The New Dacia Spring Starts at EUR17,900, Is Built in Slovenia and Targets 250 km of Range

Dacia has revealed a completely redesigned Spring electric car with a starting price of EUR17,900 before market-specific options. The small EV will be made at Renault Group's Novo Mesto plant in Slovenia rather than imported from China. It uses the group's RG-EV-Small platform, a 27.5 kWh lithium-iron-phosphate battery and targets up to 250 kilometres of combined WLTP range.

The name is familiar, but Dacia says the vehicle is new beneath it. The body is 18 centimetres wider than the previous Spring and sits on a European platform shared within Renault Group. Local production is central to the pitch because European incentives are increasingly designed around environmental and industrial criteria, not only whether a vehicle has a tailpipe.

How Dacia keeps the price below EUR20,000

Battery size is one of the biggest cost decisions in an electric car. Instead of chasing 500 kilometres of range, Dacia is using a relatively small LFP pack for urban and regional trips. LFP chemistry generally avoids nickel and cobalt, can offer long cycle life and has become a common choice for lower-cost EVs. The trade-off is lower energy density than some nickel-rich chemistries.

A 250-kilometre WLTP rating is not a promise that every driver will travel exactly that distance. Speed, temperature, heating, load, terrain and driving style affect real-world range. For a city car that returns home regularly, a smaller battery can reduce purchase price, weight and resource use. For drivers who frequently cover long motorway distances, the same decision creates more charging stops.

Dacia's approach also limits complexity. Affordable cars become expensive when manufacturers add large wheels, oversized screens, high-output powertrains and features that are rarely used. The Spring competes by defining a narrower job: everyday transport at a price closer to popular combustion-engine cars. The product still has to meet European safety, software and warranty expectations, so the final value will depend on equipment by trim.

Why building in Slovenia matters

Novo Mesto already builds the electric Renault Twingo E-Tech. Producing the Spring there can let Renault Group share suppliers, workforce skills and plant investment across several compact EVs. It also places manufacturing inside the European Union, which can help the model qualify under national subsidy rules that consider where and how a car is produced.

This is part of a wider policy argument. European manufacturers say they face high energy, labour and regulatory costs while Chinese brands benefit from scale and mature battery supply chains. Tariffs can slow imports, but they do not automatically create an affordable European car. A model at EUR17,900 is a more direct response because it competes in the showroom rather than relying only on border measures.

The number to watch is the price after incentives

Dacia's headline price is a recommended starting point and can vary by country. Registration charges, delivery fees, trim levels and incentives will determine what a buyer actually pays. Some subsidy programmes apply only to households below an income threshold, while others reward vehicles that meet production or carbon criteria. Buyers should compare the final on-road price and charging costs in their own market.

The Spring also arrives as Renault Group works on several low-cost urban EVs. Sharing a platform across models can improve purchasing power and make a European supply chain viable at greater volume. That strategy will be tested by battery prices, demand and how aggressively competitors price imported models.

The new Spring does not solve every electric-car barrier. Apartment residents still need reliable charging, resale values remain uncertain and a small battery is not suited to every journey. It does, however, put a concrete number on Europe's affordability debate: a locally built electric car starting below EUR18,000, with design choices focused on the trips many city drivers make most often.