Dacia Spring Cargo is a new city slicker electric van for only £13k

As well as being the cheapest electric car in the UK, the Dacia Spring is now the cheapest compact electric van on the market, as the new commercial Cargo version is available to businesses for just £13,145 or £149 per month.

Both those prices for the new Dacia Spring Cargo exclude VAT and have had the UK government’s Plug-in Van Grant (PiVG) of £2,500 applied. In case you’re curious, the retail price for the Spring Cargo is £16,144 – that includes the PiVG and on-the-road charges. 

The Spring Cargo ditches the rear seats to provide up to 1,085 litres of load space, which can be accessed via the rear doors or tailgate, while a mesh bulkhead is fitted to separate the driver and any packages. Maximum payload capacity is 370kg.

Essentially, the Spring Cargo is half the price of a new Citroen e-Berlingo, but has nearly a quarter of the cargo space. The Dacia isn’t an ideal solution for grandfather clock dealers then, though it should suit those who do deliveries in the city, as it's only 3.7 metres long and has a 9.6-metre turning circle.

The 26.8kWh battery can also provide up to 186 miles of range if you’re just driving around town, while the 65bhp electric motor is good for 0-62mph in 13.7 seconds. Topping up the battery from 20 to 80 per cent should take 45 minutes from a suitable DC rapid charger. 

The Spring Cargo comes in Polar White paint, and equipped with a 10-inch central touchscreen, sat-nav, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, cruise control, manual air conditioning, electric front windows, parking sensors and a reversing camera.