test drive one yesterday at Techniquest cardiff. Found the car, just couldn't find the reps from the dealer. I did use it to highlight the difference in build quality to the reps from Tesla. The Dacia is miles better.

[@stoner1916]

Percentage battery left is a good metric to use. Some of the displays like Miles or KM remaining are based on current driving conditions and change when going up or down hill. An increase in remaining miles/km on the screen may not indicate any regenerative process. I would say that in this case the increasing KM left was due to "if you keep diring downhill like this , the range will increase"

[@amigang]

Really is good sign for future priced EV. For me I think the range has got to be rated at least 250miles. As I know that car manufacturers like to show off there best case, so the range is more likely 200, then when you add cold weather, battery getting older etc, you could be looking at it dropping to below 150mile in range. that why I feel 250mile rated EV would be the only option for me.

[@bloodynorahvan2203]

Very entertaining, thanks Robert!

[@66BranDo]

Waiting for the Spring to arrive for the misses. The test drive was a hoot.

[@shanethrussell]

Love the video! I would very much like to give feedback on the charge rates explanation, presonal opinion only however i feel it would make more sense to present it as a % or C rate for the fastest charge rate compared to the battery size. The 35kws you stated sounds on its own quite poor, but it is not bad either for this particular vehicles total range compare to the Leaf following the numbers in your video. Thanks for looking! 😊

[@Ingineru.24]

I just ordered one, but i don't think mine comes with the V2L adapter. Where did you purchase that from?

[@Ingineru.24]

I do have the Extreme edition that supports 30kw charging and V2L, but i can only find the adapter on Aliexpress or something, Dacia doesn't seem to sell it in Romania. Maybe it will come standard with my car?

[@mattcole20]

My extreme has the v2l adapter in the boot, were the spare wheel would be.

[@mariebaxter473]

Thanks Rob . To the point , cheap and less flannel , just how it should be .

[@theyruinedyoutubeagain]

I get a mini chubby whenever someone pronounces Dacia correctly. As a Romanian, thank you for taking the time to learn how to say it

[@richharper8159]

First proper real comparison of old and new technology and pricing. Have a feeling this will be a constant now, as there’s more to compare to.

[@ericlafoy8561]

If it is fitted with Chinese tyres like they are in France the handling is a bit like driving on ice. If you can, change to a better brand of tyres. Also the Spring is a 4 seater as opposed to the Citroen e-C3 who has 5 and is more expensive as well.

[@CarsofGlasgow]

Is the Spring not a Chinese car with a Dacia badge? I recently reviewed the e-c3 for my channel and it was great! I'd probably go for that

[@jonevansauthor]

@@CarsofGlasgow the Spring is smaller and cheaper than the e-C3 so sure... some people want a pointlessly large car, that's more expensive for no advantage but I don't think everyone does. I mean, if I could get a Smart car made by Tesla I'd be happy to pay more for that, but I can't, so a Smart car is still the shortest EV that's a full car that you can get and the best for any predominantly urban use as long as you don't need more than 2 seats. Bigger is not at all better. Well... not always. ;)

[@davidspencer7254]

​@CarsofGlasgow it's a French car for the Indian market built in China rebadged as a Dacia.

[@AerialWaviator]

Would like to see a 30-40 kWh battery pack option, and 10 kW AC charging. It doesn't necessary need to be Dacia Spring, but this a better rounded balance of affordability and being pragmatic BEV. Note: while 2012 LEAF was referenced here, the 2013/14 LEAF double charging from 3 kW to 6 kW, and 2016 increased usable batter to 30 kWh from 24 kWh. 2025 will be nearly a decade since 30 kWh LEAF set global sales records for its time. Later LEAFs offered 40, 60 kWh packs (utilizing the same original pack volume) Just think, a pack in 2025 should be only 1/4 to 1/3 the volume of a 2012 LEAF pack. Helpful to saving volume, weight and materials.

[@davidg61]

Can't wait for Dacia to put "Dainty Rabbit" in their marketing material. 😂

[@JenniferHall-o6s]

A very interesting review as always. If I did all my mileage in town or city, I'd be looking at this car, or maybe the Hyundai Inster.

[@joystation1]

Call me old fashioned but I look ahead when I'm driving in cruise mode and either touch the brakes if I catch up a vehicle or overtake it, so I've turned the adaptive function off.

[@anomuumit]

I feel that the car industry peaked at the ~2005-2012 era. Cars of that age have just enough safety features that the new ones feel like gimmics and enough luxury features so that the driving experience is enjoyable and practical (most of all reliable!). When will the car makers realize that and make a car like from that era, a simple but enjoyable practical car.

[@Yanquetino]

Too bad we'll never get in on this side of the pond. I would say that it needs faster DCFC.

[@MrJinske]

I live in the US, 35 kwh dcfc is plenty for a city car. Just charge at home you will be fine, it's not a road tripper relax. Not every ev needs to get 350 mikes and charge in 20 min. Heck you probably don't even drive 12k mikes a year.

[@xxwookey]

This one should charge to 80% in 35-40 mins. Not sure you really need much faster than that.

[@yorkyone2143]

No Frills, the way forward forget 'over the top' sensors & unnecessary tech. Get me from A to B reliably for a cheap price.

[@AJames-jr8kw]

What is with all the bots with cheesy avatars spouting generic platitudes? Building a digital history before engaging in some nefarious endevour? Anyway the Dacia would do well in NZ for one reason. EVs there have to pay $76/1000km road user charge plus $13 recording fee. So about 8.9c/km RUC. The Spring wouldn't. Of course the right leaning government would probably close the loophold if it became popular.

[@Hzwo.0]

The Spring is an EV whats your point

[@danpaul4975]

The fact that they finally put a keyhole on the driver's door on their new cars again is an advancement for Dacia.

[@eddieallen6401]

The new Renault 4 and 5 look great but this is surely a more realistic spiritual descendant of them both in terms of that car of the people utilitarian charm. Well done Dacia.

[@mitch075fr]

Had the Spring come with a LFP battery, I'd have bought one instead of a BYD Dolphin. I got burnt with LiPo before, I'd rather not go back there.

[@rcpmac]

This is interesting but consider a used BMW i3. Later models have 150 miles of range and it’s a roomy 4 seater with a carbon fiber structure. Light weight Fast fun and efficient. And relatively cheap. Not uncommon to find them with fewer than 20k miles at a good price.

[@MrFatknacker]

I knew an EV would finally be made where Robert’s “it’s a car” review style would be the perfect fit and Dacia have provided it … obviously without adaptive cruise control 🤣

[@NealeUpstone]

I love that shot at the beginning of Robert operating that quaint lever thing next to his seat with the silver knob. Anyone got a clue what it does? 😀

[@DanFrederiksen]

I like them and I think they get too little press. If possible though, it probably would be good to allow at least 50kW charging, which is 2C. They could advise against doing that all the time but for road trips it's important to have. Getting to 400km/h charging speed can be decisively more enabling than say 280. Adding 100km range in 15 minutes can be the acceptable addition to a 300km round trip which has to be a very common use case. Try showing it charging at a Tesla super charger. Just that image could be powerful :)

[@thomash2806]

I love the old Mercedes-Benz cruise control stall. Sooo simple to use.

[@zeth609]

The car looks cool.

[@ChrisLedgerUK]

Adaptive Cruise Control ????? Never heard of observing the traffic around you and using the BRAKE PEDAL !! Hand your licence in if you can't use brake

[@siskodata]

This vs the Leapmotor T03

[@Lodgy]

0:3

[@siskodata]

@Lodgy is that a win for the T03?

[@BillyNoMates1974]

not sure how true but I heard this is one of the most efficient EV's at the moment. The range isnt great but then the battery is small

[@zitronenfalte]

I hardly doubt your range really got up that much via regen. Mostly the computer recalculated the range based on your reduced energy consumption whilst going downhill... But i guess you know that very well. It just sounds better the way you sold it, right? Anyway, nice video! Greetings from Germany

[@roebuddy01]

The battery is small. So the regen he describes is likely very possible on the dashboard reading. As others have written, it takes about 45-50 min to reach 80% with a domestic EV charger. Extrapolating the regen from this, I think it's possible.

[@zitronenfalte]

@roebuddy01 doubt it. It's both. Regen + recalculation. Going uphill sets calculations high so going downhill shows an increase that is higher than it actually is. He didn't talk about percentage, he talked about miles the display shows to go up.

[@madmcadder4536]

Very good....this is what I want to see with EVs. Small city cars or the sort of thing you would hire in Spain. I presume it's a Renault Zoë underneath as Renault supply Dacia with components.

[@chrisogrady28]

Can you get a lowering kit?