Don’t buy the £12,000 Dacia Spring until you’ve seen these used electric cars

The Dacia Spring and Leapmotor T03 have been battling it out for the title of cheapest electric car in the UK for a couple of years now. Leapmotor took the crown at the end of June, but now Dacia has slashed the price of a new Spring by around £4,000.

This means the Dacia Spring now starts from £11,990, which is £1,000 less than a T03. That’s certainly an eye-catching figure, making it not only the cheapest EV you can buy but the cheapest car full stop. But I still don’t think you should buy one.

I’ll get onto why in a second, but first let’s take a look at the Spring’s new specs.

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Dacia Spring price and specs

The Spring used to start from £15,990, but Dacia has now reduced the price to £11,990. This gets you the Essential version, which has a 70hp electric motor, 139 miles of range, air conditioning and a Bluetooth stereo.

For an extra £1,000 you can get the Extreme model, which has a 100hp motor but the same 139 miles of range. It also adds luxuries like a touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, front and rear parking sensors and a reversing camera. It’s well worth spending the extra cash.

However, I think your money would be better spent on the used market.

Why you shouldn’t buy a Dacia Spring

The Dacia Spring does have its merits. It’s extremely efficient, meaning it’ll cost peanuts to run if you have a cheap home charging tariff. It’s also quite practical for its size, and the interior feels really solid for such a cheap car.

However, that 139-mile range limits its usability, and it’ll only charge at 40kW on a DC charger. This means 20-80% takes almost half an hour, and that’ll only do around 100 miles in the real world. The Spring is no good for long trips.

On roads outside the urban jungle it feels really out of its depth. The cheap tyres which come fitted from the factory have very little grip, you get a lot of wind and road noise at higher speeds and it’s not very good through the bends either.

Combined, these drawbacks make the Spring only really suitable as a second car. A very affordable one which is great in town, but a second car nonetheless.

If you have £12,000 to spend on one EV to do it all, I reckon your money is much better-spent on something second hand. Here are five great electric cars which I’ve found for the same price as a Dacia Spring.

Five used electric cars for the price of a Dacia Spring

• MG4
• Kia e-Niro
• Renault Zoe
• Volkswagen ID3
• Peugeot E-208

1. MG4

Back in 2023, the MG4 won Carwow’s Car of the Year award, and for good reason. It was, and still is, one of the most affordable EVs around, it’s packed with kit and it’s great to drive. This is one of the few budget-friendly EVs which is actually fun through the corners.

This 2023 example has just over 10,000 miles on the clock, and it can be yours for £12,800 – a smidge less than a top-spec Spring. It’s fitted with the 51kWh battery giving it up to 218 miles of range. The rear seats aren’t as roomy as a VW ID3’s though, and the touchscreen-based climate controls are more fiddly than the Spring’s physical knobs.

2. Kia e-Niro

The Kia e-Niro is the ideal choice if you’re after an electric family car on a budget. Uber drivers love these because they’re roomy in the back, have a big boot and are comfortable to drive.

I’ve found a 2021 e-Niro with 40,700 miles on the clock for £12,995, and this gets you a practical SUV with up to 282 miles of range according to official figures. It may not be all that exciting, and the interior looks dated, but the Kia e-Niro is still a competent family hauler.

3. Renault Zoe

A Renault Zoe can be yours for as little as £4,500 if you go for an early car from 2017, but for £12,000 you can get this high-spec example from 2023 with just 6,500 miles on the clock. It has heated seats, smartphone mirroring and a reversing camera, and it’ll do up to 238 miles on a charge.

The Zoe’s one-star crash test score from Euro NCAP may put some people off, but this is mostly down to a lack of active safety systems. The Spring scored one star for similar reasons. I’d choose the Zoe because it has a posher interior, more space and it’s more comfortable to drive than the Dacia.

4. Volkswagen ID3

You can think of the Volkswagen ID3 as an electric alternative to the Golf. It’s a spacious, practical and comfortable hatchback which, while not exactly thrilling, will handle everything family life can throw at it without fuss.

I found a 2023 ID3 with just under 41,000 miles on the clock listed for £12,999 through Carwow, and it’s the Life Pro model with 264 miles of range. The touch-sensitive controls may be a faff to use on the move, but you’ll be much happier cruising up the motorway in this quiet, refined hatchback than you would be in the Dacia.

5. Peugeot E-208

Finally, how about a bit of style? The Peugeot E-208 may have been around for seven years, but it still looks fantastic and the interior is one of the best in the business. It feels much more upmarket inside than a car of this price should, and it’s good fun to drive as well.

I found a GT model finished in fetching red paint for £12,200. It’s a 2022 model with 35,000 miles on the clock, and it has up to 217 miles of range. Make sure to test drive a 208 before buying though, because it has a strange driving position thanks to the tiny steering wheel which not everyone will get on with.

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