The DACIA SPRING, the model that proved that electric cars can be affordable, has received a significant powertrain upgrade. The original versions were known for their extremely modest performance, but Dacia has now replaced the old engines with two new, significantly more powerful versions that should maintain an attractive price.
The previous range included engines with the 45 and 65 designations, which represented horsepower – to be precise, just 44 hp (33 kW) and 64 hp (48 kW). Performance was far from impressive; the weaker model took as much as 19.1 seconds to reach 100 km/h, while the more powerful one took 13.7 seconds to do the same task – figures not seen in a new car for decades.
Significantly better performance
The new models are labeled Spring 70 and Spring 100. Although Dacia has not announced the official acceleration time to 100 km/h for the 69 hp model, the intermediate acceleration figures reveal a huge improvement. While the old models needed 26.2 and 14 seconds to accelerate from 80 to 120 km/h, the new Spring 70 does it in 10.3 seconds. The most powerful version with 100 HP completes this task in just 6.9 seconds, and reaches 100 km/h in 9.6 seconds. Although it is not the performance of a sports compact, compared to its predecessor, the difference is drastic.
Improvements under the hood
To cope with the new power, the Spring has been given a stabilizer bar for the first time. Along with it, a new 24.3 kWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery is also new. The range on a single charge remains unchanged at 225 km, but the charging power has been increased. The previous 30 kW on-board charger has been replaced by a 40 kW one.
Although 40 kW seems small compared to modern electric vehicles, it is quite enough for the small battery of the Spring. Charging from 20 to 80 percent on a DC charger takes an acceptable 29 minutes, while on a 7kW home charger the battery is charged from 20 to 100 percent in 3 hours and 20 minutes.
Price remains key
Dacia has not yet announced prices for the refreshed models, but they are expected to not differ significantly from the previous amounts.
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