A decision on whether the new Dacia Spring Electric will go on sale in the UK will be made by early January at the latest, according to brand boss Denis Le Vot.
The Spring, billed by its maker as Europe's most affordable EV, is already on sale in left-hand drive markets, but the firm has delayed a UK sales decison while it evaluates production capacity and its sales potential against the cost of a right hand-drive conversion.
"It is looking very positive, but there is no final decision," Denis Le Vot, CEO of Dacia told Autocar. "Our data suggests there are 15 million motorists in Europe who commute in their cars today - and that 60% of them use them for short distance driving exclusively. I am not saying they will all buy a Spring, but I am sure that it is exactly the kind of car that they need.
"For the UK we will make a final decision late this year or by early January at the very latest."
The Spring went on sale in France in March, priced from €12,403 after that country's generous EV incentives. A two-seat commercial variant will be introduced in 2022.
That minimum price, equivalent to £10,630, positions the Spring alongside a mid-range, conventionally fuelled Sandero in terms of cost.
The French government currently offers a grant to buyers of sub-€45,000 EVs amounting to 27% of the cost of purchase, including tax, and a further €2500 if the EV is bought in exchange for an older ICE car to be scrapped.
Two trim levels are available: Comfort, which features air conditioning, a 3.5in media display with Bluetooth, a USB port and cloth upholstery as standard, and Comfort Plus, which adds a 7.0in infotainment display with smartphone mirroring, an orange-themed interior styling pack and metallic exterior paint.
The Chinese-made Spring is offered across mainland Europe initially, with car-sharing company Zity a primary customer.
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Total death trap - under engineered and failing badly on EuroNCAP.
EVs are good, but not at any cost.
Dacia recently put out a press release talking about the massive demand they've experienced for this model across Europe already - it was a lot. I think something like 40,000 orders in 8 months. For this reason it seems likely that it will launch in the UK. With the prospect of cheap Chinese EVs flooding the European market soon, it makes sense for European manufacturers to start launching their own low cost EVs.
Great to see Dacia in this market, 140 miles range might be a stretch for a 27khw battery, 4 miles/khw, 108 miles - 95 mile range on open road might be more realistic.