The Dacia Spring has always been an automotive outlier. It wasn’t particularly fast, sophisticated, or refined, but that was never the point. What made it remarkable was its price tag. For years, it stood as one of Europe’s cheapest electric vehicles, offering a no-frills route into EV ownership. Now, Dacia is preparing to rewrite the formula.
Meet the New Spring.
Yes, that’s officially the name. Dacia has confirmed that its upcoming electric city car will retain the Spring badge but add a “New” prefix to distinguish it from the existing model that will continue to be sold alongside it. The naming strategy may be confusing, but the car itself represents a much bigger shift than a simple facelift or model-year update.
Most importantly, the New Spring abandons its Chinese origins.
The original Spring arrived in 2021 as a heavily reworked version of the Renault Kwid EV, built in China and riding on the aging CMFA-EV platform. While Dacia refreshed the car substantially in 2024 and boosted performance with updated powertrains and batteries in 2025, the underlying architecture remained unchanged.
The New Spring changes all of that.
Instead of being sourced from China, the newcomer will be built in Europe and will ride on Renault Group’s modern AmpR Small platform. That’s the same architecture underpinning the upcoming Renault Twingo E-Tech, giving Dacia access to a far more advanced foundation than the outgoing model ever had.
A recently released teaser image reveals only the rear of the vehicle, but it already suggests a more mature design direction. The tailgate appears upright and practical, while square-shaped LED taillights and clean body surfacing emphasize functionality over fashion. It remains unmistakably a city car, but one that looks considerably more substantial than its predecessor.
Dacia hasn’t revealed the cabin yet, although the company promises “four real seats and a real trunk”—a subtle acknowledgment that space and practicality remain central to the Spring’s mission. Expect a minimalist interior focused on durability and usability rather than luxury. The brand’s increasingly popular YouClip accessory system will likely make an appearance, allowing owners to customize storage solutions and interior accessories.
The real story, however, lies beneath the sheetmetal.
Technical specifications remain under wraps, but industry expectations point toward a setup borrowed largely from the Renault Twingo E-Tech. That would mean an electric motor producing around 80 horsepower paired with a 27.5-kWh battery pack. Those figures may not sound impressive, but they represent a meaningful improvement over the entry-level Spring’s modest output and should provide more than enough performance for urban environments.
Dacia’s gamble appears well-founded. Since its launch, the Spring has found nearly 210,000 buyers across Europe, proving that affordability can outweigh concerns about range, performance, or prestige. For many consumers, it wasn’t the best EV—it was simply the one they could actually afford.
That affordability equation is changing, however.
Dacia says the New Spring will start below €18,000. While that would still make it one of Europe’s least expensive electric cars, it represents a significant increase over the outgoing Spring, which was available in Germany earlier this year for roughly €11,900.
The higher price should bring meaningful gains in technology, safety, performance, and overall refinement. In other words, Dacia appears ready to move the Spring from bargain-basement transportation to something approaching a genuinely modern EV.
What won’t change is the basic formula. The New Spring will retain compact dimensions, five doors, and city-friendly proportions, as confirmed by previous design sketches. It’s still designed for crowded urban streets, tight parking spaces, and buyers who prioritize practicality over prestige.
Only now, it seems, Dacia wants those buyers to have a little more car for their money.
And for the first time, the Spring may be more than just the cheapest EV in Europe—it might actually be one of the most compelling.
Source: Dacia