WHAT do all these jobs have in common?
Cake maker.
Plumber.
Beautician.
Deliveroo driver.
From tongue scraping to saying no, here are 12 health trends to try in 2023
Decorator.
Dog walker.
The answer is: They all need a small van.
Nothing bigger than a car but with a decent boot, mesh bulkhead to stop them being decapitated by flying objects in the back, and a wipe-clean rubber floor.
At the moment the only thing that really fits the bill is a Renault Kangoo. But that’s £24k all-in.
Not only will Dacia’s Spring Cargo van be £5k cheaper at £19k, it won’t cost much to run either.
Because it’s fully electric. Which means powering it, tax, maintenance and all those things will be as cheap as chips.
I should perhaps explain the £24k Kangoo has a petrol engine. The electric Kangoo costs £36k, almost twice the price of Spring Cargo.
No brainer, then.
Dacia is giving small business owners the chance to run a smart, clean, easy-to-use van for as little as £7 A DAY.
How to de-clutter if you have a beauty stash to last you a lifetime
Maybe even less.
Spring Cargo is N1-approved as a light commercial vehicle, so it is VATable.
My price estimate includes VAT. So for some firms Spring Cargo will cost £15k-£16k, making it Britain’s cheapest new van by some distance.
Dacia will confirm pricing later.
Other observations – load space is 1,000 litres. Payload is 358kg. Load length is 1.17 metres.
Dacia will even take care of your livery.
I do have one grumble, though. You can’t strap anything to those roof bars. They’re purely for decoration.
Spring Cargo arrives in the UK this time next year, alongside the five-door Spring supermini we’ve just tried here.
Both are powered by a lightweight 27kWh battery that’ll do up to 136 miles on a full charge.
Not suitable for long-distance work, clearly. But perfect for those who never stray too far from their own postcode.
The car has a decent 290-litre boot, bigger than a Peugeot e-208.
Hop in, turn the key, select D on the rotary controller, release the manual handbrake and go.
Yes, I just said “key” and “handbrake” in a brand new car. Simples.
After just a few hundred yards it’s clear that Spring is light, easy, nippy and fun — like a four-seat dodgem.
It’s a dinky 3.7 metres front to back, which means it spins round tighter than an excited puppy chasing its tail.
It sprints from 0-31mph in just 3.9 seconds and accelerates smoothly all the way to a top speed of 78mph.
The cabin is exactly what you’d expect from Dacia: Everything you need and nothing you don’t.
Big speedo. Big door pockets for drinks. Big central bucket for keys and other debris.
There’s a USB port beside the touchscreen to connect your phone. A 12v port for your dashcam. Sorted.
The plastics are more plasticky than other small cars but that’s what makes a Dacia affordable. I’m fine with it.
Besides, the updated version we’re getting will have a fresh new look and more driver-assistance kit as standard.
I have absolutley no doubt Spring will be a huge hit.
When The Sun revealed right-hand drive cars were finally coming to the UK, Dacia’s website melted with 3,000 hand-raises in four days.
Now we know there’s a van coming to join the party, all the micro-business owners will be like coiled Springs.
You can register your interest at dacia.co.uk./vehicles/spring.
