Europe’s Cheapest EV Gets A Big Power Boost And An LFP Battery

• The Dacia Spring, Europe’s cheapest new EV, gets a massive power boost and a new battery.
• The Spring is now the Renault Group’s first LFP-powered EV.
• The budget EV, which starts at roughly $19,700 (€16,900), gets several other improvements, including a charging boost.

The Dacia Spring got yet another refresh, just one year after its comprehensive styling update in 2024, two years after getting new motors, and three years after its first facelift. Suffice to say, the Chinese-made electric city car has gone through its fair share of improvements since debuting in Europe in 2021, and now it’s time for yet another batch of technical upgrades.

Europe’s cheapest new electric car got a big power boost, a cheaper and more resilient battery, and faster charging.

Photo by: Dacia

Starting at roughly $19,700 (€16,900), the updated Spring is now powered by a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery pack that sits in a new reinforced enclosure designed to increase stiffness and improve weight distribution. Compared to the outgoing nickel-based battery, the LFP chemistry promises more logevity and less degradation over time.

The new LFP battery has a 24.3-kilowatt-hour capacity, which means it’s slightly smaller than the outgoing model’s 25-kilowatt-hour pack. Despite this, thanks to a pair of more efficient electric motors and some aerodynamic improvements, the LFP-powered Spring has the same 140-mile (225-kilometer) combined WLTP range as before.

Photo by: Dacia

Charging-wise, the diminutive EV also gets a boost, with the optional DC fast-charging pack upping the maximum power input from 30 kilowatts to 40 kilowatts. That’s not exactly record-setting, but for such a small battery and the low starting price, it should be perfectly adequate. Dacia claims the uprated speed leads to a 20-to-80% top-up in 29 minutes when hooked up to a DC fast charger. Thanks to the new LFP battery, it also takes less time to charge from an AC source, with the standard 7 kW onboard charger allowing the small EV to go from 20% to 100% in three hours and 20 minutes instead of four hours. If a domestic 240-volt socket is used, it takes 10 hours and 11 minutes to go from 20% to 100%

Motivation-wise, the updated EV ditches the measly 45- and 65-horsepower drive units in favor of two new units that are capable of delivering 70 and 100 horsepower, respectively. That’s a huge boost, and it should make the Spring a better all-rounder, despite its diminutive size.

Photo by: Dacia

The brake system also got a little upgrade, with Dacia claiming the assistance is now more powerful than before, and there’s an anti-roll bar now. That last part sounds like something I would write if it were the 1950s, but here we are.

Inside, the Spring remains unchanged, with a 10.1-inch central touchscreen running Android Automotive OS and offering Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The large screen is standard on the top trim and optional on the base version.

Speaking of versions, the Spring comes in three flavors. The base Essential comes with the 70 hp front motor, a 7-inch digital instrument cluster, power steering, cruise control, front power windows, rear parking sensors and remote door locking. It doesn’t have air conditioning and an infotainment system. Instead, owners can use their smartphones and a Dacia app.

The mid trim is called Expression, and it adds manual air-conditioning and 15-inch wheels. The top version, Extreme, kicks things up a notch with power door mirrors and rear windows, that nice 10.1-inch touchscreen, two USB ports and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. It also comes with the punchier 100 hp motor.

Whatever the version, Dacia claims the Spring costs less than $23,300 (€20,000). That’s a lot of value, but don’t forget that this thing is tiny–just 145.7 inches (3.7 meters) long, 62.3 inches (1.58 meters) wide and 58.6 inches (1.49 meters) tall. That’s just a couple of inches bigger than the Fiat 500e.