Dacia is finally joining the electric car bandwagon and to signal that intent, the Romanian Renault-owned carmaker has unveiled the Dacia Spring electric prototype which will spawn a road-legal car towards the beginning of 2021. Once that happens, the all-electric Dacia model will be Europe’s most-affordable all-electric vehicle.

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What is the Dacia Spring Electric Concept?

This is the car that will eventually morph into Dacia’s first-ever electric vehicle. Mind you, it will keep the same ethos as the Logan, Sandero, or Duster, it the sense that it’s set to be the most affordable EV Europeans can get their hands on.

In developing the Spring prototype, Dacia turned its attention to Renault’s decade-long electric expertise. In Dacia’s own words, the Spring “focuses on the essentials, combining simplicity, reliability, and accessibility.” A road-going model will arrive to the market in the first half of 2021.

Dacia Spring Electric Concept - Design

You’ll be inclined to think the Dacia Spring looks like a Citroën and you wouldn’t be wrong. We’re getting a lot of C4 Cactus vibes here, while some styling cues also hint at Renault’s Captur, especially when it comes to the car’s profile and rear end. Not surprisingly, Dacia went for a crossover-y shape in an attempt to use the buyer’s love for high-riding cars to its advantage and attract a wider range of potential customers, including women.

It’s hard to say how many of these funky styling cues will make it into production, but we like the way the pastel grey exterior contrasts the matte fluorescent orange hues present on the wheel housings, roof bars, and lower door panel. On top of that, we hope Dacia will keep the sleek-looking LED headlights and Y-shaped taillights, especially since the press blurb mentions that “this look previews the future of Dacia’s lighting design.” Fingers crossed, then.

This will obviously be a high-riding crossover of sorts in its final, road-going form, but we doubt Dacia will keep the skid plates built into the rear and front bumpers, as the Spring is all about urban mobility and not off-roading. Not much is known size-wise, but Dacia mentions that the Spring prototype stretches to 3.73 meters in length.

Dacia Spring Electric Concept - Powertrain

Not much to discuss on this front, but Dacia mentions a WLTP-measured range of more than 124 miles (200 km). Most likely, the all-electric setup will mix a battery pack (probably borrowed from the Renault ZOE). Speaking of the ZOE, the current model can be had with either the R135 electric motor (100 kW/134 horsepower and 245 Newton-meters of torque) or the R110 one (80 kW/107 horsepower and 225 Newton-meters of torque).

On the battery front, the ZOE sports a 52-kWh back that allows it to cover up to 245 miles (km) on a single charge. Alternatively, Dacia could fit the Spring with the same battery pack used initially by the ZOE, rated at 22 kWh. In all honesty, this looks like the most plausible choice, since the pack offered a max range of 130 to 150 miles (210 to 240 kilometers). The Spring is bound to be a tad heavier, so a 124-mile (200-km) range would make sense.

In any case, it’s too early to make any predictions and we’ll just have to wait for Dacia to spill the beans.