Photo: Dacia
With the electrification trend taking the automotive world by storm, we must understand how energy efficient our cars genuinely are. It’s easy to assume that all EVs are not harmful to the environment, but the energy efficiency and emissions output can differ from one another. One organization that measures vehicles’ environmental performance is Green NCAP, and today it revealed its 'Best Car of 2022.' It is the Dacia Spring.
Green NCAP carries out tests in its laboratory and on the road and measures environmental harm in three indexes: Clean Air, Energy Efficiency, and Greenhouse Gas. The final result is measured in a star rating, with the maximum being five stars.
Before going into further detail, let me tell you more about the Dacia Spring. It’s a compact city vehicle, which is presented as a budget-friendly option for city dwellers. It is, after all, the cheapest electric car that the European market currently gets. It runs on all-electric energy, and it’s available in two versions.
The entry-level one is limited to a modest power of 33 kW (44 hp/45 ps) and 125 Nm (92 ft-lbs.) of torque, while Dacia has recently revealed the 64-hp (65-ps) variant. The vehicle that sports a 26.8-kWh battery pack tips the scales at a mere 970 kg (2,138 lbs.).
The Dacia Spring has an official WLTP range of 305 km (189 miles). Out of that, Green NCAP declared it managed to drive about 141 km (87.6 miles) in the worst-case scenario, and the car consumed around 23 kWh/100 km (4.3 miles/kWh), probably in low-temperature conditions. That means the Spring can run only half its estimated range in winter conditions.
At 23°C ambient temperature, you can expect only 140 km (87 miles) on the highway – the car is clearly made for urban environments. Furthermore, the average consumption is 18.5 kWh/100 km, with a driving range of 180 km (112 miles).
So, let’s see how the Dacia Spring managed to get the Best Car of 2022 award. Regarding the Clean Air test, the Spring doesn’t emit any pollutants, so it obtained the maximum score. For the Energy Efficiency tests, the tiny machine got ten out of ten in the warm and cold test and 9.6 out of ten in the highway and cold ambient test. These results helped the Dacia Spring get the best overall score – the Tesla Model 3 came in at a close second, with an overall score of 9.8.
The Greenhouse Gas index is based on a well-to-wheel approach – that means that the emissions related to the supply of energy are added to the tailpipe emissions, while the emissions resulting from the production are not yet considered. Due to the Spring’s low energy consumption and the relatively low CO2 emissions of European electricity production, the vehicle got maximum points for this assessment, scoring a record score.
Even though it got the best rating from Green NCAP, the Dacia Spring has plenty to improve for its Euro NCAP rating, where the 2021 model obtained one star out of five, due to the poor performance of its assistance systems. The adult occupant rating stands at 49%, while the child occupant is at 56%. The supermini got even lower scores in the Vulnerable Road Users index (39%), while the Safety Assist index was the lowest at 32%.
Before going into further detail, let me tell you more about the Dacia Spring. It’s a compact city vehicle, which is presented as a budget-friendly option for city dwellers. It is, after all, the cheapest electric car that the European market currently gets. It runs on all-electric energy, and it’s available in two versions.
The entry-level one is limited to a modest power of 33 kW (44 hp/45 ps) and 125 Nm (92 ft-lbs.) of torque, while Dacia has recently revealed the 64-hp (65-ps) variant. The vehicle that sports a 26.8-kWh battery pack tips the scales at a mere 970 kg (2,138 lbs.).
The Dacia Spring has an official WLTP range of 305 km (189 miles). Out of that, Green NCAP declared it managed to drive about 141 km (87.6 miles) in the worst-case scenario, and the car consumed around 23 kWh/100 km (4.3 miles/kWh), probably in low-temperature conditions. That means the Spring can run only half its estimated range in winter conditions.
At 23°C ambient temperature, you can expect only 140 km (87 miles) on the highway – the car is clearly made for urban environments. Furthermore, the average consumption is 18.5 kWh/100 km, with a driving range of 180 km (112 miles).
So, let’s see how the Dacia Spring managed to get the Best Car of 2022 award. Regarding the Clean Air test, the Spring doesn’t emit any pollutants, so it obtained the maximum score. For the Energy Efficiency tests, the tiny machine got ten out of ten in the warm and cold test and 9.6 out of ten in the highway and cold ambient test. These results helped the Dacia Spring get the best overall score – the Tesla Model 3 came in at a close second, with an overall score of 9.8.
The Greenhouse Gas index is based on a well-to-wheel approach – that means that the emissions related to the supply of energy are added to the tailpipe emissions, while the emissions resulting from the production are not yet considered. Due to the Spring’s low energy consumption and the relatively low CO2 emissions of European electricity production, the vehicle got maximum points for this assessment, scoring a record score.
Even though it got the best rating from Green NCAP, the Dacia Spring has plenty to improve for its Euro NCAP rating, where the 2021 model obtained one star out of five, due to the poor performance of its assistance systems. The adult occupant rating stands at 49%, while the child occupant is at 56%. The supermini got even lower scores in the Vulnerable Road Users index (39%), while the Safety Assist index was the lowest at 32%.
Google News