I drove Dacia’s Spring e-van – it’s perfect for small businesses, is cheaper than rivals & drives live a dogem
WHAT do all these jobs have in common?
Cake maker.
Plumber.
Beautician.
Deliveroo driver.
Decorator.
Dog walker.
The answer is: They all need a small van.
Nothing bigger than a car but with a decent boot, mesh bulkhead to stop them being decapitated by flying objects in the back, and a wipe-clean rubber floor.
At the moment the only thing that really fits the bill is a Renault Kangoo. But that’s £24k all-in.
Not only will Dacia’s Spring Cargo van be £5k cheaper at £19k, it won’t cost much to run either.
Because it’s fully electric. Which means powering it, tax, maintenance and all those things will be as cheap as chips.
I should perhaps explain the £24k Kangoo has a petrol engine. The electric Kangoo costs £36k, almost twice the price of Spring Cargo.
No brainer, then.
Dacia is giving small business owners the chance to run a smart, clean, easy-to-use van for as little as £7 A DAY.
Maybe even less.
Spring Cargo is N1-approved as a light commercial vehicle, so it is VATable.
My price estimate includes VAT. So for some firms Spring Cargo will cost £15k-£16k, making it Britain’s cheapest new van by some distance.
Dacia will confirm pricing later.
Other observations – load space is 1,000 litres. Payload is 358kg. Load length is 1.17 metres.
Dacia will even take care of your livery.
I do have one grumble, though. You can’t strap anything to those roof bars. They’re purely for decoration.
Spring Cargo arrives in the UK this time next year, alongside the five-door Spring supermini we’ve just tried here.
Both are powered by a lightweight 27kWh battery that’ll do up to 136 miles on a full charge.
Not suitable for long-distance work, clearly. But perfect for those who never stray too far from their own postcode.
The car has a decent 290-litre boot, bigger than a Peugeot e-208.
Hop in, turn the key, select D on the rotary controller, release the manual handbrake and go.
Yes, I just said “key” and “handbrake” in a brand new car. Simples.
After just a few hundred yards it’s clear that Spring is light, easy, nippy and fun — like a four-seat dodgem.
It’s a dinky 3.7 metres front to back, which means it spins round tighter than an excited puppy chasing its tail.
It sprints from 0-31mph in just 3.9 seconds and accelerates smoothly all the way to a top speed of 78mph.
The cabin is exactly what you’d expect from Dacia: Everything you need and nothing you don’t.
Big speedo. Big door pockets for drinks. Big central bucket for keys and other debris.
There’s a USB port beside the touchscreen to connect your phone. A 12v port for your dashcam. Sorted.
The plastics are more plasticky than other small cars but that’s what makes a Dacia affordable. I’m fine with it.
Besides, the updated version we’re getting will have a fresh new look and more driver-assistance kit as standard.
I have absolutley no doubt Spring will be a huge hit.
When The Sun revealed right-hand drive cars were finally coming to the UK, Dacia’s website melted with 3,000 hand-raises in four days.
Now we know there’s a van coming to join the party, all the micro-business owners will be like coiled Springs.
You can register your interest at dacia.co.uk./vehicles/spring.
Key facts: DACIA SPRING
- Price: £19,000
- Battery: 27kWh
- Power: 65hp
- 0-31mph: 3.9 secs
- 0-62mph: 13.7 secs
- Top speed: 78mph
- Range: 136 miles
- CO2: 0/gkm
- Out: 2024