Dacia Spring: Design Studio Explores Three Ways Forward

The Dacia Spring has become one of Europe’s most important affordable EVs, proving that electric cars do not need huge batteries, enormous power outputs or premium prices to make sense. But deciding what replaces it could be considerably more complicated. Dacia now has the striking Hipster concept exploring an even smaller, more space-efficient approach, while parent company Renault is developing a growing portfolio of affordable electric cars and components that could potentially be shared across brands.

That leaves Dacia with several credible directions. Should the next Spring adopt Renault Twingo underpinnings, embrace the Hipster’s boxy packaging philosophy, or simply evolve today’s proven Kwid-based formula? The New Yardstick Design Studio explores three very different ways Dacia could keep its smallest EV relevant - and, crucially, affordable.

The most obvious route for the next Spring could be sitting within Renault’s own portfolio. The new Twingo E-Tech is built in Slovenia, giving Dacia access to a modern European-made EV base while avoiding the additional tariffs affecting Chinese-built electric cars. Sharing its underpinnings could also transform the Spring from an ultra-basic city car into something more comfortable, safer and better suited to journeys beyond urban limits.

Our design deliberately moves away from the Twingo’s character. Removing the heavy black rear-window surround, squaring off the bodywork and replacing its deliberately cute lighting with tougher Dacia detailing creates a surprisingly different car despite the shared proportions underneath. It feels less like badge engineering and more like the Spring growing up - still exceptionally compact and affordable, but now capable of becoming somebody’s only car rather than simply their smallest one.

Unlike today’s Spring, which traces its foundations back to the combustion-engined Renault Kwid, a Twingo-based replacement would start life as a purpose-built EV. That could bring meaningful improvements in packaging, refinement, safety and efficiency without abandoning the simplicity that makes the Spring appealing.

With Renault absorbing much of the underlying development work, Dacia could concentrate on delivering its own design and specification - potentially creating a considerably more mature electric car while keeping costs within reach of buyers who simply want affordable transport.

The Hipster concept itself is unlikely to reach production unchanged. Its near-vertical windscreen, extremely upright body and deliberately simple construction would create aerodynamic challenges at higher speeds, while its tiny footprint leaves limited space for the crash structures and safety technology expected of a modern production car. But the thinking behind it could be far more important than the concept itself.

A kei-car-inspired Spring could retain the Hipster’s focus on maximising interior space without following its dimensions quite so literally. By combining a short, narrow footprint with an upright cabin, clever EV packaging and a useful boot, Dacia could offer something increasingly rare: a genuinely tiny car that provides much of the everyday practicality of a larger hatchback, while remaining cheap to buy, run and park.

Around 20 years ago, Renault proved with the Modus that supermini underpinnings could be used to create something taller and considerably more space-efficient, prioritising passenger space and everyday practicality without the costs of moving to a larger platform. The idea arguably makes even more sense today. Compact electric motors and purpose-designed battery packaging give engineers opportunities that simply weren't available when the Modus was developed.

Applied intelligently, the same philosophy could create a remarkably spacious small EV with an exceptionally compact footprint. Rather than competing directly with Renault’s more conventional hatchbacks, a kei-inspired Spring could sit neatly at the bottom of the Renault Group ecosystem - simple, inexpensive and easy to park, but with enough usable space to work as a genuine everyday family car.

This version would make space the priority. Rather than following conventional supermini proportions, a kei-inspired Spring could use its height, upright body and compact EV hardware to maximise every millimetre of its footprint.

Positioned alongside small electric cars such as the Honda Super-N and Leapmotor T03, it could offer something genuinely different: Sandero-rivalling practicality within a much smaller, easier-to-park body. For buyers who value usable space above performance or styling trends, it could bring a new level of practicality per pound to the affordable EV market.

The third option is the simplest: don't fix what isn't broken. Renault has confirmed that the next Spring will be based on the new Twingo and built in Europe, but “Twingo-based” still leaves scope for extensive component sharing and cost-led engineering. Rather than reinventing the Spring completely, Renault Group could potentially retain elements of its proven low-cost Kwid-derived formula while incorporating newer Twingo-generation components, from batteries and motors to suspension technology.

Our Evolution design explores exactly that possibility: familiar Spring dimensions and straightforward engineering, modernised where it matters most. By concentrating investment on the components customers actually benefit from, Dacia could keep development costs down - and potentially keep the Spring exceptionally cheap to buy.

Dacia has never treated the Spring’s low price as something to apologise for. Instead, its exceptionally low price has become part of the car’s identity, and the formula has earned considerable praise for dramatically lowering the cost of entry into electric motoring. Today, the Fiat 500e, Citroën ë-C3, BYD Dolphin Surf, Honda Super-N and Leapmotor T03 can all be bought for under £20,000, yet the Spring starts at just £11,990.

As technology advances and affordable EVs continue to get cheaper, replacing the Spring with something considerably more sophisticated could sacrifice its greatest strength. Of our three proposals, this evolutionary approach could therefore make the most sense if Dacia's priority is to maintain the enormous price advantage that has made the Spring so distinctive in the first place.

There is no obvious single route for the next Spring. Sharing more with the Twingo could create a safer, more comfortable and capable small EV, while a Hipster-inspired approach could turn clever packaging into a new selling point, offering remarkable space within a genuinely tiny footprint. Alternatively, evolving today’s Kwid-derived formula could protect the quality that has made the Spring so disruptive in the first place: its price.

What matters is that Dacia doesn’t lose sight of what the Spring represents. As affordable EVs improve and prices continue to fall, simply making the next generation bigger, faster and more expensive would be the easy option. Keeping it genuinely accessible will be considerably harder - but potentially much more important. Whichever direction Dacia chooses, value should remain the Spring’s defining feature.

---

Image Credits: Concept renderings and design illustrations created by The New Yardstick Design Studio.