What happens when you combine an EV with a relatively limited range and a 300-mile-odd round trip? Less drama than you might think, says John Challen.

Dacia Spring Extreme 65

List price (BiK): £16,995 (2%)    CO2: 0g/km    Economy: 140 miles   Test efficiency: 134 miles

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Forget ‘range anxiety’, I’ve coined the phrase ‘range resignation’ after a recent journey in an EV. Over the years I’ve got used to living with an electric car and, in that time, I’ve never bought into the whole range anxiety thing. But this was a different matter – I wasn’t travelling far, but I already knew that I would have to recharge en route.

The launch of the Dacia Spring was, like the car, basic and straightforward: an online press conference and then a day with the car at a later date. Only on the day the car was offered, I was signed up to go to a driving day in Banbury – 140 miles away. Total distance possible (in the ideal conditions) in the Spring? That’ll be 140 miles…

To set the scene, the Spring is a new arrival in the UK, having been available in Europe for a while. It’s been given a refresh, which means a new steering wheel, the addition of electric powered steering, 15-inch tyres and regenerative braking added into the mix. It costs under £17k, which means no frills and some quirks, such as using an old school physical key to start the car. On the plus side, the range of active and passive safety technologies onboard is extensive, while there are plenty of USB ports alongside the 10-inch central display. The infotainment system is great too, thanks to it being the same system as you’d find in many Renaults. The interior has plenty of scratchy plastics, but on the flip side, the seats are comfortable. In short, it’s not a bad car – I’ve driven worse in 2024 – you just very much get what you pay for.

The grand depart

Anyone who knows me knows I love a challenge – and that I’m stubborn enough to see it through. So the fact that the Spring’s WLTP maximum figure was the same as the distance I needed to travel didn’t really bother me. I was heading up the M40 where I knew there were plenty of options to recharge.

Leaving an extra hour earlier than I might have – that’s no big issue for me as I’m fine with early mornings – I headed north, with 133 miles available (at 100% charge). It was a pretty cold day, but thankfully the Spring comes equipped with heated steering wheel to take the edge of my less-than-warm hands (damn you, Raynaud’s!). The Spring – with a near-12-second zero to 62mph time – is not quick, but that actually suited me just fine, given I was trying to preserve those precious miles I had available to me. The range was still, however, going down quicker than I would’ve liked so I dived off the M40 to connect to an InstaVolt at Beaconsfield services. To be honest, I was quite pleased I didn’t have to halt my progress at Cobham on the M25.

Whether it was because it was early, or just me not paying attention, I failed to notice that there was no contactless payment capability, so I spent what felt like an age trying to connect car to charger via the website – it turns out you don’t connect the car to the charger, even when it tells you to! That error (which, actually, I’m owning as my fault for not paying attention) put me back a while, as did the fact that the Spring’s 26.8kWh battery only charges at a maximum rate of 30kW. Again, it wasn’t something I’d fully appreciated and briefly assumed it was a dodgy charger.

Regardless, I ploughed onto my Banbury destination with more than enough miles to get there, sort of. To be honest, it depends how you look at it – to some EV drivers, arriving at your destination (where you know you can recharge) with 11 miles is not an issue in the slightest *raises hand*. If, however, Mrs Challen was alongside me, she would’ve been in pure panic mode – like many others. In fact, it wouldn’t have come to that because we would’ve stopped way before it got to 50 miles left. But that was the outcome and on only a 7kW charger went the Spring for a few hours.

Spring break

While it was getting some welcome power back, the Spring got a lot of attention from fellow attendees, including the BMW crew, who were fascinated by such a car that would never see the light of day in a lineup of Bavaria’s finest. But it is what it is – and I had made it to my destination. The colour is pretty divisive – what isn’t these days? – and I affectionately dubbed it parcel tape brown, before checking its official name of Safari Beige. There was also a split in opinion between some of those hacks who’d already driven it and those who were genuinely intrigued by it.

The return leg

After a good few hours of driving BMWs and Minis – and eking out as many miles as possible from the trickle charge – it was time to head home. I decided on a different tactic, so stopped not too long after I’d set off at that well-known M40 institution, Cherwell Valley, to reunite with my go-to charging company, Gridserve. There was a slight wait of about five minutes for a free charger, which wasn’t really an issue. It will be even less of an issue in the future as I noticed a whole new bank of units being installed along the back edge of the car park.

It wasn’t long before I had 120 miles available and 126 miles to home – strategically I was planning a ‘splash and dash’ close to Challen Towers. With awareness of the upcoming stop, I sat at motorway speeds down the M40 (increasing the disparity between available miles and miles to home), before the near gridlock on the M25 restored a lot of them while I trundled anti-clockwise between junctions 15 and 10.

Down the M23 and my scheduled stop saw me arrive with 21 miles available and 25 miles to home. Connected to another Gridserve charger, I went inside to use the facilities and get some food and I was ready to go, with 35 miles on the clock. Not a huge amount at all, but more than enough to get me back and hooked up to my Ohme home charger.

Lessons learned

I originally didn’t set out for my time with the Spring to be this type of story, but it lent itself so well to the real-life experience and I think (and hope) it shows what is possible with a bit of planning and, yes, resignation that charging is a given on some journeys.

In total, I reckon that I spent 90 minutes charging at motorways sites (more than most people would, admittedly) and had the luxury of the battery being replenished by my hosts for the day. But it really wasn’t that much of a pain. Let’s face it, a Dacia Spring is not going to be a daily driver up the country and back. But in town, which is where I popped to the next morning, it is great. Yes, it’s basic, but there’s a certain charm about it and the price is ideal for people who might want to dip their toe in the EV waters.

But, overall, the whole story generated a lot of interest. People saw it as jeopardy and madness – like I said in my welcome words, people couldn’t understand why I was doing it. But, to me, it wasn’t a big deal. I made it there and back in one piece and that’s the ultimate goal.

People won’t know what is possible until they try. A bit of logical thinking goes a long way (unlike the Spring on a single charge) and I will be sure to hold up my experience as an example of just what an EV can do, when pushed to the limit.