Car Review Dacia Spring 2023

Review

I bought this little car because petrol prices were already driving me mad, and I mostly drive around Kyiv to work and to pick up the kids from school, plus occasionally to the dacha near Bila Tserkva. I was thinking of getting a used small petrol car, but then I read about EVs and thought — why not, the Spring is the cheapest new one, and it even comes with a warranty. We took it on credit, to be honest — at first my wife snorted that "it's some kind of Chinese stool", but she got used to it later.

The first few days felt really weird. You sit there, and it's completely silent, as if the engine stalled, only beeping when you pull away. I kept comparing it to my old Logan — that one rattled and stank, but here it's quiet and pulls immediately without any gear changes. At first it was even funny — you're driving and thinking, what if it suddenly dies? But no, it just keeps going. The feeling is like wow, the future has arrived, but at the same time "well, it's not exactly space-age magic".

In the city it's brilliant — parking is a pleasure, it squeezes into narrow courtyards without any issue. In winter the battery sags, real-world range drops to 140-160 km instead of 220-230, but it's enough for me since I charge at home overnight on the cheap tariff. On the highway it's not so great — after 110 km/h the wind starts howling, overtaking trucks feels scary, so I keep it at 90-100 and it's fine. Consumption is 11-12 kWh/100 km in summer, up to 18 in winter, but still way cheaper than petrol used to be.

Recently my father-in-law came from the village, we loaded four of us plus bags — he was grumbling in the back that there was no room for his legs, but we got there fine, and the kids fell asleep straight away from the silence. Another time I got caught in a downpour on the Boryspil highway, puddles up to the knees, but it drove calmly, didn't stall like an old car, just spray flying everywhere. Nice to know it didn't let me down.

What annoys me is the road and wind noise — sometimes it feels like driving a tin can. The plastic everywhere is hard and already scratched from my wife's keys. And this slow charging from a regular socket — it hangs there half the night to be full by morning. I've used fast charging a couple of times — it's okay, but expensive if you do it often.

Overall I've been driving it for two years now, no regrets about buying it, but if I were choosing today I might look at something with more power for the same money. For city driving and short trips it's perfect, but long distances are better avoided. Oh well, at least my wallet doesn't get empty at petrol stations anymore.