Two budget city EVs under the Spanish sun, sized for solar
The Dacia Spring and the BYD Dolphin are two of the cheapest ways into an EV in Europe, and under Spain's strong sun both make an easy case for solar charging. The featherweight Spring 45 is the more frugal of the pair at 13.9 kWh/100km against the Dolphin Extended Range's 14.6 kWh/100km — the Dolphin uses about 5% more energy per 100km. The Dolphin counters with far more usable range from its 60 kWh battery (427km) versus the Spring's compact 33 kWh pack (305km). For solar sizing it's the consumption gap, not the battery, that decides how many panels each needs.
Dolphin and Spring are evenly matched here — check the metrics below for the trade-off that matters most to you.
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Common Questions
Spain's strong solar irradiance keeps panel counts low for both, but the Spring's lower consumption (13.9 vs the Dolphin's 14.6 kWh/100km) means it needs marginally fewer 400W panels for the same annual mileage. VoltSun calculates the exact count for your address below.
The Spring's slightly lower consumption gives it a small edge in solar-charging cost per km, but both are so efficient that your driving distance and local electricity price matter more than the difference between them.
No — the Dolphin's 60 kWh pack is nearly double the Spring's 33 kWh, but panel count follows annual energy consumption, not battery size. The larger battery gives the Dolphin much more range (427km vs 305km), not a larger solar system.
On our database figures the Spring 45 is the more efficient at 13.9 kWh/100km versus the Dolphin Extended Range's 14.6 kWh/100km — roughly a 0.7 kWh/100km difference, which is modest but real over a full year of driving.