I drove the new Dacia Spring Extreme – it’s light, easy to drive and one of the most affordable new cars you can buy

YOU have to feel sorry for Dacia’s rivals sometimes.

Giants like Volkswagen and Ford are scrabbling like crazy to make the numbers work on an electric car that costs £20,000 – and along come the Romanians with one at £15k.

Even the top-spec version comes in at less than a tenner a day on finance.

The new Dacia Spring is so clever, in fact, that it’s a wonder nobody else has come up with the same recipe.

It’s small, for starters – think of it as a pure-electric rival to the likes of the Kia Picanto.

Its battery is pretty tiny, at just 26.8kWh – less than a third of a Tesla Model 3’s capacity.

But these factors keep the baby Dacia’s weight down to less than a ton, which is unheard of for an EV.

And this, in turn, means up to 140 miles of range, which is probably enough for a lot of people.

The Spring has been on sale in continental Europe for a few years, but its arrival in the UK coincides with a major overhaul.

There’s plenty of plastic body cladding, a few clever stickers (designed to be easier to repair and replace after car-park scrapes) and, if you go for the range- topping Extreme version, 15in wheels.

It’s pretty ordinary to drive, with enough performance to squirt around towns but not quite enough shove to feel totally comfortable getting up to speed on motorways.

The steering and handling are a bit vague, but at least the soft suspension does a good job of soaking up potholes, speed bumps and drain covers – precisely the sort of stuff that the Spring is likely to face in its natural environment around town.

Inside, it’s classic Dacia, with clever materials that do a good job of disguising the car’s budget nature.

We’d go for Extreme, which brings a few interior-trim flourishes but also a neat infotainment system and “luxuries” like electric windows.

Oh, and it includes vehicle-to-load, which means you can open up the charging port in the Spring’s front grille and use it to power your own devices –– everything from party lights to a fridge.

It all adds up to a pretty unique offering in the market right now – not just the cheapest EV out there, but also one of the most affordable new cars you can buy.

Easy to drive and surprisingly practical – small wonder that Dacia says most Springs will be bought as second cars, but end up being the one owners use the most.