Romanians can buy electric Dacia Spring for only EUR 7,700

Romanian carmaker Dacia, part of the French Groupe Renault, has started the production of Dacia Spring, its first electric model.

Dacia has set the starting price at EUR 18,100 while the state is giving grants of about EUR 10,400, so the final price is EUR 7,700. It makes it the cheapest electric car in Romania and beyond. For example, Germany subsidizes the purchase of electric cars with EUR 9,570.

Dacia has the most affordable electric vehicle in the European market

According to AutoExpress, Dacia Spring is the cheapest electric car in its category in Europe. It beat SEAT Mii Electric, which is priced at EUR 23,000. Dacia also said it is the most affordable electric vehicle in the European market.

Orders are now temporarily closed

The interest among Romanian buyers is enormous. Dacia received more than 1,500 orders for its first electric model in the first four hours after it made applications available, on March 20, local media reported. For comparison, that’s how many electric cars were sold in Romania in 2019.

Dacia said orders are now temporarily closed.

Customers in the country bought 2,900 electric cars in 2020, while sales increased by 30% in the first two months of this year from the same period of last year, according to domestic news outlets.

Subsidies of up to EUR 10,400

The buyers of Dacia Spring in Romania can get EUR 10,400 under the Rabla and Rabla Plus program. There is EUR 400 for scrapping an old car and another EUR 10,000 for a new 100% electric car.

The subsidies are the highest in the European Union, according to the analysis by the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA).

Dacia Spring allows for a range of 305 kilometers on a single charge in the urban WLTP test cycle and 230 kilometers in a mixed cycle. According to Auto Express, the Spring will offer DC charging as an option – a 30 kW charger tops the battery to 80% in under an hour, a 7.4 kW wallbox does it in five hours, compared to eight and a half hours for a 3.7 kW unit, while it takes 14 hours to fill it through a standard plug.

Electric buses also to be produced in Romania

After the first electric car, the country could get its first electric bus, too. According to portal Economica, Mircea Cîrț, president of the ATP group, said it would launch an electric bus with 26 seats, three doors and a low floor, with a range of 200 kilometers that can be extended to 360 kilometers.

The bus is in the prototype phase, and it will be presented to the public at the beginning of May, he revealed.