-It is based on CMF-A platform jointly developed by Renault and Nissan

-Dacia’s first affordable all electric vehicle for European markets

Dacia has introduced its most cost-effective all-electric vehicle the ‘Spring Electric’ for the European markets. The initial concept was unveiled at the Shanghai Auto Show last year. The Dacia Spring Electric is based on the CMF-A platform which also underpins the Renault Kwid in India. The Spring Electric is currently manufactured in Shiyan, China. The electric vehicle will be available for European countries as early as in 2021.

Visually, the vehicle is identical to its twin brother, which we popularly identify as the Renault Kwid Climber edition. The only visual difference between the two remain in the newly designed chrome grille in the Spring Electric with the Dacia logo which also houses the charging socket beneath it. Move to the side and we see the peculiar roof rails, square plastic cladding with 14-inch steel rims masked with dual tone five-spoke alloy face wheel covers. The back of the car has tail lamps in striking Y-shape and the bumper is slightly tweaked and carries the plastic cladding housing the number plate area.

On the inside, is the all-digital instrument console, four-spoke steering wheel, rear parking sensor with camera displayed on the seven-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple Carplay and Android Auto connectivity. The aircons get manual rotary knobs and the dashboard, air vents, seats and door trims get blue accents and stitching denoting its forward approach to electric vehicles. The safety equipment on this EV includes ABS, ESP, six airbags, seat belt warning, automatic headlights, and traction controls as standard.

The Spring Electric gets front-mounted 33kW electric engine drawing from a 26.8kWh battery pack making 44bhp and 125Nm of torque with a stated top speed of 125kmph. Dacia claims a total driving range of 225km on a full charge. The battery can reclaim 80 percent of range in less than an hour on a 30 kW DC terminal. Available as standard is a basic 22-volt charger household charger capable of charging the EV in 14 hours and an optional 7.4Kw and 3.7kW wall sockets with five and eight hour charging capacities. The India launch of the Kwid based EV is uncertain for now, although, when launched it could go up against Mahindra’s eKUV 100 which is also still in the making.