The new Dacia Spring is fatter, wider… and will still cost less than £18,000

This is the new – like, really all-new – Dacia Spring, one of Top Gear’s favourite baby electric cars. Only this little baby has grown up, getting a bit fatter, wider and faster in the process.

That’s because this really all-new Spring now sits on the same set of bones that make up the brilliant Renault 5, Renault 4 and Alpine A290 hot hatch. Yes, platform code enthusiasts, the Spring now sits on the RG-EV Small platform. Yay!

While this brings very obvious benefits in terms of proven, award-winning technology, it also brings a very obvious weight penalty: where the Spring used to comfortably sit under one tonne, it's now 1,212kg. More than 200kg heavier than before. Insert the obligatory ‘big breakfast’ gags here.

And yet, it’s more efficient than before, Dacia claiming 4.9mpkwh from its teeny (but bigger) 27.5kWh LFP battery. More powerful too, the electric motor now coughing up nearly eighty electric horsepowers versus the 64 it could sneeze out in the last gen car.

That means you’re looking at a 0-62mph time of – be still thine beating hearts – 12.1s. That’s nearly two seconds faster! Think of all the time you’ll save! Obviously 0-62mph is entirely irrelevant in a car destined for congested city streets filled with congested city street things. Indeed, Dacia has done some research that says most Spring owners travel up to 13 miles a day... at an average of 13mph.

Which means this new car’s 155-mile claimed WLTP range should be enough for the entire week. And when it needs topping up, Dacia reckons it can go from 15-80 per cent in nine hours using a three-pin plug, or 5hr 40mins with a ‘heavy-duty’ plug, or 2hrs 55mins with a 7kW home charger, or 28mins on a 50kW fast charger.

It looks a little fussier and blockier than before, its lower front jaw jutting out a little like a confused bulldog, but it still looks pleasingly blocky and utilitarian. And crucially, city-safe, thanks to the protective exterior panels. Wheels come in refreshingly small 15in or 16in options.

While that RG-EV Small platform means the Spring has swollen by 18cm in width and 15cm in length – a little bit bigger than, say, something like a Fiat 500e – Dacia contends it offers more interior space as a result.

It's had a bit of a tidy round the back, as well as inside, too: that interior now features a ‘strip’ that runs the full width of the dash carrying a trio of physical dials, a 10.1in touchscreen (only available on the upper trim) and a couple of USB-C ports. The driver gets a 7in display, and the whole thing looks quite clean and straightforward.

There’s a 337-litre boot which increases to 1,283-litres with the rear seats folded down, a little front boot, Dacia’s funky ‘YouClip’ accessory system, V2L, and just two trim levels: Expression (15in steelies, central locking, electric mirrors, air-con, fabric upholstery) and Journey (same as before, but with 16in steelies, a reversing camera, that 10.1in screen, luggage cover and fancier upholstery). You can only get it in four colours: light blue, grey, black, and white.

Dacia hasn’t quoted exact prices, only noting that it’ll likely fall under the £18k mark before any potential EV grants are applied, which makes it a very, very cheap little EV.